The Vampire Prince's Toxic Consort (bxb)

Chapter 44 The Labyrinth

Not everyone who set out to find it had the luck to lay eyes on the Labyrinth, as it had its own will and would only show in front of certain people.

According to local tales, a Persian emperor built the Labyrinth of Mahoraga a thousand years ago to worship an ancient evil god and hide his treasures. The labyrinth was created to induce confusion and hallucinations, and only the one with the map could pass all the obstacles and reach the Sanctuary at the center. And even so, only the ones with the key could enter it.

Except for the emperor's progeny, who held both the map and the key, anyone covetous of the treasure was often driven mad by all the hallucinations and lost in the Labyrinth forever.

And now, a thousand years later, the once majestic labyrinth was ravaged by indifferent time, relentless sun and venomous wind and reduced into an emaciated shadow of collapsed walls and broken columns. Yet it still echoed the howling of lost ghosts.

As they approached the ruin of the labyrinth, strange things happened. It was 4 pm in the afternoon, hours away from sunset time, yet with each step closer to the ruins, the heat in the air was receding drastically, and the sky became dimmer and dimmer as if the sun was extinguishing slowly. And by the time they were about one mile from the gate, the sky was completely dark, without a moon or stars. The never stopping wind stood still as if congealed into something thicker and heavier, pressing against each traveler's chest.

No one was speaking in the group as the ominous air loomed over their head. Lucius could feel that every cell in his body was screaming "run" at him. As if something was written in his gene telling him danger was ahead. Ignoring it made him gravely unsettled and anxious.

The entrance gate slowly revealed itself and stood like a great gaping wound in time and space. The giant arch had partially collapsed and looked like an immemorial monster's bones protruding from the sand. Behind the gate and the derelict walls were rows after rows of serried remains of once majestic stone buildings, and even now, after being ground by a thousand years of hardship, they still looked intimidating and forbidding.

The guide refused to go further, no matter how much they would pay him. Dorian and the three bodyguards went through the gate first. Lucius and Florian purposefully stayed behind, pretending to thank the guide's help. The guide quickly passed a small package to Lucius and promptly scurried away.

Lucius felt the shape of the dagger through the fabric. It was very tiny. Something he could hide in his pocket. And the other thing was a vial of a familiar shape. He quickly shoved the package into his jacket pocket, exchanged a meaningful look with Florian, and hastened after Dorian.

The broken walls and columns were covered with statues of blurry faces and contorted bodies as if some immemorial memory slowly faded from history. And those crude, muddy, obscure expressions contained more malice than any refined dark art, often shifting ominously the longer you stared at them.

The passage was spacious in some places and so narrow in other areas that one had to sidle through, and the rocks were right in your face. Lucius was especially nervous in those areas, feeling like he was about to be crushed by the looming walls. Dorian had surreptitiously grabbed his hand, making sure that he was following his every step, which was a pretty sweet gesture.

The view at every turn looked very much the same, and not before long, Lucius had lost all sense of direction and even began to feel dizzy, albeit he attempted to remember their incoming way. The dark sky and dim light only made matter worse. However, Dorian proceeded confidently and only paused occasionally to check something on the scroll.

The silence of the labyrinth was lacerated by a stream of the giggling sound of a child. Everyone heard it, loud and clear, eerie and misplaced. There was no way a regular child would show up in a cursed, darkness-drenched labyrinth in the middle of nowhere. And they also heard quick steps running around in some nearby alleyway. As Lucius turned his head and tried to identify the source of the laughter, he saw a shadow scamper around the wall and disappear.