Entering the Labyrinth

The Eighth Hour

It is the same scene: the mountains on the horizon, the goblin castle, and the river leading them right to their goal. Nothing about it is a game; it is exactly what she asked the crone for, and that was the cruelest trick of all. All the last bits of sanity leave Alexis as she stands frozen, staring at the pillar of yellow smoke right in front of that cursed castle.

Her mind screams, "It's not fair!""I'm never going to get out of here.""I'll never make it to Kit.""I'm such a failure.""I can never do enough, can I?""It's all hopeless.", continuing to scream and race until she could no longer keep up with the words her mind is spiraling on. All she knows is the despair, rage, exhaustion, and fear within her grows and swallows her whole.

Alexis could not get air into her lungs. Her chest is constricted tighter than when she had that snake wrapped around her, and her body feels as if it is fading away. All of her senses dull and everything around her becomes fuzzy. Her mind is gone, all thoughts and reason are gone, and all that is left is her body to go into flight without a tether to hold it down.

"Alexis, Alexis! Deep breaths," Master Bhia shouts to be heard, but Alexis truly can't hear or see him; her eyes are blurred over with her mind offline and the tears pouring down her face. She cannot sense Cleo butting up against her, only feeling the cold grip of fear digging its claws into her. Her friends are pleading with her to stay grounded, but she is in the eye of the spiral. How could there be coming back from this? She has to be dying; she could not come back to existence when she is completely torn away.

Master Bhia and Cleo continue shouting, grabbing, rubbing, and consoling her in every way they could imagine. She is lying on the ground in a fetal position, tears pouring down her face and breath coming out in choked gasps. Master Bhia can feel her pulse pounding wherever he touches her. She is too far gone for reasoning and words; they would need measures to reset her nervous system entirely. Master Bhia tells Cleo to grab water from the river, and she runs off quickly. Then he remembers what he has in his pocket and digs for it, grabbing the wiggling goods and stuffing them into Alexis' panting mouth.

Alexis' body throws her up, and her jaw tightens to hold firm against the intense sour taste that takes over. As her lips twist shut like a candy cartoon character she makes noise, questioning what is happening through muffled cries. "I had some Acrid worms in my pocket. They become more sour the older they are, so I must have been lucky to grab some senior worms," Master Bhia explains over Alexis' mumbling.

Master Bhia notices Cleo running back with a cup of water. Alexis reaches for it unconsciously, but Master Bhia stops her and instructs her to use it against her skin. She follows his instruction and pours some water into her hand, noticing the sharp contrast when the freezing water hits her skin. She then pours the water onto her neck, shouting a bit with the cold shock to her system. She breathes through it, feeling her system try to warm to balance itself back out, which is the goal.

Then, her attention is drawn to an earthy aroma. The leaves have a strong loamy, woodsy smell, which is just as strong as the worms but more pleasant. "Breathe in deep, take in the smell of the leaves and grass. And when you exhale, exhale hard enough to blow the leaves and grass," Alexis hears Master Bhia distantly say. She closes her eyes to inhale the leaves' aroma deeply, letting the earthy smell fill her lungs and bring up the pleasant feelings in her chest. As she does, her body begins to unclench and relax at the delighted feeling filling her. Then she exhales as if blowing bubbles and watches the leaves and grass fall from Master Bhia's muddy hand.

"Now, I want you to keep breathing deep. But I want you to start at your feet and clench the muscles tightly for a few seconds. One... two... three... now relax them. Good, now let's do that with your calves," Master Bhia prompts. She keeps following his prompts to tense and release all the way up her body until her whole body is relaxed, and Master Bhia goes quiet with his guidance. At this point, all her muscles are loose and warm. Her mind and heart feel open and content with peace. Now Alexis can place all the regulation skills Master Bhia has guided her through- ways to reset her nervous system and get her into the parasympathetic state.