Tales of the Onyx Labyrinth

Fleeing from Grey

In grey darkness Daphne woke with a start. Her heart pounded against her chest, already trying to leave the shack in the woods whether Daphne was ready or not.

Stealthily, she pulled on her leather armour, cloak, mask, boots and the weapons the Sylvan Guardian had given her. She used the darkness to her advantage. She still didn't know why, but she knew that the Grey Guard had figured out where she'd gone.

Perhaps it hadn't been such a good idea to go to Safe Haven. Though only a few Guardians – like her friend who likes to dress in green – even knew of this place, she should've avoided it.

Yet... When the Sylvan Guardian had found her, she'd been exhausted. She'd been running from the Grey Guard – and Guardians who agreed with them that she was a traitor – for weeks. Even the Sylvan Guardian had drunk a silvery liquid so he could forget encountering her. Everyone was afraid of the Grey Guard. Even the Fae harbouring her.

Daphne quickly walked down a path, barely visible in the grey darkness, towards the thickest part of the forest. The 'vermin' of the Labyrinth – Caìt Sìth refusing to be crazy bandits, Elves ignoring their role as servants, Grogochs staying out of sight of the Courts, and others – lived in harmony in Safe Haven, in the depths of the Verdure Labyrinth. She hoped that they would remain safe from the Grey Guard.

Ignoring her innate fear of plants – the Onyx Labyrinth she came from barely had any – she moved through the thick foliage in the direction of a secret tunnel her Sylvan friend had shown her before he left.

The ground suddenly changed before her and she nearly tripped. Glancing down, she saw that Digmoles were responsible. She stepped over them and moved on. The way her heart was beating, she knew that she was running out of time.

The woods was alive. And it didn't want her there. She understood: she was from the Onyx Labyrinth and not from this one. The woods could feel it.

Bushes scratched, pushed, pulled and squeezed her out of one tunnel made of twisted trees and plants to the next. The trees trembled. She could scarcely breathe. All these foreign plants were scaring her in a way that the rest of the Labyrinth never did.

The woods had a Fae nature and obviously enjoyed her fear. She wasn't sure she appreciated it. Pulling herself together, she jogged in the direction she thought she had to go, stamping down on the fear that Guardians weren't supposed to feel.

Finally the rock formation concealing the secret tunnel loomed before her. Though it was a lot like caverns she'd encountered in the rest of the Labyrinth, this one still had a roof and walls of plants.

She took a deep breath through her nose and found the special herb needed to open the tunnel. It had a very peculiar scent. Not waiting to figure out why it was familiar, she pressed it to the base of the rock formation and an opening appeared. She stuffed the herb in her pocket and entered the pitch black tunnel.

Her heart rate slowed as she took careful steps. The tunnel smelled like wet rock and was very inviting. She could no longer sense the Grey Guard's pursuit. Though, that could just be the magic of the Labyrinth...

The sound of water rushing somewhere in front of her made her stop after five thousand steps. Daphne was at a loss. The Sylvan Guardian hadn't mentioned anything like this.

From somewhere far away, yet far too close, she could feel her pursuers.

Swallowing away all reservations, she continued forward. Two thousand steps later, a faint glow broke the darkness. A river rushed by the opening of the tunnel. The water looked more like molten silver than anything resembling drinkable water.