The Dragon's Gift [Rewriting]

Chapter 11

In which the truth is revealed

∴ ════ ∴ ❈ ∴ ════ ∴

Daniel has always considered himself to be a good person. He took care of his parents when they were sick and took care of Caasi after their deaths. He would go out of his way to help strangers. He would never willfully try and cause harm upon another, so why was he here? He came here to help his village, and now he was going to die because of it.

Alone in the darkness of the labyrinth, Daniel was terrified. He had read the markings on the walls. There were creatures called Talmins in here. Bloodthirsty killers that were afraid of fire. The blind, eyeless beasts would be able to smell fire, but not see it. The smell terrified them. He found it a bit amusing. Something so big and dangerous is scared of fire.

He knew how to scare the Talmins away, but he still didn't want to encounter one. What if they had adapted to the fire and lost their fear of it?

He had so many things to worry about. Caasi. Was she okay? Was his village okay? And the others? What happened to them? Were they still alive? The cheering of the audience had calmed down to silence, making him all the more anxious.

And Eridanna....

He still didn't trust her. Her name, Eri, is a bit... eerie, to him. She said she had no experience in fighting, but when it came to the fight yesterday, a whole new side of her was released. She was fighting like a demon, knocking down any monster in her path. Something about her was just off.

He shrugged it off. If he happened to run into her in the maze, he would rather stick with her than leave. Of course, he considered himself to be a good fighter, but two heads are better than one.

Daniel shook off the thought, a bit angry at himself. He had just met her. Maybe she wasn't as much of a psychopath as he thought. Maybe she was telling the truth and she was just trying to medecine for her dying brother. It was a noble cause, but that just seemed to make him more suspicious.

He looked around the maze, reading the walls again.

The writing lacked useful information. It only talked about ancient history about Gods and Goddesses. Some of the words were smeared and messy due to the softness of the wall.

He skimmed through most of it, sure he wouldn't find anything useful.

Only later would he learn how wrong he was.

Daniel continued to walk, keeping his hand only on the right side. It was an old technique he had learned a while back.

Back then, he would never have seen himself here. But now he was here, and he had to make the most of it.

"Keep your head held high, Daniel." He said to himself, reminding himself of what his mother used to say.

He laughed upon realizing how much he quoted her.

He used to think of his mother as one say, but now that she's gone, his thoughts of her only got brighter and brighter.

Daniel walked through the maze, bits of the clay from the wall crowding up on his hands. He made a mental notice not to touch his face. How many people were touching this wall? Or worse.... How many Talmins?

Daniel just got more bored as he walked. As a child, he had learned to manage boredom. Years of working in the fields trying to get enough food to support not only Caasi, but his whole village. And then he got sent away, being the 'child with the most potential.' For two years, he studied and studied and studied, like any Learner must, but he studied more. He was desperate to be the best. Nothing satisfied him. The classes were only supposed to be a year long, but they kept him there because of his potential. They saw so much potential in him. So much potential.