Concordis the forgotten Place

Chapter 4: The Labyrinth

We were pulled across the sky at great speeds by Tanngnoist and Tanngrisnir, dark clouds swirling all around us, lightning brightening the sky, Thor the drunkard whooping like a mad man.

But alast we arrived with a crackle of thunder in the sky, we arrived at the City of Crete, a cosy city surrounded by Earth which gave it the appearance that the city was in a bowl. The goats pull the Chariot down towards the Earth decreasing in speed, and they gently come to a stop outside the city. I leap of the Chariot vowing to never get back in that death Chariot ever again. The drunkard just takes a sip of his beer and stumbles off the Chariot.
"I'll be right back" he tells the goats as he tipsies towards me
"So where do we go now?" He asks stinging my nose with the scent of alcohol.
"We go into the city and register for the Labryinth" I say walking towards the city.

We walk in through the main Gates of the city, the city was Beautiful, buildings were small but the quantity of them made up for it, the people wore fancy Jewels and clothes, Crete was a prospering city, you would see a begger here and there but even commoners had enough money for jewels. "So exactly where do we go?" Asks The drunkard

"The Labyrinth game is a main form of entertainment for this city, they get most of their money from this labyrinth, people pay to participate they pay to watch, and all the money goes to the king and his city." I explain.
"Do you have money to participate?" The Drunkard asks
"Yes, but you'll have to wait for me out here" I say
"Great I'm running out of alcohol anyway" says the Drunkard something that I thought would never happen.
"The Labyrinth is underground so the entrance is in the heart of the city" I say to no-one in particular as the Drunkard had roamed off.

I walk to the heart of the city where a beautiful fountain flows and behind it the entrance to the Labyrinth, people were walking in and out, booking and saving seats I am sure of that, the wealthy love nothing more than to see, people fight for their lives and die.

I enter and walk down the long stairway people with jewelery bouncing up and down jingling and jangling around the maidens breasts and the men's necks. At the bottom of the staircase it opens up to 2 doors, 1 for spectators and 1 for suicidal idiots, I take the 2nd one and it opens up to a line of contestants, I see men of all sizes some small I would swear are dwarves and some large I would swear they were prebubescent Giants. I stand in line, all around me warriors holding weapons, some with scars adorning their faces and some with faces adorning scars.

When I get to the front of the line I meet this woman with an abnormal nose beady eyes and paint smeared lips. Her attempts at looking preety were at a loss.
"Contestant fee is 2 coins of silver" says the lady with a scratchy voice, I hand it to her and she gives me a paper with a number on it #38. The game starts when the Minotaur kills the last person. And with that we hear a shrill scream and a "CRUNCH!" sound.

"2 contestant positions remaining" says the lady as a new Labyrinth match was about to begin, everyone else from the previous match had died. Then 2 more people run in and register 1 of them was a girl with blonde hair wearing a large cloak gray cloak. She registers and the match can officially begin, a man walks in big and buff with a nose piercing, a guy to make sure we don't back out and run away. We are led down larger staircase, a long one, then a contestant next to me taps my shoulder and says "That's a pretty gem, you got there" a man with a sharp nose says to me referring to the Philosophers Stone on my wrist I conceal it and say "thanks".

"So what's a kid like you doing in a place like this?" Asks the man who looks like a prebubescent giant.
"Slavery" I lie, no-one sane in the head willingly enters this game, it's either circumstance, a deal gone wrong or the king offers death row criminals a chance to go free if they win, none of them have walked free.