From the heart of the shadows, the figure began to take form.
Slowly, it emerged from the coiling gray mist — a strange creature, featureless… its pale gray skin looked like it had been carved from smooth stone. No eyes, no nose, just a flat face, and a grotesquely hunched back from which protruded what seemed like bone. It walked on all fours, yet upright enough to appear… disturbingly human. Massive claws dug into the ground with every slow step, and the sound of them scraping stone echoed like rusty groans.
I stood frozen.
And Neil… took one step back.
Just one step, but it hit a small stone behind him. The stone rolled and struck a nearby wall, emitting a sharp, piercing sound like an arrow through silence.
The creature's head snapped upward.
Then came the sound… not a roar, not a screech, but an internal rattle, like bones grinding against each other.
And in a moment, it moved.
As if something exploded within it, it lunged with a speed unfit for its deformed body, heading straight for Neil. There was no time to think.
I leapt between him and the boy, raising my sword just as the claws struck.
They crashed into me violently, bouncing off the blade's edge. Then came another attack — faster, more erratic, but deadly. Its body moved like a machine thrown off balance, yet it continued to strike, relentless.
"Back up!" I shouted to Neil, pushing the creature back with all my strength.
The creature slammed into the wall — hard.
Then it went still.
Its body shrank slightly, and its limbs stopped moving. It seemed either stunned… or completely drained for a moment.
I didn't move.
I watched it, searching for any motion, any breath… but it remained pressed to the wall, completely silent.
I was about to speak when Neil interrupted, voice faint and trembling:
"There are… more. Coming."
I turned my head quickly.
From the same shadows, more shapes began to form. Five… seven… ten. Moving slowly, slithering, crawling… all of the same kind, all eyeless. And all walking in the same direction.
I looked at Neil and whispered:
"Don't move. Don't make a sound."
His eyes widened, but he obeyed.
The creatures passed by us… some lowered their heads as if sensing our breath, others lifted theirs like they were smelling something — but none attacked. Their footsteps were harsh, irregular. One of them slammed its tail into the ground before continuing. Another stared our way for seconds, then moved on.
And then… they were gone.
I exhaled, and reached out to Neil. He grabbed my hand immediately.
"Follow me. Slowly."
We moved, quietly, through the space the creatures had passed. There was no clear scent, just a heavy feeling, like the air itself remembered monsters.
Neil whispered, barely audible: "Why didn't they attack us?"
I replied without turning: "Because they can't see. They're blind. They sense by movement, by sound. When we stopped… they didn't know we were here."
He paused, then asked: "But the first one — how did it detect us?"
"The sound of the stone. That was enough to drive it mad."
We passed between dark columns, moving away from the main path. With every step, the maze seemed to recede slightly… as though it was truly testing us.
Elsewhere in the labyrinth, where the stones were lighter and the gray light slightly brighter, stood Elenios and his two sons.
Around them lay remnants of a short battle — gray creatures of the same kind, but smaller, lying motionless. They hadn't put up much of a fight.
Kaelen wiped his sword and looked at his father. "These weren't hard. Just insects."
Elryas, gazing at the gray horizon, said: "But their presence means we're close to something important."
Elenios looked ahead to the branching tunnel and said: "The maze doesn't open its paths randomly. It opens them to those deemed worthy."
Kaelen frowned: "You keep saying that. What does it actually mean?"
His father replied calmly: "Daimas… isn't a fixed place. It's alive. It changes based on who walks through it. The closer someone gets to the goal, the more the path shifts — the stones move — as if the maze itself chooses who deserves to win."
Elryas said quietly: "So we're in a race. And the more someone proves themselves, the more the maze eases their way."
Elenios nodded. "Exactly. But that doesn't mean it will make things easier for us. There are others… and some may be far more dangerous than these creatures."
The three moved on, silence returning to cover the ground behind them. But Daimas did not rest… it listened, and it watched.
I continued with Neil through the side corridor. The floor shifted from smooth gray stone to rough tiles, carved with long grooves like drag marks left by ancient bodies. The walls narrowed, the air grew heavier, stickier. Neil stayed close behind, stepping precisely where I did, but said nothing.
After a few minutes, the corridor opened into a wide circular chamber. The ceiling was domed and endless, and at the center… a lowered stone circle, surrounded by four arches — each containing a strange statue. Half-human, half… something else.
"What is this place?" Neil finally whispered.
"A junction."
I approached the circle, examining the symbols carved along its edge. Not a language I recognized, but the arrangement wasn't random… almost ritualistic.
Then we heard the whispering.
Not human speech, nor the murmur of any living being… it sounded like fine glass breaking — from the walls, from the floor, from above… and something else.
A voice echoing deep within the mind.
"Do you hear it?" I whispered.
Neil furrowed his brow, then nodded. "It's like… something's calling me. But it has no words."
I tore my eyes away from the carvings and stared at one of the statues. It seemed to move… or perhaps it was just the light.
"Step away from the circle," I said sharply, taking a step back.
And as we did… light burst from the center of the floor.
Interlocking rings of bluish-white energy rose into the air, swirling to form another gate. But this wasn't like the one from before.
This one pulsed.
I grabbed Neil's arm, pulling him back. "Don't approach. This isn't a path… it's a test."
But before we could decide what to do, everything changed.
The room trembled — no, the air bent slightly, as if the walls themselves leaned in to listen.
Then… from one of the arches, another creature emerged.
Slower than before. Larger. And far darker. Its face bore only a single opening — a lipless mouth stretching ear to ear. Its arms were longer than its body, walking on its knuckles, cracking the tiles beneath its feet.
Neil whispered: "This one's… different."
Yes. It wasn't like the others.
And it wasn't alone.
Two more followed it, walking slowly, but they had eyes — glowing faintly blue.
"Back up," I told Neil, drawing my weapon.
But the creature didn't charge. Didn't lunge. It just… stood there, watching.
Then… it pointed with its long arm.
I understood.
"It's not here to kill. It's here to measure."
"Measure?" Neil asked.
"Yes. It wants to see… how we respond."
I stepped forward, raising my weapon. The creature didn't flinch.
Then slowly, very clearly, it pulled something from its chest — a blade-like object, but organic. Long, twisted, as if a thorn had grown straight from bone.
"It wants a duel."
I looked at Neil. "Stay back. If the others move, use your shield."
I launched forward.
The first strike wasn't meant to kill, just to press. The creature blocked it with its arm, then countered fiercely — nearly tearing the air. I retreated, then attacked again. We exchanged three, four, five strikes. Its blows were heavy, unbalanced, but lethal if they landed.
On the sixth exchange, I ducked under its swing and drove my sword into its side.
But it didn't scream.
It looked at me… and smiled with that wound-like mouth.
Then… it vanished.
Didn't fall. Didn't die. Just… dissolved.
Neil looked around, then at me. "What happened?"
I answered while scanning the room: "The test is over."
Then I looked at the center — the gate.
The light had intensified.
And with it, a path formed. The walls to the left shifted, opening a new corridor that hadn't been there before.
"The maze… responded," I whispered.
Elsewhere in the maze, where the ceiling was lower and the air hotter, Elenios and his sons stood before a strange metallic wreckage — the remains of a forgotten machine-creature, not part of the recent battle.
"I think this was one of the first generations of maze guardians," said Elryas.
Kaelen bent over one of the pieces, flipping it with his boot. "Why leave it here? It's like the maze is showing us its history."
Elenios replied in his calm tone: "It's not showing. It's teaching."
Then he stopped, eyes fixed on a carved symbol on the nearby wall. A circle with an eye in the center, rays of light extending outward.
"See that?" he asked.
Kaelen nodded.
"An old symbol of the maze. Daimas wasn't born when these stones were laid… it's something older — something that had awareness before we even knew how to name things."
Elryas asked: "And the pendant? Will these symbols lead us to it?"
Elenios answered: "They don't lead us… we must prove we're worthy to see it. The maze will change us, and change its paths with us. The closer one gets to truth… the more the maze alters the way — speeding it up, slowing it down, or testing again."
Kaelen muttered sarcastically: "It's like a race… but we don't even know who we're racing."
Elryas replied calmly: "Or maybe… we don't know if we're the opponents."
Elenios didn't answer.
He just stepped forward, opened the next door, and said without looking back:
"Move. The maze has begun to shift."