Dusky and Erin stood awkwardly as about a hundred pairs of curious eyes stared at them. They had just arrived at the village Erin had visited a couple weeks ago and a small crowd had quickly gathered to greet the travelers. Except, no one was saying anything, everyone was just staring at the neko and dragonewt awkwardly and they didn’t know what to say.

Thankfully, they were saved from the situation when an unusually short, dark-skinned woman pushed through the crowd with a large beam on her face.

“Erin! I wasn’t expecting to see you again so soon… if at all.”

“Hey Ytria. How are you?” Erin greeted back.

“Fine, fine. Can’t complain. Yourself?”

“Hanging in there," Erin chuckled. Ytria smiled warmly and then turned to Dusky.

“And who is this handsome fellow?" She raised an eyebrow inquiringly as she sized him up.

He wasn't too tall compared to other humanoids but, when matched to Ytria’s 4’8”, he towered over the petite woman.

“This is Dusky," Erin introduced. “He’s a dragon-human hybrid from a different world. He’s on the run from some bad people. He’s also the reason we’re here - can we talk to Mardry?”

Ytria nodded politely at the dragonewt as a welcome and then turned back to Erin to answer her question.

“Of course, follow me," she smiled.

The crowd parted like a sea to let them through, still watching silently but not as warily as before. A few gasps could be heard when Dusky passed by and they saw he was missing a wing. He picked up the pace, not really liking the attention.

“Um… who’s Mardry?" he quietly asked Erin.

“The village’s wise woman. She’s nice - I spoke to her last time I visited… well sort of. She can’t actually speak… you’ll see what I mean. Basically, if anyone knows where you can fix your wing, it’s her," Erin whispered back. Dusky nodded and continued to follow the short woman ahead of them.

Ytria led them to a large tree with long roots cascading down from it, creating a wooden cavern underneath it. A small fire inside brightened the room and wisps of gray smoke gently trickled out from between the roots, making it look like a sleeping dragon’s mouth.

Walking inside, Dusky saw a hunched figure in a worn, gray cloak. At the sound of them entering, the person turned to look at them, revealing the aged face of an old lady. In her hand was a long walking stick which she clung to as if her life depended on it. She smiled weakly at the duo and made some weird motions with her free hand. Ytria turned to the Dusky and Erin.

“She says: Welcome back, Erin. And greetings dragonewt, you’re a long way from home.”

Dusky stared at Ytria for a few seconds, confused until he realized what was going on. He looked back at the old woman, who had a knowing smile on her worn face.

“You’re mute?" he asked. She nodded in confirmation and made a few more signals with her hand.

Ytria translated, “What is your name, dragonewt?”

“Dusky… but how do you know what I am? No one in this world should."

He frowned. Mardry smiled again and tapped her nose. Ytria and Erin chuckled at this but Dusky just continued to look at the old lady with confusion. She waved her hand again.

“I assume you’re here for that missing wing. Correct?”

“Um… yes. He says he needs a large source of energy to heal it," Erin responded.

Mardry nodded as if she had expected the answer. She signed again.

“And I guess you’ve told him about the crystal, except you think it may be too dangerous so you’ve come to ask for an alternative method?” Ytria translated.

Dusky was astounded at how perceptive this wise woman was. She seemed to know everything about him despite having only just met him.

“Yes," Erin said.

Mardry nodded again, although she had an apologetic look on her face.

“I’m afraid that, to my knowledge, there isn’t anything else within a practical distance that can help you. The maze is your only option.”

Erin frowned at this - she had been hoping for at least one other choice. She really didn’t know if she was happy with letting Dusky take on the maze. In the few days she had known him, she had grown to really like this dragonewt from another world, and even dared to think she had feelings for him. She glanced at Dusky with concern and her heart fell when she saw his eyes filled with acceptance and determination. He was going to try the maze.

“In that case, would you be so kind as to give me directions to where I need to go?" he asked the old lady.

Mardry nodded in response but she wasn’t looking at him. She was focused on Erin, staring at her intently. The neko knew that this wise woman had probably figured out her emotional turmoil. She winced slightly, uncomfortable, when Mardry smiled at her weakly. It was a knowing smile intended to encourage her, to tell her everything would be fine, but it just made Erin feel even worse.

The old woman turned to Dusky and signed with her hands, “A guide will be sent with you. He’ll show you where to go. Good luck, Dusky. Good luck, Erin. And farewell."

Dusky nodded and bowed. “Thank you for your help. I wish luck upon you as well," he said. Mardry grinned at his politeness before turning away from them and facing the smoldering fire in the middle of the room.

“That was… interesting," Dusky said once they’d left.

“Yeah, she’s always like that,” Ytria chuckled. “Wait here, I’ll go see if anyone wants to volunteer to guide you to the maze. Be right back.”

Then she trotted off towards the other houses nearby. Dusky turned to Erin and smiled expectantly.

“So is this where we part ways, or are you going to be brave enough to come with me?" he asked cheekily.

Erin took a long time to reply. She still hadn’t made up her mind.

“I… I’m not sure," she admitted.

“Okay, how about this: You come with me until we reach the entrance to the maze. You don’t have to come in with me but… I don’t know, it’ll give you more time to make up your mind.”

His warm smile made Erin’s heart flutter and she nodded.

“Yeah, alright. Sounds like a plan," she mumbled with uncertainty.

“Hey," Dusky gripped her shoulders so that the neko had to look into his eyes. “I’ve really enjoyed traveling together. It’d be nice to spend just a little more time with you… even if it is for yet another hike."

He grinned. Erin smiled and groaned over-dramatically.

“Ugh! I’ve changed my mind. I’m not hiking any further," she joked.

Dusky laughed and then hugged her closely.

Ytria returned with a tall, dark-haired man who grinned at them in greeting.

“This is Maltac, he’s going to take you to the maze,” Ytria announced.

Dusky shook hands with him before turning back to the short lady.

“Thank you, Ytria. You’ve been a great help," he said.

“You’re welcome," she smiled back then turned to the neko. “So long, Erin. Maybe we’ll meet again?”

“Maybe," Erin responded, hugging the small human.

Then they were off. A few locals waved at them as the three people walked away and into the trees. Dusky grinned and waved back the whole time, until they were out of sight. Erin rolled her eyes. The dragonewt looked at her innocently and shrugged. She just shook her head and continued to follow Maltac.

* * * * *

Saleena sighed in relief when she saw her two targets leave the small village with one other human. She had just been wondering if they were ever going to come back out and whether or not she should go in after them. She knew that she had become obsessed with this dragon-human hybrid but she didn’t care; she wanted to taste him, to swallow and digest him. She wanted to beat him. He had won the first round and humiliated her but she was going to win the game.

Her eyes fixed on the green-skinned humanoid and the naga licked her lips excitedly. She had been following them for the whole day, waiting for an opportunity to surprise them but never quite finding one.

“You will be mine," she vowed.

Saleena followed the three people, making sure to be as quiet as possible. She had to wait for the right moment. Then she nearly jumped out of her skin when an abnormally loud voice boomed over the trees.

“DUSKY BLADE!”

All eyes looked back in the direction of the voice. There, standing on the top of a large hill, was a big, blond-haired man. He wore a victorious grin on his face.

“How messy are you going to make this?" he called as more humans began to appear behind him.

Saleena turned back to the dragon human for his response but saw that he was instead quickly talking to the human next to him. The human was waving his hands quickly, pointing this way and that while the two others concentrated and nodded. Was he giving them directions? It seemed like it because the neko and her companion then turned and took off in one direction while the human ran in a different one.

Saleena nodded to herself in understanding. The human had been a guide but the dragonewt had probably told him to save himself after giving them the remaining directions, not wanting him to get caught up with the soldiers on the hill.

How thoughtful. She smiled. Except there is one flaw...

The human was running straight towards her, blindly running through the bushes and not noticing her presence. She licked her lips.

Saleena waited for the man to get closer and then snatched him up. He didn’t have time to even yell out in surprise before she jammed his flailing body into her mouth. She moaned happily while she sucked on the thrashing body that wriggled about on her tongue. She glanced up when loud cheers and war cries sounded nearby as the soldiers stampeded in the direction the two fleeing beings had run.

A thought occurred to her: If they get to Dusky first, they’ll kill him or take him… Oh, no you don’t, you pesky humans. He’s mine!

She took off after the group of soldiers, quickly swallowing down the man in her mouth and barely registering it as he plopped down in her empty stomach.

* * * * *

Erin panted heavily as she sprinted alongside the dragonewt, following Maltac’s directions while loud shouts echoed behind them. A large cliff reared up in front of them and they turned right, as instructed. The entrance to the maze was apparently going to come up on their left as they ran along the rock wall.

“There," Dusky called, pointing at a large cave that appeared to have been carved out of the cliff. The duo paused just outside of it. Dusky turned to the neko, both of them breathing heavily.

“Last chance, Erin. Coming or not?" he asked.

Erin didn’t hesitate: “Coming.”

The dragonewt nodded appreciatively and grabbed her hand. Then, together, they turned and ran into the maze.

The gray, stone walls that swallowed them up were flawless, as if carved to perfection by the gods. The tall ceiling of the terrifying halls looked identical to the walls except for one thing: A winding vein of some glowing material that emitted a sharp, icy blue light. The light occasionally pulsed, like blood through an artery, making it seem like it was alive and watching them.

The sound of stamping feet entering the maze not too far behind them made them run faster, taking dozens of turns to lose their chasers. Each corridor looked just like the last one and it was extremely disorienting, which was both a blessing and a curse: they’d soon lost all sense of direction but so had their pursuers.

The shouting voices of the soldiers slowly faded as they got further and further away and soon an eerie silence enveloped the two beings. The only noise was their heavy breathing and drumming footsteps.

“Dusky, wait!” Erin called after five strenuous minutes, abruptly stopping to catch her breath. “I- I need a second," she panted. Dusky nodded and walked back to the neko, letting her lean against him as they both gasped for breath.

Complete silence filled the corridor where they had stopped. This place was unnerving and it felt like you could go mad in here, driven crazy by the repeating, identical halls and hypnotizing pulses of blue light from above.

“Do you- Do you have any idea where we are?” Erin asked, still breathing heavily.

“…no. Not really," Dusky admitted with an awkward smile.

Erin nodded - she had been expecting the answer. She closed her eyes and leaned against one of the cold, stone walls.

“Yeah… we’re so screwed," she said.

Dusky didn’t deny it. They were hopelessly lost in a giant maze with two dozen soldiers hunting them. Their odds didn’t seem great.

“Let’s keep going," he said, taking her hand and gently pulling her forwards. “We don’t need to run anymore, just a brisk walk. Can you manage that?”

“Y-Yeah," Erin smiled weakly, clutching her side with her free hand to try and hold back a stitch. Dusky nodded encouragingly then they started pacing down the corridor, the pulsing light above them seeming to cheer them on… or mock them.

They didn’t make it ten paces before Erin suddenly stopped, face frozen in concentration as her triangular ears swiveled on her head.

“What is it?” Dusky asked.

“Ssh! Can’t you hear that?" she hissed, dragging him backwards and looking at the end of the corridor warily.

Dusky strained his ears but couldn’t hear anything… Wait, what was that? It sounded like a wet slapping sound followed by a dragging noise that repeated every few seconds. Something was approaching.

Both Erin and Dusky inhaled sharply when something appeared around the corner. It looked like some grotesque tentacle, all black and oily. Then another appeared next to it. And another. And another. The sound of something heavy sliding over the stone floor followed and then the creature’s head appeared.

It looked like it had no eyes, just a face and a distorted mouth filled with needle-like teeth. But it seemed it could see somehow because it turned its head straight at them and screeched. A hundred more tentacles appeared around the corner, gripping the walls and floor, and the creature launched itself forward at the pair. Its monstrous mouth dripped with thick saliva as it charged at them and another screech escaped its mouth, sounding like a strangled scream that hurt Erin’s sensitive ears. She clamped her hands over them and turned away in fear, screaming as she felt Dusky lurch away from her.

Oh god! she thought. It’s going to kill him. Then I’m next. Oh god, oh god! Why can’t I run?

She felt rooted to the floor by fear and she screamed as she felt blood splatter against her, keeping her eyes screwed shut as if she could wish herself away from this situation.

She flinched and shrieked in fear when she felt a hand on her shoulder, lurching away in surprise. She opened her eyes to see Dusky, standing there, with a stone sword in hand and green, mucousy blood all over his clothes. She sighed in relief when she saw the grin on his face but almost retched when she saw the dead creature behind him. It was cut completely in half and green blood was seeping out of it, pooling around the grotesque figure. The stench was horrible.

“Oh god!" she gagged. “I think I’m gonna be-“

She turned her head to the side and threw up all over the floor. She heard Dusky chuckle behind her as he patted her on the back.

“Easy there. It’s just a dead body," he teased.

“Ugh!” Erin panted. “You’re a real meanie. You know that, right?”

Dusky just chuckled then helped her straighten up. “Come on. We’ve got a crystal to find.”

* * * * *

Saleena’s face scrunched up in disgust as she crushed yet another one of those weird tentacle monsters with her thumb. They were small and harmless to her but with their distorted bodies and eyeless faces combined with the black, oily skin… they just unnerved her.

She had been wandering this maze for a while now and hadn’t found any evidence of Dusky, the neko, or the soldiers who had also entered the maze.

She wasn’t lost though, she had memorized the way she had come and could turn around to leave at any time she wanted. The ceiling was high enough for her to fit in the maze as well but the shining blue vein above was nearly touching her head so she instinctively remained hunched over.

“Where are you, Dusky?" she growled in frustration. “Where are you, my delicious snack?"

She wanted that dragon-human. She needed that dragon-human.

“Saleena’s coming to get you.”

* * * * *

“Fire! Goddamn it! Fire!” Kane called, his own rifle shuddering against his shoulder as he let loose a spray of bullets alongside his men.

The hunting party had split in half when they entered the maze, to cover more ground, one half led by Kane and the other half led by the golden-robed man. Yet, they hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Dusky and were now lost in this giant maze… which appeared to have a few surprises in it.

The twisted tentacle monsters were relentless. Three of them were charging at the group right now, shrieking angrily as they were hit by multiple rifle shots. One eventually collapsed, sticky, green blood seeping out of its body while the others continued to move forward, albeit slower now.

“Keep shooting!" he called. Several panicked cries came from the men around him as the creatures continued to drag themselves forward, their angry screeches becoming gurgling growls. Then they just stopped, collapsed onto the floor, and also began to leak green mucousy liquids.

Kane sighed and lowered his gun, taking a second to collect his wits before turning to his group.

“Good work, men. Now, come on. We have a dragonewt to catch.”

He strode forward, straight through the pools of green blood. His men followed hesitantly, wary of the three monstrous bodies and feeling less enthusiastic about tracking down their target. This maze was really starting to mess with their heads.

* * * * *

Erin was exhausted. She and Dusky had been walking for ages now. It was hard to tell how long in this place but it felt like it had been hours. She plodded alongside the dragonewt, jealous of his enhanced stamina, and nearly falling asleep as she walked.

Her eyes drifted shut and she used her heightened hearing to guide her, keeping next to the sound of Dusky’s rhythmic footsteps. The regular beat lulled her into an even deeper trance.

“Erin. Look," Dusky’s voice suddenly jolted her back to reality, causing her to jump a little and open her eyes.

She looked questioningly at the dragonewt and saw that he was pointing ahead of them. She followed his gaze and noticed that the corridor in front of them seemed more brightly lit than the others, as if illuminated by another light source.

Oh," she said. “Do you think-“

“It’s got to be," Dusky grinned, bouncing up and down excitedly. “Come on!"

He rushed ahead. Erin ran after him as he followed the ever brightening light. Then they turned the final corner and were greeted by the sight of a particularly large corridor which looked like it opened up at the end, into a massive, underground cavern. The center of the maze.

They would have cheered if there hadn’t been one slight problem: About half of Kane’s company was standing there, in the way. Leading them was a figure in golden robes.

“Oh," Dusky breathed quietly.

“Yeah," Erin agreed. “That’s a lot of soldiers.”

“No, not them. I can handle the soldiers... it’s him I’m worried about," Dusky replied, gesturing to the golden figure.

“Why?” Erin asked. “Do you know him?”

Dusky nodded solemnly.

“He’s bad news. He-“

“Dussssssky,” an eerie voice called as the mysterious figure pulled down his hood, revealing his black, twisting horns. They looked a lot like Dusky’s but the man was clearly not a dragonewt.

Dusky crouched down into a defensive position, his stone sword raised.

“Toron," he growled. “I didn’t think I’d be seeing you again, old friend.”

“Friend?” Erin asked.

Dusky ignored her and scowled at the golden figure as evil laughter echoed down the hall.

And just as they thought things couldn’t get any worse: Kane’s voice called out to them... from behind. Looking down the corridor they had just come down, the duo saw the other half of the hunting party marching towards them. They were trapped.

“We’ve got you now, Blade,” Kane growled as both groups of humans started to advance towards the two beings.

Continued in Chapter 6...