Chapter 10: Into the Labyrinth – Shadows Awaken
Prologue – Shifting Grounds
In the days leading to the Trial Labyrinth, the very air within Aflety changed.
Classes took a backseat. Professors vanished into planning rooms. Magical wards pulsed at odd hours. Even beasts acted strange—restless, agitated, sniffing at the wind as if they sensed something ancient stirring beneath the academy.
And for Evan… time became silence.
He trained in solitude, Nex growing larger and more precise with every commandless drill. No need for words. Their bond had deepened to something older than speech.
Something primal.
On the third morning, horns blared from the central towers.
The labyrinth had opened.
Team Formation
In the Grand Spire Arena, names were announced in blazing silver flame—randomized team selections mixed across divisions.
Evan's name echoed with strange gravity.
Team 9:
Evan Rochel
Silva Elowen
Cassia Belvane
Alaric Yulmoor (a silent prodigy from the Support Division)
Naelle Greentide (a sharp-tongued nature beast tamer with an unnerving connection to wild flora)
Lilith wasn't in his team.
But she watched him quietly from the stands. A flicker of worry crossed her crimson gaze.
Beside her, Veyon Draxis laughed. "How amusing. That group will either conquer the trial… or cannibalize each other in the dark."
Lilith didn't respond.
But her hand tightened on the armrest.
Entering the Labyrinth
Each team was teleported to separate points in the underground terrain.
Evan's group arrived in a damp, mist-filled valley beneath a canopy of bioluminescent vines. The earth pulsed. The walls moved. Nothing was truly dead here.
"Don't wander," Cassia muttered. "This place changes when you blink."
Silva stepped beside Evan. "We follow your lead. But if this becomes a death trap, I'm pulling us out."
Naelle snorted. "Afraid, Elowen?"
"Prepared," Silva replied calmly. "There's a difference."
Evan didn't speak.
He looked up. The mist parted—just for a moment.
And he saw it.
A structure carved into the cavern wall: a shrine. Serpent-shaped. Identical to the relic he'd touched days ago.
Nex hissed.
It wasn't part of the test.
Something… had grown inside the labyrinth since last year.
First Encounter – The Ironhide Mournox
As they pushed deeper, the team was ambushed.
A massive Ironhide Mournox, a subterranean beast shaped like a steel-plated bull with eyes of ember and a tail made of stone spikes, burst from the earth.
Naelle screamed, "Those things aren't supposed to appear on day one!"
Cassia responded instantly, casting a wind ward that slowed its charge.
Silva summoned her Nightfang, a ghostly feline with phasing claws, to flank.
But the beast was relentless.
Until—
Evan stepped forward.
Nex uncoiled, his scales gleaming with water and shadow essence.
No commands.
Only a low vibration in the ground.
And then—the Basilisk moved.
Fast. Too fast.
It slid beneath the Mournox, coiling around its legs, hissing a curse through its fangs. A shockwave burst from the point of contact—a dark pulse that cracked the Mournox's armor.
The others watched in awe as Nex drove its fangs into the beast's throat and the creature collapsed, whimpering, before dissipating into crystal mist.
"…We didn't kill it," Alaric whispered. "We broke its will."
Evan turned to them, eyes colder than before.
"Move. This wasn't the real threat."
Meanwhile – Within the Shadows
Elsewhere in the labyrinth, Gareth Ironfang's group stumbled upon a corridor filled with shriveled vines and dead flora.
But something waited inside.
A student—or at least, what appeared to be one—stood motionless at the end.
Clad in Aflety robes.
But their aura was wrong.
Too still.
Too dark.
Their voice echoed unnaturally:
"The Nest watches."
Then they vanished.
Leaving behind a whisper in Gareth's head. A mark on his wrist.
And a beast egg that wasn't part of the trial.
End Scene – The Shrine Calls
Back in Evan's group, they reached the serpent shrine.
It radiated no heat. No magic.
Yet Nex trembled before it.
Silva touched a rune on the edge and recoiled. "That's… beast-speech. Ancient. It says: 'Here slumbers the Scale of the Serpent King. Only one with blood not born may wake it.'"
Evan stepped closer.
A single drop of blood from his finger touched the altar.
The ground shook.
From the shadows behind the shrine…
A tail moved.
Not a beast.
Not a relic.
A sealed being.
Eyes opened in the dark.
And for a moment—Evan saw himself reflected in those eyes.
Then it whispered,
"You are the wrong heir. But you wear his scent.
I will watch.
Wake me if you dare."
[End of Chapter 10]