World of Mazes

" And that' s what they live on- that' s what we live on," Inyx said.

" We learned how to decoy them, too. That' s how we got these. We found a group of the cappers and chased them into the spawning area. That made the blue monsters spittin' angry. They came rushing out, jaws snappin' shut and chompin' down on anything and everything in sight." He stood, proud of his accomplishment. For all the years people had been exiled to the Twistings, this was the first real systematic exploration that had been done.

Inyx felt a curious combination of elation and emotional depression. The scouting party had found the single room in the Twistings that the Lord guarded with maze creatures and more. Further, she saw how to defeat Knoton and his mechanicals. But it would be bloody. Many would die, both human and mechanical, and in between.

" Can you get the monsters attacking down this corridor?" she asked, sketching out the location she meant. The quick nod convinced her the time had come.

One way or the other, the civil war in the Twistings would be over soon.

" Quiet," Inyx hissed. " They' ll hear us." She sent the word back along the line of eager, kill- crazed humans slowly wending their way down the darkened corridor Fredek had discovered. Ahead gleamed the rectangle leading into Knoton' s base camp and repair area. The coming battle would decide all.

" When do we fight?" demanded one of her less stable men. " I want to kill, kill, kill!"

" Soon," she soothed. " When we hear the blue globs attack them. Then we follow in." She wanted the maze creatures to do as much of the fighting as possible. Let Knoton fight them off; then, when the mech leader least expected it, she would attack.

Her ragtag band grew increasingly restive. They weren' t used to discipline. When Inyx heard loud chomping sounds, she knew that they didn' t have to wait any longer. Fredek and the scouts had decoyed the blue monsters into Knoton' s camp. Now came the real fight.

" Forward!" she cried. The humans surged behind her, waving clubs made from mech legs and human thigh bones, makeshift knives, anything that swung or cut. They burst into Knoton' s camp and found the metallic beings in disarray. The blue monsters had rampaged through, causing great destruction. Inyx hated to admit it, even to herself, but this carnage sickened her. These weren' t flesh- and- blood creatures; they were the product of some mage or technician.

But they lived. They thought. They experienced life. Not as she knew it, but they sensed they were alive.

" There' s the she- demon," shouted Knoton. " Kill her!"

Inyx advanced to lunge with her sword, the point severing the vital wire in one mech' s back panel. She fought through toward Knoton, to see if she couldn' t end this battle by eliminating the opposition leader, when she noticed that some of the mechs falling to her sword evaporated when they touched ground.

" Illusion!" she shouted to Fredek Fynn, just entering by way of the main corridor. " Not all' s real."

While she didn' t know for certain, Inyx guessed that the Lord of the Twistings had learned of what transpired in his grand maze. He personally controlled the illusions she now fought as hard as any real opponent. She pictured the Lord sitting in a chair, a smug expression on his face. He revelled in their misfortune. He sent wave after wave of illusion to torment and hurt and confuse. She remembered him clowning about. She remembered all too well the pain and humiliation she' d felt when placed in his tiny maze.

Inyx vowed then and there to kill him with her bare hands.

She fought like a dozen warriors.

Snakes coiled about her feet. She ignored them. Single- eyed giants attacked. She dodged out of their way. But the pain, the paralysis, the gut- wrenching sense of disorientation, those she couldn' t simply deny. Inyx fought all the harder. The more pain he sent her, the more she hated the Lord of the Twistings.

In a way, that series of illusions and agonies gave her strength to continue.

" Call it off, Knoton," begged another mech. Inyx recognized the broad metal back as belonging to Kolommo. Knoton shoved the other out of the way.

" Stop!" cried Inyx, motioning wildly to Fredek. It was too late. Fredek Fynn swung a metal bar with ferocious strength. Kolommo' s head exploded as if a death spell had focused on it. Inyx saw her only chance for peaceful alliance shattered into a million fragments.

" Murderer!" raged Knoton.

Inyx stumbled forward to stop the mechanical' s attack on Fredek. A transparent barrier stopped her.

" No, Lord, don' t do this. Let me through!" She pounded furiously on the clear wall to no avail. Inyx sagged, felt crushing despair, shook it off, and then turned and bolted for the corridor through which the humans had attacked. Down the darkened course she ran, into the now deserted nest, out and down another corridor. The last of the blue gobbling monsters waddled along, retreating from the fury of the mechanical counterattack.

She slashed at one before it sank deadly teeth into her body. Again, Inyx cut. The creature died. She forced her way over its blue bulk and into the hall beyond. The woman felt time slipping away. She sprinted, found the proper path and soon enough followed Fredek' s route into Knoton' s base.

Inyx saw the mechanical leader decapitate Fredek Fynn just as she entered.

Her body went numb. Her mind slipped out of synchronization with her actions. Inyx stumbled forward, her sword dangling from her shockdeadened fingers.

" You, human. You' re next," Knoton said savagely. The mechanical charged, iron bar swinging with effortless ease above his head.

Inyx didn' t quite snap out of her shock by the time Knoton came within attacking range. But the Lord didn' t want his private showing to end too soon. The iron bar crashed into an invisible wall, reverberated, and bounced free of Knoton' s hands. The mech stared in disbelief, then attacked with his bare hands.

The time between first and second assaults measured only seconds, but Inyx recovered enough to feel cold rage welling inside her. Fredek Fynn had been murdered by this monster. She could avenge the deaththe real death. A mechanism didn' t die. It simply stopped functioning. The woman could stop Knoton' s functioning.

Her sword cut ended abruptly against Knoton' s neck. The blade shattered like crystal on impact, but it drove the mech to his knees. Inyx followed up instantly, kicking, trying to smash the glass eyes and blind her opponent.

" It' s not that easy, human," growled Knoton.

The words turned Inyx into a fighting machine. She hadn' t asked to be placed in the Twistings. This metal monster had killed the only friend she' d found. And for what reason? Irrational hatred of flesh and blood. That was what drove Knoton.

All around them flowed unreality. Humans fought with mechs. Mechs and hybrids battled. And intermixed with all were the Lord of the Twistings' illusions. But to the dark- haired woman, only one thing mattered: Knoton.

Her fingers locked on cold metal flanges in deadly combat.

" Die!" he grunted, metal arms circling her body. Inyx allowed it, keeping her arms free of the grip. She had disabled one mech by loosening a wire in the back. Knoton would die, too.

She gasped as he tightened his grip around her body. The air gusted from her lungs. He tightened more, preventing her from sucking in new oxygen. Her fingers groped blindly, seeking out the vital conductor in the back. Just as the world spun and turned to blackness, she jerked free the wire.

Knoton roared and thrashed around- but he didn' t collapse.

" Human," he said, backing away from her. " My body is different. That slows me, but it does not stop me." Inyx studied the way the mech moved. Ripping free the wire she' d found had done more than slow Knoton. His left leg dragged perceptibly.