World of Mazes

" Yes," piped up another. " With the mechanicals on our side- or not opposing us- we hope to live much longer."

" Some leader," Lan said admiringly.

" That she is. Inyx is quite a woman."

" Inyx!" he cried. " Inyx is your leader? Take me to her at once. Now!"

" Well:"

" At once! Krek, we' ve found Inyx."

The spider sauntered up, blood dripping from his furry legs.

" Good. I tire of this slaughter. Those blue balls begin to annoy me, and intelligent conversation with Inyx again would do much to lift my sagging spirits."

The small band of humans, hybrid, and spider hastened off in search of the nest- and Inyx.

At last, Lan Martak had found her.

" Inyx!" he exclaimed. " We' ve found you at last."

Inyx looked up, perplexed. The voice sounded familiar, but who could it be down here in the Twistings?

She looked up, blinked as if her eyes deceived her, then said, " Lan? It' s really you! Oh, Lan!"

They rushed forward and flung eager arms around one another. They clung to each other for long minutes; then both began to babble at the same time.

" How' d you get-"

" Why didn' t you-"

" Are you really the leader-"

" Silence!" bellowed Krek. The echoes deafened all in the nest. Absolute quiet fell as Krek carefully folded his legs and sat down in the center of the room. All eyes followed his every movement. When he had reached a comfortable position, he said, " Now you may continue. But please do not carry on like that. Speak in complete sentences. I try to tell my hatchlings communication is important. Granted, the hatchlings are more intelligent than humans, but-"

" Krek!" Inyx threw her arms around his nearest leg and squeezed, pressing her face against the coppery fur.

" You are getting my leg wet," he said, but the complaint carried no sting. In a lower voice, he added, " I am glad to see you also, Inyx. You have no idea how dull it has been travelling with him."

Lan shook his head in wonderment. Dull? Of all the words to describe their travels, dull was far down on his list.

" Tell us how you came to be the leader of this: army." Lan looked around at the dozens of dirty faces, the demented smiles, the vacant stares.

Inyx took a deep breath and began her story, finishing with ": and Knoton and I fought it out to a tie. We' ve got an uneasy alliance now. He doesn' t trust humans, and I don' t trust him. But for the first time in anyone' s memory the mechanicals aren' t systematically killing the humans and hybrids."

" That' s progress," said Lan. " Maybe we can muster enough support to attack in force through the entry point. Krek remembers the way back. The disorientation we felt on entering the Twistings didn' t affect him. I don' t think the Lord was expecting such a different set of senses."

" We can' t leave, not yet," she said. " Did you notice any spell holding you within the maze?"

" I felt weaker at the vault door," he admitted.

" A part of Claybore' s body is within the maze."

" We know. We overheard Claybore and Alberto Silvain talking about it."

" Silvain," she hissed. With effort, Inyx pushed him from her mind and continued. " My scouts have found a guarded room. That is very unusual in this place."

" The entire Twistings is a prison," mused Lan. " So, with Knoton' s help, we get into this guarded room, destroy whatever part of Claybore we find, then leave."

" Can you destroy anything of Claybore' s?" she asked. " I had the impression he was invulnerable."

He quickly explained all he and Krek had learned about how a far greater mage named Terrill had dismembered the sorcerer and spread his parts along the Cenotaph Road.

" Claybore can' t be destroyed, but his powers are vastly weaker than when his body is reassembled."

" Weaker," she muttered in disbelief. " Can you destroy whatever it is of Claybore' s?" she repeated. " You don' t have the magical skills of this Terrill."

" He is growing more and more adept," spoke up Krek. " Lan Martak is not master mage, but his abilities far exceed those of when you were last in our company."

" With a few of the spells in this," Lan said, pulling out and tapping his leather- bound grimoire, " I can destroy- I think. If not, then neutralizing might be the next best thing. It' s not going to be easy, and I need to rest up." He winced as Inyx' s hand rested on his injured shoulder. " But we can come through it."

Their eyes locked and unspoken communication flowed.

They' d triumph because they were together. At last.

" I drove them out," said Inyx, " when I found out they actually were cannibals. I wasn' t going to let them live off the others. They really worried me the way they skulked around."

" You couldn' t sleep too soundly yourself," said Lan. " If I' d known that they were stalking around in the maze, I' m not sure I could have slept at all."

" You' ve not been sleeping too well, anyway," the woman pointed out. " Are your nightmares getting worse? Last night you screamed aloud, and never woke up."

Lan tried to calm his heart as it raced away. Last night' s dreams had been the worst yet. He didn' t know if the Lord triggered the dreams or if it indicated some change within himself. He' d started receiving them when he and Claybore had faced one another on the way to the summit of Mount Tartanius. The sorcerer had sent the frightening, evil visions in hopes of scaring Lan away. If anything, however, the dreams then helped strengthen his growing powers.

Now he felt only debilitated by the dreams. He couldn' t fight. His dream- self tried forming spells, fighting back, evading. Nothing worked. The maze worked its insidious power on him and left him as weak as a newborn kitten.

" Fredek once said that only those used to magic were affected inside the Twistings. Maybe he was right."

" Fredek?"

" He' s dead. Knoton killed him." From the tone of her voice Lan knew that this Fredek had meant something to her. Irrational jealousy flared, then went away, dying down into something more manageable.

" I' ve thought of you often," he said softly.

" And I of you, Lan. In the whiteness between worlds I had little else to do but think. One place was the same as another. And in here:" She held out her hands palms up and looked around. There wasn' t all that much to do or see.

He started to ask about Fredek, then stopped. It wasn' t any of his business. Krek lumbered into the nest and relieved him of the burden of finding some other, safer topic.

" Friend Inyx, Lan Martak, good news. I have worked my way through to the guarded room. It is not difficult to reach, but it is protected in ways that perplex me."

" Simple frontal assault won' t work, is that what you' re saying, old spider?"

" Just that. In addition to the more obvious ploys, like falling weights, razor- edged flooring panels, and the maze creatures, the Lord of the Twistings has added many traps similar to those we crossed on our way into his palace."

" What kind of traps?" asked Inyx.

" I don' t know how he rigs them," admitted Lan. " Most magic spells require considerable energy to form and maintain. Over a span of hours or weeks, perhaps even years, the binding spells fade and become inoperative. The Lord has contrived spells that are mechanically activated. I assume they' d last as long as the mechanical triggering device did."

" They produce partial paralysis or intense pain," said Inyx, remembering her bout in one of the Lord' s other mazes.

" How' d you know?" asked Lan.

" I owe the Lord much. When we get out of the Twistings, he shall be repaid in full for all he' s done to me- and the others."

Lan looked at her and tried to penetrate the depths of her anger. He felt cold inside when he realized exactly how intense her feelings were concerning the Lord. Here was something else he didn' t care to explore any further.