World of Mazes

" I think the Lord watches me more carefully than you," said Lan, " because I know some magic. What this Fredek said holds true, at least in my case. Why don' t you and Krek go ahead and scout around this room while I bring up the rear?"

" Good," said Inyx. She and Krek left, Lan following at a respectable distance. He felt the flow of magic whirling about him. Whether or not the Lord actually watched- and Lan thought he did- the magics at work meant he' d have to be constantly alert. His few spells seemed pitiful in comparison to those a full- fledged mage commanded, but they were all he had. They' d have to serve him well.

An hour hiking through the maze got Lan totally turned around and lost. He felt the subtle tuggings of spells at every junction. Once, he attempted to alter the magic and found he didn' t have nearly enough power. A basic part of the Twistings was contained in those mysterious guard- spells, he thought. Pass through an intersection, be just a bit more turned around by the spell. They operated directly on the brain and caused disorientation.

Krek didn' t appear to be the least affected. His nervous system, his brain, body, everything, worked differently from a human' s. Lan found himself wondering how these spells affected the mechanicals. They, too, experienced the twisting effect coming into the maze. He' d spoken with several of the hybrids while he convalesced, and they' d told similar stories.

" Here, friend Inyx," came the spider' s voice. Lan stopped fifty feet away to avoid attracting magics until Inyx had personally examined the room containing a body part of Claybore' s.

" Lan, come ahead. We need something more than eyes now," echoed her voice. He hastened to join them.

The room lacked a door, but Lan " felt" the intense magics sparking to and fro in place of a solid barrier. Strewn out at random along the corridor in either direction he " saw" the dull glowing pates where the Lord' s traps waited for the unwary.

" I wonder how many times one of those traps can be triggered," he thought aloud.

" Shall I test it and see?" asked Krek.

" No, let' s wait a few minutes. I doubt we' re going to be allowed to examine the room without picking up some company." The words were hardly out of his mouth when one of the globular blue maze creatures waddled into view, mouth opening and closing with loud clacking sounds. It walked over several of the traps without ill effect.

" I shall dispatch it," offered Krek. Lan waved the spider ahead, wanting to get on with a closer examination of the room. While the spider chased off the blue monster, Lan ran hands along the wall. He didn' t know what he sought, but when his hands vanished to the wrists through an illusory wall panel, he knew he' d found it.

" Let' s go in and see what we can find," he told Inyx. The pair walked through the wall into darkness.

" Lan," she said, reaching out and touching his shoulder. He winced slightly. In the week or so since he' d received the injury from the mechanical' s dart, it had mostly healed but remained tender. " Sorry," she said. " I get spooked in places like this."

" You should," he said in a low voice. He " saw" things she never could. Looking out of the walls were glowing eyes, opening mouths filled with dagger- sharp teeth, groping hands. He avoided them; they seemed frozen into their positions inside the walls. A clever choosing of a path meant safety. Lan led the woman through to a small anteroom free of striving creatures and obvious traps.

" I don' t want to leave," said Inyx. " I: I want to stay here forever."

" I feel it, too. Strong. So very strong." Lan closed his eyes and concentrated. Filling his mind like warm, sudsy water came the spell. It frothed and boiled about his thoughts, soothing and changing them. Why leave the Twistings? This place was so nice. Don' t leave, never leave, came the repeated, insistent command.

" Lan, let' s get out of here. Now. I don' t want to, but I know we shouldn' t stay any longer."

Lan fought the tide welling up, managed to push it away. He chanted a control spell that held away and momentarily contained the urgings coming from the room.

" We' re so close," he said. " Just a bit further down this corridor. We can see what' s in the room. I can hold it back. I know it."

" Lan, please."

He saw the strained look on her face. He nodded, took her hand, and led her back through the groping hands and staring eyes of the creatures imprisoned in the wall. Once, in his haste to depart, he came too close to one of the beasts. It almost cost him his life.

Tiny hands with improbable strength grabbed his arm and pulled him powerfully into the wall. He slammed hard, the impact jolting him. Teeth slashed at his shoulder. Intense pain flared as the wall creature bit and gnawed at his flesh. As long as the tiny hands held him, he wasn' t going to escape.

" Lan, what' s wrong?" demanded Inyx.

" Go find Krek," he told her. " Hurry!" She moved past and exited the illusory wall panel. Never had Lan felt more alone, abandoned. But he had to hang on, fight, strive.

He pulled forth his dagger and awkwardly stabbed at the wall. His blade turned aside and left a deep scratch. The creature was so intent on devouring him it didn' t even feel the mark. He tried to cut the hands off at the wrists; no luck.

Teeth dug even deeper into his upper arm and shoulder.

To panic now meant death. He tried to reach around for the death tube, but it had been pinned between his body and the wall; he had no way of freeing it. There had to be another way to escape. There had to be!

He used the pain as a focal point for his power. The number of spells he had even halfway mastered was small, but Lan knew how to select with care. The fire spell was the most familiar to him. In spite of brutally sharp teeth ripping his flesh, he summoned up the energy he needed, moulded it, held it in place with the magical chants, then shoved his free palm against the wall.

A cascade of fire fell from his fingertips. A lightning bolt lashed out of his palm. The wall creature slackened its attack. Again Lan Martak sent forth his flaming punishment. And again and again.

He weakened from the effort of casting the spell. Like water flowing out a hole in the bottom of a jug, his strength ran away. When he was sure that the hands gripping him would hold him till he died, he heard Krek' s bellow just a few feet away.

" Lan Martak, do not play these hide- and- seek games. Come here immediately. The maze creatures congregate too quickly for us to fight them off."

One last surge of energy from deep inside sent sputtering blue sparks dancing along his fingers. Somehow, this was enough. The creature trapped inside the wall released him. Lan stumbled forward, through the wall, and onto his face in front of Krek.

" You need not abase yourself when I call," said the spider in a testy voice. " Departure is more important than obeisance."

" My arm, shoulder," he said weakly. But on examination he found no wounds, not even a bloody scratch. Lan sat and stupidly checked himself again. " All illusion," he finally said. " All that inside was pure illusion. Remarkable."

" I am not as prone to believing unreality as you, friend Lan Martak. I do, however, see a good bit of reality which I cannot fight."

Lan rose to his feet and felt some of his strength returning. The cappers and blue eating monsters had been joined by other, stranger beasts. Lan had to agree with the spider. This wasn' t the healthiest place in the world to be right now.

The trio left, the waddling blue appetites following along behind them.

" Let' s take another couple days before we go in," said Lan. " I' ll be back to normal by then."

" Why didn' t you tell me something had grabbed you?" Inyx stamped her foot down solidly. " I was frightened in the dark, yes, but not so much you had to send me away like a small child."