The Eternity Maze

A novella by Kristy R. Romero

All rights reserved. Unless authorized by the author no part of the text presented on these pages is to be copied, reproduced, or sold.





Chapter 1: Kadence- Queen Annaleigh’s Court



It was the first week of summer. A time of wild celebration in the realm of The Element Fey. In the Queen’s courtyard tables had been set up and her royal chefs had outdone themselves- bringing out platters of steaming meats, soups, and pastries. Wine was being passed to every hand in the place. I stood near an ancient statue of the First King, with his high forehead, curly locks of hair and proud chest. I twirled my thin, long nailed finger around the tip of my wine glass watching the festivities with less than amused curiosity. I wasn’t interested in the pettiness of goblins and common faeries. Mostly I was just studying the creatures that stood out against the dull crowd of partly drunk, celebrating faeries and creatures. A tall willowy man with deathly pale skin had caught my attention when I witnessed his gold eyes veined with red watching the commoners- who had given him judgmental looks- with malice. One faerie had openly glared at him for several moments until the pale man looked back at him and bared his fangs in a low growl. Vampire, I concluded and went back to looking around the crowd. There were three others who had caught my attention. A big white shadow wolf that seemed to demand respect, a burly mountain faun whose face stayed expressionless, and a tall, elegant female Pegasus with a long curly mane.



The first week of summer was not only a time of celebration, but one of trial. Every year a new royal spy was chosen, and that was why I was here. To enter the competition for becoming a spy. My grandfather had been a royal guard, and that was the one reason I was allowed to compete. Otherwise, I wouldn’t even be considered since I was a Phouka. Known for mischief, and disloyalty, but that’s just in general. Sure, I was a bit of a troublemaker, but I most definitely wasn’t a backstabber. 



“Want another glass, Kadence?”



I snap out of my state of study and glance at my friend, Pascal. He brushes his golden brown hair away from his forehead and smiles at me. “No, thanks.” I reply- resting a hand on my hip. Pascal is a shape shifter. I’d known him since about three weeks ago, when I first met him we were at the tryout grounds. Where the first initial test was taken to pick out the final contestants for this event. The other contestants had come from other parts of The Unseen. That was both good and bad . . . good, because then they don’t know me and I don’t know them. That way when we enter the maze and they end up dying in some terrible way it won’t be hard for me to get over it. It sounds harsh, but that’s the truth. It’s also bad because, again, I don’t know them and if they have any weaknesses or strengths that I need to know about, well. . . I don’t know about them.



I can feel Pascal’s light blue eyes staring at me and I fidget- trying to ignore him as I watch the other contestants. “Lighten up, Kadie, it’s a party. You don’t have to be all hard core right now.” I groan quietly and pin him with an annoyed glare.



“I’m not! I just want to make sure I’m not underestimating the competition.” I say defensively and sit down on the bench behind me- flicking my black tail after morphing to my cat form.



He chuckles and sits next to me, “You used to be annoying. Now you’re just plain boring.” He takes a sip of his red wine and glances subtly at me from the corner of his eye. My back arches and I hiss- giving him an evil glare. “Aw, poor kitty,” He smirks, “You know, you’re bright green eyes are adorable even when you look at me like that.”



At this my head droops and I change back, “You’re an idiot, Pascal.” I reply with a blank expression.



He stands and holds his glass high, “Three cheers to Idiocy!” A good majority of the crowd turns and scowls at him. A few goblins bounce up and down and cheer- clearly drunk despite their normal dumbness. I bite back a giggle as he looks at everyone, “UH, sorry about that, chaps, ignore me . . . go back to your partying.” He sits back down and then looks at me with a hint of hurt in his silver flecked eyes, “You were serious, weren’t you.”



I nod, not trying to be rude or anything, but not in the mood for our usual banter, “Look, Pascal, we are only a few days away from starting our trial . . . in The Eternity Maze. I just don’t feel like myself, and I can’t see how you can be so carefree with the knowledge of how brutal this whole thing is going to come out to be.”



Looking at his hands he shrugs, “It’s not that I don’t know that, I’m just choosing to ignore it for the last few days that I have as a normal individual.” He looks at me now and smiles sadly, “It’s my way of avoiding the thought of losing you.”



I look away from him at the last comment. It always made me uncomfortable when he said things like that . . . hinting that his feelings for me went deeper than I dared to think. I clear my throat and throw him a teasing look, “So you think, I can’t handle this? You think you’re gonna come out the winner?” Of course I’m only joking. That’s what I did when I got uncomfortable, and it’s the only way I knew how to deter the subject of . . . personal feelings.



“Of course you can handle it. I’m just not sure if you can do it without me.” He grins jokingly at me. I roll my eyes as the royal harp plays its melody- signaling the Queen’s arrival and that everyone was to pay their respects and listen to what she has to say. Pascal and I’s conversation ended there and we both stood for the Queen.



Queen Annaleigh always took my breath away. Out of all the Faerie Queens in the land, she was probably the most beautiful. Her gold hair floated in loose curls down her back, her swirled and jeweled crown resting lightly on her brow, and her multi-color eyes snapped with electricity. She reached her throne at the head of the main table with her tall guard at her side and waved a hand slowly across her body through the air, “Welcome to my palace, creatures of The Unseen. Please, let us sit and enjoy the meal before I announce our contestants this cycle.” With that the whole crowd bows low and calmly finds a seat at one the many tables. Pascal and I seat ourselves next to the pale man that I had seen earlier. I glanced at him- only tall enough in my seat to be level with his jaw. The muscles in his face tighten as he looks back at me. I smile ruefully at him and he turns away without so much as a smirk. “Please, eat.” The Queen smiles and delicately begins to cut at the meat on her plate. I tried not to dig in too greedily. I was so hungry, and hadn’t eaten this kind of food in forever. For the past couple months of training I had lived off bread and cheese and some chicken. Not the most gratifying meal when you have it almost every night in small rations. Pascal didn’t bother to hide his starvation and dug into his food.





Chapter 2: Kadence- The Recognition Ceremony



         Dinner had lasted just long enough to make me feel stuffed. I lost count of how many plates I had had and frankly, I didn’t care. I’m full for the first time in almost three months. Now, we all stood on the platform in front of the element fountain at the center of the Queen’s pavilion- three contestants on each side of her. Queen Annaleigh held up a hand- quieting the murmuring crowd, “Today, we recognize six Unseelie citizens. Citizens who pledged their lives to a test of their abilities. . .”



As she went on with her speech, Pascal mouthed the words like he had heard them at least a couple times. I give him a subtle head shake and he smirks at me. “Come forward contestants.” The Queen commands and we all take a few steps so that we are at the front of the platform. “Frostbyte.” She looks over at the large artic shadow wolf that had raised his head in pride, “From the Artic Wastelands.” Winter Faeries raised their wine glasses in salute to their fellow contestant and the Queen went on, “Hale, from the Outlands of the Ghost Marsh.” The room was dead silent except for one person who clapped- a gothic looking girl near the back. I felt bad for Hale- but only slightly. “Arisollia, from the Never-Never. Gompers of the Shadow Mountains.” Roaring cheers broke out from the crowd at the recognition of the last two before the Queen went on to the last contestants- Pascal and myself. Queen Annaleigh seemed to hesitate before going on but hardly enough to really notice, “Pascal Silvers from the Nightmare Isles.” I didn’t bother hiding my obvious eye roll when a group of girls cheered and made eyes at him. The guy seemed to attract that sort of attention wherever he went, and liked to make jokes about it a little too often. . . Pascal’s chest rose in pride and seemed to enjoy the brief attention. “Finally, Kadence from the lands of Crystar’naviathen.”



The crowd cheered for me as well, but it was a dead cheer compared to what they had screamed for the last of us she had announced. Queen Annaleigh stepped elegantly away from the front and gave a respectful head bow to all of us. We all bowed back- some more stiffly than others- and my spine tingled. Let the game begin.





~Three Days Later~

         

It was gloomy that morning, which was fitting for the event. The skies were overcast and no one talked- not even Pascal. Earlier, we had all been briefed on the rules of the maze and been given the choice of weapons and gear from a large drab room that had every sort of weapon and gadget imaginable. Now, we were standing at the bottom of a dome that was stacked with seats dozens of stories high and bursting with Unseelie commoners and deities alike- chattering incessantly and holding up flags for the contestant of their choice. Pretty much we had just been waiting down here- shuffling our feet against the dusty floor in impatience and trying to ignore the gawking onlookers. I couldn’t tell if this was the entrance to the maze or not, but the big metal gate in front of all of us was making me think that it was. Pascal hadn’t said a single stupid thing to me today and his stoic silence was really starting to bug me. Frost looks pumped and ready to get on with this thing as did Arisollia. Gompers looked like he couldn’t care less what was happening around him, and Hale had been silent since this morning when he had said goodbye to the gothic chic who had clapped for him at the recognition ceremony. They had made out for an uncomfortable amount of time and then finally cried- holding each other. Apparently, he was her fiancé. Me, well, I was pretty normal. Just completely nervous and a bit frightened at the thought of what might be in the horrible maze, but more so about the outcome. I had to win this, there was no question about it. That was my goal and I was sure as heck gonna do it.





Suddenly the crowd was silent- everything was deathly still. The Queen’s voice echoes out over the towering arena, “The time has come, let the game begin!” The crowd erupted in wild cheering and the huge metal gate grated loudly as it opened sluggishly. Mist spills out of the opening and loud eerie howls and screeches rise from the dark entrance.





Pascal steps up beside me- his fairly wavy golden hair blowing in the soft wind. He hadn’t combed it today and though I wouldn’t admit it to anyone else, he looked great in his battle clothes and his unruly hair was quite attractive actually. The doors open completely and he turns his soft blue eyes to me, “Good luck, Kadie.”





“You too.” I reply quietly- giving him a small smile. Arisollia- who had commanded that we call her Aris- trots up beside us- her flowing black and white mane now braided and stuck with feathers and beads. Hale, Gompers and Frost line up as well- their appearance the same as the days before. My heart pounded in anticipation- almost blocking out the sounds of the crowd. They were waiting for us to enter the maze- but no one had budged yet. We were too busy watching the swirling mist and suffocating darkness clinging to the rusty walls. Frost lets out a battle howl baring his saber like fangs and troting into the entrance with pride- his hugely muscled form now swallowed by the mists. Shifting to my cat form I follow his lead- sprinting into the haunting blackness without a glance behind me. The mist isn’t bad, but once I got past that there was a distinct wall of inky shadows. Skidding to a stop I listen closely for anything unusual. Apparently the other’s had now entered because the doors had come to a grinding close and the roar of the crowd was so dulled out that I could barely hear them anymore. Now it was dead silent- I couldn’t hear anybody . . . the hair on my back raises and I shiver. The fleeting thought that maybe one of the contestants were planning on murdering off all of us crosses my mind. And suddenly I realize that I can’t trust anyone, no matter the circumstance. I’m on my own and I wasn’t gonna be manipulated into any deals or truces.



Behind me, I hear light footsteps- my ears perk forward and I spring into the corner of the shadows. Gomper’s hairy form materializes from the mist- his dark eyes scanning the wall of darkness as he grips his double sided spear firmly causing veins to bulge in his upper arms. Running sounds behind him and Aris bolts by brushing just close enough to Gompers to shove him a bit. He grunts and swings his spear but is too late- she’s already disappeared into the shadows. I wait for some sort of horrid sound of death there in my little hiding place but nothing happens. Gompers seemed to be doing this and then makes the same conclusion before charging in as well. After he’s left it’s silent again and I wonder where Hale and Pascal are. Frost is obviously ahead of us all. I have a feeling he’s going to be hard to catch up with; but I was more worried about Hale. Vampires are feared for a good reason and he just struck me as the hardcore killer kind of guy anyways. I wasn’t too worried about Pascal. He wouldn’t hurt me, that’s for sure, he might leave me in a hard place regretfully but that would be the worst he could do to me personally. The skin on my neck itched suddenly and I rub my front paw furiously over the spot. When I look up Hale is standing only a few feet in front of me- gold, red veined eyes staring into the darkness above my ears. He growls baring his fangs and my ears flatten against my black silky fur on my head but he moves on as well. I let out a relieved sigh.



“That was close. . .” Someone whispers by my ear- their warm breath tickling my cheek. Practically jumping out of my skin I give a cat screech and claw at the person who startled me with a furious hiss. “OW!! Kadence, knock it off ya crazy cat lady!” Pascal yelps and kicks me away- holding his left cheek.



“Sorry. . .” I apologize but then glare at him, “Don’t scare me like that, Pascal. Gosh.”



He smirks, “Sorry.” He chuckles lightly, “You think you would have seen me sooner though.”



Rolling my eyes I shift into my more human form and shove him over, “What were you this time, a parasite? Oh, wait, you always were.”



“Ha. Ha.” He says in a monotone voice- getting up but his wide grin fades quickly. “So, what do you say about teaming up for the first bit of the maze?”



         I shrug, “You can stick with me for a bit but I’m not calling a truce. I’m not gonna make ties that I won’t be able to sever. . .” Pascal nods grimly at this and then pulls out his katana blade- motioning to the dark wall before us.



“The others are far ahead, we should get going and get this thing over with.” He states and then holds out a hand. For a moment I hesitate- not wanting to start trusting someone and willing my sudden attraction to Pascal to go away. Sighing, I take his hand reluctantly and unsheathe my dagger. We then walk into the hallway- shivers ignite along my spine. Something was wrong . . . and we had only just started the maze. Slow clicking sounds shatter the complete silence making Pascal and I both to start and hold our weapons at the ready.



“Keep moving.” I whisper. My instincts told me that whatever made those sounds was lying in wait for some weenie of a contestant to cower and hide in the corner. The clicking and grinding wasn’t bothering me as much as the fact that my natural night vision wasn’t working. The darkness wasn’t real- it was an illusion of some sort. . . Pascal’s long fingers dig into my hand as he grips it- pulling me along in a steady rate. Sweat breaks out on my brow- I can feel whatever is following us right behind us- and it’s gaining quickly. A bloodcurdling horse whinny echoes through the hallway followed by clanging and a loud thump.



Pascal’s breathing is harsh- chest heaving as he pulls me to the side and into him. “SH.” He rasps- and we both go completely still. The clicking and grinding rattles the floor in front of us and then rolls on by.



“You can let me go now . . .” I say almost breathlessly. His tight grip around my small waist loosens immediately. “What do you think that was?” I question hating that my voice quavered just a bit, “I’ve never heard anything like that before.”



“It was probably a mutation. Let’s stay along the wall and book it out of this hallway, I have a feeling we are almost to the end.” Pascal’s hand grabs my upper arm and he starts pulling me along again. The unnerving clicks sound very distant now and I wonder why it stopped chasing us. “Kadence−“ Pascal’s fingers wrench from my grasp and he yelps- clanging and fabric scratching against metal follows his cry.



“Pascal!” Taking a step forward- thinking that the mutation had silently taken him- I start to draw my dagger but my feet fall from under me. My butt slams against oily metal and suddenly I’m sliding in the darkness.