As much as the arrival to Fallen’s Cry with Idleaf turned out to be nerve-wracking and thrilling at the same time, the rest of the ‘exploration’ was not so much.

Whatever we tried, Traiana refused to show up again and say more than those ominous words: to hurry as the time neared.

Of course, we only visited the first three floors, out of who knows how many. Floor 162 was as deep as the seekers got in this labyrinth, and that could be far from the bottom. After all, Perished’s Mourn, the deepest explored labyrinth, had 255 floors surveyed, and yet the seekers did not reach the end there if these ancient structures had any at all.

“My roots don’t go that deep. Too hot,” Idleaf said when I asked her about it.

Regardless, it was safe to say that we just scratched the surface, which was also the consensus everyone in our group agreed on. Well, except for Idleaf and Pipsqueak, who didn’t let themselves be troubled by such unimportant things and instead enjoyed the new place.

What Deckard, Lightfeather, the two imperial soldiers, the master guard, and I agreed on was that Fallen’s Cry and Traiana could reveal deeper in the labyrinth. According to their experience, there were areas in these ancient structures where patrons’ presence was more palpable and places whose purpose had so far eluded every scholar or researcher.

There was a catch, though.

Those places and areas were found much deeper in the labyrinths. Fallen’s Cry was no exception. To reach those locations would require a dive to floor one hundred and below.

Although with this group, it was not a question of whether it was possible, there was no doubt that we could reach those depths, but of time. It took us ten minutes just to get to the platform leading to the second floor. True, we were in no hurry. Still...as I understood it, the deeper one went, the more vast and complex the floors became. It took Deckard days to search the floors he usually roamed.

And what floors were they? One hundred and fortieth floors. I know, bummer; he wasn’t the record holder; he wasn’t the one who got the deepest in Fallen’s Cry. Still, it was more than impressive that he managed to get to floor 147 by himself. There was only so much a solo seeker could accomplish.

Exploring the labyrinth wasn’t just a stroll, and so, it could take us at least half a month, more realistically a whole month, to reach floor 100, and that was if we just passed through them, not fighting anything, not letting Fallen’s Cry lead us astray.

That was unrealistic, so the compromise we all agreed on was to get down to floor ten.

I have to say that even though it wasn’t how I imagined this day would go, I was excited to see what was down there. So, as we began to descend, I joined Idleaf and Pipsqueak in their explorations.

As with the three previous ones, the floors didn’t change much. Only when I paid really close attention was I able to notice the greater variety in the environment. More and more grass types covered the meadows and rolling hills that stretched into the distance under artificial ceilings. More and more insect species crawled through them. But apart from that, they were not so different from each other.

Well, the horned rabbits were supposed to be stronger. Only to confirm that I’d have to see one first. In all that time, I didn’t catch a glimpse of one.

On the plus side, floor nine was the one that brought me great joy. The first flower appeared amongst the grass fields, scattered all over the labyrinth floor. Tiny flowers garnished with yellow petals, and according to my group of experienced seekers/soldiers/guards, a flower of no value.

It couldn’t be used in alchemy to make potions or anywhere else. Just an ordinary flower. Yet when I smelled it, it's very faint sweet scent brought me back for a brief moment to the flower shop on Earth I used to love working in. A memory that was slowly fading in my mind.

I may have enjoyed floor nine; however, like all the previous ones, the visit of it yielded no new results other than me bawling my eyes out after touching the labyrinth block. Once again, my body had caught me off guard there. I had no idea I had so many tears in me. Seriously, though. By now, I must have shed at least a mugful of tears.

Were people usually capable of that? I blamed my regeneration.

Anyway, be that as it may, Traiana didn’t show up this time either, and so, after twenty minutes of a brisk walk through the meadows and over the hills, we reached the platform leading to the floor below us.

The labyrinths were ever-changing things, shifting beneath your feet even as you walked. It wasn’t something that the eye or perception could just pick up, as slow as the flow of time itself, yet the hill you crossed may not have been there when you turned around. Deckard pointed this out to me on my first visit to Fallen’s Cry; that we were not in a dungeon, but in a labyrinth, a place designed to confuse.

And that was the case from the first moment you took it in. No map to guide you as each time you visited the floor, it was different, the next floor platform in a new location. If you were lucky, it could have been just a few meters away from the one you came in, though if you were unlucky, it might be at the very edge of the floor.

We were lucky so far.

Even with this one, we stood on.

“Korra?” Deckard asked as he noticed my lack of focus.

All I could give him was an apologetic look, gather my thoughts, and, like the others, concentrate on what was to come. [Floor 10]

Making sure everyone was ready, he selected our new destination, and with the labyrinth marks on the backs of our hands glowing briefly, the white light engulfed us.

 

***

 

“This is so annoying,” Idleaf whined, as she had to form her spirit for the umpteenth time today. Not once did it pass with us? On the plus side, it made me more familiar with the rune in question, mana flow, and all that Guardian stuff in my body.

“Shit, there,” blurted out the master guard, pointing somewhere to my left.

“The rude lady,” remarked Idleaf, as our eyes fell on the kneeling apparition of Traiana wailing in the grass.

That was what we were looking for. Yet, none of us spoke, waiting to see what unfolds. Well, almost everyone kept their trap shut.

“Hi, I’m Idleaf, and you?” she asked in a high spirit, giving her introduction a second try.

The young World Tree was probably the only one expecting some sort of response, which made it all the more startling when the apparition stopped crying and turned its head at the spirits. Then I held my breath as Traiana opened her mouth as if to say something, but stopped before a single voice came from her throat. Instead, she blinked, confusion flickering across her eyes.

If there was something on her mind, if the Labyrinth here was supposed to tell us something, she didn’t. Traiana merely smiled sadly at the end, swallowing a sob, and her apparition melted away with the breeze.

“She’s really rude,” huffed Idleaf. The young World Tree wasn’t angry, disappointed, if anything. All that effort to get to know her, the desire to help Traiana and the woman in question, ignored her.

“You said she was trapped in a dream,” I said. Idleaf said so up in the square after she saw the statue.

“Yes, she is.”

“Wouldn’t we appear to her to be part of the dream, then?”

“Oh...” realization flashed across her face. Traiana didn’t have to be rude on purpose. She simply saw no reason to greet the figment of her imagination, figures in her endless dream. At least, that was the simplest explanation I could give her. The fact that Traiana should be trapped here for millennia was still something I found hard to swallow.

“She responded the first time, though,” the hulking imperial soldier woman argued, considering my remark more seriously than was necessary. They all did.

“At first look, it appears to be a recording, yet....” said the master guard, not finishing his sentence as he fell deeper into his thoughts.

“When she talked to us...” Lightfeather spoke, considering for a moment again what she was thinking. “....and now when she looked at us, she seemed to be more than that, a mere recording. I’ve never heard of one like that.”

“Who knows what they once created here? A lot of knowledge was lost back then.”

After the imperial soldier’s comment, I fought the urge to ask about the existence of an interactive interface or something similar on Eleaden. Perhaps Traiana was even some kind of magic-based A.I. With mana, runes, and enchantments, it might very well be possible to achieve and create something like that. Sadly, and I wasn’t afraid to fess up, my knowledge of magic and what it was capable of was quite basic, hence the question on my mind.

“I don’t know about you guys, but magic, magical tools, runes, and shit like that isn’t really my thing...so I say we check the labyrinth blocks and get out of here,” Deckard said, hands in his pockets and in contrast with the others, a light-hearted look on his face.

“Are you serious? You want to give up? We could try diving another ten floors,” suggested the imperial soldier, looking to his colleague for backup, and she gave it to him.

“Shouldn’t take us more than a few hours.”

“At least five, at the current pace,” my mentor gave them an estimated time of reaching floor twenty. “If we avoid checking labyrinth blocks and really push it, we could pull it down to three, maybe two and a half hours.”

“That doesn’t sound bad to me,” the master guard gushed, a hint of interest to find more in his voice. They all had a gleam of curiosity in their eyes, the desire to find more, and it was no wonder. For years they have visited places like this, like Fallen’s Cry, without the slightest clue to the mystery of these ancient structures, and now the opportunity had presented itself for them to discover more. Who wouldn’t want to be the one to unravel the mystery of the labyrinths that have remained unsolved for thousands of years, right?

No, I didn’t blame them.

After all, I was curious, too.

Yet as time passed, the guilt began to settle in the pit of my stomach. This was supposed to be the day I would dive into the depths of the labyrinth with my squad for the first time. Instead, I was here for over two hours with people I couldn’t possibly measure up to. No training, no progress. It was eating at me more and more.

“Ehm...can we leave it for another time?” I cleared my throat and voiced my thoughts. The temptation to look deeper, to see if Traiana would reveal more, took hold of my heart as well. The guilt was stronger, though. And it wasn’t just that. Strange as it was, my body itched for some action, whether it was a fight or training. This leisurely stroll through the labyrinth floors was not what I was used to.

“Something wrong, Little Beast?”

I shook my wings. “Not really. It just... seems like a waste of time to me. I’d rather train with my squad.”

“Waste of t...?!”

Deckard raised his hand to stop the imperial soldier. “Then we see it the same way. It’s a waste of time.”

“I don’t think we’ll learn much more, either,” Lightfeather added quickly, trying to avoid another spat between those two. “Plus, we’re here to make sure it’s safe for Grey and others with her to dive into the labyrinths. You said so yourself. I daresay it is...safe.”

Neither of the three wanted to stop here. That was blatantly obvious. The hulking soldier woman was biting her lip, the master guard was frowning, and the soldier was clenching his fists, all three of them engrossed in their own thoughts, mulling over the orders they had.

“Just do what is truly necessary,” the hulking woman voiced, her eyes closed. Once opened, there was a glimmer of resolve in them. “That’s what the Imperial Chief Healer told us, and we went beyond that. It’s time to turn in our report, Drew.”

Reminded of his orders, her colleague gritted his teeth but nodded, the tension fading from his body as he too found his ground. They had their orders, and they carried them out. The same was true of the master guard. The Tellsword’s frustration was gone, replaced by resolve and purpose.

I found the change in their mood incredible, but on second thought, was it so strange? They were soldiers and guards, the best of the best, after all. They lived most of their lives following orders and weren’t about to quit now.

So after testing the nearest labyrinth block and me crying yet again, to no avail, we took the teleport back up to the square, leaving floor ten behind and with it the mystery of the labyrinths unsolved.

 

***

 

“Don’t worry, Grey, if I were to go back to Granhill, I’d let you know,” Lightfeather promised me as she was to return with two imperial soldiers and the master guard to the barracks to give a report on what they had witnessed in Fallen’s Cry.

“It’s been a pleasure, Idleaf. Thanks for bearing with this rascal,” she said respectfully, lowering her head slightly, then held out her hand for Pipsqueak to jump on and raised an eyebrow when the little squirrel showed no sign of wanting to leave the place on the spirit’s head. “Come on, Pip, let’s go.”

Holding her defiance for a moment, Pipsqueak eventually dropped her head and tail, giving Idleaf and me a crestfallen look. She enjoyed herself very much with the two of us.

“Wren, strict,” the little squirrel squeaked as she hopped over Lightfeather’s shoulder, then lowered her head again, this time in respect. “Bye, Idleaf, Lady.”

“So long,” Wren Lightfeather said, her back already turned to me, raising her hand in a farewell gesture. “Good luck down there.”

Unsure if she knew, I could still hear her talking to her little friend over the din on the teleportation platform as she hurried to join the trio, returning to the barracks. “Don’t pout, Pip. Do you want a nut?”

“Not hungry!”

“I’m not surprised. How many did Grey give you?”

Pipsqueak faltered. “T-two...”

Lightfeather’s laughter was the last thing I heard, their voices mingling with those of the seekers all around as they began to ascend the stairs up to the square. There was only so much my big fluffy ears could hear.

“So, when do I go in?” With all of them gone and the determination to actually do something today, I turned to Deckard. He was the only one who stayed here with me.

“We,” he corrected me

“Wait! You’re coming with me?”

“Don’t overthink it, Little Beast. I’m your mentor. I want to see how you fare against the horned rabbits after all the shit.”

“What shit?” butted in Idleaf.

“That’s an expression...” I started to explain somewhat automatically, but the spirit poked me with her wings, stopping me from saying more.

“I know, I know. I’m not stupid, Korra’leigh,”

“I didn’t think for a moment you were. You’re smart.” Even though she didn’t seem like it at first glance, I meant it. She was just unfamiliar with the world and the way things worked among humans.

Giggling and pleased, Idleaf looked at Deckard. “So, what shit?”

“Her training in Esulmor, she becomes your Guardian,” Deckard said to clarify for the spirit. While that was a good enough answer for her, it raised questions in my mind.

“You saw me fight that mossbear. Not that much changed after that,” I argued. “Sure, Idleaf made me her Guardian, but other than a few class level ups, nothing else has changed.”

“Sounds to me like you don’t want me to go down there with you,” he said, giving me a that-sounds-suspicious look. An obvious tease.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” On the contrary, I thought the rest of Squad Four would be thrilled to have him there.

Deckard smiled, amused, knowing what I meant all too well. “Look, you may think I’ve seen you fight, and I did. I just want to see you fight something I’ve already seen you take down.”

That was reasonable. The mossbear was not a horned rabbit. “Okay, I’m fine with that. But do you think I’ll fare all that differently?” I honestly had no idea what to expect. On the one hand, I was aware that training with mossbear had given me a lot. On the other, I hadn’t learned any new fighting techniques, and [Fierce Pounce] was no longer among my skills.

“I do. How much differently you’ll do, that’s what I want to see. You could do better or worse. Don’t underestimate the little things. Every skill point matters and can make a big difference. You’re used to some power in your legs, the speed at which you move your ass, and any sudden bump in your status can throw you off.” He paused, thinking for a moment. “Sure, it’s more of a problem for people with higher levels than yours. With matching skill levels. Can you guess why?”

“Oh...” chimed Idleaf, bouncing around me. “I know.”

“Little Beast?”

“Higher skill levels, higher tiers, more stat bonuses. Every stat point then makes a bigger impact.”

“Correct.”

Idleaf growled, her wings drooping in dismay. “I knew that.”

“I know you did. I wanted to make sure she knew, too,” he said, shifting his weight before he set his eyes back on me. “Don’t underestimate the changes, no matter how small they may seem to you. Even the slightest miscalculation of your power can have tragic consequences. Why?”

“Me, me...” Idleaf squealed, waving her arms to get his attention.

“Okay, tell her.”

The spirit’s eyes sparkled with glee, yet she tempered her enthusiasm in the next second and shifted to a more serious tone. “If you’re quicker than you think, your branches can get in the way of the wind you were trying to avoid. If you don’t know your strength, your roots will go deeper than you meant them to.” She sank into thought and shuddered. “With the rising sun, my roots were burned after I punctured the wall of a lava bed. So many new things to learn about the world and myself.”

As she finished, she waited eagerly to hear what Deckard had to say, to see if she’d gotten it right.

“Very well said, actually,” he spoke with praise in his voice. Hearing him, Idleaf cheered and danced with joy around us while he went on. “Becoming stronger, pushing your limits, whatever you want to call it, you’re basically learning more about yourself. If you don’t know yourself, shity things can happen. The same goes for your training. If I don’t judge right what you can handle, if I don’t know you, you will suffer the consequences, Little Beast. Not me. Your training today with your squad gives me a good chance to see where you are lacking at.”

Not what I’m good at?!

Not sure why he was telling me all this when I already knew that, I kept the snide remark to myself, attributing it to his concern for his apprentice, me. Instead, I glanced around at the teleportation platform. “Speaking of my squad, do you know when they’re coming back?”

“Shouldn’t be long...”