MAZE - The Endless Quest

Kaela swiftly jumped on top of one of the tables, her cape fluttering with the motion, “Listen up, the plan is simple, but a lot of things can go wrong. We are crossing the doorway and moving quickly and quietly through the room. The soundproof spells we can use will be turned off but everyone will have one of these,” she showed a small earbud, “We have a couple of people who can send messages through them without speaking out loud. They will guide everyone. We will be splitting into 3 groups the moment we cross. All are heading straight to the camp but on deferent approaches. The goal is to cover all the entrances.”

The Scoutmaster showed an illusion of a crater that had been covered from both sides, leaving only two ways to get inside the camp that was right in the center of that place, “They’ve set up our people here. Two teams will be taking care of the guards placed on top of this man made valley, and the third will be going in through the tunnels that led directly to the camp. According to reports, the families have to ‘pay’ for their stay by working on the mines down there. For those going from above, make sure not to use any flashy or bright attacks. Focus on quick and stealth kills. Shadow, poison, anything that doesn’t attract attention. The ones going in the tunnels need short weapons. Staffs and two-handed swords are a bad idea. Harpies are also not the best option for that group.”

She dropped the illusion and looked around, “I don’t do speeches, and you will miss the one commander will give the troops in the morning. Just remember why we are doing this. Humans attacked us. They suddenly decided that we were lesser, and that they owned the MAZE. All we are doing is proving how wrong they are. We go in, we save the families and then keep the area safe while the rest of the army moves in. No one is to leave that camp until backup arrives. Then, we can swap and go help take over the cities,” Kaela glanced at Hera, “Also. I don’t think I have to say this, but I’ll say it, nonetheless. The rules of war still apply. We take prisoners, and we don’t execute people who surrender. I would add that we don’t hurt children intentionally, but I know none of you are monsters like the humans. That’s it, before you leave everyone should take a sleeping candy. Check the label to know the one you should get. I don’t want anyone getting here late because they took one for those with 200 endurance while only having 50. Go to bed, and in 9 hours we meet here again. The teams will be assigned, and so will the gear, once we organized all that we are starting. Any questions?”

No one said anything. Scoutmaster Swiftclaw just nodded, “You are dismissed!”

The Harmony Guardians, along with Helena, headed back to their tent, had a small dinner and went to bed right away. Everyone taking the sleeping candy, which was basically a tart cherry gummy, enchanted to make you fall asleep. Morning came quickly and everyone moved towards the doorway. Kaela had already organized all the teams. She would be taking the west plateau along with a group and having a smaller team, made out of the strongest people in this operation to take the path through the mines. It was just 10 people, all above level 65. The teams on top had 30 members each, Hera and the Harmony Guardians would be going with the one heading to the east plateau.

Unlike how the Scoutmaster made it sound, they didn’t get full sets of armor as gear, but smaller earrings, necklaces or bracelets. Those had passives that lowered the amount of noise anyone wearing them would make. In addition, they all had an active skill that was an invisibility spell, but it would only last for 1 hour, and 40 minutes of that time were already reserved for a couple of locations everyone would have to pass by.

Once everyone was equipped, each team leader pulled their troops to the side and explained the path. Each group would be moving on their own instead of going on a single unit. 30 people crossing a room was already risky, but 70 was much, much worse.

With everything ready, the teams crossed the doorway. As soon as Hera arrived in Kertal, Kaela pulled her to the side.

“Start that spell. It won’t help us during this, but it will help the rest of the army.”

“Got it, but what about the idea of going to the other side of the room with some of the snakes?” the Empress shook her bracelet, allowing all the 28 snakes to come out. It was supposed to be 30, but she had left 2 back with Shane and her dad so they could try to become Ophidianites themselves.

Hera already had made some calculations and knew that she only had to send 10 of the snakes to the other side of the room. Adding the travel time from the doorway to the other side, this would be the fastest way to trigger the spell. She would even have 2 snakes inside the central area of the circle to allow her to cast the spell, even if one of them was damaged. The good part of this was that the room was just on the 12th layer, which meant that no monster would prove to be a danger to those constructs.

“Can I send them out already? These 10 are the ones that will go to the other side,” the Ophidianite looked at the tiny snakes, all in various colors, but every single one of them had the same eyes as Daskka. One green and one silver. In addition, all snakes had a pair of purple stripes going along the length of their bodies.

“Yeah,” Kaela gestured for someone as 18 of the snakes ran out. Each of them had a single mission, draw the spell circle with their mana and reach a designated spot. Hera also could sense if something were to happen to them, and if needed, she could also swap her senses to scout the area.

“Yes, Scoutmaster?” a small harpy with beach feathers approached.

“Vishan, you have the bag, right?”

“Yes. It’s right here,” the harpy turned around, showing a backpack.

“Ok, take them and go to the other side of the room. Reach the invisible wall and open the bag. The snakes know what they have to do. Then, go meet us in the camp where the families are being kept,” Kaela quickly said.

“Are they… dangerous?” Vishan asked.

“No, they are mana constructs. But they have the shape of a snake. Kind of in the nose, I know,” Hera explained once she noticed the stare coming from the harpy.

“Right… ok,” Vishan nodded, but her expression showed uncertainty.

“Is there a problem?” Kaela asked.

“No, it’s just… We harpies are weary of snakes. They eat our eggs. It’s going to take a bit of mental fortitude not to freak out as they wriggle around inside the bag.”

“Let me see that,” Hera reached out for the backpack and quickly created a thin metal sheet before placing it directly against the area that would touch Vishan’s back, “is that too heavy?”

“No, that’s perfect!” the harpy smiled.

“Ok, and you 10, come here,” Hera reached one hand down, only keeping the other one just above the open backpack. The snakes quickly climbed over the Ophidianite’s limbs and dropped on the container.

“That’s not unsettling at all,” Vishan sighed and closed the bag before putting on her back again, “Ok the weight is manageable. Can you tell them not to move? Or try to be in the same position all the time? If the mass keeps shifting, it might be a problem in certain parts of the trip.”

Hera nodded and gave the mental command to the snakes. They all moved, forming almost a block that was attached to the straps inside, “Done.”

“Do you remember the location you have to drop them at?” Kaela asked.

“The general area, yes. It doesn’t have to be a specific spot, right?”

Hera nodded, “Just the area, they will get to the end of the journey. Also, do you have any sort of spell that wouldn’t damage them? Like making them cold, splashing them with water or something?”

“I can make water, why?”

“If you need them to jump, just open the bag and splash them with water. We’ll say that’s the signal for them to go,” Hera explained.

“They are that smart?” Kaela asked.

“Not really. They can warn me if something specific happens, and then I can give them a new command. In this case, if they are splashed with water once they are in the right spot. I can just tell them to dive. But I’m not sure how they would handle the fall.”

“So do that on a low flight. Got it,” Vishan turned to Kaela and gave a salute, “At your command, Scoutmaster.”

“Go. And don’t get caught.”

“Will do,” the harpy took flight, going really far up into the sky and vanishing against the night sky.

“Now it’s our turn. Everyone move out!” Kaela said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear her, but not to the point of being a shout.

Helena had already finished applying the buff to everyone’s weapons. Or at least, all the members of the teams that wouldn’t be close to her. They all used buffed that could become more powerful if more mana was used, wish also meant they could hold a weak version indefinitely and increase their power when it was time to fight.

The groups split off, and for the first time, Hera was able to take a look at the room called Kertal. It was hard to tell why it had that name, but some people said it was a word in a lost language. The most accepted theory was that there was a massive war in this place and powerful mages caused a collapse of the civilization using large spell circles and insanely huge mana batteries to call forth meteors. Or that there was an actual meteor that fell here. But that since no one ever saw a meteor coming from beyond the invisible walls of the MAZE, it was hard to believe that theory.

Then again, looking at the room itself, it did make sense. There were craters everywhere. Which made it harder to move in the middle of the night. A couple of them were much larger to the point where people, even buildings, could be hidden inside them. As they traveled, they would have chances to hide in those craters, but that could also be a problem. If they were caught in the middle of one of those larger craters.

Hera’s team moved quickly, or as quickly as they could, while remaining hidden. The doorway they used to arrive was in the middle of a forest, hidden inside a large tree in one of the flat ground areas of the room, which was also part of the reason why the humans had yet to find it. People of the room tended to focus on the craters, not on the areas unaffected by whatever impact that created them.

The Ophidianite understood why, if she was here just to travel, then the large craters would be much more interesting that a random forest that she could see anywhere else. But that oversight ended up being what gave them this opportunity. Focusing back on the task at hand, Hera did her best to continue to move and make sure no human was seeing the group. If anyone was caught, they would lose the element of surprise, and that could mess up the entire operation.