Shadow Grass (Rare): A common grass subjected to endless shadows. Can be used in many different alchemical mixtures and woven into beautiful shadow cloth.

  Synexus held the darkened grass in his hand. Inky shadows left a trail whenever the grass was moved. Standing in the sea of the shadow grass was surreal. A vast ecosystem of plants that adapted to shadow instead of light.

  He looked from the shadow sea to the mountain that cast it. A high concentration of mana had melded with the shadows to create a substance close to being Aether, but not quite. Pieces of the shadow would drip from the perfectly smooth obsidian and create puddles for the shadow plants to absorb.

  “Well, we finally made it.”

  Everyone nodded at Vorin. In the twenty minutes since they came to the base of the mountain, no one had said a word. Seeing the sheer size of the mountain up close didn’t have words capable of description. All of them had gone through countless thoughts about how small they truly were. Even Kumo had to admit that this was one object that she couldn’t move with her wind.

  Yu laughed. “Quite a sight to see, I suppose! This is where I was born. It’s my home and I’m here! Sisters! I’m here!” Her voice rang out and the shadows felt like they recognized her.

  “What do we do now Yu?” Zuls had become close with the sphinx over the course of their adventure since the island.

  “Only sphinx are allowed into the halls of Peak Knowledge. Well sphinx and those that have conquered.”

  “Those that have conquered?” Vorin was storing some shadow grass in his bag listening to the conversation.

  “Yes. Those that have conquered the Shadow Labyrinth. I cannot help you either.”

  Her words turned the other’s heads instantly.

  “Are you saying this is goodbye?” Synexus asked her.

  “For now. When you get to the top, I’ll be waiting. I must go see my sisters and you must enter the shadows.”

  “We will see in you a few minutes then!”

  Yu laughed again. “Always with the confidence, Kumo. I believe it’ll take you longer than that, but you have my confidence in being able to conquer the shadow trial.”

  “It was good to meet such a great warrior. We will pass your trial and see you once more.” Prith was oddly serious. It was clear he didn’t want Yu to leave yet.

  Zuls hugged the sphinx and called her bonded out to do the same. Kumo and Yu blasted a gale at each other to test the strength of their winds. Vorin simply thanked Yu respectfully and bowed to her. Gene pulled her to the side, and they talked privately to say their temporary goodbyes. Shell played her favorite song as a farewell. Synexus told her that they would see her again. Yu broke down crying and told them all she would be watching and that she would miss them. She thanked the party for setting her free and helping her get home. She bowed to Synexus for helping her gain access to her skill once again. Then she took her flight.

  A circle of shadow grass flattened as she flapped her wings and shot into the sky. They all watched her ascend the mountain before they lost her in the dense clouds above.

  As soon as she was out of sight, shadows coalesced into a large line of people moving through the sea of shadows heading toward the mountain. The party shrugged at the strange occurrence and followed behind them. If the shadows wanted to lead them, they would allow it.

  The shadowed procession led them towards two large stone doors that were covered in the liquid shadow. Their guides approached before melting into the puddles that formed in front of the dripping doors. A loud set of three knocks echoed out past them and back into the shadow sea. Following the sounds was a whoosh of air and a groan of the stone doors opening. Behind them a shadow army formed and the instruction was clear; there is only the path forward.

  “Alright, I guess we are entering the creepy shadow doorway.” Zuls tried to joke.

  “I could have gone the rest of my life without going back underground.”

  “I agree with you there, Kumo, but it seems this is what we must do. Let’s take a moment to take a bit of inventory, however.”

  He finished his sentence and the shadow army charged towards them. Shadow horses formed beneath the infantry and loud footfalls thumped across the shadowed land. No one in the party had a second to think before taking off towards the entrance to not get trampled by the shadows.

  The shadowed doorway gladly swallowed them and they tumbled through darkness. For Vorin, it reminded him of being under the water with Abyss. There was no sense of direction or purpose. Just a vast nothingness. This was different though. Everyone could see each other and hear everyone’s screams as they fell through the darkness. All senses and experiences blended together until suddenly they were under a bright sun in a field of grass that smelled of honey and was an intense golden yellow.

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  One by one they uncovered their eyes in confusion. The confusion only lasted a few seconds, however.

  Welcome to the Shadow Labyrinth! A series of challenges starting at the base of the mountain. Conquer the trial to reach the top.

  First Floor: Reach the stairs to the second floor.

  Minily sped through the dense swamp with Laiko and Aggilla in tow. After some discussion, it was decided that they would continue traversing the trees instead of the damp ground. Their destination was the dome of sulfuric gas that she had seen from atop the largest tree.

  As they approached the dome, the putrid smell had grown to make Aggilla tear up. Minily thought quickly and found some advanced gas masks that used mana to circulate fresh air on the Nexus. Once they had them on, their speed increased considerably.

  “We’re getting close! I can almost feel the rot in the air.”

  Laiko and Aggilla nodded to Minily. It was also decided that when they got close, they would slow down to try and gain some intelligence before forcing their way in.

  Minily led them to a tree at the edge of the circular clearing. The ground was completely devoid of anything for twenty feet from the tree line to the dome. No life or vegetation at all.

  The dome itself was unbelievable. It was massive and the gas swirled around it attempting to get in. More came billowing out of what looked to be a vent on the side of the dome which meant that the dome itself was also full of the stuff. Minily decided that the dome was meant to keep hostiles out or perhaps to keep something in.

  “Aggilla, I know you love your books and fables. Anything on this?”

  “I’ve never heard of any such thing. This is…this is impossible.”

  “Well start believing in the impossible. It happens all the time.”

  Minily picked up stone and threw it at the barrier only for it to bounce off. A ripple formed where the rock hit and flowed out over the whole dome. She held up her hand for them to stay silent and watch.

  Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and hours to days before Minily spoke again.

  “Alright, all cards on the table, I was hoping that would make someone come out and investigate. Laiko, can you try throwing one of your daggers.”

  Laiko conjured a dagger and threw it as hard as he could only for it to do the same thing as the rock. He looked at Minily for what to do next.

  “There’s gotta be a way in and out of his thing. Let’s do a loop around it and see what we see. Stay quiet.”

  Three days later they finally made a full revolution around the dome seeing nothing that could be considered a door. At one point they saw one of the crocodile men attempting to bite it. Ripples appeared on the dome all the same and nothing came out to attack it.

  “New plan. Let’s just walk up to it. Maybe they will answer for some humans?”

  “You don’t sound confident at all.”

  “Well, Laiko, I’m not sure what else to do. This thing seems impenetrable and we need to get in there.”

  “You could always teleport in, right?”

  “And leave you two out here alone? Do you think I could be that cruel to poor Aggilla?”

  Aggilla chuckled. “I believe walking up is a fine idea. With your shields, we will have plenty of time to flee.”

  “See! Someone appreciates me!”

  With that they climbed down the broken tree they were in and moved towards the barrier. Staring up at it was even more daunting than watching it from a distance. Its surface was smooth and perfect. Such a creation should have stories told about it, yet there was nothing which meant that no one had seen it and survived.

  Minily threw up her shield to protect the trio as they approached. Nothing happened. They went forward, closer to the wall and again nothing happened.

  “Should I knock?”

  She didn’t even wait for the other two to respond and stepped forwards. One thing she noted was that her shield went through the other which was strange. Her fist reached for the dome and struck it in a knock. The familiar ripples echoed out from the spot and still nothing happened. She put both hands on the dome and pushed trying to force herself in with her incredible stats. Still nothing happened.

  “Well, that was anticlimactic.”

  “Should we try going in the vent we saw? Maybe the concentration of toxic gas keeps most things out from the vent, but we have these masks.”

  “That’s a good idea, Laiko!”

  “Thanks, Aggilla! See someone appreciates me!”

  Minily rolled her eyes.

  “Alright, good a plan as any.”

  The vent was spewing out a constant stream of even more potent toxic gas, and it was nearly halfway up the dome. Minily could fly and Laiko could teleport, so Aggilla had to be carried up by Minily. Once inside the vent they couldn’t see anything. Sulfuric clouds so dense that you’d be dead in minutes filled the metal tube. Bars blocked their way, but Minily was able to bend them an opening just large enough to fit through. They followed the side of the tunnel like a pathway until it started to descend. Carefully they slid down the slight decline until they came to another grate. Minily and Laiko had to work together to break this one.

  Minily flew out first to make sure it was safe and there was a place they could land. She came back a few seconds later saying they were at the edge of a massive hole in the ground. She made two trips to safely put them on the edge of the hole. They all looked down and saw red and black flames dancing along at the bottom in a giant inferno. Humanoids were buzzing around the fire doing something, but from a distance they couldn’t tell what. Surprisingly, there were no enemies at the top of the hole.

  “Someone organized a bonfire and didn’t invite me?”

  “Minily, this is serious. This could be dangerous.”

  “I agree. I’m not sure we should just fly down there and announce our presence.”

  “No, we can’t do that. We need to do this with stealth. Keep your masks on at all times. We will fly to those flat areas where we can stand on the sides of the hole until we are low enough to scout.”

  “Time to see what they are cooking then.”

  Laiko threw his dagger at the first landing spot and teleported. Minily and Aggilla followed.