Chapter 45: To The Wire

  Alex’s instinct were screaming at him. Holly hadn’t returned, and his gut twisted with every passing thought of what could have happened to her in the maze.

  Just wait there? How could he just wait? But as he opened his mouth to argue, Garret stepped forward with his arms out, his usual humor was nowhere to be found.

  “You’re not going in, Alex,” Garret said firmly. “We’ve got all the gem-markers down. The objective’s already almost complete; we just need Holly’s. Rushing back in will just put you further at risk. She can be anywhere in there now that the maze is moving by itself. We have to wait. That’s it.”

  “She could be hurt! She could be—”

  “She’s not dumb or weak,” Eric cut in, “Holly’s strong. She’s capable. She knows how to handle herself. You’re not going to save her by running in blindly.”

  Alex clenched his fists, feeling the pull between his worry and their logic. His chest heaved as he looked at them. “But what if she’s... what if—”

  “You trust her. That’s what you do. You wait. You trust she’ll make back.” Allie said softly.

  The tension in his chest didn’t ease, but he swallowed it down and nodded reluctantly.

  “Yeah… okay. You’re right. I… I just…” His words trailed off as he glanced down at his hand. Purple still coated his palm, the chimera blood thin but persistent. He could also feel the beast's toxin still coursed through him, a stubborn and potent effect that his body couldn't eradicate entirely.

  He looked up to scan the team. And then it hit him how bad they all looked.

  Lance’s hands trembled as he adjusted his sword sheath at his side. Garret’s normally warm skin was pale, his eyes a faint sickly yellow at the corners. Henry’s massive frame seemed almost hollowed out, with fatigue etched in every line of his face. Eric’s usual composure had also faltered, his lips tight.

  Even Allie… Alex’s gaze found her still hunched over her alchemy supplies. Her hands hovered over vials and flasks, fingers trembling slightly as she worked. Her movements contained a frantic note to them. She didn’t even meet his eyes.

  “Allie… you’re hurt too. Everyone…”

  She shook her head, almost imperceptibly... No. They didn't want to talk about it.

  He swallowed hard. The reality hit him fully: they had all endured the brunt of the chimera’s toxins and their bodies were pushed past the brink. Yet still, they were holding it together long enough to complete the biome objective. They couldn't go anywhere, couldn't go chasing after Holly or running for the exit, even if they wanted to.

  Alex’s shoulders slumped. “Damn it… you’re right. I just… I just don’t want to lose anyone.”

  He stood straight and took a slow breath, letting the tension ebb slightly, though the burn of the toxin in his lungs and the worry for Holly gnawed at him.

  The garden courtyard had fallen into an uneasy quiet. The fountain’s soft glow undulated slowly, but it felt dim against the growing tension in their bodies. Alex paced back and forth along the flagstones, every footfall echoing, every beat of his heart synchronized with the timer counting down in the corner of his vision.

  9:12… 9:11… 9:10…

  The others mirrored his restless energy. Garret’s normally loose and carefree posture was rigid while Peter’s fingers drummed incessantly on his spear’s haft. Henry shifted his weight from one foot to the other as his eyes scanned every shadow of the garden. Even Eric, ever composed, was pacing just like he was.

  Alex ran a hand through his hair, eyes darting toward the maze’s many exits. Every moment Holly was missing felt like a potential risk climbing higher and higher. From the corner of his vision, a soft thump drew his attention. Tom-Tom had slumped against Henry’s shoulders, his little body limp and his tail twitching weakly. The color of his scales had dulled; the normally vibrant tones were fading into gray.

  Alex felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He crouched beside the small creature as Henry carefully set him down and placed a hand gently on its back.

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  “Tom-Tom… stay with us, buddy,” he murmured, but the words felt shallow against the reality of the creature’s fading pulse.

  “He’s losing too much color… the poison in him is too much.” Henry said.

  Allie knelt nearby and the somber shake of her head earlier had already said it all. She didn’t have it yet, the antidote.

  The timer continued its relentless descent:

  8:02… 8:01… 8:00…

  Alex’s hands itched with the residual chimera toxin, but the sight of Tom-Tom was far worse. He wanted to rush back into the maze, to tear through whatever was delaying Holly and guide her right back, but reason—Allie, Garret, Eric, Henry—held him back. He couldn’t blindly scour a maze, it wouldn’t help anyone.

  6:23… 6:22… 6:21…

  The seconds felt like hours. Every twitch, every cough, every tremor in his team’s bodies gnawed at his nerves. He crouched again beside Tom-Tom who breathed faintly under his hand. “Just hold on, buddy. Please… just hold on.”

  Obby's words were almost a whisper in his mind. “He’s smaller, weaker than any of you. It’s not looking good. Even if Holly makes it back…”

  Shut up Obby!

  Alex exhaled slowly, forcing his panic down.

  3:45… 3:44.. 3:43…

  ***

  Wind whipped through the maze as Holly sprinted, her boots barely touching the flagstones and each step sending sparks of aether cascading beneath her. The air behind her churned with menace. Snake-like chimeras, their petals flaring like wings, kept their elongated bodies aloft as they closed in with terrifying anger.

  Damn it, where? Where?

  Holly’s eyes narrowed as she pushed herself harder, the flow of her own aether driving her forward. She could feel the sting of the poison still lingering in her limbs, but the gem marker in her palm was heavier than any fatigue she was feeling, heavier than her fear.

  She turned a corner, finding a dead end and cursed. A whipcrack of explosive wind aether sent her rocketing backward, crossing the three flying chimera serpents that tried biting at her as she passed.

  She took a different turn instead. Please be the right one!

  It took four more turns before she saw it. The courtyard emerged ahead, its light breaking across the polished floor. Relief surged in her chest, but only for a second. The airborne chimeras twisted in air above her, shadows falling over the area around her. Shadows with glistening fangs.

  Alex saw her first, his eyes growing wide as they met hers. She saw the familiar blue of his aether flow down his arms, energy collecting in his fingertips. The hiss of serpentine threats reached her, and she felt the looming specter of death at her back.

  Azure energy erupted from Alex's hand as he ran forward. His beautiful green eyes, the ones she felt lost in so often, were hard and ferocious as he dashed toward her. His robes, the blue martial fabric that hid his powerful muscled body—one she knew quite well by now—rippled against the wind as he moved. Meanwhile, the serpents twisted toward her mid-air, but then he was there.

  Energy bursts shredded them in precise, concussive detonations.

  One, two, three; each serpentine body was torn apart in a spray of dark purple, their petals fluttering like shattered wings. The courtyard rang with the power of his Alex’s energy crackling off the corpses that rained around her.

  Holly didn’t pause her sprint. She trusted Alex enough to make a path for her. She weaved through the bloody fight, her sandals skimming the stone, her pace never slowing as she knew every second counted.

  The gem marker’s glow called to her. Its pulse of light urging her onward.

  She reached the fountain just as the timer hit 1:18.

  With her heart hammering and her lungs burning, she slid the gem marker into the carved recess of the fountain. A resonant click echoed through the courtyard in response. The gem’s light flared once, twice, then stabilized.

  Almost immediately after, water surged from the fountain and cascaded into the basin with crystal clear clarity. Energy rippled outward as if washing the courtyard clean.

  The air shifted around them and the chimeras scattered back into the maze. At least the ones Alex hadn’t already slaughtered.

  ***

  Alex exhaled as his shoulders relaxed slightly. The energy in his fhands dissipated. Holly looked up at him with a triumphant grin breaking through the grime and sweat on her face. She was beautiful.

  The team gathered around the fountain quickly, relief flooding every face. The System’s message, and the appearance of the water in the fountain was obvious.

  The water was the cure.

  Everyone spent no time waiting, Holly cupped her hands to drink, Henry and Eric doing the same. Garret simply submurged his head up to his neck to gulp down the water like a fish. Allie drank and then filled an empty vial with the fountain’s contents, bringing it to Tom-Tom.

  The little lizard stirred once the water was poured into his mouth, finally showing color returning to his complexion.

  Alex jogged over to Holly and drank a cupped handful of the water as well.

  “You made it. Barely.” He said as he wiped his mouth.

  Holly’s grin widened as her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Barely? That’s your professional assessment?”

  Garret laughed and shook his head. “Somehow, you two always make this whole ‘being a magic wielding warrior’ thing look insane.”

  Allie glanced at the now-active fountain. “We’re done. Finally done.”

  Alex ignored the verbal jabs from his friends as he looked over the team. All them already looked far better after drinking from the fountain. The objective was complete.

  They had survived.

  Now, they just needed to go to the city, and fight an entire Hive. Easy.