I woke gasping, muscles stiff, ribs still sore from my first encounter. The small chamber had kept me safe, but I knew I couldn't linger forever. One death had already shown me the maze's teeth — and if I wanted to survive, I had to move smarter, faster, and… well, slightly less like a panicked idiot.
I tested the sword in my hands again. Its balance felt natural, almost like an extension of my own arm. The rope coiled beside me reminded me that climbing or restraining wasn't just an option — it was a necessity. I took a deep breath, gave myself a mental pep talk, and stepped out of the safety of the wall chamber.
The labyrinth greeted me immediately. Shadows danced along the walls, twisting corridors stretching endlessly in every direction. The floor hummed faintly beneath my feet. Every step had to be calculated. Every sound could betray me.
I moved slowly at first, letting the maze settle around me. The walls shifted subtly as I passed, small cracks revealing paths that weren't visible before. Skeletons were already there, hidden in shadows, their hollow eyes glowing faintly. I could feel their awareness, the way the labyrinth guided them toward me.
"Alright, Nolan," I muttered, gripping the sword. "Let's not die again, okay? Deal?"
A clatter echoed from behind me. I spun, sword raised, only to see a lone skeleton staggering toward me, its movements stiff but deliberate. I dodged, rolled, and swung. The sword bit through its ribcage, toppling it in a heap of rattling bones. One down. Keep moving. Keep alive.
The corridors twisted unnaturally. I had to climb, swing, and squeeze through narrow spaces I wouldn't have thought possible yesterday. The rope became indispensable — I swung across chasms, tied it to broken pillars to create makeshift bridges, even used it to trip a skeleton chasing me. My mind raced constantly, analyzing every shift in the walls, every shadow, every faint sound.
Hours seemed to pass in minutes. I killed skeleton after skeleton, but for every one I felled, two more emerged from the shadows. The maze was relentless. The skeletons were relentless. The labyrinth itself… relentless.
I ducked into a small side corridor and almost tripped over a spike trap, barely managing to roll out of the way. Another corridor twisted above me; a small alcove held bones and shattered remnants of torches. I grabbed a piece of broken stone, tossing it like a projectile. It hit a skeleton square in the skull. It rattled, staggered, then collapsed. Tiny victories kept me moving.
I explored deeper, finding chambers with multiple corridors leading in every direction. I tested each with small rocks or careful steps, noting how the walls shifted slightly after I passed. A corridor that seemed clear the first time would collapse halfway through the next attempt. Traps reset. Skeleton patrols rotated. Timing was everything.
I experimented with climbing. Using the rope, I swung to a ledge three meters above the floor. From there, I could see corridors that stretched like tunnels into darkness. Skeletons below seemed to sense me, their hollow eyes glowing faintly, as if aware of my presence. I noted every patrol pattern, the timing of floor spikes, and walls that could crush me if I paused too long.
Hours blurred. I was exhausted. My sword arm trembled. My hands were scraped and bloody. I realized I was thinking faster than I had ever thought in my life — every step, every observation, every swing and roll was a calculation. I couldn't let a single mistake cost me another death… not yet.
At one point, I found a chamber with a collapsed ceiling forming a natural bridge. I used the rope to traverse it, dangling above what I guessed was a pit below. Skeletons were waiting on the other side. I swung, grabbed the far edge, and rolled onto the ground. My sword bit into a skeleton's arm as I passed, giving me just enough space to run before the others could react.
Then I found a strange series of carvings on the wall — symbols that glowed faintly as I approached. I studied them, trying to figure out if they were warnings, instructions, or traps. A sudden clatter from the ceiling made me leap to the side as a skeleton dropped down, missing me by inches. The carvings pulsed faintly, like the maze was alive and responding.
I tested the sword again, swinging at another skeleton. I realized I could use the walls as leverage, pushing off to increase my strike's speed. The rope became a whip, wrapping around legs to topple them into corners or trip traps. Every trick I tried gave me a fraction of breathing room.
The labyrinth seemed to adjust constantly. A wall would shift to block my escape, forcing me to jump across a chasm I hadn't noticed before. Another corridor opened just as I passed a corner, revealing more skeletons than I could count. I had to make split-second decisions — attack, dodge, or retreat. Retreat usually worked, but it left me with nowhere safe to go if I miscalculated.
By the time I reached what I thought was a larger chamber, I was panting, ribs sore, and arms trembling. Bones littered the floor. Skeletons had fallen to my sword, the rope, and gravity itself. I forced myself to keep moving, scanning constantly for weak points, traps, and exits.
And then I heard it. Hundreds of rattling footsteps echoing off the walls. Not one or two skeletons. Hundreds. The maze itself seemed to pulse, guiding them, corralling me toward the center of the chamber. My stomach sank.
I turned, searching desperately for a way out. There were none. Every corridor I had used earlier had shifted. Every ledge I could reach was now blocked. The skeletons poured in from every angle, hundreds of hollow eyes locking on me, every bone moving with frightening precision.
I gripped the sword tighter, coiled the rope in one hand, and backed against the far wall.
"Nope. Nope. Nope," I muttered. "I am absolutely dead. There is no way out. There's no way I survive this."
The skeletons advanced, the walls closed in, the ceiling seemed to lower. My mind raced, adrenaline screaming in my ears. I took a step back… and realized I was completely surrounded.
Every escape route gone. Every corridor blocked. Every floor trap irrelevant. A hundred skeletons, all moving in perfect coordination, closing in.
I swallowed, chest tight, and muttered one last thought before the inevitable.
"Well… this is fine. Totally fine. I can do this. Maybe not survive… but hey, at least it's dramatic."
And with that, I braced myself.
I swallowed hard, gripping the sword tighter, rope coiled in the other hand. A hundred skeletons, all converging. Hollow eyes glowing, bones rattling. And me? Completely outnumbered. My first instinct was to scream, but my throat was dry, ribs screaming from old injuries.
"Okay… okay… don't die. Don't die. Just don't die!" I muttered under my breath.
I swung my sword at the first skeleton that lunged at me. The blade cut clean through the ribcage, but before I could recover, another skeleton tackled me from the side. I rolled, barely avoiding a crushing blow from a third. My rope lashed out instinctively, wrapping around a skeleton's leg and pulling it off balance. Bones shattered as it fell, but three more were already closing in.
The walls shifted again. I didn't know if it was the maze or sheer luck, but a narrowing corridor appeared on my right. I sprinted toward it, dodging strikes and swinging the rope to trip pursuing skeletons. One slammed into the wall, another fell into a pit that opened suddenly beneath my feet.
"This is ridiculous," I gasped, backing up into a slightly wider chamber. "One guy against… how many? Like a hundred? Totally fair."
I spun, swinging the sword in wide arcs. Each strike knocked bones aside, toppled skeletons, but more kept coming. The rope became a whip, catching skeletons across the neck, legs, and shoulders. I yanked, tripping them into walls or pits, sometimes pulling myself along to gain momentum and avoid being surrounded.
A skeleton leapt from above, trying to land on my shoulders. I ducked, swung the rope upward, and it wrapped around its jaw. With a sharp pull, it toppled backward, cracking against the stone floor. I barely had time to breathe before two more charged at me from opposite directions.
I realized I had to think beyond swinging and dodging. The walls themselves were weapons — spikes, crumbling sections, narrow ledges. I backed toward a narrow bridge spanning a pit. Skeletons followed, but I could use the collapse to my advantage. I waited for them to get close, then slashed at their legs and yanked the rope, toppling half a dozen into the pit below. Their rattling screams echoed off the stone walls.
"Okay… okay… maybe I can do this," I muttered, swinging and rolling, lunging and retreating. My arms ached. My ribs burned with each dodge. My mind raced faster than it ever had. Every step had to be precise. Every swing had to count.
But the skeletons weren't stupid. They coordinated, flanking me, cutting off corridors, forcing me into tighter spaces. One even pulled a wall segment down as I ran, forcing me to roll under the debris. I barely avoided being crushed.
I leapt onto a ledge, tying the rope around a stalactite above. Swinging across, I landed behind a small group, slashing and knocking them into a pit. The labyrinth shuddered around me. Was it trying to crush me? Or just being dramatic? I didn't care. I just had to survive.
Sweat dripped into my eyes. My sword arm was shaking. I gritted my teeth, remembering every training session, every tactic I had practiced in my hideout. I was faster now, smarter, using the rope, the walls, the traps. Skeletons continued to fall, toppled into pits or crushed by collapsing walls, but more kept coming, endless, relentless.
I ducked as a skeleton swung a bone club overhead. I rolled, lashed with the rope, and pulled it into a spike trap. My chest heaved. My ribs screamed. I barely had time to look around before three more skeletons closed in.
And then… I saw it. A slightly elevated platform, just out of reach. If I could get there, I could force them to come up one at a time instead of all at once. I tied the rope to a protruding stone, swung across, and landed on the platform.
Skeletons below tried to follow, but the drop was too steep for them. A small reprieve. I could breathe, plan, reset. I glanced down — there were still dozens of skeletons below, rattling and clawing, but for now, they couldn't reach me.
I slumped against the stone, chest heaving, sword dripping with… bone dust and fragments. I had survived. Somehow. Not elegantly. Not cleanly. But alive.
And yet… the labyrinth didn't stop. I knew that was only temporary. The walls continued to shift. New corridors would open. Skeletons would find another path. And this was just the beginning.
I looked out across the chamber, dozens of skeletons watching me from below, their hollow eyes glowing faintly. My sword felt heavy in my hands. The rope coiled neatly beside me, ready. My chest burned. My mind raced.
And then I realized… no matter how many skeletons I killed, no matter how many traps I used… there were still hundreds more out there.
I swallowed hard, gripping the sword tighter, and whispered:
"Alright… Cycle begins now. Let's see how far I can go before I die again."
Stabbing myself in the heart I died resetting back to the start.