Jacob Malnew
Flames sweeped free in a spiraling inferno of cackling heat, the fire hungry as it washed over the attackers in front. Their dark fur, stained with old blood, easily caught fire and the howls of pain overpowered the laughing sound of the fire. I tilted my head to see my behind, they needed my help, each of the survivors fighting off a single wolf each, out of them Harley was the most attuned to his new power, which seemed to allow bites and scratches to simply slide off of him as if his body consisted of oil. His attacks landed, but it was obvious that he was still unsure of how to fight creatures like this bare handed. The brothers seemed to be holding off well enough, covering each other when the other was overwhelmed. The other wolves who weren't attacking were eating and I had to make a conscious effort not to focus on the corpses of those we failed.
"JACOB!" Harley shouted, his voice commanding, like those drill sergeants from old war movies. "FOCUS!" The words, so simple, snapped me from my melancholy as I turned back around, focusing the fire into a fine beam that cut through the flailing bodies of the wolves. A few tried to run away in fear of the beam that slaughtered their allies, but I followed them, cutting them down and they died without a further sound. I turned, and condensed the fire into a sphere, then split it in half, then in half again until ten floated above my head, as small as tennis balls. The fire twisted in on itself, keeping the spherical shape as I stepped forwards.
"EVERYONE DUCK!" I instructed and Harley was the first to follow my orders, instinctively following the words. The brothers took a few more seconds before they too, dropped to the floor, all pretense of fighting back instead focused on their defenses that left their backs exposed. Seeing them drop, I willed the fire forwards, the spheres smashing against the remaining wolves. Fire engulfed them in moments, the wolves had not even howled out in agony, the fire ate through them too quickly for the pain to register, which was a mistake, they deserved the pain. They deserved to feel every second. They, they. A hand landed on my shoulder and I instinctively ignited my palm which caused the owner to recoil in panic.
"Calm down, it's me," Harley said, and the flames dwindled as I breathed out.
"You okay?" I asked, panting, Did it just get colder?
"I should be asking you that."
"I'm, I'm-" I paused, looking down at the latest corpses, they looked identical. The bones from their ribs were scattered about the bodies, the wolves' voracious appetite had sheared through them easily. Their screams, horrible and wailing, calling out for help. I looked upon their blank gazes, staring at me, accusations in their frozen expressions of pain. Why, why couldn't you save us? They seemed to say. A hand hit my cheek and the sudden jolt of pain caused fire to rise once again, How could you! I'm trying to save us all, I'm- the thoughts died in my head as I looked at Harley's face. The old man massaged his hand.
"They are dead, don't blame yourself for their incompetence."
"Incompetence?" I replied, "How dare you-"
"Their lives are their own, you have probably already noticed that we seem to not be civilians, and it astounds me how you seem to understand everything about this fucking hell hole, but don't understand that not all of our lives rest on your shoulders."
"Ours do?" Luke muttered under his breath, just loud enough to be heard.
"Shut up!" Harley replied, he then breathed out, "look, we need to focus on the path ahead, it may seem callous of me to insinuate this, but you need to think, every moment you spend here wallowing in self pity, the higher the chances of us dying. I believe you said time is of the essence, so stop thinking of things that you can't change and let's get going." I looked down at my hand and watched it shake. As I willed fire into my palm, the shaking stopped and as I extinguished it, the shaking took its place. I'm so sorry, I thought as I looked down at the fresh corpses.
"Let's go."
Isaac Woodman
T2 2025 - Finally, the obelisk, I had made it. I felt my feet failing me, No, not now, not while we were so close. I pulled myself forwards, my feet complaining with every step, but I wasn't going to allow myself to stop now, not while it was so close. No, Never, I will never stop, I can't, you know it. I found the floor find itself in my view. Wait, that made no sense, where was the obelisk, then the pain of the impact sent a wave of recognition through me. Why now? I crawled towards the wall and grasped a vine as if it were a railing, using it to hoist myself back to my feet. The answer should be one, the answer should be one. It took several minutes to reach the stone gazebo that had been shaped from the walls. The glass obelisk hovered in the center and I placed my hand against it.
"Isaac Woodman, is this your name?" It asked, its robotic voice filling my mind.
"Yes."
"Are you ready for your question?"
"Yes, I'm ready."
"How many times have you lived this?" I froze, what? What does it mean? Have the questions changed? I swallowed nervously as I answered.
"One," I said, uncertainty in my voice.
"Hmmm, you speak both a truth and a lie, how intriguing," the voice said and I froze once again, I was told that it wasn't sentient, just programmed like a computer was. "Sentient, this, obelisk, isn't sentient, you were just too interesting, so I had to have a look myself."
"What do you mean?"
"These things are just a simple receiver, usually they just serve to relay an answer to a different obelisk which determines the correct from the incorrect and truth from lie, then responds with one of two programmed actions, I simply interrupted the second crystal from relaying back to the first."
"Who are you?" The stranger laughed.
"You seem very, unsurprised."
"I just, I've seen things that led me to no longer show my surprise."
"Hmm, another truth, I want to ask you something, this answer won't matter to the theatre as you have already answered correctly, this is simply me being curious. If you would rather not answer, simply remove your hand from the obelisk and the connection will sever. Now, why are you here?"
"To right the future." I simply replied, anyone looking in will not see this interaction, I had my guess on who the voice belonged to and if this answer made them intrigued in me, then, perhaps.
"Haha, another truth, but you are being purposefully vague."
"I'd rather not let certain parties be aware of certain things, we have people watching us after all."
"True, very true," the voice paused for an elongated time, and I was led to believe they had gone, but their next words made me smile. "I need to speak to you further, you seem to be who I am waiting for, I can't help you further, but you and those still alive will need to come find me."
"How?"
"In a maze of this nature, I have hidden myself in a place that is overlooked, a dead end, of which there is only one, find it and run at the wall, you will then be able to greet me in person."
"Who are you?" I had my suspicions, but I thought best to ask anyhow, it couldn't hurt.
"My apologies, my name is Daedalus, and I built this maze. I will introduce myself in a more formal capacity when you find me."
"Correct, exit code three applied to the exit door, as of now, two passcodes have been activated, two remain, good luck." The subtle glow of the obelisk faded and I removed my hand. Find the designer, that voice had said, let's hope this Daedalus is who I'm supposed to seek.