The labyrinth surrounding them was enveloped in an unnatural stillness as if it were a thick veil. This impression struck Vex and Nyx as they proceeded into the newly discovered room, where every movement reverberated off the hoary stones. The heaviness in the atmosphere was complete, charged with something that made Vex feel uncomfortable, causing every instinct in him to roar that he needed to get out of there. But that was not possible—Not with Echelon's last remaining secrets lying just beyond this labyrinth.
They crept forward, almost in rhythm, searching the strange pulsating lights that decorated the walls and then the impassive distant passages. An eerie-sounding buzz, the kind of low frequency that seemed to emanate from walls filled the air. And then, the ground below them shook, as if it was responding to their presence.
"Wait!" Vex said, stretching his arm out to her, frantic, when the earth fissured, threatening to swallow them. Yet his grasp was futile as a piece of the floor gave way and plunged into formless black oblivion. The jolting intensified becoming even more disruptive as the walls began to move and a shrill metallic wail reverberated in the hall when monstrous doors descended from the ceiling.
"Vex!" Nyx's cry was faint and horrible, her form a haze in the mire and mist that shifted in the space separating them.
"Nyx!" he cried back over the distance, barrelling forward and grinding to a stop when she was once more blocked from view by a rapid protruding wall.
He felt the rush of panic, but he made himself hold on. He could still hear her voice on the other end. It was low but strong. "Nyx, wait! I will find a way around."
Following the silence, she spoke, this time more agitated and with an emotion that he could not place. "Just... be careful, Vex. Trying to be a hero shouldn't get you killed." He fitted his hand against the frigid wall, almost reaching out for her, and offered a weak grin. "You also. Don't do anything stupid." Then silence, which was heavy and suffocating dragged on, and he removed his hand, gritting his teeth as he looked at the now separating barrier. Vex felt desolate, the disorientation of the labyrinth's oppressive yet confusing hallways was even worsened. The walls began to buzz, even more than before, with a jarring, almost caustic, tilt as he inhaled sharply, ready to explore the maze by himself.
On the other side of the wall, Nyx's chest rose and fell as she steadied herself, forcing her breathing to slow. She scanned her surroundings and found a narrow path before her, with walls in which fungus-like pulsating lights were embedded. But her thoughts kept going back to Vex and she felt an almost irresistible impulse to shout at him once more. But she choked it down instead. Vex could handle it, more than handle it—he could endure and he'd come for her if she asked him to, which was precisely why she needed to keep quiet.
Firm, she moved ahead. Her steps became quick but restrained. The maze was eerily still, apart from the low buzz of its machine-like parts somewhere concealed behind the walls. Imagination ornated the darkness; lights dashed across her vision, just beyond her reach, creating the illusion that every nook was dangerous. One hand brushed the wall, as her other gripped her gun, her vigilance sharp.
A faint sound that resembled a whisper emanated from the depths of the hallway and grew somewhat clearer as she approached. It felt somehow uncomfortable deep down. Maintaining her composure, she softly told herself "Get a grip, Nyx", and pulled her shoulders back. But the disorientation, she had to admit, was very strong and the very walls around her seemed to turn in and out, narrow and widen with each one of her steps. She sensed the onset of nausea, struggling to resolve the constant twists and turns.
All of a sudden, a door opened up in front of her revealing a gaping opening encased by bright light. Without thinking much she bolted ahead wanting to run for her life. But as she did so and stepped out of the door, the ground below her as if on cue, sloped downwards which caused her to lose her balance almost falling, but just in time regained composure before she fell into what looked like an endless drop.
As she squeezed her hands on the surface again, she groaned inside, fighting some tenuous feeling of despair. "No… you don't get to win", she said softly, trying to horrify the stupid little voice in her head with angry thoughts. Fighting back the weariness, she tugged upwards, her heartbeat deafening, as she rushed past the closing door, which trapped her in the labyrinthine corridor.
In contrast, however, in the other extreme of the maze, Vex also stumbled along. Every hallway seemed the same, the angles of the walls narrowing, and he soon lost any sense of a horizontal plane. He advanced slowly, moving up, for his every instinct was on fire that he was not alone and whatever it was was staring at him from behind the dim throbbing lights.
At some time within those inescapable walls, he heard some footsteps a great distance, coming closer along a corridor and stopped, reading his weapon and trying to locate the source of the noise. However, he could not go that way – as the noise began to come nearer, the footsteps simply disappeared. The maze was screwing with him, teasing him, and it was excusable considering how it felt as if he was being taken somewhere in particular.
He moved on, exasperation growing as he faced one barrier after the other, each wall compelling him to turn about, backtrack and find a different way.
With each passing moment, he found it gradually harder to think about anything else apart from Nyx. Where is she, and is she alright? Was she ever able to navigate through this labyrinth or is she spinning around in circles like him? The doubt tormented him, adding to his anguish.
He still banished the thought from his mind, instead putting all of his energy into the present moment. In order to get to her, he obviously could not afford any distractions and had to clear his mind. This was exactly what Echelon wanted – to get under his skin and exhaust him.
He turned down a different path and stopped at yet another blockade. Cursing lowly, he pounded the palm of his hand against the surface in front of him, which reminded him of the feeling one gets when inside a box-like structure – those walls were closing in on him.
"Come on, Echelon," he hissed. "Is that playscheme all you can come up with?"
The response came immediately as the wall in front of him began to move. The metal hissed and groaned as a section of it opened up, parting to reveal an inky black passage. Drawing on Vex's calm, he raised his back and stepped forward. Pero, he was not afraid of whatever awaited him.
So Nyx was in her own maze of corridors and hallways as well, some even more confusing than others. She forced her feet to go forward yet again but after every other turn it seemed that the loneliness became more terrible, as if the maze were a living thing that encircled her tighter with every step. Her thoughts jumped back to Vex – how calm and steady he was, how self-assured and how he always found a way to escape. That kind of calm would definitely come in handy right now.
And then there was a noise that broke her chain of thoughts – a faint growl but most probably roaring emanating from the walls themselves. She stopped moving as her gaze began searching for the cause of the sound. But it was in many places, all around her, getting stronger and stronger when ultimately it reached her eardrums.
And right then the ground under her feet started shaking. She lost her footing but was able to stead herself by the wall which was also about to give way, disclosing a dark abyss beneath. A barrage of fear swept over her but she managed to tame it, preferring instead to struggle with the throes of the continuing upheaval and remain upright.
"Come on, Nyx", she said to herself even though no one could hear her over the chaos. "You've been through worse."
But the tremors of the floor did not relent, and like an iron cage above her, she could feel the ever-compressing emptiness of the labyrinth about her. Where in the previous lapsession she had felt like a violated pond she now felt like a cornered animal. She drew her weapon, her body tensing as she peered into the darkness, her eyes sharpening as she resolved to fight.
"Echelon, you're not going to win," she muttered, her voice infused with fierce determination.
And just as she took that breath, all other thoughts occupying her mind except for the single most important thought of the omnipresent and the ever so persisting desire to escape, to locate Vex and to end this irritating labyrinth once and for all, the ground decided to stop shaking, leaving her laterally on a narrow beam with no other place.
The maze was insatiable, and it showed no signs of pity. It coiled and wove around itself like a dark maze made for their endurance. And as Vex and Nyx pushed forward into the labyrinth's depths, there came a moment in which every one of them understood the horrible truth– they weren't just fighting to stop being chased; they were fighting in order to meet again.
But Echelon was watching, waiting, tightening its grip with every meter they were advancing. And the further they went, the deeper the shadows went, assuring that the real challenge has just begun.