---
The labyrinth was quieter now, the usual hum of its twisting stone corridors replaced by a heavy silence. Kaelen, Ariella, and Seraphine had made their way through the Hall of Echoes, each of them carrying the weight of their experiences. But Kaelen felt a new fire burning within him—he was no longer just surviving the maze, he was conquering it. The more trials it threw at him, the more it fueled his power. It was a sweet, intoxicating feeling.
But something was different now. As they continued down another corridor, the air grew unnaturally still. The walls, once moving with energy, were now cold and lifeless. It felt like the labyrinth was holding its breath, as if waiting for something.
Kaelen glanced at his companions. Ariella's expression was as stoic as ever, but he could see the subtle tension in her posture. Seraphine, on the other hand, was oddly quiet, her eyes scanning their surroundings with a wariness that made Kaelen pause.
"You're both awfully quiet," Kaelen said, breaking the silence. "What's going on?"
Ariella's eyes narrowed, but she didn't answer immediately. She was clearly on edge, but there was more to it than just the maze itself. Kaelen's senses were sharpening again, a low hum in the back of his mind warning him of something, but it wasn't quite clear.
Seraphine finally spoke, her voice low. "There's something wrong here. We're being watched."
Kaelen's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his dagger. "Watched? By who?"
Seraphine shook her head. "I don't know, but I can feel it. The labyrinth knows what we've become… and it's trying to *change* us. The deeper we go, the more it twists us."
Kaelen shot her a skeptical glance. "I'm not some innocent little wanderer anymore. If it's trying to change me, it's going to have a hard time."
Ariella shot him a quick, sharp look, her hand resting on her sword. "The labyrinth doesn't just play tricks. It distorts everything—*everyone*. Be on your guard."
But before Kaelen could respond, the corridor ahead of them twisted in on itself. The stone walls seemed to bend, stretching and collapsing into each other, as if the very fabric of reality was warping.
And then, the figure appeared.
---
**Wrath Points: 60 / 20.**
---
It was a man—a tall figure draped in dark robes, his face hidden beneath a hood. He stood in the center of the twisting corridor, watching them with an unsettling calm. His presence was suffocating, like a shadow that clung to the air around him.
"I've been waiting for you," the man said, his voice smooth, almost hypnotic.
Kaelen's hand instinctively tightened around his dagger, but the man didn't move, merely watching them with those dark, unreadable eyes.
"Who are you?" Ariella demanded, her sword drawn in an instant.
The man gave a slow, almost amused smile. "I am not important. What matters is *you*."
"Us?" Kaelen repeated, narrowing his eyes. "What do you want?"
The man's smile didn't fade. "What I want doesn't matter. What you need to understand is that the labyrinth doesn't just twist its inhabitants. It *makes* them."
Kaelen's brow furrowed. "I'm not following."
"You see," the man continued, his voice dripping with quiet malice, "this place has a way of revealing the truth. It brings out the parts of you that you'd rather keep hidden. Your desires, your fears… even your betrayals."
Kaelen's blood ran cold. "Betrayals? What are you talking about?"
The man stepped forward, and as he did, the labyrinth around them seemed to warp again. Kaelen blinked, and suddenly, the corridor no longer looked like the cold, stone maze. It had been replaced with a grand hall—a place he recognized.
It was the abandoned temple he had once called home.
"No…" Kaelen whispered, the memories flooding back.
It was a distant place—one from his past, long buried and forgotten. A place where his former allies had betrayed him. A place where he had been left to die.
The man's voice echoed in his mind again. "They left you behind, didn't they? Left you to rot. You were nothing but a tool to them."
"No…" Kaelen said again, shaking his head. "That was a long time ago. It doesn't matter anymore."
But the vision didn't fade. He saw their faces again—people he had trusted, people he had fought for. Their eyes were full of contempt, full of judgment. They had abandoned him in that temple, left him to die when they found out he wasn't the hero they had thought him to be. They had used him until he was no longer useful.
"I didn't *deserve* to be left behind," Kaelen muttered under his breath. "I didn't deserve it."
---
**Wrath Points: 65 / 20.**
---
Seraphine's voice cut through the illusion. "Kaelen, snap out of it. This is just the labyrinth trying to twist your mind. It's not real!"
But Kaelen couldn't tear his eyes away from the vision. He saw them again—his former comrades, turning their backs on him. Their betrayal had been a wound that had never healed, and now, the labyrinth was opening it wide again.
"You were weak, Kaelen," the man said, his voice like a knife. "They saw it. And they left you to die. You're nothing more than a discarded tool."
Kaelen's breath came faster now, a cold fury building inside him. He felt the anger bubbling up—the rage he had long kept hidden. This was it. This was the betrayal that had defined him, the thing that had shaped him into the person he was now.
But then, the laughter echoed in his mind. A mocking, cruel sound.
"You still think you can change things?" the man sneered. "You'll never be more than what they made you."
Kaelen's hands clenched into fists, his body trembling with barely contained fury. This labyrinth, this illusion, was trying to make him question himself again. But he wasn't that man anymore. He wasn't the weak, abandoned fool he had been before.
"No," Kaelen growled. "I'm not that person. I'm stronger than that."
The labyrinth had tried to break him with his past, but now, Kaelen was going to break *it*.
---
**Wrath Points: 70 / 20.**
---
With a roar, Kaelen unleashed the full force of his wrath. The power surged through him like a tidal wave, burning away the illusion around him. The grand hall faded, replaced once again by the cold, twisting corridor of the labyrinth. The man in the hood began to distort, his form flickering like a faulty image on a screen.
"You cannot control me!" Kaelen shouted, his voice filled with rage. "I'm not the same person anymore!"
The figure's smile twisted into a grimace of frustration as it dissolved into nothingness.
Kaelen stood there, panting heavily, but his heart was no longer heavy. The illusion had failed. He had broken free.
Seraphine and Ariella were watching him, their expressions unreadable, but Kaelen could see the faint flicker of something in their eyes. Respect? Acknowledgment?
Kaelen didn't care. He had faced his past, and he had emerged victorious. The labyrinth had tried to break him, but he was only growing stronger.
"Let's go," Kaelen said, his voice calm now, his eyes burning with resolve. "There's nothing left to hold me back."
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