Subra sprinted through the narrow corridors of the maze, the cold stone underfoot offering no reprieve as his lungs burned with exertion. His heart pounded in his ears, drowning out the faint whispers of pursuit behind him. Four spears were strapped tightly to his back, their weight a stark reminder of his dwindling resources. In his hand, the bone-fang dagger gleamed faintly under the flickering light of his makeshift torch.
The maze walls stretched upward, forming an oppressive, unscalable barrier. Subra stole a glance behind him and saw nothing but the faint, golden-orange glow of the elves' eyes, distant yet menacing. They were toying with him, he realized, letting him run to wear himself down before the real hunt began.
His mind raced alongside his feet. I can't climb. The walls are too high. Traps won't work here—too open. Think. He scanned the labyrinthine paths ahead, looking for anything that could give him an advantage. The faint sound of footsteps grew louder, the elves closing in with a predatory grace.
Turning sharply at an intersection, Subra pressed himself flat against the wall, extinguishing his torch to blend into the shadows. He clutched the dagger tightly, his knuckles white. Every muscle in his body tensed as he waited, his breathing shallow to mask his presence. The echoes of footsteps reached his ears, then paused. They know I'm here. His grip on the dagger tightened as he prepared to spring into action.
He took a deep breath, forcing calm into his mind. "Look," he began, his voice cutting through the tense silence, "I don't want this fight. You don't want this fight. Just walk away."
The elf leader—a tall woman cloaked in shadow—tilted her head, her twin daggers glinting with poison with a smirk on her face. "We decide what we want," she replied coldly. "You are an intruder. You'll die as one."
"Fascinating," Subra muttered under his breath, planting his feet. "You're so eager to end my life. Did someone send you, or are you just bored?"
Her response was a flick of her wrist. An archer loosed an arrow that streaked toward Subra's chest. He sidestepped, his spear sweeping up to deflect it mid-air. The wooden shaft vibrated in his hands, the impact a brutal reminder of how close the fight had already come.
"Fine," Subra growled, stepping forward. "But don't say I didn't warn you."
The battle began in earnest.
The elves moved in flawless synchronization, their strikes coordinated to leave no opening, each motion a calculated piece of a deadly dance. Their unity was unnerving, their movements so perfectly timed that it felt as though they were one entity, amplifying the tension with every strike. Subra parried a swordsman's overhead slash, the blue-aura blade sparking against his spear. With a powerful twist, he redirected the elf's momentum, sending him staggering. Before he could follow up, a second swordsman lunged at his exposed flank.
Subra pivoted, thrusting his spear forward in a desperate counter. The weapon's point glanced off the elf's enchanted armor, but the force of the blow sent the attacker stumbling back. Subra's mind raced. Their armor's nearly unbreakable, and they're too fast for a head-on fight. I need to disrupt their rhythm.
A cold smile crept onto his face. "I've fought children who hit harder than you," he taunted. "You're just slower at dying."
The elves pressed harder. An archer fired from above, her arrow slicing through the air with deadly precision. Subra ducked, the projectile grazing his shoulder. He retaliated with his second spear, hurling it with all his strength. It struck the archer's bow, splintering it in a shower of wood and string. The elf leapt back with inhuman agility, landing nimbly on the maze wall.
Subra felt the haft of his second spear splinter under another blow from a swordsman. He growled in frustration, kicking the elf away and swinging the damaged weapon in a wild arc. The spear shattered completely as it connected with the enchanted armor, the shards scattering across the stone floor.
The leader advanced, her daggers flashing in the dim light. "You're running out of tricks," she observed coolly.
Subra shrugged, drawing his bone-fang dagger. "Lucky for me, I've always been better with my hands."
The fight devolved into chaos.
Subra ran through the walls of the maze, using his agility to stay ahead of his attackers. He jumped off the walls and used the environment to his advantage, forcing the elves to chase him. At one point, he backflipped over a wall, landing silently behind the swordsman pursuing him. Without hesitation, Subra wrapped his arms around the elf's neck and twisted violently. The sound of snapping bone echoed through the narrow corridor as blood sprayed from the elf's mouth, spattering Subra's face.
Before the body could hit the ground, Subra hoisted it up and spun it into the path of arrows whistling down from the maze walls. The projectiles thudded into the corpse, one narrowly missing Subra's head. With a guttural growl, he hurled the body toward the other swordsman, the lifeless form colliding with brutal force and knocking the elf off balance. Subra charged, using the momentum to slam his boot into the swordsman's chest, sending him crashing hard against the maze wall. The impact slightly cracked the armor, and blood spilled from the elf's mouth in a vivid gush as his body and head slammed into the wall behind him, causing the stone to crack. The swordsman groaned, momentarily dazed, as the lifeless body of his fallen ally pinned him to the ground. With a pained grunt, he quickly pushed the corpse off and struggled to his feet, his golden eyes blazing with fury.
"Still think I'm the prey?" he growled, wiping blood off his face while spinning to face the others.
The leader signaled the remaining elves to regroup. Her voice carried over the battlefield, low and commanding. "Finish this."
Subra fought recklessly, every movement an act of defiance against the inevitability of his weapons breaking. His final spear was battered and splintered, barely holding together under the relentless assault. The shaft creaked ominously, the wood threatening to give way with every strike, but it refused to break. Subra gritted his teeth and wielded it with grim determination, knowing it wouldn't last much longer. In his other hand, the bone-fang dagger felt light and sharp, a reliable extension of his will.
The elves moved with a chilling precision, their golden-orange eyes gleaming in the dim light as they regrouped. The archer trio fanned out in a calculated formation, each finding elevated positions on broken debris and ledges within the maze. Their bows were drawn taut, arrows shimmering faintly with enchantments that promised unerring accuracy. The two surviving melee combatants positioned themselves closer to the center, the swordsman limping but still alert, his blade glowing faintly blue with its magical aura.
At the forefront stood the elf leader, her daggers glinting as she twirled them effortlessly in her hands. Her presence radiated authority, her gaze sweeping across the battlefield with cold calculation. She gestured subtly, and the others adjusted their stances, perfectly attuned to her commands.
The injured swordsman stepped slightly ahead, acting as a decoy, his stance defensive but resolute. The archers shifted, covering all possible angles of escape, their movements fluid and synchronized. The leader herself remained poised, her posture exuding confidence as she studied Subra like a hawk circling wounded prey.
Their formation wasn't just for show—it was a deliberate, predatory strategy, designed to corner and crush Subra with overwhelming coordination. The air felt thick with tension, the silence broken only by the faint hum of their enchanted weapons and the distant rustle of the maze. Subra's eyes darted between his adversaries, his breath steady despite the odds. Blood dripped from a shallow wound on his arm where an arrow had grazed him, and the open wound on his side burned with every movement.
The imposing walls of the maze loomed around him, their oppressive weight mirroring the tension of the battle. Subra stood in the center of the clearing, his chest heaving, his last spear splintered and barely serviceable. His bone-fang dagger gleamed faintly in the moonlight filtering through a crack in the ceiling, casting long shadows across the battlefield. Blood dripped from his wounds, his movements labored but determined.
Around him, the remaining enemies closed in with eerie precision. The elf leader stood at the forefront, her twin daggers glinting, her molten golden eyes fixed on him with a predatory gleam. To her left and right, the final swordsman and archer moved with equal intent, their weapons ready. Above, the other two archers hovered momentarily, their mysterious flight granting power allowing them to float in the air for a few moments, giving them brief vantage points before they landed back on the ground. Subra gritted his teeth as he sized up the coordinated formation, his mind racing for a solution.
The leader smirked, stepping forward. "Cornered and bleeding. I expected more of a challenge." Her voice was low and mocking, a blade in its own right.
"Challenge?" Subra retorted, wiping blood from his lips. "What challenge is there in swarming a single man? Afraid I'll win?"
Her expression hardened. With a subtle flick of her hand, the air filled with the sound of bowstrings releasing. Arrows streaked toward Subra like falling stars. He dove to the side, rolling into a crouch as the projectiles embedded themselves in the ground where he had stood. Before he could recover, the swordsman lunged, his glowing blue blade carving a deadly arc.
Subra raised his broken spear, parrying the strike with a resounding clang. The weapon splintered further, but he twisted the haft, leveraging the elf's momentum to redirect the strike into the ground. With a sharp kick to the swordsman's knee, Subra forced him to stagger, creating a brief opening.
Above, the archers standing on the maze walls circled him like vultures. Subra knew he couldn't outrun their aim forever. Desperation clawed at him as he seized a shard of his broken spear and hurled it at the nearest archer. The sharp fragment flew through the air, its trajectory a perfect arc of chaos. By sheer luck, it struck her directly in the forehead. The impact was brutal, and she crumpled instantly, her body dropping from the wall like a ragdoll. Her bow clattered to the ground as her life flickered out in a single, tragic moment. Subra's heart raced, a mix of disbelief and cold calculation, as he watched the other elves hesitate, momentarily stunned by the sudden loss.
The leader advanced, her daggers a blur of motion. Subra sidestepped her initial thrust, countering with a swipe of his bone-fang dagger. The blade scraped against her armor, leaving a shallow groove but no meaningful damage. She retaliated with a backhanded slash, forcing Subra to retreat as the poisoned edge nicked his shoulder. A paralyzing numbness spread from the wound, freezing his arm in place and making him stumble back in pain.
The swordsman recovered, joining the fray with renewed aggression. His strikes came fast and heavy, forcing Subra to backpedal toward the maze wall. With no room left to maneuver, Subra ducked under a horizontal slash, using the wall as leverage to launch himself into a backflip. He landed behind the swordsman, his dagger flashing. The blade found a weak spot in the elf's armor, slicing through the joint at his shoulder. The swordsman roared in pain, dropping his weapon as blood spurted from the wound.
The swordsman stumbled, clutching his wounded shoulder, but remained standing, his breathing heavy. Subra realized he had no time to finish him off as the leader closed the distance, her daggers flashing dangerously. Subra didn't have time to celebrate; the leader was on him in an instant, her daggers cutting a deadly arc. His movements were sluggish, the poison from earlier numbing his limbs and slowing his reactions. He barely raised his dagger in time to block the first strike, the impact jolting his already weakened arm.
"Enough of your tricks," she hissed, her strikes growing more precise. Subra's defenses faltered as he barely deflected her blows with his dagger. Behind her, the remaining archers regrouped, their bows trained on him.
The elves regrouped, their movements calculated, their golden eyes blazing. Subra fought recklessly, his body protesting with every movement. He could feel the poison from earlier slowing him down, his left arm numb and useless. His mind flitted to the thought of failure, the cost of losing here. What would they say if I fell now?
The leader struck, her daggers flashing. Subra parried with his remaining weapon, but the effort cost him. He stumbled, the poison tightening its grip. Desperation gnawed at Subra's resolve. He could feel the poison tightening its grip, his left arm now entirely unresponsive. He scanned the enclosed space, his eyes landing on the faint cracks in the walls beside him. An idea sparked. It was reckless, dangerous, and his only chance.
He reached into his pocket, retrieving a cloth soaked in lizard-hybrid blood he had saved for later use. The blood, volatile and unpredictable, clung to the fabric, ready for use. He wrapped the cloth around a jagged piece of stone, ensuring it was saturated.
The leader lunged again, but Subra sidestepped, hurling the stone wrapped in the blood-soaked cloth at the base of the wall near the archers. The makeshift weapon struck true, and a spark ignited. The ensuing explosion was thunderous, the fiery shockwave ripping through the air and sending cracks splintering outward along the stone. Flames surged upward, licking the fractured ceiling, while the force of the blast hurled debris in all directions.
One archer, perched on a ledge slightly above the others, was caught off guard. The violent shockwave shattered the footing beneath her, and she tumbled forward, unable to steady herself. As she fell, a massive slab of stone, dislodged by the explosion, descended with brutal precision. She barely had time to scream before it crushed her mid-fall, her lifeless body hitting the ground with a sickening thud amidst the falling rubble.
The leader snarled, her eyes blazing with fury. "You would destroy us all just to survive?"
Subra smirked, blood dripping from his mouth. "You started this. I'm just finishing it."
The explosion had weakened the structural integrity of the maze. Subra sprinted toward the leader, using the chaos to his advantage. She met his charge with a flurry of strikes, but he ducked low, slamming his shoulder into her abdomen. The force drove her back, momentarily off balance. Nearby, the swordsman steadied himself, ready to rejoin the fray, while the final archer loosed an arrow to cover the leader's recovery.
Above, the final archer aimed, her golden-orange eyes locking onto Subra. Time seemed to slow as she loosed her arrow. Subra twisted at the last moment, the arrow grazing his side but missing its mark. He retaliated with a desperate throw of his dagger, aimed to disarm rather than kill. The blade struck her bow, nearly shattering it and forcing her to retreat, but she remained alive and dangerous.
Only the leader, the swordsman, and the archer remained. The leader wiped blood from her mouth, her expression unreadable, while the others flanked her with grim determination. "You've cost me my warriors," she said, her voice cold. "But you've won nothing." Subra finally started feeling sensations in his legs, and the poison's effects ended. His breaths became easier, but he forced himself to stay focused, clenching his dagger in his remaining good hand, now that his left hand was slowly recovering.
Subra staggered forward, his breaths ragged. "Maybe not. But I'm still here."
-To Be Continued-