Chapter 57

Day???:

John dug a divot into the sand with his heel, then climbed back up onto the square stone platform. As a test, he walked through the ‘doorway,’ facing away from the Pyramid. Instantly he was turned around, and a glance at the hole in the ground showed he hadn’t moved to another spot.

Okay, what do you think? He thought at Duin.

And got no response. So he hopped down onto the sand.

What do you think I should do? He asked again.

Stand on the dust-cloud side of the platform and walk through the opening. Duin answered with a glib tone. Then do it twice more. And stop trying to walk the other direction through it.

John blinked. Seriously? That’s it? Walk through the door three times in one direction?

Of course. Duin’s eye roll was clearly ‘audible.’ ‘Take three doors without back-tracking’ means you’ll be transported to another spot each time you go through, ending up inside this Labyrinth.

John gulped. I’m not all that great with riddles. This is going to be tough.

And it seems we cannot talk to you while you’re doing this. The dwarf spirit reasoned. I suggest you find the others quickly; hopefully they’ll be better at it than you.

“Let’s do this, then.” John rubbed his hands together.

He hopped up onto the platform again, on the dust-cloud side this time and walked through the ‘doorway’. Sure enough, he was instantly somewhere else. The sand was unmarred in all directions, his angle of the Pyramid was different as well, and it was high noon now.

Can you talk to me? He tested as he hopped down to move around to the other side of the stone.

I can, but only while you are on the sand. Duin replied.

His next time through, it was late afternoon. Again he was in a different place: his footprints circling the square were gone.

“Well, here goes nothing.” He said before stepping through a third time.

“Holy shit! It worked.” He blurted out, a moment later.

It was dark, like when he went into the Network, but now two stone walls extended from the sides of the ‘doorway’. The stone floor between them also lengthened, continuing on and disappearing into the distance. Directly in front of him, a few yards away were two chest-high stone pillars, separated by a rectangular space in the floor that was filled with a smooth layer of loose sand. On the left-hand pillar was a yellow-orange crystal statue of the dragon John had spoken with. Its serpentine body coiled upward like a spring, with space between each loop, putting the head even with John’s own.

On the other pillar was a thick tome. It was bound in some kind of leather or animal skin that he found silky to the touch a little later, but also conveyed a durable impression as well. The page edges were gilded with something golden, and appeared perfectly cut, like a modern novel, not the more uneven binding seen with older books. There wasn’t any title on the top or spine, making John reluctant to open it.

As he stepped forward, a glow wound its way up the crystal statue until two bright beams flashed from the eyes. If John hadn’t spoken to the real dragon a few minutes earlier, he would’ve found the projected image humorous. A half-sized, torso-only, orange-yellow, translucent Djinn appeared, floating in the air like a cross between a hologram from a science fiction movie and a kids’ cartoon.

It looked at him and bowed, speaking a language John didn’t know, in a questioning tone.

John shook his head, holding his hands out to his sides. “I don’t understand you. Do you know this language?”

The Djinn bowed again. “I do, a common one these days, I’ve found. Perhaps I should consider opening with it, but many Challengers are put at greater ease by hearing their native tongue instead. You do not speak the Alfyr dialect?”

John turned his head, showing his ‘human’ ear. “I’m not an Alfyr, not really.”

“Most curious.” The Djinn replied, sound intensely so. “Very well, we will converse in this tongue. Are you prepared to... ?”

The figure trailed off, cocking his head.

“Ah,” he picked back up smoothly, “you have spoken with Kyet’sol and received your Task already. To confirm its particulars, you must first find each of your three companions: the Djinn, the Dwimar and the Vampyr. While they, themselves face the normal Labyrinth Task: to pass through three locked doors and exit this place, yours is different. Your Task is to convince each one to search out, and unlock a fourth, still-secured portal, with your aid. Once they have opened it, the newly-unlocked door replaces the next one they would have used if they’d refused your Task. Conditions: you may not compel their assistance using force of any type, neither threats nor physical contact. Is this correct?”

“Yes.” John said simply.

The Djinn continued, “And the Labyrinth rules you are to obey are these: once a door is unlocked, everything used to do so is no longer needed for the subsequent door in the normal sequence. Retain nothing you have found, when going through that door. Victory conditions are when you step through the three hidden doors, with each of your companions. Failure condition is your death, or initiating combat with any other denizen of the Labyrinth. Fighting is strictly prohibited between Challengers. Do you understand?”

“I do.” John answered.

“Then,” the Djinn pointed at the sand, “please write your name, or personal mark in a language or manner that you will recognize if you see it again. You may take as long as you need to, and stand when you are complete.”

John knelt and wrote his first name with big, blocky letters. He rolled smoothly to his feet, brushing the grains from his fingers. They’d been cooler than the surrounding air, and slightly sticky, which made forming the word easier.

“Are you satisfied with your efforts?” The Djinn confirmed.

“I am.” John said.

“Place your hand on the Covenant,” the Djinn pointed at the tome, “and say: ‘I understand and accept these Tasks, Rules, Terms and Conditions’.”

John stepped over to the book and put his hand on the cover.

“I understand, and accept the Tasks, Rules, Terms and Conditions.” He parroted.

A small tingle flowed up his arm.

“You are now bound by the Challenge Geas, and may enter the Labyrinth.” The Djinn pointed back at the doorway. “Be aware, you may quote the Rules to any other Challenger who you believe may be breaking them in your presence. But once you complete the Tasks, nothing may be said outside the Labyrinth except the following: A test of mind and thought, not strength or skill in arms. Pass through three doors to enter, and three to depart. That information you may tell others. Kyet’sol wishes only to test those with strong minds, not the brutes who hack their way to victory for her baser sisters’ amusement.”

With that, the Djinn faded away and the statue went dark.

“Guess we’re done talking.” John said to himself, as he turned and walked back through the doorway.

A blink, and he was standing inside a normal interior hallway. Pale sandstone walls, two double-arms-width apart ended in an arched ceiling nearly twenty feet above his head. A few feet behind him, the passage dead-ended in a blank wall. A square column jutted out from the two side walls, crossed with a stone lintel above his head, exactly like the portals outside had been. Mounted to the walls two-thirds of the way up, iron-cupped torches burned with bright flame, whiter than normal oil- or wood-burning fire would.

The corridor was illuminated well enough to see a ‘T’ intersection ahead, twenty yards away. John made the first right, and quickly determined that it really was a maze. Various branches ended in large iron doors, implying that the Labyrinth’s purpose wasn’t to force a Challenger to find a route through. Every door had a rectangular panel in the center, with different symbols on each one. Some were eerily Chinese- or Japanese-like in style, while others were more geometric, and some in weirdly-looping script. Based on a lack of hinges or handles, he assumed the doors swung inward, but none budged under his efforts. After running around testing doors for an hour, John realized he was being silly. If combat with other people was forbidden, then it didn’t matter who knew he was there.

“Adam!” He yelled. “Dulgan! Vorigan! Can you hear me?”

He started banging on doors, jogging down every branch and side passage he came across. One did open, revealing a sun-bleached, long-haired man with pointed ears like John’s, and piercing green eyes. Reddish, tanned skin on his cheeks and nose was peeling away, showing a lighter, paler splotch underneath. Sweat beaded his forehead, dripping down his jaw-line into thickly-padded, dark leather armor, and he growled out an unintelligible question at John.

“Sorry.” John replied, hands raised. “I’m looking for someone else.”

“Beg on.” The man scowled. “Ori willcall annad juticator.”

John spun around, and retreated with the door booming closed behind him.

Before too many turns later, he found a door with English characters in the center, spelling ‘ADAM’.

“Adam! Open up, it’s John!” He shouted, hammering on the metal with both hands.

A few moments later, it jerked back and his Djinn-faced friend stuck his head out of the opening.

“Hey! Uh, isn’t this against the rules?” Adam asked carefully.

“What do you mean?” John asked. “What rules?”

“When I ... uh, crap, you know ... the rules that ... are in force here?” Adam stuttered. “Okay, now that’s stupid weird.”

Despite himself, John laughed. “Blocked already? Or are you really that bad at talking?”

“Ha-ha.” Adam rolled his eyes, hard. “You win; it’s really annoying to find out you can’t talk about something. It’s right ... there ... ugh.”

“Can you tell me anything about the rules themselves? Or maybe summarize them?” John asked.

“I ... yeah, think so.” Adam licked his lips. “Only enter a door with my name on it. Neither help nor hinder another person; and especially no combat or it’s immediate failure. When I unlock a door, don’t keep anything I used when doing so, it’s now useless. I ... think that’s it.”

“Huh.” John mused. “That’s not what I got told at all.”

“Oh? What are yours?” Adam stroked his sand-caked beard.

“I got the ‘don’t keep anything’ rule.” John confirmed. “But I have to get you to do a fourth door, in addition to the three you have for your own Task. And I’m supposed to help you do it. But no combat, and no forcing you at all. It goes for Dulgan and Vorigan too. Nothing about doors with my name, or not helping. The opposite in fact.”

“Interesting.” Adam agreed. “And the rule I have doesn’t say I can’t accept help, only that I can’t give it. And, you know, if I’m not allowed to hinder you, not doing the extra door might qualify as breaking that one. Ordinarily, there’s no way I’d give you a hand, but if it might mean my failure...” He sighed theatrically. “I guess I have to.”

“So, what are you doing?” John asked curiously.

Adam shrugged and opened the door widely. Inside was a square room, ten feet wide with walls made of the same sandstone bricks as the hallway. Directly opposite where the two stood was a second door. This one had a thick stone frame, with something carved into the face. A shiny gold statue of a serpentine dragon, smaller and metallic but otherwise identical to the crystal one he’d seen earlier, perched on a small ledge right over the top center of the door frame. Each corner had a two-foot-high cube-shaped stone bench. The two side walls bore torches, also like the hallway outside, brightly lighting up the room. In the center of the floor was a shallow square depression, which seemed large enough to fit one of the cubes in the corners.

“It’s like an escape room!” Adam enthused. “How cool is that?”

“A what?” John looked around.

“You’ve never done one?” Adam shook his head sadly. “There’s a bunch around town in Virginia Beach. Couple of squads have team competitions against the wives, for fun. The women love rubbing our noses in it when they win. My squad’s more laid back about it. We usually mix and match teams, with both wives and older kids to keep it fun. Looks like I have the advantage here, mister ‘no social life’.”

“The dragon said this was about wits and thinking, not fighting, so I’m not sure how you think you have an advantage.” John said. “Still, it’s weird that something so popular on Earth would be a Challenge here.”

Adam’s excitement was obvious. “Well, on Earth, technology is advanced enough to make the puzzles really fun and interactive, without needing outside intervention. RFID chips, lasers, LED lights and sensors, all make for a really great teambuilding experience. I guess here, ‘magic’ would serve the same purpose. A few guys aren’t so into doing them, but most really like the mental challenge. Plus, it really is something we can do with the wives, which helps a lot on the family front. They’re amazing at noticing little details that we cave-men sometimes miss.”

“That sounds cool, but what do you do, exactly?” John pressed.

“Each one is different, but the gist is: go into a room, and you have to solve a series of riddles and puzzles to complete an overall scenario or mystery, and get out the other side.” Adam explained. “You have to find the clues, figure out what they mean and how they go together, then solve them to ... you know, escape. Although they usually don’t lock the entry door, for safety, bathroom breaks or whatever. This seems to be exactly like that.”

John pointed at a corner. “Something like: move one of those into the middle?”

“That was my guess, but none of them will budge.” Adam frowned.

“Oh.” John Looked around the room for a few minutes.

“What’s carved into this?” He walked over to the locked door and pointed at the stone frame.

“I’m not sure.” Adam admitted. “It’s too tough to make out.”

The carving was slight, with almost no depth. Not really very visible, but enough to tell that it wasn’t a normal, random, rough texture. John got really close, tilting his head around to get different angles. He even rested his forehead on the uneven surface, cycling through every method of Looking he knew about. Unmistakably there was something going on outside the ‘normal view,’ but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

He leaned back and turned toward Adam. “I don’t know wha—t”

But Adam leaped forward, pointing. “Look! What did you do?”

John turned back in time to watch a small patch of color fade away, right where he’d been Looking.

“I ... just Looked at it.” John stuttered. “That’s it. I got really close, you know, to see if that helped, but that’s it.”

Adam thought for a minute. “Did you touch it? That close?”

“Uh, yeah.”

They both reached out together, flattening a hand over the uneven surface.

“Not yet.” Adam urged, when John quickly went to pull his back. “Leave it for a minute.”

“You think it’ll stay longer, if I do?” John realized.

“I hope so.” Adam nodded.

“John? Adam?” A familiar voice asked from behind them.

Two heads whipped around to see Dulgan standing outside the door with a confused and uneasy expression on his face.

“Hello Dulgan.” John smiled.

The Dwimar put a significant look on the still-open door. “I tho’ the rule said...”

Adam laughed. “John got different rules! He can help us out.”

The Dwarf’s eyes widened. “Truly? Yer not playin’ a joke?”

John shook his head seriously. “No. Stay there and I’ll come explain in a bit. Oh! And if you see Vorigan, call him over too.”

Looking back at each other, Adam nodded.

“Let’s see.”

Both removed their hands to show some kind of picture. Adam’s spot had the torso of a figure with its hand pressed to a wall. John’s showed a figure’s legs bent with swooshes coming off.

While John was still contemplating the slowly fading image, Adam jumped up and ran over to a corner.