Page 56 of A Trial of the Heart

“You’ve got a sick way of describing something as—fun,” I said to the emptiness as the fog slipped away into the cracks of the walls. I pushed up onto my feet once more and jogged along the straightaway. I could keep this pace all day if I had to, but the air in the labyrinth was different. Each breath I took was labored, almost like the thinning air was disappearing as time slowly ticked.

Wise to keep up the run.

“Thought so, considering I have no way of telling how long this labyrinth is. And as you kindly pointed out, I don’t have time on my side.”

I’m not sure how long it will last.

Stopping to try to catch my breath, I panted heavily, sweat dripping from my brow onto the ivy-covered cobblestone path beneath my feet. No matter what I did, I couldn’t manage to catch a full breath. I knew the lack of air was causing my muscles to fatigue faster than I had anticipated. “Why… am… I…” I panted, struggling to speak. “Why can’t I catch my breath?”

Why wouldn’t you be struggling to breathe? The labyrinth is… underground. Do you see any specks of daylight that lead to the open air above? The magic of the trial can only hold air for so long.

“Prick,” I murmured.

Now, that was rude.

“You’re trying to suffocate me! I believethatis rude,” I said with quiet fury, lifting my arms over my head and gasping as I leaned against the wall for support. I focused on breathing in through my nose and then out through my mouth, trying to steady my mind and regain my senses.

True, but what if I told you the floor wasn’t disappearing at the start and that my children were not real?

“W-what?” I stammered, glancing backward. My eyes widened as the cobblestone path behind me magically reappeared before my eyes.What now?

Welcome to the trial of the mind.

“Fucking prick,” I cursed again, forcing myself to continue forward and meander around another corner of the nightmare I was trapped in.

Well, congratulations.

“For what?” I sneered with hardened words.

One of the four shifters before you fell into the abyss and fed the monsters below your pounding feet.

“I thought you said the floor was not disappearing and that your children were not real?”

The floor did not disappear as it has now returned. And the monsters below are not my natural-born children. I am merely their keeper. I fondly call them my children, but they are no such thing.

“A play on words… fan-fucking-tastic,” I groaned as I jogged down the path. “So why are you giving me congratulations again?”

Because you… have forced my hand.

“Didn’t know you had any.”

Clever.

“You still didn’t answer my question,” I said as I leaped over an ingrown patch of thorny vines protruding from a seam in the cobblestone.

Watch your step.

Before I could think of a rebuttal or slight back, the vines I was stepping over parted to reveal…nothing. I tumbled forward, unable to stop myself from falling into a darkened pit.

Always a good idea to be mindful of your surroundings,the labyrinth said, followed by a sinister chuckle.

I screamed as I fell through an opening in the cobblestone floor, desperately reaching out for anything to grab onto. The thorny vines that encircled the opening were my only salvation. I reached out, desperately curling my hands around them as my body somersaulted and plummeted into darkness. The thorns tore into my flesh, penetrating the skin on my palms and shredding them to pieces. Still, I held on for dear life as I dangled helplessly in the opening of the labyrinth floor.

Nothing clever to say now?the voice inside my head taunted.You better think of something quick because I can hear one of them approaching.

“Outstanding,” I grunted as I looped a vine around my leg. The thorns dug into my calf, but I knew I had to sacrifice a slight wound to find leverage to hoist myself out of this crater of death.

The snarling, grotesque echoes of grinding teeth snaked their way through the depths below, slithering closer to my dangling feet.

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