Chapter 3
The inside of the teleport hub was actually very basic looking. A blank cylinder shaped room that extended high into the sky, with a simple button in the center of the room.
“I expected more,” Lance said in disappointment as he entered behind me.
Taking a quick look around, I took a step up to the button in the middle of the room and pressed it. The entire room suddenly blinked away, leaving us standing in a dark blue void, with what looked to be stars all around us.
“Uhhh, what do we do now?” Lance asked, looking just as confused as I felt.
“Location ID or desired destination?” A loud but sweet female voice asked from all around us.
I blinked a few times before bringing up my PDA. I read off the long string of numbers, letters, and symbols. Not sure if that’s what I was supposed to do.
The voice stayed quiet for a moment before the whole room shifted to a light green color.
“Location reached. Thank you.”
“No thank you!” Lance called out, but received no response.
Behind us a door appeared as the room faded back to white.
We looked around, frowning.
“Did we even move?” Lance looked skeptical.
Instead of answering him, I walked for the door and stepped outside. A barren land greeted me.
“Oh, we definitely moved.”
We stepped outside and looked around; there was nothing in sight in any direction. Except for, of course, a single building made of stone not too far away from the hill.
“Well that’s obviously the Labyrinth,” Lance stated, heading for the building.
It didn’t take us long to reach the lone building, which was barely bigger than a small shack.
“So this is a labyrinth,” Lance said, sounding unimpressed.
I rolled my eyes as he missed the obvious. With a bit of a heave, I pushed open the door revealing a descending stairwell that seemed to go down forever.
“Oh,” was his only response to seeing the deep stairwell. “I really don’t like this.”
“Yeah, but we’re going in,” I all but commanded as I put on my mask and started walking downward.
Behind me, Lance groaned as he cursed and followed me down.
Thirty minutes passed before we came to the end of the stairwell. I expected darkness, but light seemed to immanent out of the stone walls around us, keeping the area nicely lit.
Before us lay at least twenty different passages, leading who knows where.
“Oh God, what if we get lost?!” Lance panicked.
I just rolled my eyes and held up my PDA. “This bad boy has auto mapping. We aren’t getting lost down here, trust me.”
The map on the screen slowly grew, revealing more and more of the area around us, showing dead ends and what could be drop offs.
“That thing is cheating,” Lance commented with a relieved grin. “Ominus is the best at gift giving, that’s for sure.”
I only nodded in agreement as I followed the many tunnels on the PDA with my eyes. Finally, I found one that looked promising.
“This way,” I led us down the rows of tunnels till we came to the desired one and began heading down it.
ooo000<^>000ooo
“Fuck how long is this going to take?” Lance asked at the eight hour mark of walking the labyrinth, sweat running down his face.
I sighed, according to my PDA’s map we still had what appeared to be an endless expansion of tunnels around us. “Just keep walking, we’ll make camp later to rest.”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Next day
With a heave I threw my sleeping bag filled with camping gear back into the mini pocket dimension Ominus gave us for storage. I turned to Lance who looked like he’d lost hope.
“Come on, Lance. Chin up,” I said in a forced cheerful voice as I walked by him and hauled him to his hooves.
“This could take a long time to find this gem, not to mention the walk out,” he said with his ears flat to his head.
I slugged him in the shoulder a bit too roughly, “we’ll worry about that later, little baby.”
He frowned, “I’m not a baby, I’m a grown man.”
“Of course you are,” I smirked, getting him to at least smile.
His mood seemed to improve as he started walking down the tunnel, “well! Back to it!”
ooo000<^>000ooo
Three days later
I turned the corner, keeping a steady pace. Checking my map I then turned down another passage. I pushed forward, shifting the weight on my back.
“So many turns,” Lance groaned from his position slung across my back, hooves scraping the ground every other step I took.
“Stop complaining, you’re not the one carrying a BIG baby around,” I snapped, irritated that he wasn’t in good enough shape to walk for days on end.
He didn’t seem to have it in himself to retort, just went back to staring at the ground as I walked us down the next bland passage.
At the next corner I turned and came to a sudden stop, eyes wide in surprise.
About thirty feet away just coming out of another tunnel was a man, who looked just as surprised to see me.
I started to say something to him, but he immediately charged at me, drawing a short axe with a cyan colored blade.
My eyes shot open in surprise as I bounced Lance up into the air, much to his loud protest, and bucked him back down the passage we’d just come from.
The man took a swing for me with such ferocity that I saw the muscles on his arms basically explode in size.
Just as the blade came near me, I teleported behind him, my retractable talons flashing as I swung them across the back of his head.
Despite all his raw power that he clearly had, he was slow. His body crumpled to the floor with a thud.
I flicked the blood from my talons and retracted them.
“Uh, that was easy,” I mumbled as I looked at his short handled axe, watching in confusion as the blade slowly dulled from cyan to grey. I reached down to pick it up, and the whole thing crumbled in my grasp.
“What?” Was the only reaction I could have to the sight of the weapon disintegrating before me.
“Jesus! Who is he?” Lance asked as he walked up to me, rubbing his side where I had bucked him.
“Probably someone like us, looking for that gem,” I said as I started going through his pockets, using my wings to dig deep and pull everything out.
“We’re looting the dead now?” Lance asked in a disapproving tone.
I just rolled my eyes as I moved to his bag and dumped it out. There was just junk, food, smoke bombs, and… you gotta be kidding me.
“Is that the damn gem?!” Lance asked, falling to his knees before the ruby covered in cyan etchings.
I was both relieved and annoyed by this; if we’d missed this man then we would have never found the gem.
It was right then I noticed he already had a deep gash on his side, fresh. That didn’t come from me.
My ears perked at the sound of running footsteps approaching us. I picked up the gem and tossed it into the pocket dimension and turned to face the tunnel the footsteps emitted from.
“Back up, Lance,” I commanded in a low voice as I lowered into a fighting stance.
Moments later a woman came sprinting out of the passage. She slid to a stop as she saw us and the dead man.
Her eyes narrowed as she seemed to take it all in, not reacting just yet.
I took the moment to look her over. Unlike the man, who was nothing but muscle and crudely dressed, this woman was lean and dressed like a punk. Her pants seemed to sit low as her boxers sat above her belt line. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail that seemed to barely be enough to hold her hair up. On her hip was a sword that resembled a chokuto, a little music note charm dangling from the pommel.
All in all? I can take her.
The two of us stared at each other, neither moving a muscle as we tried to gauge the other.
Lance must of moved, because at the sound of something scraping the floor, the two of us exploded into action.
She moved incredibly fast as I almost lost my head as her cyan blade left its sheath with such speed that it was at my neck by time I was able to react.
I teleported behind her, going for the same attack I’d used on the man. But to my immense surprise, she had already spun to meet me as I appeared behind her. With ease she deflected my talons, her sword starting to cut into my hoof as I flashed away.
I reappeared at her side, swiping her legs. She only stumbled a bit as she twisted her body in a strange way, going for another strike with her blade.
Time stopped as I watched the blade tip slowly inch towards my face. Even with time stopped, she was still moving!
My talons flashed as I went for a swipe at her midsection, but her hand, slowed down but still quick, slapped down and knocked my hoof down, throwing me off balance.
Time resumed as the blade tip shot past my face, cutting my left ear down the middle.
With a hiss I flashed a few feet away from her, but she twisted like an agile snake and followed after me. I slowed time, but it did nothing as her speed this time seemed barely affected. As her sword swung for me, I went to block it with my talons.
To my horror her blade cut through my talons like they didn’t exist and continued towards my face.
Luckily I was able to teleport away just as the edge reached my chin.
I stumbled as I appeared fifteen feet behind where I’d just been.
This woman is on a whole other level!
A sudden force, like telekinesis, pulled at me, sending me flying back towards her. I teleported away, but every time I did the same thing would happen.
It felt like something was attached to me and yanking me around!
As I was again pulled towards her, I twisted in mid air, righting myself and firing three bullets from my pistol at her. To my continued amazement she deflected each shot with her sword.
That most definitely is not fair!
Instead of teleporting away like I had been doing, I teleported back then suddenly forward, appearing in front of her, seeming to finally catch her by surprise.
My talons might have been ruined but I still had my hooves!
As I appeared in front of her, my front hoof slammed heavily into her face, sending her backwards. I snapped up my pistol and fired a few rounds after her.
She just deflected them again as she stumbled back and regained her footing.
I teleported back before she could retaliate.
“Wait!” Lance suddenly yelled, flying in between us in his Holy Dawn form. “Let’s all just stop and talk for a minute!”
I frowned at him, was he trying to get killed? This woman was a monster in battle!
The woman returned her sword to its sheath and stood up straight, placing her sword hand on her hip. She worked her jaw with the other.
I took her lead, still being weary of her as her speed meant she could still draw and use that sword before we could react, and stood up straight.
Lance looked between us and sighed in relief. “Good, we don’t need to fight.” He turned to the woman. “We found the gem on that man over there. We’re willing to give it to you after we use it to get our soul abilities. Okay?”
I facehoofed, he really was an idiot.
The woman looked at both of us, then shook her head. “It’s called Ego.” She crossed her arms, her eyes still narrowed. “Why make an offer like that?”
“Because,” Lance said, stepping towards her, smiling, “there’s no reason to fight. We can split it. We use two to get our, eh, Ego abilities, and you can have it after. It should have at least one use left in it.”
“Just Ego.” The woman shakes her head, “I don’t think you exactly understand the item you have.”
Lance chuckled sheepishly, “yeah you’re right, we don’t. We’re not from this place. I’m from an Earth dimension, and she’s from a fictional dimension.”
I frowned deeply at this, not wanting to just give away this kind of information. Especially to someone I was just fighting!
This revelation caused the woman’s narrowed gaze to relax. “I see.” She then looked to me. “You’re pretty skilled, for a horse.” I could feel a slight jab hidden in her words.
“Yeah, you too,” I responded, snorting and spitting a glob of mucus onto the ground.
She frowned at my actions, as I intended.
“Guys, let’s just keep it civil,” Lance said carefully, sensing the tension between myself and the woman. He holds out a hood to her, smiling, “Lance Greenfield.”
The woman stares at him for a long moment before reaching out and shaking his hoof, “Bronwyn Pendragon.”
At her stare, I frowned, eyes glaring at her behind my mask. “Scamp.”
“Now that we’ve been introduced,” Bronwyn began, stepping back from Lance. “Nicely hand over the Ego Ruby. I will not let you grossly misuse it.”
“Not happening, sister,” I say calmly, blading my hind legs slightly, lowering back into a fighting stance.
She seemed to want to say something, but instead flashed past Lance, and instantly appeared before me. She didn’t teleport, she’s just moving very fast!
Her sword was already moving towards my neck, but I anticipated this. Time slowed down as I barely dodged her strike and head butted her stomach. I then instantly clamped down on her leg with my teeth, biting till I felt blood in my mouth.
Suddenly a loud boom filled the room, followed by Bronwyn being thrown away from me. I stared blankly as I realized Lance had just punched her away.
He suddenly spun on one hind leg and slammed his other back leg into my face, sending me flying backwards in the same fashion as the woman.
“ENOUGH!” He bellowed, three voices mixed into one. This caused me to stop what I was doing and stare at him. Bronwyn did the same, staring at him in shock.
Lance was in a form I’d never seen before; it was similar to his Angel form, but he had an angry glow around his body, and horns on his head. More devil than angel, but both at the same time.
“We are going to stop fucking fighting and talk!” He roared, slamming his hooves into the ground.
Bronwyn and I looked at each other, both seeming to weigh our options.
“Let’s talk than,” Bronwyn said as she held up her hand as her sword, which had been knocked out of her grasp, flew to her. She caught it and returned it to its sheath.
I sigh and nod in agreement as I fully stand up, removing my mask and putting it back on my shoulder.
Lance exhaled heavily as he returned to his normal self. “Good. Now what do you mean you won’t let us misuse the gem?”
Bronwyn eyed him, seeming to look for his angle. “That ‘gem’ is an Ego Ruby. It’s filled with unique souls of very powerful beings. They’re meant to be used as keys to enter locked dimensions.” She scoffed, “but to use them to just gain Ego? That’s a ridiculous waste of life and potential.”
“But,” Lance started, looking confused, “Monsieur Crane said if we got this ‘Ego Ruby’ then we’d be able to have a mystic give us the abilities.”
She just stared at him blankly, “I have no idea who that is, but they’re either misleading you or are just a fool. Either way, there’s simpler ways to have your Ego released without having to go to one of those wacko mystics.”
Lance thought this over, and looked at me. I just sighed, shrugging at him.
He nodded like I’d just answered a question I didn’t know he asked. “Here’s the deal; we’ll give you the ruby if you help us unlock our Ego.”
Damned trusting idiot.
Bronwyn seemed annoyed at this, but she relented, holding her hands up. “You have a deal, pony boy.”
“Sweet!” Lance held out his wing to me expectantly.
I thought about refusing, but his innocently pleading eyes broke me. “Fine,” I pulled the Ego Ruby from the pocket dimension and tossed it to him.
He caught it and walked over to Bronwyn, holding it out to her.
She seemed a bit taken aback by all this, but nonetheless she took the Ruby and flicked it away into a different looking pocket dimension.
Lance smiled then turned to me, “plot a course out of here, Scamp! We have a couple days walk ahead of us!”
“Or,” Bronwyn injected, holding up three rune covered sticks, “we can use my Return charms, and instantly move to the exit.”
“That’s a thing here?!” Lance asked in excitement, clearly happy he didn’t have to walk all the way back.
She just shook her head as she handed one to Lance and tossed mine towards me. I caught it with my wing, the two of us eying each other.
We definitely were not going to get along.