A Song of Silence

Chapter 28: The Second Competition in the Dark

The Second Competition came up out of nowhere. I had been so occupied with my duties to Karasi and spending time with Azazel that I did not notice how fast it was approaching. The day started off as any other and the court gathered in a great auditorium. The walls were covered in luxurious curtains and what I presumed was glass covered the floor. There was no way to see through the glass, so the court went around trying to peek through the curtains, trying to ascertain what lay beyond. They were unsuccessful and took their frustrations out on each other since the High King had not yet arrived.

The contestants were nowhere in sight either, it seemed. Strange, usually they would be trading sharp barbs with the court in an attempt to get the upper hand and any information about what lie ahead. I stood on the side of the room, as always, hidden from the view of many but close enough to hear all of their gossip. Nothing of import other than petty squabbles occupied the courts mind, so I did little as I stood on the periphery of the room in boredom.

The High King and his entourage finally arrived. The rest of the group went up to the royal box, but the High King, no Azazel, went onto the platform in the middle of the room. He clapped his hands for silence and started to speak, "Welcome all to the second round of the competition!" The court politely clapped. "I'm sure many of you are wondering where our beautiful competitors are, or even more so, what they are going to be doing." The court murmured and nodded in agreement. "Both questions will be answered momentarily, but before we start I would like to make it clear that there is to be no outside interference for tonight's events, am I understood?" The court nods apprehensively. "Very well, then." He claps his hands and the curtains are now drawn open. Now that we can see outside the windows and through the glass at our feet, it becomes evident that this will be no ordinary event.

The auditorium is surrounded by a tall, mossy maze with the competitors dressed in trousers and a shirts with weapons at their sides walking below. A few competitors looked nervous and other confident. It was obvious who had battle training and who did not as well, for it was a good possibility that the competitors would be fighting something.The court burst into loud murmurs upon seeing the maze the competitors would have to go through. The High King clapped his hands for silence once more and the court ceased talking. "This competition will not only be a test of their artistic skills, but also their abilities to think in difficult situations and use their gifts and skills to get through the maze. The first to finish the maze will get a private dinner with me as a prize." The High King said the last part with a slight hint of distaste in his voice. Obviously this has not been a condition he has wanted added, but High Queen Sylvia probably insisted.

The competitors heard his last few words and erupted into a frenzy of frantic gestures and excited exclamations. "Let it be known that there will be plenty of danger in the maze and any competitor can choose to step out now, if they do choose. There will not be a second chance to do so. When it starts, you will either make it to the end, or you won't. No rescues and no favoritism will be shown." Lady Isidore was the only competitor to show any sign of wishing to leave, but she decided to stay and the maze was set to open in a matter of minutes.

The court mingled and gossiped as I looked for Karasi among the crowd. Usually Karasi would have found me by now, her seer gifts giving her premonitions of where I might be. Though, Karasi was nowhere to be found, in the ballroom or otherwise. The High King sat back on the podium and announced, "Shall we begin?" The crowd cheered enthusiastically as they cheered on their favored competitors. I stood on my tip-toes to look for Karasi among the crowd. Her bubblegum pink hair was nowhere I sight. She couldn't be competing could she. No, she'd have told me if she was. No matter how I disapproved, I wouldn't have interfered with her wish to compete. She knew that didn't she. The fighting lessons would make more sense now. We hadn't gotten far, but I had managed to teach her some moves that would be useful against the many monsters that likely lurked in the maze. My idea that she might be competing doesn't sound too outlandish to me now. Competing without telling me is exactly something that Karasi would do.

The High King claps his hand and the large stone walls to the maze start to change. The walls that once covered the entrance to the maze now shifted and an entrance appeared. Horrible screeches and roars now sounded from the maze that had been previously hidden by the think stone walls. The contestants seemed ruffled and put on edge by the unearthly screeches emanating from the maze. "You make it to the end of the maze, or you don't, Ladies. I wish you the best of luck. Lady Narrisara strides towards the stone doors, overconfidence evident in her stride. Her training in Dregh will aide her well during the competition. She exited without looking back. Lady Calliope follows hesitantly, her stride much more forced. Brynn goes next, hesitance in her every move. She persevered nonetheless, my training will help her with the monsters ahead. Next, Lady Isidore enters after looking to the High King in reassurance. Finally, Lady Rosaline.

Karasi is still nowhere in sight. The High King turns back to his audience and starts to address them, when a few of the court shout, "Look, Look! There's another one!" The High King turns back and frustration becomes evident on his face. He had tried to stop her from competing. He should have known better. A seer will get what they want and nothing will stop them, not even the High King of Altreya, evidently. Karasi is in the same outfit as the others, but hers is dyed pink. A final act of defiance to a High King that doesn't want her to compete. The High King sees the smirk on my face out of the corner of my eye. He raised a dark eyebrow at the look on my face and I merely respond with a look that says you should have known better. A smile appears on the High Kings, no Azazel's face as he realizes the truth of my expression. It was a waste to try to convince Karasi to not compete and now he would pay the price of such a mistake when Karasi got out of the maze.

The observers could only view the competitors running and battling the monsters within the maze when they traveled the periphery of the maze to view the contestants. It was hard to track exactly where the contestants would go and no hints could be given because the maze was too packed with beasts and fiends of every kind. Few of the competitors had enough training, other than Narrisara, not to look foolish when they attempted to kill a monster. Many just ran the opposite direction when their powers failed them in felling the beast they were up against. It wasn't surprising in the least that Karasi killed a many a monster whose path she crossed. She had no powers to rely on, so her sword work and a few maneuvers i taught her served her well when fighting the beasts. She and Lady Narrisara seemed to be the two at the head of the competition, for they seemed to have made it the farthest in the maze.

I did not see Brynn in the maze, so I trailed Karasi on the periphery of the auditorium. She weaved this way and that way and killed any monster in her way. She was a force to be reckoned with to be sure. It was one of the worst monsters that she happened upon that I would have urged her to run from, if I could speak. Karasi faced a Manticore. A half scorpion, half lion the size of a large horse, swiped at her. I had faced a few of them in my years. All of our battles left me with a scar to remember it by. Instead of running, as I might have considered if I was in her place, Karasi stood her ground. The Manticore paced towards her. She stalked towards it. Her swords at the ready, she did not see Lady Calliope emerge behind her.

Lady Calliope smirked at Karasi's monster and ran on. Unknown to both Karasi and I, as it turns out Lady Calliope was being chased by some redcaps. Small, gnome-like creatures who tracked in packs and had a taste for blood. Karasi was trapped now. She couldn't have fleed if she wanted to. Though, she didn't look fazed. Instead, she merely levered herself off the wall with her sword and paralyzed the manticore by burying her sword into its back. It still lived as Karasi turned her back on it and charged the redcaps. Their sharp, biting teeth but into her skin, but she quickly finished them off. Their bodies lay at her feet and I couldn't help but be impressed at Karasi's fighting ability and sheer gall to down this many foes. She was a force to be reckoned with indeed. Before she could turn to kill the manticore once and for all, it's scorpion tail lashed out at scratched her before she could dodge it. Fuck. Karasi now had a mere half hour before the poison paralyzed her. Unfazed, Karasi continued.

A surprise to all, both Karasi and Lady Calliope made it to the center of the maze at the same time. The places where they had entered quickly closed behind them and locked. They were trapped inside and a great basilisk rose from the shadows. It's great scaly form promising death to the competitors and the spectators that watched above.