CHAPTER XXXIII
"Echoes of the Unseen"
The maze had grown darker. Heavier. As if every turn held its breath, waiting for something to fall apart.
And in that silence… footsteps echoed.
Caelum moved slowly, mechanically — a hollow grace in her steps. Her eyes were blank, her face unreadable. Behind her, the creature that had mimicked Celeste walked like a shadow made flesh — slithering between the shifting walls with wicked ease.
Unseen… yet watching everything.
They passed silently through the twisting corridors until — suddenly — Olivia stepped into view.
Her breath caught.
Her eyes widened.
> "Caelum?" she whispered in disbelief.
She could barely recognize her.
There was no light in her gaze. No soul behind the movements. She walked like a ghost tethered to something dark and unholy.
> "What… what's happened to you?"
Olivia's heart pounded in her chest as she ran forward, desperate to reach her. She couldn't lose Cael — not now, not when they were so close.
She'd seen what the maze could do. She had read about shadow creatures — about mimics and illusions. But nothing had prepared her for this.
> "Wake up!" she cried.
> "Cael, look at me — it's Olivia! I'm right here!"
But Caelum didn't flinch. She just kept walking, her face pale and still, like a porcelain doll trapped in an eternal march.
And then Olivia remembered.
> "Break the trance…"
She darted to the side, grabbed a low-hanging branch from a gnarled, ancient tree — the bark cold as ice and glowing faintly under the moonlit mist.
She gripped it tight.
> "If I cover her eyes, maybe… just maybe…"
She turned and rushed toward her sister.
But the moment she reached her — the moment she raised her hand to close Caelum's eyes —
> Caelum laughed.
Not a soft laugh.
Not a joyful one.
A terrifying, piercing, bone-chilling laugh that erupted so suddenly and violently, it echoed through the entire maze like a scream.
Olivia froze.
The laughter grew louder — sharp, manic, inhuman.
> "That's not her," Olivia whispered, stepping back. "That's not Caelum…"
And as the creature in front of her laughed, the illusion began to melt.
The face that had once looked like Cael's twisted and cracked — revealing a grotesque, smiling mimic beneath, eyes hollow and glowing, mouth stretched far too wide.
> "You wanted to save her," it hissed. "But now… you'll never leave."
Its voice wasn't a voice at all — it was a scraping, echoing chorus of wrongness.
Before Olivia could scream, shadowy vines shot from the walls — wrapping around her wrists, her legs, pulling her down into the maze's cursed floor.
> "No!" she shouted, struggling against the grip. "Let me go! Cael—!"
But it was too late.
The mimic grinned wider.
> "You came to save your sister…"
"But you didn't realize…"
"You were the one being hunted."
The shadows swallowed her.
---
Far away, a faint scream pierced the stillness.
Ivory — who had been scanning the maze with careful steps — stopped cold. Her ears twitched.
> "Olivia…?"
Another scream. Closer now. Louder.
Without a second thought, she turned and ran — wings flaring behind her, boots striking the stone like thunder.
> "Hold on, Olivia! I'm coming!"
She didn't care about traps. Didn't care about what the maze might throw at her.
All she knew… was that her sister had cried out.
And Ivory would tear this entire cursed labyrinth apart if it meant bringing her back.
Because some love wasn't gentle.
> Some love was fierce.
> And Ivory? She was done being afraid.
"Dust and Destiny"
Ivory ran — faster than she ever had.
Her wings brushed the twisting walls, her heartbeat thundered in her ears, and her only thought was Olivia. She had heard the scream — distant but real — and it had struck her like lightning.
> "Hold on, Liv… I'm coming."
She didn't pause to think. She didn't check for traps. She didn't even care that the maze was known to shift around those who rushed through it. None of it mattered.
Until he appeared.
A low growl shook the air. The path before her cracked, and the ground trembled beneath her feet.
Ivory skidded to a halt — her breath catching in her throat.
Rising from the earth itself was a towering figure, cloaked in the dust and soil of the maze — its eyes glowing a molten red, its mouth curled in something cruel. The Earth Demon.
He stared down at her with cold amusement.
> "You run with fire," he said, his voice deep and ancient, "but you are made of dust."
Before she could move, before she could scream, the demon raised his arm — and with a single gesture, the ground beneath her surged up in a cloud of golden-brown dust.
Ivory gasped — and then froze.
Her feet were the first to harden. Then her legs. Her arms.
Within seconds, her skin turned pale — dry — cracked.
Until she stood still.
Motionless.
> A statue made of earth.
Her expression still frozen in fear.
Her final breath sealed beneath layers of dirt.
The Earth Demon tilted his head in satisfaction.
And vanished into the shadows.
---
Meanwhile…
Celeste moved carefully through her corridor, the silence around her humming with something unnatural. Her fingers grazed the wall as she walked, searching for signs — for anything that might lead her closer to Cael.
That's when she saw it.
A faint light — flickering just around the next bend.
She hurried toward it, hope flickering in her chest.
But when she reached it…
She froze.
> "Ivory?"
There she was.
Ivory — or what remained of her — stood still as stone, her body completely encased in hardened soil, her eyes wide and lifeless. A statue. Not breathing. Not blinking.
Celeste's heart stopped.
> "No… no, no, no," she whispered, stepping closer. "What happened to you?"
She reached out, her hand trembling, but just as her fingers brushed Ivory's stone shoulder…
A chill ran down her spine.
Something was behind her.
Celeste turned slowly — every instinct in her screaming.
And there he was.
The Earth Demon.
Towering. Silent. Watching.
His glowing eyes locked onto hers, his presence pressing against her lungs like a weight.
She wanted to run. She wanted to scream.
But before she could do either — a sudden burst of wind blew through the corridor.
Two figures stepped between her and the demon — fierce, bright, and defiant.
Aurelia and Caeli.
> "Get behind us!" Aurelia shouted, grabbing Celeste's wrist and pulling her close.
Caeli stepped forward, her expression calm, her energy glowing faintly around her like a shield.
> "I'll handle this."
Her voice was low, steady.
And in that moment, something shifted.
The Earth Demon paused — as if sensing something it hadn't before.
Caeli's presence wasn't just powerful. It was untouchable.
The demon snarled, but didn't move closer.
Caeli raised her hand — and the very ground that once obeyed the demon shivered beneath her will.
> "You're done," she whispered.
And with a blinding flash of magic, the path behind them opened — a golden exit blooming in the stone.
Without another word, the three of them stepped through it — Aurelia clutching Celeste's hand tightly, Caeli walking last, her back turned to the demon until the very end.
The light swallowed them.
And then — they were out.
---
They emerged into the cool air of the outer corridor, hearts still pounding, breaths shaky.
Celeste turned to Caeli, eyes wide and filled with confusion.
> "What… what is happening?" she demanded, her voice breaking.
> "This maze — the demons — the traps — Ivory—" her voice cracked, "Why is this happening to us?"
Caeli looked at her with steady eyes.
Not cold. Not distant. But strong.
> "Because we are meant for more than survival," she said softly.
"We are meant to rule."
She looked between Aurelia and Celeste, her voice gaining strength.
> "If we are to be Queens… we must be ready for anything."
> "No matter what hunts us. No matter what tries to break us."
She stepped forward, her hand brushing Celeste's shoulder.
> "This maze isn't trying to destroy us. It's trying to reveal us."
Celeste's breath hitched.
Aurelia nodded, silently echoing the truth they all now knew.
> This wasn't just a trial of courage.
It was a test of destiny.
And they… were far from finished.
To be continue....