The Crimson Labyrinth's entrance was nestled in a jagged rock formation about three hours from Ravengate. From a distance, it didn't look particularly special, just another cave mouth in a landscape dotted with similar features. But as we drew closer, I noticed what my companions had undoubtedly seen before: the faint red glow emanating from within, pulsing slowly like a heartbeat.
"Entrance looks the same," Thorne noted with relief. "Sometimes even that changes."
"That's... not reassuring," I muttered.
Dain pulled out several small devices from his many pockets, checking each carefully before returning them to their places. "I've got three new marker designs since last time. If the Labyrinth is learning our methods, these might stay effective longer."
Kira simply hefted her warhammer, checking its balance with practiced movements. "Crystal makes the monsters stronger too. Be ready."
We paused at the entrance, performing the final equipment checks that were standard procedure for any dungeon dive. Thorne distributed light sources, enchanted crystals that glowed with steady blue light when activated. Dain handed out small metal tokens with intricate designs etched on their surfaces.
"Emergency beacons," he explained, avoiding eye contact as usual. "Crush it in your hand if you get separated. Might help us find each other. Maybe."
The lack of confidence was concerning, but I pocketed the token anyway. Any potential advantage was worth having, even if it wasn't reliable.
Thorne pulled out the crimson crystal shard he'd shown me in the tavern. "One last thing. We should all understand what we're looking for."
He passed it around. When it reached me, I hesitated before touching it. The crystal pulsed with inner light, warm against my skin. For a brief moment, I felt a strange sensation, as if the crystal were somehow assessing me, measuring my worth. Then the feeling passed, leaving just a slight tingling in my fingertips.
"The formations inside will be larger," Thorne explained as I handed the shard back. "Much larger. Some are embedded in walls, others grow from the floor or ceiling. Do not touch them directly. We use specialized tools to extract fragments." He patted a pouch at his belt. "Sealed containers for transport."
Kira grunted. "Enough talk. Daylight's wasting."
With that, she stepped into the cave mouth, hammer ready. Thorne followed, then Dain, with me bringing up the rear as agreed.
The transition from outside to inside was immediate and disorienting. The temperature dropped significantly, and the air became thick with a metallic taste that coated the tongue unpleasantly. The ambient light shifted from the warm gold of morning sunlight to the unsettling red glow that seemed to emanate from the very walls.
And those walls... they weren't natural stone. As my eyes adjusted, I realized the passage was lined with a smooth, almost organic-looking material. It resembled polished obsidian but with swirling patterns of deep crimson running through it, pulsing faintly with that same heartbeat rhythm we'd seen from outside.
"Don't touch the walls," Thorne warned unnecessarily. "Especially not the red veins."
We advanced cautiously, Kira leading with her hammer at the ready. The passage descended at a gentle slope, curving gradually to the right. Our enchanted light crystals created blue spheres of illumination that contrasted starkly with the ambient red glow.
After about fifty paces, the passage opened into a circular chamber roughly thirty feet in diameter. Five identical tunnels led off in different directions, each pulsing with the same red glow.
"Decision point," Thorne murmured. "Dain?"
The tinkerer stepped forward, pulling out a complex device that resembled a compass combined with a pendulum. He held it up, watching as the needle spun erratically before finally settling on one of the passages to our left.
"That one has the strongest crystal resonance," he said. "But..."
"But last time the strongest resonance led to the collapsing chamber," Thorne finished for him. "So we avoid it."
"Unless the Labyrinth expects us to avoid it, and has placed the real treasures there this time," Kira pointed out.
I stood back, watching this debate with growing unease. My trap detection skill was prickling at the back of my mind, noticing subtle details about the chamber: the slight indentations in the floor near each passage entrance, the almost imperceptible seam running around the circumference of the ceiling, the way the red veins pulsed slightly faster when someone moved closer to certain tunnels.
"The floor's trapped," I said before I could think better of it.
All three turned to look at me.
"Pressure plates," I continued, pointing to the barely visible indentations. "And there's a mechanism in the ceiling. Probably drops something when triggered."
Dain stared at me, then at the floor where I'd pointed. He knelt, examining the spot carefully, then pulled out a small tool and probed the seam I'd noticed.
"He's right," he said, surprise evident in his voice. "Sophisticated pressure trigger. Would have activated when we chose a passage." He looked up at me with new respect, and suspicion. "How did you see that? I barely spotted it with my tools."
I scrambled for an explanation. "Lucky angle of the light. And like I said, I notice patterns."
Kira frowned. "D-rank my ass."
As uncomfortable attention focused on me, I noticed something else - the veins in the wall pulsed faster, almost as if the dungeon itself was... listening. Watching us. Waiting for us to make a mistake.
And something told me we were about to make a big one.