-PART TWO-

"All I have on the virus

all the virus has on me

all I have on you

all you have on me

is a head start"

-Akili Tyson

Chapter 6.

Once, several years back, I had arrived to my hill one night to find my step-mother sitting atop it, gazing out at the ocean, the same position I find myself in every night. Her hair shifted in the wind, unbound and unconstructed, unlike during the day, when she had to look the part of a married woman. I sat next to her, falling into my default position of drawing my knees to my chin and resting my head on them, and appreciated the silence. It felt nice, sharing this with her, which was strange, as I never wanted to share this place with anyone. But now that she was here, I couldn't be angry about it. I came here for comfort and solace, so perhaps she did as well.

After a long, long while, my step mother spoke. It took me a minute to register she had said anything at all, much less what she had said. But when I was able to process it, I felt my skin grow clammy. She could see the lights, she said. I asked her to repeat it, just to clarify. I hadn't been paying attention and maybe I heard her wrong.

"I can see them too…" She repeated, now inclining her head to look at me. I stared forward, at the impossible stars. The ghost lights or city lights or whatever they were. I had no words, so I simply nodded my head. Honestly, relief flooded my system. Like ghosts, some people could see them, and some couldn't, but the fact that she could was calming, reassuring. I for a moment was thrilled that someone knew what I felt, what I wanted, what I hoped the lights meant and what they could do for me. To me, they represented hope and freedom, but to her…it was not the same.

"I don't think we see them the same though." She said, her voice still distant, weak. We don't? I asked her, finally turning to look at her, confused at what she could possibly mean. My step mother shook her head, giving me a sad confirmation of a look.

"Where you feel freedom and the promise of adventure and something more, I feel emptiness. A great, black void, I feel nothing." She said. "Like I don't exist where they are. Like I don't belong." She sighed. It sounded like there were tears in her voice, though her eyes were dry. She had no emotion about it, really. She was just stating the sad facts.

She never came back to the hill after that night. And when I tried to mention going back with her, she resorted to the normal default answer of calling me a ridiculous dreamer. I wish I had understood more then, that night, that she had wanted to feel the hope that I felt, but couldn't. It was only too late that I realized that the islanders lived without hope, and were angry at me for having so much of it.

I wish I had realized sooner that hope could be so debilitating. That it could kill you if it wanted.

I had lost my little friend somewhere in the labyrinth. Higgle, was his name? Or Hogwart…I can hardly remember now. Either way, the dwarf accompanied me for a short ways once I had found him again just past my first trial. Though, to call it a 'trial' would be a bit of an understatement. It was no more than a choice of doors, and I'm assuming that the one I did not choose simply lead to a dead end. Or even the exact same spot I was now. It seemed like a trick the mischievous king would play, anyhow. He spoke candidly to me, when he did speak, like we had known each other for more than the collective ten minutes, and all the while he constantly fiddled with a bracelet made of unusual gems he had wrapped around his wrist. It was a strange habit, I suppose, but no stranger than my fiddling with the hem of my dress when I am bored, or picking at my nails when I am nervous.

In the end, something had caught his attention and he hurried off, hardly bidding me a farewell. I was not surprised, as he seemed extremely lacking in manners, but still…I was sad to see him go. The company was nice while it lasted. I went along for a while once more, alone, stuck in a winding corridor with no turns, and nothing remarkable to really remember should I need to turn back, and I couldn't help but think how poorly structured this place truly was. So far, more than anything, I was bored. By the time I had fully come to that conclusion, and was altogether disappointed with this great maze, I had found another trial to overcome. Four pathways lay ahead of me. One on each side of me, to the right and left, and two ahead of me, one leading up, and the other down. The two to each side had terrifying stone guardians in front of them. They stood poised, swords out of their scabbards and pointing down, one hand lying atop the other at the hilt. I examined them for a moment, anticipating a movement of a finger or a dart of an eye, but they were still. Of course, they were stone, so I have no idea what I was expecting.

There was no way around them, as the sides between them and the staircase were too narrow, and there was no way under or over them, as they were far too tall to climb, and there was no space between their legs and the sword. But what I could see behind them was promising, and I was a bit more than disappointed that I would never be able to see it. The right guard stood in front of what looked like a path leading to a sprawling field, while the left guards path seemed to wind on and on, though the walls were crumbled and far beyond, I could see the ocean and it's horizon. How desperately I wanted to be there, swimming out to sea to find adventure. But there was no way past, and not another way around.

Annoyed, I quickly picked another path and the staircase leading up. They were of course deceptively long, and lead to another section that was an exact replica of the first. Down to the detailing on the statues, everything was impeccably alike; no doubt a deception to throw me off. I continued onward, up the stairs further, to another level, again identical to the last. More tricks, I thought, but decided just in case to take the staircase leading down this time. Once again, I found a mirror image in this room from the last. My heart fluttered nervously, and a small lump welled in my throat. I turned around and raced up the stairs, practically throwing myself into walls as I raced to retrace my steps, but even after I reached what should have been the first room, and tried to leave it, I found myself in the very same place.

Letting out a wail of frustration, I could practically hear the wretched king laughing at me, watching from some perch he kept high up in his tower, I was sure. Once more, tears stung at my eyes, but I held them back. The last thing I would do was let that man see me cry. I did not know if he was watching or not, but I would pretend he was, and I would never let him see me accept defeat, if only for a moment. I spun around to move again, but what was the point? Up or down, there was nowhere but this room until I figured out what sort of puzzle or trick it was, and how to solve it.

"How do I get out?" I asked aloud, to no one at all, but still slightly expecting a response. There came none. I examined every wall, every inch of them, for any crack or give or hole that could perhaps set me free, but again, nothing. I walked up the staircase slowly, running my hands along the walls beside me, and back down, running my fingers along the stone steps, hoping for a hitch or a catch or a lever, but to no avail. And as my foot landed on the main floor, the clock chimed in the distance. How many hours did I have left now? Did it even matter? There could be a hundred hours left, but I would be no closer to getting out of this room.

I sighed once more, heavily and very loudly, and stared up at the giant stone guardian, my hands on my hips stubbornly. I seemed to be sighing a lot recently, and I imagine that it was just due to the sheer infuriating nature of this place. I never sighed this much before.

"I don't suppose you'd let me out, would you?" I asked the guardian, rather ironically, as I knew stone could not talk. However much I knew though, this place liked to prove it all wrong time and again, as no sooner had I spoken to the beast, had it begun to rumble and tremble something fierce. With it, the earth itself began to shake, and I was knocked off my feet rather quickly as the joints on the giant began to move. It started with its feet, its toes cracking each knuckle by knuckle. Then its knees, bending them once, twice, as debris shifted and fell from them. With each movement, the earth trembled again, and only grew worse and worse as he came to life further. With its elbows, huge chunks of rock fell forth, crashing to the ground and all too close for comfort fell around me, smaller bits flying right past my head. The beast finally gained movement of his head, and rolled it from side to side, cracking his neck and sighing in relief. It stood now, monstrous and intimidating, staring down at me with a stern gaze.

It took me a moment to catch my breath alone, never mind trying to get back up. And if this thing started moving again, I would surely be sent back to the seat of my gown, another scraped elbow or bruised thigh to add to my list of injuries. Its breathing was heavy and blew my hair back and forth with each inhale and exhale it produced, like a strong wind off the coast. I imagined for a moment, a larger beast than this, sitting somewhere just outside our domain, breathing heavily to create our winds and tides, and I thought that things like this were the igniters for stories of gods and deities. My brief daydreaming was cut off abruptly when the giant lunged forward, his arm outstretched, hand open wide, ready to grab at me. In a panicked state now, I rolled backwards, away from it, and on my feet now, ran for the other side of the room, forgetting for a moment that there was no way out. The giant paused for a brief second, its eyes boring into me, his brows furrowing, quite animatedly for something that was supposed to be stone, and he opened his hand wider, flat now, palm up, and laid it on the ground.

"I 'aven't got all day, yeh kno'…." It spoke, a loud, booming voice, like thunder rolling loudly. He—for the creature was now obviously male—knelt down, still holding his hand waiting. I stared up at him, baffled by what he wanted, but in a quick surveillance of my surroundings, saw that he still blocked the exit.

"You want me to get on?" I asked, pointing to his hand. The giant nodded, more pebbles and stone dust falling as it did, and I frowned, confused by all of it. The path behind him did look long and winding, and perhaps with its massive stride, I would get to the other side all the quicker. After a moment of contemplation, I resigned and took a step onto the palm of the giant, holding tightly to its thumb as it rose up to its full height, and I could see everything. The castle; so dark and foreboding, and the empty lands that stretched on for years behind it, tall dead grass and trees in an endless graveyard, it seemed. Panning to the right, there was the labyrinth behind me, and every obstacle I have so far overcome.
It was relieving to see that I had indeed accomplished a lot, even though I now no longer knew how much time I had left. Further right, there was a tiny village, or what remained of it, anyway. It was only the foundation now, and the sight alone depressed me-reminded me of home, in a way. This broken city went on for a while, and here and there, I could see something or someone moving around in its ruins, scavengers, no doubt, or really large black birds. They seemed interchangeable at times, and I puzzled over which one was right until the giant and I had gotten too far away to see them. Now, I could see more plains, grasping at what little life it had left, and I wondered how behind the other statue, there seemed to be life and vibrancy, where here, everything was the same; brown and decaying. I wondered if I had picked the wrong direction, but decided that the other option was a trick. Since this had been the constant, and continued to be, I was on the right track.

I faced forward now, and could see the end of the path, and a forest that waited for it. And beyond the forest lay my destination. Over a broken section of wall, there was the ocean. Blue-black in color, white capped waves crashing on silver sands, a red sky with the slowly setting sun behind it. My heart lurched, ached for it, and I reveled in the fact that if I made it through the forest, I would be in the home stretch. Once we reached the end of the road, the giant knelt down, surprisingly smooth considering around him everything trembled with the slightest twitch, and laid his hand down to let me off. I turned and looked up at him, glad that he had decided to wait until I had got far enough away before he moved again.

"Thank you, giant. I'm sorry I was rude earlier…you startled me is all." I said, hoping the apology would be enough. I imagine it is the terrifying creatures that are often the most misunderstood. Though sometimes they are genuinely terrifying, this one was not. He was just doing his job. Nodding, but keeping silent otherwise, the giant gestured for me to go on, and I obeyed, turning and heading into the forest.

The first thing I noticed about this new place was how dark it was. With a thick grey fog and limited light creeping through the tangled treetops, it was nearly impossible to see where I was going. I could see a path though, and instead of trying to find a better way out, I chose to simply follow it. It was far better to just follow this one part than deviate and get myself lost. The further I got into the woods, the more noises I began to hear, and I began to suspect they were not just normal forest noises. Take out the element of wind, and animals that live in trees or on the ground, there were some things that just didn't make sense. A strange rustling in the bushes every now and then, a call that sounded neither animal or human, something that sounded like a laugh, and a screech that echoed from far away, that repeated every few minutes. I was definitely on edge, my eyes darting everywhere they possibly could in order to maybe catch what was playing with my senses.

Every so often, I would think I saw a shadow dart in my peripheral, but no sooner would I look to investigate, would it be gone. I began to think this forest was haunted, thanks to all the strange activity, and though I knew that the King would get a sick satisfaction out of my being scared, I was indeed growing scared. But I marched onward, keeping the thought of freedom fresh in my mind. I would be away from the king; from his castle and its stupid goblins…I would finally get off the island, so confining and tiny, that everyone seems to just accept as an absolution. I would be able to do what I want, when I want, and dream as much or as little as I like. No one would tell me what to do, or where to do, or criticize or judge, or tell me that I was wrong for wanting something more. I wouldn't have to look at these ridiculous people in bird masks following me through the trees anymore either.

I paused…bird-people following me through the trees was not something I had noticed before. My stomach lurched and I clenched my fists. So I was indeed being followed. Just what I needed…and here I thought that these woods themselves were the obstacle.

"Hello?" I called, waiting for some sort of response. There was none.

"Hello? I know someone is there…" I said, crossing my arms as I waited. Still nothing.

"This is silly. I know you're there…just come out." I demanded. No one was going to be stalking me any time soon, that was for sure. But still there came no response. I sighed and continued walking. Keeping alert to any change around me. I knew they were there, whoever they were, but it just made me a little sad that I only noticed them when I had stopped paying attention to my surroundings. How long had they been following me without my noticing them?

I pretended to lose focus again, started humming softly to seem distracted, and sure enough, there they were; poking their heads out of bushes or around tree trunks, dodging in and out quickly, being as stealthy as they could, but keeping certain there was a set of eyes on me at all time. I could not count how many there were of them, but they were many. It was unsettling at best. I could handle one, but not dozens. I kept on this way for some time, trying to gain a better judgment of what they were up to. So far, it just seemed that they were watching me, and so long as they just kept it at that, I would be fine. In fact, if they just kept it at that, I would feel rather safe, knowing that the worst of my problems here were a bunch of weird things wearing masks, that kept a safe distance and watched me progress through the forest. I thought of it as having my own little line of defense…unless they became the thing I would have to defend myself against. Then I would be in trouble. Still, they were not bothering me now, so I ignored them.

The bird-people seemed to have their own form of communication…they provided much of the coo's and howls that I had heard throughout my travels, they hooted sometimes as well, mimicking owls, but once they hooted, the whole lot of them would fall silent for several minutes, and when they would return, they would be somewhere else entirely. I had made a game of trying to figure out where they would pop up next after a hoot. These woods were winding and tiresome, and doing this kept me entertained, quite frankly. I began once more, to dream, making up theories in my head about who these masked men were, what their purpose was, where they came from. In the time that passed while walking, I had developed elaborate adventures the group had been on that led them to the forest. Unfortunately, it had brought me to the conclusion that many of the shadows I had seen throughout my own journey were them. In the winding corridors, at the top of the walls, in the ruins I saw when I was with the giant…I wondered how long they had been following me. And even more so, who they were working for.

Perhaps they acted as eyes for the king. Some followed me, some reported back to him, or he enchanted their masks so they literally were his eyes. An intricate system of spies, watching me carefully as I worked out his maze. That actually irritated me. I knew he would likely be keeping tabs on me, but I would have just assumed he would check in every once in a while. Show up at random, make some snide comment, and be on his way.

Upon considering everything, and going straight from dreaming to theorizing, to being legitimately angry at the king once more, I did not have time to realize that the bird-men were doing something entirely different, and in fact, had other motives than watching me.

They had been herding me, it turned out. I did not realize it, but I had stepped off the path ages ago, and in my dreaming, had begun to follow their hoots and cries, rather than the path laid out for me. And not only were the creatures behind me, but they were ahead of me, and to the side, and above me as well. It was very clever on their part. And very stupid on mine…I could kick myself for not paying attention like I should have been. I only realized they had done so when I had come to a circular clearing in the woods, and all of their coos and callings stopped.

I had only realized I was in trouble when I was alone.

One by one, the bird men appeared. Dropping down from the trees, stepping out from the shadows, rolling out from behind the bushes, at least twenty of them all together. They were all very tall, at least two heads above me, and cloaked in long black tattered capes. They wore black trousers and boots with brass buckles under the cloaks, and a black shirt with silver buttons at the collar. At the shoulders, the cloaks were feathered, to give more to the illusion of birds, and they wore the hoods of the cloaks up, with edges that came to a point rather than staying rounded. Under the hoods were their masks, large and black as the rest of their ensembles, the edges were designed after the splayed wings of a bird, and they sported large stylized beaks where the nose should be. Having only a half mask, they wore dark red cloth across their mouths, and their hands were gloved with matching fabric and color. From afar, the effect was that they looked like large birds with blood stained talons and beaks. If they were going for terrifying, it definitely worked. They moved until they edged the clearing, surrounding me completely, making it impossible for me to run.

One in particular, who had gold trim around the edges of his cape in a swirling pattern, and silver piercings in his ears from the lobe to the very top, pushed his hood back just slightly and stepped forward. A piece of brown hair fell out as he did so, and laid across the top of his mask, and I could see as he stepped into the light, that while they looked pretty human under the costumes up until this point, they were not. While they were gloved, their hands far more resembled a birds talons than hands, and their eyes were a crimson red rimmed with thick lashes made thicker by black paint. I imagined the effect was to completely shade their eyes, and from afar it worked, but up close, one could see the unpainted skin between the mask and their eyes, and the tone was something of a bronze color. Still, aside from the goblin king, they were the closest thing I had seen to a human in the weeks I had been away from home.

This one, who I assumed would be their leader as he was the one to step forward, stared at me in silence for a long time, and I could not help but feel like I was on trial. He finally spoke as the clock chimed from far away. Another hour gone. And I still had no clue of how many I had left. The bird-man heard the chime though, and they all cocked their heads to listen before turning back to me with more stern expressions than before.

"What are you doing here, outsider?" The leader asked, his voice rough and low. I was actually a bit taken back. I wasn't sure what I was expecting him to say, but it wasn't that. And I surely wasn't expecting him to sound so normal. Mind you, his voice was muffled by his masks, but he sounded pretty normal.

"Running the Labyrinth….would there be any other reason for my being here?" I asked, thinking that it was such a strange question to ask when I was sure the only people that came through here were runners. The man tilted his head to the side just slightly, and I had a feeling my answer confused him.

"What's your name, outsider?" He asked, stepping closer.

"Sarah. Why do you need to know?" I asked, sounding a bit irritated. What was the point of this? Why had they been tracking me the whole time, if they had no idea who I was? My answer though, seemed to satisfy, and the surrounding members of this group began to buzz, talking to each other in low voices.

"You aren't supposed to be here." He said, his tone suggesting he was still confused over the fact that I said I was running the Labyrinth.

"This place hasn't had any association with that maze of the Kings in eons. You should leave." He said, and that infuriated me more.

"What do you mean, I'm not supposed to be here? You brought me here!" I said, throwing my arms in the air, annoyed with the man.

"Yes. But we thought you were someone different. We only guide the lost here, not people who have done this before." He said, confusing and irritating me further. I scowled at the man and crossed my arms over my chest, giving him a hard glare.

"Do you have a boss or someone I could talk to? Maybe he'd be of more assistance." I inquired, thinking that if he had someone to report to, they would certainly be able to help out. To maybe clear up this giant misunderstanding. It was clearly that, as I had never been here before, and all of their cryptic words and nonsense was really driving me mad. The bird man nodded and turned around abruptly, stalking back into the forest as the others made for the trees and shadows once more. I followed, assuming that was what he wanted me to do, and he lead me to the outskirts of a bog that produced the single foulest stench I have ever had the displeasure of experiencing. He seemed to be unbothered by it, and I imagined he kept something under the beak of his mask to dull his senses, and he proceeded forward, over a stone bridge and past the burbling cesspool of green sludge like waters and muck covered rocks. Even breathing through my mouth did not help, so half way across the bridge, I opted to just hold my breath in favor of trying to work my breathing out so I could not smell it. But the fumes combined with lack of oxygen made me dizzy, so I had to exhale.

Across the bridge at last, we dove back into the forest and within a few hundred feet, came to what looked like an old guard house. There was no castle or manor though that it would be attached to, which was strange. It was just a house, in the middle of the woods, covered in dying ivy. The bird man knocked on the door thrice before opening it, and ushering me inside. The single floor house was dimly lit with one tiny candle on the table, but he snatched it up and proceeded down a flight of stairs in the back. This lead to a surprisingly large dug out—a secret base of sorts, and another wooden door that lead to another room. It was one large stereotype; it turned out, a group of bandits having an underground hideout. It was almost chuckle worthy. Behind the other door, I was immediately greeted by a large sheep dog who had decided its best course of action was to pounce me, and was promptly chided by a shrill voiced fox wearing a feathered cap and pumpkin pants. There was no way that any of this was real, and I began to wonder if I somewhere along the way through the forest hit my head and passed out.

It was strange though, that both the fox and the dog seemed so familiar, and even stranger, when the sense of déjà vu was confirmed, and the fox called my name excitedly.