Chapter 9: The Labyrinth

"No doubt, those brutes know the way out of this maze. Let's follow them!" Mai'ngor leads the way.

Elayna had not considered that, and she hustles to follow Mai'ngor.

Ælfric observed the newcomers quietly and motionlessly.

"They do have a point," he thought, "but do they have feathers?"

Seftan knew he wouldn't be able to keep his Invisibility up forever and hoped the group would continue on after the Minotaurs quickly so that he could confer with his partner and decide what to do.

Joining forces with these people might just be the right move considering what they were up against, but he wouldn't be able to make such a decision on his own out of respect for Ælfric.

Once they pass, Seftan drops his Invisibility and whispers to Ælfric,

Should we approach them? See if they might be of any help?

"What's the worst that could happen? They kill us?" Ælfric whispers back. "At least the horse-man's idea about following the cow-men out of here seems sound. Let's follow them a bit first and be sure they're more reasonable than minotaurs in a maze."

Good idea, lead the way my friend.

Seftan follows along after Ælfric in pursuit of the trio.

Xeliss continues with the group perched on her golem, followed by her ball of fire. It eventually dissipates.

Keokan stands, chest heaving with rivulets of blood running down her arms. Before saying anything, she bends down and picks up one of the shattered horns from the minotaurs and sticks it into her belt. Heavy braids of auburn hair fall out from under a bear's head helm of some kind. With the scarred toe of one boot she moves the head of a minotaur with a sneer of derision on her face.

Pathetic fighters. she says, spitting on the ground. As the party comes into view she shoulders her axe and waves.

Well met she growls in a gravelly tone.

By the Gods, Seftan whispers from his hiding spot,

That is the largest woman I've ever seen...

Elayna skids to a halt. "Uh," she begins. "Hi?"

Mai'ngor slows his trot and comes to a stop to face the hulking woman as his sword's pool of light encompasses her. "Well met indeed, stranger," the blood-spattered tikbalang responds. "Nice work," he says, with a toss of his mane, and a gesture at her handiwork.

"What are you doing here?" Xeliss looks at the dead minotaurs and then back at the woman, looking vaguely suspicious.

There are things in the dark, looking to march to the surface and destroy all of existence. I've been tasked, along with a few others, to recover some things from this foul place that may help stave that off. These hairy louts ran into me and thought my goods should be theirs. I'm glad they were so bullheaded, I needed the work out. My name is Keokan Deathwake Panadrakavi, though those closest to me just use Deathwake.

"What happened to the others?" Elayna asks.

"We've here," Ælfric said as he came out of the shadows behind them, "and we mean you no harm. Good job with the minotaurs, by the way, and excellent work as always, Deathwake. They should have left at least three others for you to make it almost a challenge."

The wood elf stood almost completely covered by his dark cloak, only his head visible above its silvery starscape.

Elayna eyes the surprise visitors warily, but she asks of them, "You haven't seen a gnoll, have you?"

"No gnolls, sorry. You haven't seen any angelic feathers, have you?"