Shattered Veil

Chapter 21: Shattered Veil

The darkness felt alive, swallowing everything around us. For a moment, I couldn't tell if I was still in the maze or trapped in some nightmare conjured by the fragment's volatile power. The air was thick, heavy, suffocating like the entire structure was pressing down on us. I could hear the maze groaning—its metallic bones creaking under pressure as if the entire thing was on the verge of collapsing.

I tried to move, but my body felt sluggish, disconnected. The ground beneath me was cold and solid, but I couldn't shake the sensation that it would give way at any second. The fragment's power was still inside me, its presence a low hum, but it felt muted now, distant. I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a sign that something far worse was coming.

"Kai?" My voice cracked in the silence, barely above a whisper.

For a moment, there was nothing but the sound of the maze creaking and groaning. Then, I heard a faint rustling, followed by Kai's voice. "I'm here."

Relief washed over me, grounding me just enough to push away the panic. But the danger hadn't passed. The maze was still alive, still shifting around us like it was trying to close in.

"We need to move," Kai said, urgency thick in his voice. I could hear him struggling to his feet in the dark. "This place is falling apart."

I forced my limbs to respond, though every movement was heavy, like I was dragging myself through quicksand. The fragment's power stirred within me, and I could feel it responding to the chaos, ready to break free again. But I couldn't let it—not now. The ground was already unstable enough without losing control of whatever this power was.

Kai's hand found my arm, steadying me as I stumbled. "Can you see anything?" he asked.

"No," I muttered, blinking uselessly into the pitch-black void. "It's like we're inside the maze's shadow."

Kai's grip on my arm tightened, his voice barely above a whisper. "Stay close. We'll find a way out."

We moved together, slowly and carefully, the ground shifting beneath our feet with each step. The metallic plates that made up the maze's floor seemed to twist and buckle under our weight, throwing us off balance. Every time we moved, it felt like the entire structure was groaning in protest, like it was resisting our every attempt to escape.

Then, up ahead, something flickered in the darkness—a faint, pulsing glow that cut through the void. It was cold, unnatural, almost like the fragment's light but harsher, more mechanical.

"What is that?" I asked, my heart pounding.

Kai squinted into the distance, his expression hard. "The staff," he said, his voice filled with something close to dread. "They're doing something."

The staff. Of course, they were behind this. They always were. The maze, the fragments, the tests—it was all part of their twisted experiment. But now, it felt like something had shifted, something far more dangerous than the challenges we'd faced before.

We moved toward the light, the walls of the maze seeming to close in tighter around us. The ground trembled more violently with each step, and the cries of the other children echoed faintly in the distance, growing more desperate as the maze continued to collapse.

"Why would they do this?" I asked, my voice thick with frustration and fear. "Why would they push the maze to fall apart?"

Kai didn't look at me. His gaze was locked on the glowing light ahead, his jaw clenched. "The staff wants to see who can survive," he said. "They're watching to see who breaks and who adapts."

I swallowed hard, the weight of his words sinking in. This wasn't just another test. This was the final push, a way to weed out the weak from the strong. And if the maze fell apart with us still inside, it wouldn't matter how strong we were—we'd all be buried.

The light ahead grew stronger, pulsing in time with the tremors that shook the maze. The fragment inside me stirred again, reacting to the energy, and I had to fight to keep it from spiraling out of control. My head was pounding, and every muscle in my body felt like it was being stretched too thin, like I was holding back a flood that could drown me at any moment.

"We're running out of time," Kai muttered, his voice tight. "Whatever they're doing, we need to get out of here before the whole place comes down."

"I'm trying," I said through gritted teeth, each step a battle to keep the fragment's power contained.

We moved faster now, the glow from the staff's activity lighting up more of the maze as we neared the source. The walls groaned louder, the ground beneath us threatening to give way with every step.

Suddenly, a deafening crash echoed through the maze, followed by a series of metallic thuds as one of the sections collapsed entirely. The shockwave hit us, knocking me to the ground. I hit hard, gasping as the air was forced from my lungs. I could feel the fragment surging inside me again, the energy spiking dangerously.

Kai reached down, hauling me to my feet before the ground beneath us shifted again. "Zane, you have to keep it together," he said, his voice sharp but not unkind.

"I'm trying!" I snapped, panic rising as the power inside me threatened to break free. The fragment's energy pulsed, each wave stronger than the last, like it was feeding off the maze's destruction.

Kai's grip on my arm tightened. "Focus. You can control this. Don't let it control you."

I closed my eyes, trying to steady my breathing, trying to drown out the chaos of the collapsing maze. The fragment's power was still there, but I could feel it slipping, spiraling. The walls groaned again, the sound of metal grinding against metal so loud it felt like it was inside my head.

"Zane!" Kai shouted, his voice cutting through the noise. "Now!"

With a deep breath, I clenched my fists and focused harder than I ever had before. Slowly—agonizingly slowly—I felt the power inside me begin to stabilize. The fragment's energy, wild and untamed, seemed to quiet, though it didn't disappear entirely. It was still there, still dangerous, but for now, I had control.

Kai released his grip, his eyes scanning the maze ahead. "We have to keep moving," he said. "We're almost out."

I nodded, my heart still racing but my mind clearer now. Together, we pushed forward, the glow of the staff's light growing stronger as we neared the end of the maze.

But as we rounded the final corner, my heart sank.

The light wasn't coming from the staff. It was coming from the fragments—dozens of them, glowing and pulsing with energy, embedded in the walls of the maze like deadly, luminous stars.

And standing in front of them was someone I never expected to see.