Chapter 7 – Hunted

Rain shakily rises from the ground, using the bolt that almost killed him as a crutch. After he's on his feet, he slowly puts pressure on his injured leg. He finds that, while every step causes him to grimace in pain, he can still walk more or less normally. 

'Well...cheers for the small victories...'

Looking down the corridor in the direction where he triggered the trap, Rain moves to the very edge of the floor, near the left aqueduct, and begins proceeding forward slowly. As he does, he scrutinizes the floor or the Labyrinth, searching for any hint of what triggered the deadly bolt attack. Near where the path turns, he spots a barely discolored section of the floor. 

Inching forward until he's even with it along the wall, he studies the curious area of the floor more closely. After a moment, he's pretty sure he can make out a faint boundary in the shape of a square. 

'Is that a pressure plate or something that I stepped on?'

Curious, Rain takes his scavenged bolt and extends it away from him, until the tip of it just barely touches inside the discolored region of the floor. Then, he presses the tip of the bolt down. Almost immediately, there's a slight give to the square, discolored section of the floor, followed by a clicking sound. Shortly after, Rain feels a breeze move past him and the sound of metal clanging further up the corridor. After a moment, he lets out a sigh of relief. 

"Okay...that's good...my guess about the boundary of the pressure plate was right. That means that, if I'm very watchful, I can spot these in the future, and hopefully avoid triggering more traps." 

Pleased with himself for mitigating some future dangers of the Labyrinth, he sits back down on the floor heavily and drinks water from nearby. While he rests, he ponders what his next steps should be. If he had to guess, he's probably been exploring the Labyrinth for half a day already. While the Labyrinth doesn't seem to have day-night cycles, just constant low-grade lighting, it would probably be time to sleep now if it did. If nothing else, he feels tired...falling asleep in a soft bed sounds heavenly. 

'Can I even sleep right now, though?'

He's not too worried about the lack of bed...he got used to sleeping on cold, harsh surfaces on the streets of the Rim. Actually, the temperature and dryness in the Labyrinth is much more pleasant. Instead, it's the possibility of being found defenseless by a Fel while sleeping. On the other hand, it's becoming clear that his time in the Labyrinth won't end soon, so he needs to keep up a healthy sleep regimen. On top of that, he doesn't see his sleeping conditions getting any safer with time. For all he knows, Fel may become more common the further he travels. 

Rain blows air out through his teeth apprehensively. 

'Yeah...that's just how it is. I should get some rest here while I can. Besides, even faint sounds from an approaching Fel should wake me up. After all, heavy sleepers don't fare well in the orphanage...'

As Rain sits with his decision longer, he becomes more convinced that it's the right choice. Now that he thinks about it, if he sleeps further back the way he came, right before the turn into the corridor the bolt trap fires into, he'll have a warning system. If he's lucky, any wandering Fel may trigger the trap and get killed for him, but if not, the trap activating would make enough noise to wake him. 

'Of course, that pressure plate doesn't span most of the corridor's width. A Fel could easily walk past it on either side. Hmm...'

After a bit of thought, Rain suddenly lets out a mischievous smile and rises to his feet. Then, he uses the bolt he's been carrying to trigger the pressure plate again, sending three more bolts down the corridor. At this point, there are eight of them strewn around the floor, and he hurries to go collect six of them. Afterwards, he returns to the section of the floor with the pressure plate. 

Taking three of the bolts, he moves to one side of the pressure plate, halfway between it and the Labyrinth wall, and he leans the bolts together on the floor in a precarious tent-like formation. He steps away carefully, and watches to make sure the structure is stable for a few seconds. Seeing that it doesn't collapse, Rain smiles and repeats the process on the other side of the pressure plate with the remaining bolts. Finally, he steps back and admires his work. 

"There...now nothing can pass though here without me knowing!" 

That is, of course, a touch optimistic, but saying so helps him sleep at night. Feeling a bit more secure, Rain retrieves his personal bolt, which he plans to use as a cane and weapon from now on, and returns further back along the corridor. He makes his way around the corner, where he plans to sleep, and takes a seat near the flowing water. 

'Now to address this wound...'

Aron told Rain that he doesn't need to worry about infection anymore, but leaving his leg and pants caked in blood still bothers him. Plus, he's worried about it attracting Fel later on if he leaves it as-is. So, Rain uses his bare hands and the swiftly flowing water to methodically rinse out his wound and the leg of his pants – the chilly water feels nice on the gash. As he inspects his cleaned wound, he's surprised to see the beginnings of a scab already forming. 

'Huh...I know Aron said I'll still heal like a normal human, but unless I was knocked out for way longer than I thought, this definitely seems fast.'

The more that he considers it, the more that he thinks there are already some slight physical benefits to being Marked. Nothing superhuman, of course, but in retrospect he jogged for almost an hour straight before he triggered that trap. He was getting a bit tired, sure, but that's still leagues above his physical state pre-Marking. 

Rain purses his lips thoughtfully for several minutes, staring at the wound, then shrugs and rolls his pants back down. Turning his attention to the challenge of sleep, Rain lays on his side, curled up in the fetal position, and sets his handy bolt within arm's reach in front of him. Then he closes his eyes, rests his head on one of his arms, and tries to settle his worried mind.

*****

Sometime later, Rain is jarred awake by an unfamiliar sound. Quickly focusing his vision and clearing the fog of sleep from his mind, but not daring to move an inch yet, he listens intently. 

"Scree.....scree...scree...scree..."

There it is...a periodic scraping sound, like sharp metal being dragged across stone. As he focuses on the sound, he realizes that it's coming from further into the Labyrinth, where he has yet to explore, but it's slowly making its way towards him. Rain can't imagine it being anything other than a Fel. His heart begins to pound against his chest as he tries quickly weighing his options. 

He could try running now, but...there's no guarantee it hasn't already tracked him by the scent of blood. Backtracking might only delay this confrontation. Plus, the nearest unexplored branch in the Labyrinth is twenty minutes further back. So, he should deal with this here and now...he was never going to get out of this place without a fight anyway. 

In that case, if it survives passing through the trap, which seems likely, he'll need to get into a defensive position and ready his weapon. If he waits until it actually gets to the trap to do that, then he'll have less time to prepare, and the Fel is more likely to hear him moving. Rain grits is teeth, trying to swallow his mounting terror. 

'I don't have a choice...I've got to get ready now while it's further away. As soon as it passes the trap or activates it, and starts nearing the corner I'm hiding behind...I'll have to stake it all on a surprise attack.' 

Slowly, inch by inch, Rain pushes himself up off the floor, careful not to make a sound. First, into a sitting position, then into a crouch. There he pauses for a moment to listen to the Fel's approach once more. 

"Scree...scree...scree..."

That same haunting sound is still slow and methodical – it doesn't seem to have noticed him. Rain reaches a trembling hand forward towards his bolt on the ground, and slowly begins to lift it. At this point, he can feel beads of cold sweat forming on his brow. As he pulls the weapon closer to him to hold with both hands, rising to his feet, he continues to track the sounds of the Fel's approach. 

"Scree...scree...scree..."

It should be rounding the corner before the trap any second. As the moment of truth draws closer, he instinctively holds his breath in anticipation. 

'Please get mortally wounded by that trap...'

Just as he repeats his earnest wish over in his mind, the sounds of the creature's approach suddenly stop. Silence hangs in the air for three heartbeats...five...ten...thirty. As he waits, white-knuckling his makeshift weapon, a thunderous clang rings out across the corridor, almost causing Rain to yelp in surprise. Metal collides violently against stone and metal, followed by a low, guttural growl....the creature has knocked over one of his structures to the side of the trap. 

Rain swears internally, realizing the Fel isn't going to be wounded before reaching him, and readies himself and his weapon to jump out and attack. However, a few seconds later, there's the sound of a soft click, followed by a shrill, inhuman scream that makes Rain feel like his eardrums are on the verge or bursting. A heartbeat later, he hears a stray bolt strike the ground nearby.

Then, all hell breaks loose.