Kariah-Belle Nadire marveled at the gigantic entrance carved into the side of a mountain. Her group had traversed the rocky maze somewhere in Laviria and made it to their destination without any trouble surprisingly.

"Alright people," Ikirria moved towards to go inside. "Lets get this show on the road."

Everyone followed behind.

The cave rumbled. Everyone turned to see the exit sealing itself.

"Well there goes the exit." said Lax-Rim.

Kariah-Belle was anxious. She had never been in a labyrinth before. She heard stories of people getting lost, never to be heard from again. She sure hoped they found another way to escape.

"This changes nothing," Svett announced. "We proceed as planned."

The group moved deeper into the maze. So far it was a straight shot until they came to a fork.

"Now what?" Said a Master Knight.

"We go right." Ikirria led the group right.

As they walked Kariah-Belle felt her nerves getting more tangled.

You can't save them. Kariah-Belle heard a voice.

"What?" she looked around for the voice but everyone seemed focused on their surroundings.

Lax-Rim looked at her with curiosity. "You good?"

"Yeah. Thought I heard something."

Suddenly one of the Master Knights screamed.

"What's wrong?" questioned Aya.

the Master Knight shouted again. "What the hell is that thing!" 

Everyone looked around but there was nothing to be found.

"What are you-" Aya paused with a look of shock on her face. "F-father?"

Kariah-Belle panicked at the thought of seeing her parent's killer. "Memphis!? Where!? I don't see him!"

Aya active her mana hull and lunged. "Fuck you!"

Svett had to dodge her coming attack. Aya began fighting no one. She fired ice shards that almost pierced Kariah-Belle.

The Master Knights started shouting and screaming some ran off in opposite directions. Svett and Ikirria were trying to calm everyone but to no avail.

What the hell was happening?

You can't save them. Kariah-Belle heard again.

Her head was on a swivel. Searching for the origin of the voice. Everyone was too busy panicking. Even Lax-Rim.

You can't save anyone.

She saw Akio lying lifeless at her feet and screamed.

The brown-skinned young woman fell backward as blood pooled around the body.

She looked over to Lax-Rim who was at her side.

He was bloody on the ground. A spear sticking through his throat.

How did this happen without her noticing? He was all well just a second ago.

She shouted and closed her eyes. Fear had her now. She couldn't think. She couldn't focus. Her mind was hazy.

Suddenly images of Jet's death entered her mind.

Poor girl. Can't save a single soul but call yourself a Knight. How proud your parents must be.

Now images of people dying to Vympiri invaded her head. People were dying to save her. They felt so real that Kariah-Belle began to weep.

"Quiet your minds," Svett called. "They are only illusions!"

Illusions. Yeah, that was it. Had to be. Illusions of their worst fears. For Kariah-Belle it was not being able to protect those she loved.

Once Kariah-Belle reigned in her emotions the images faded. She opened her eyes and found that Akio was still lying at her feet in a pool of blood. She shouted in agony as she closed her eyes again.

She felt a hand take her's and jumped startled.

"It's Aya. I'll guide you. Just hold my hand."

"L-Lax?" Kariah-Belle was still afraid she'd lost him.

"I-" he cleared his throat. "I'm still here."

The Knights were on the move once more. Kariah-Bell couldn't get rid of the image of a dead Akio and Lax-Rim out of her mind. She felt sick. If she ever lost those two she wouldn't know what to do with herself.

It was some time later did the images start to fade. Whatever had cast that illusion was getting further and further behind them.

Kariah-Belle opened one eye. There were no dead bodies and she sighed with relief.

With both eyes open she saw Svett had stopped. She and Ikirria we're observing the cracks and claw marks in the rocky walls.

"What could've made them?" Aya wondered.

"Let's not stick around to find out," Svett said.

The Knights continued to walk and eventually came to five pathways.

Svett and Ikirria discussed which path they should take. Aya and Lax-Rim were studying the claw marks they saw from before.

A creature poked its head from a crevice in the rock, causing everyone to jump away. It scurried up the wall.

It was the size of a dog, brown with beady black eyes. It had pinchers like a crab and had many legs on each side like a bug. It also had pinchers on the side of its mouth.

Two more appeared. Then five more after that.

"Something tells me this isn't good," Lax-Rim said as he backed away slowly.

A Master Knight activated his mana hull and tried to kill the creatures with wind craft but it seemed to have no effect.

"It absorbed the mana." He said.

The creatures came pouring out of the crevices in the wall. There seemed to be no end to them.

"Run!" said another Knight.

Everyone scattered. Svett tried to get everyone to stay together but no one was listening.

Kariah-Belle, Lax-Rim, and Aya went in the far left tunnel. They ran as fast their mana hulls would carry them. A swarm was on their tail.

Aya tries to create a wall of stardust to block the creatures from pursuing but they quickly consumed the mana used to make it. The material broke apart. 

Kariah-Belle had never seen such creatures before. They weren't documented anywhere in the archives. 

She was the first to come to the large chasm. Almost falling over the edge.

"There!" Kariah-Belle pointed to a hole on the other side.

Aya snatched her and Lax-Rim's hands just before she jumped.

She created a bridge of ice and the three ran along with it. When the creatures tried to follow the bridge broke apart underneath. Most likely due to them absorbing mana upon contact.

Still, the trio kept running until they made it to the other side.

"That was close." Kariah-Belle said.

"Too close if you ask me." Lax added.

"We should try to reconnect with the others." Aya declared.

The trio eventually came to a large chamber. Three evil bearers lay turning into black smoke. Someone had defeated them.

The culprit stood in the middle. She had jet black hair that matched her armor. A single star floated across the sleek armor designs.

"A Darkness Tamer." whispered Lax-Rim.

The Darkness Tamer noticed them. Her eyes filled with pure hatred when she saw Aya.

"You!" she shouted. "I had been told I'd find you here but I didn't think I'd actually run into you! Now I can have my revenge Frozen Gun!"

"You know her?" asked Kariah-Belle.

Aya nodded. "Master Iris and I defeated her mentor before you were on this team. Kana the Knight Slayer."