�����Jacob Whitewind glanced at the schedule on the bulletin board, and a feeling of great dread came over him.

�����Great... Just perfect. I couldn't possibly have been put in a worse situation, he thought, seeing the other three names that were posted in his group.

�����The list read- Group three : 1) Jacob Whitewind 2) Brock Hudson 3) Rock Hudson 4)Brittany Spearlowe

�����Two jocks and a cheerleader. Not that he hated all jocks and cheerleaders, as long as they left him alone. These ones seemed to have a habit of being annoying, however. All three of them were not known to be particularly intelligent, either. Jacob estimated that their combined I.Q. was about the same as that of a salad bar.

�����He sensed a familiar presence from behind him, and turned to find Serenity Mystic, dressed in her usual white robes.

�����"Hello, Jacob," She smiled. "Just checking to see who's in my group."

�����She found her name under group two, with Alaska Winters, Ivy Tanglewood, and Kris Brightmetal.

�����"It looks like both of our groups are scheduled to go at the same time today, along with group one," She observed. "I wish you luck." She smiled again, and turned to go.

�����"Ren... Wait..." Her smile... always seems to make me forget my troubles, Jacob thought, trying not to blush.

�����"Yes, Jacob?" Serenity asked, turning to face him again.

�����"Ummm, I... Guess I just wanted to wish you luck, too." He stuttered, lamely.

�����"Thank you," She replied, rewarding him with another smile. "I'll see you later this afternoon."

...

�����Less than half an hour later, Alaska and Chanse stood in front of the same bulletin board.

�����"I'm glad they didn't stick me with Pyra," Alaska said, reading the names in her group.

�����"She's in my group, though, along with Fiore and Jinx," Chanse noticed, looking under group one. Fiore... after last night, this could be difficult, she thought.

�����"Looks like both of our groups are scheduled at the same time. We'll sort of be competing."

�����As Chanse had learned in the library last night, the labyrinth was a test of mental, magical, and physical skills for all high school ranked students at Dragonflight Academy. Students were assigned to teams of four, with three teams going at a time. Aside from solving the maze itself, there were a number of challenges, such as "monsters" riddles, and puzzles. None of the threats were real, but if a student got "killed" by traps or monsters more than three times, he or she was considered "dead", and would have to sit out for the remainder of the challenge. A student's score was determined by how well he or she performed both individually and in a group. Bonus points were given to the group that made it to the center first. The higher your final score was, the higher your student rank would be.

�����"I'm kinda nervous." Chanse admitted. "They didn't have anything like this back at Corinth." Even though she had done some research on the labyrinth, the exact layout of it was always changing.

�����"Don't be, I'm sure you'll do just fine!" Alaska assured her.

...

�����At ten minutes before 2pm, the first three groups assembled in front of the gates to the labyrinth.

�����"Hi guys," Chanse greeted Fiore and Jinx, casually. Best to act like nothing happened last night, she thought. "We just keep running into each other, don't we?" She joked. "Where's Pyra?"

�����"Right here!" Pyra exclaimed, cheerfully, latching onto Fiore's arm.

�����"Did you do any reasearch on the labyrinth, Chanse?" Fiore asked. Probably shouldn't even bring up last night, he thought

�����"Yes, but this is my first time to participate in something like this. I'm kinda nervous."

�����"Don't worry. You'll catch on," He assured her.

�����"Yeah, piece of cake!" Jinx exclaimed.

�����"Uh, huh!" Pyra nodded.

�����Group two was having a similar discussion.

�����"I... I... I really don't like doing this." Ivy Tanglewood stuttered, nervously. Her light green hair was tied back, and she was wearing a dress that was a couple shades darker. There was pouch of something attached to her belt.

�����"Calm down, Ivy, we'll all work together," Serenity assured her. Poor Ivy, she thought. She has such a gentile soul... she hates competing, and violence of all forms. It makes her nervous.

�����"Yeah, we're a team!" Alaska smiled.

�����"Here, wear this amulet, it'll bring you luck," Kris Brightmetal said, digging through her bag. She was dressed mostly in yellow, her favorite color.

�����"Th... Thank you." Ivy said, accepting the charm.

�����Team three wasn't getting along as well, however.

�����"EEEWWW, Keep your dirty, stupid old bird away from me!!!" Brittany Spearlowe said to Jacob, as soon as she saw him.

�����"Corvus isn't dirty," Jacob replied, offended, "and crows are among the most intelligent birds." He ruffled the feathers on Corvus's head, protectively.

�����"Just let us do all the fighting, you scrawny wimp." Brock Hudson said, flexing his muscles.

�����"Yeah, all the fighting," His twin brother, Rock, agreed. The two boys towered over Jacob.

�����"Fine with me. I work best by myself, anyway," Jacob replied, coolly. Brock and Rock both had earth-based powers, but they were fairly weak. Brittany's magic, although annoying, wasn't too powerful, either. Jacob was very tempted to just leave them behind, but he knew it would hurt his score.

�����Along with Magnus and Isis Dragonflight, the other instructors supervising the challenge this year were the beautiful forest nymph Ifaulina Hamadryad, and professor Ignasious Gump, a wise old gnome.

�����"For those of you who do not know the routine, allow me to explain a few details." Magnus began. "Although the threats are not real, if you get hit by a "monster" or a trap, it will spray a blot of red paint on you. The number of blots you have at the end will count against your score. Three blots, and you're out. In addition, your final score will be based upon how well you perform as an individual, as well as in your assigned group. Are there any questions before we begin?"

�����Brittany raised her hand. "So, like, will the paint stain my outfit? I don't want to get all dirty."

�����Jacob rolled his eyes. This definitely isn't a good sign, he thought.

�����"No, the dye is magic," Magnus explained. "It disappears completely once the challenge is over."

�����"That's a relief!" Brittany said.

�����"Don't worry, Brittany, we'll protect you." The muscular Brock assured her.

�����"Yeah, we'll protect you!" Rock, agreed.

�����"Any more questions?" Magnus asked. Seeing their were none, he continued. "Each group has its own entrance, and must face different challenges. There may be times when your paths cross, however. At those times, you may either cooperate with the other group, or hinder their progress. It's up to you. Keep in mind, though, that the group that makes it to the center first gets a bonus to its score. Are you ready?"

�����The three groups assembled in front of their respective doors.

�����"On your mark... Get set... Go!" Magnus said. The three doors opened simultaneously, and the groups proceeded in.

�����"Just follow me! I know where to go!" Brock said, charging through the door. Rock and Brittany charged after him, with Jacob following a bit more cautiously.

�����Group three came to the first intersection. "We'll go left!" Brock decided, running ahead.

�����There was a loud screech in front of them. A harpy, Jacob thought. The real ones could easily tear a man apart with their razor sharp talons.

�����"Eat this, you stupid bird!" Brock said, using his magic to make the ground below the harpy shake. The harpy simply took to the air, flying away from the earthquake. Then, it took a dive for Brock, swiping at him. A blob of red paint appeared on his shirt.

�����Idiot! Even most elementary students know that earth magic doesn't work well on flying monsters, Jacob thought.

�����The harpy turned, this time orienting on Brittany. Rock dived in front of her, taking the hit himself.

�����This is getting us nowhere... Jacob thought. "Shadows encroach!" He chanted. The shadows along their path moved at his command, taking physical form. A dark, tarlike mass of them completely surrounded the harpy, smothering it to oblivion.

...

�����The members of group one found themselves standing in front of four different doorways.

�����"Which way?" Jinx wondered.

�����"Look, there's a plaque with an inscription." Fiore observed.

�����"Only one path to reach your goal, the others will send you falling down a hole." Chanse read.

�����"What a bad rhyme," Pyra grimaced.

�����"There's more," Chanse continued. "Divide an eight foot plank in half by two, and this is the door that's right for you..." She read. "Hey, there's a list of possible answers!"

�����"It looks like a multiple choice riddle," Fiore said. "We pick the door that has the right letter." Indeed, they now noticed that each door had a letter over it.

�����"That's easy!" Jinx exclaimed, looking at the choices. "It's 'B' eight feet long."

�����"Stupid!" Pyra said. "If you divide an eight foot plank in half, it's four feet long! So the answer is obviously letter 'A', which is four."

�����Jinx headed for door B and Pyra for door A.

�����"WAIT!!!" Chanse and Fiore yelled, in unison. They both blushed, realizing they were thinking on the same wavelength.

�����Pyra and Jinx paused.

�����"You didn't even look at the other two choices." Fiore said, recovering his composure.

�����"Why should we? It's an eight foot plank. You cut it in half, and that's four feet for each piece... duh!! We're just wasting time!" Pyra complained.

�����"It still say it's eight feet!" Jinx said.

�����"Both of you... are partially correct," Fiore explained.

�����"Huh?! How is that possible?!" Pyra asked.

�����"Because, there's more than one way of cutting a plank in half," Chanse replied. "Most people would go for the more obvious way, which is cutting the length in half. That would give you two four foot planks. If you take the more creative approach, which is cutting its width in half, you would get two thinner eight foot planks."

�����"So the answer is 'both "A" and "B"', which would lead us to door C," Fiore concluded.

�����"Oh!! I get it!!" Pyra exclaimed.

�����"See? My answer wasn't as stupid as you thought," Jinx said.

�����The group proceeded through door "C".

...

�����"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!" Ivy Tanglewood stammered, when she saw the huge rock golem ahead of them. First it was the moving walls, which Kris had stopped with one of her amulets. Then the wall of fire, which Alaska had frozen. Now this.

�����"Use your cutting vines, Ivy!" Ren yelled.

�����"Oh!" Ivy reached into her pouch, pulling out some barblike seeds and throwing them at the monster's feet. "G- Grow!" She stuttered.

�����The razor sharp vines wove around the golem, tightly. It started to crumble, and fell to the ground.

�����"I... I did it!" Ivy said, surprized.

...

�����"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Brittany Spearlowe screamed. The monster in front of them, an ice demon this time, shattered. Slivers of ice fell to the ground.

�����Corvus cawed, in protest of the noise. Jacob held his ears, amazed that she had actually accomplished something. Maybe her "banshee wail" wasn't that useless after all. Then again, maybe she was just lucky.

�����"Way to go, Brittany!!" Brock cheered.

�����"Yeah, way to go!" Rock agreed.

�����"Tee hee! Thanks!" She giggled.

�����The twins had two marks each on them. Brittany only had one, and Jacob didn't have any yet. Their last challenge had been a puzzle, which his teamates had solved incorrectly. Jacob had tried to warn them, but they hadn't listened. So he had stayed behind, watching them fall into a trap. Served them right, he thought.

�����"Which way now, oh great leader?" Jacob asked Brock, his voice full of sarcasm.

�����Either the sarcasm went completely over Brock's head, or he was ignoring it. "Uhhh... We'll go right this time."

�����The group headed to the right. Jacob caught a faint glimmer of wire on the path in front of them. "Wait! A trap!" He yelled.

�����Too late. Brock tripped over the wire, sending a shower of paint "darts" at them. Jacob managed to dodge them all, and Rock moved in time to protect Brittany. He was hit several times, however, along with his brother.

�����"Damn!! We're..." Brock began.

�����"...Out!" Rock finished, crashing his fists together.

�����"Oh no! Now what will I do?!" Brittany paniced.

�����A voice came over the labyrinth's intercom. "Brock Hudson. Rock Hudson. Game over. Please step through the glowing green square." A green portal opened in front of them.

�����"Take care of Brittany!" Brock yelled, before he stepped through the portal.

�����"You'll be sorry if you don't!" Rock said, stepping through as well.

�����The portal closed, leaving Jacob and Brittany alone.

�����She looks like she's about to cry, Jacob thought. That's all he needed. "Listen up, Brittany. If you really want to make it through this, you'll do exactly as I say from now on..."

...

�����"Fire sprites!!! A whole band of them!!!" Jinx yelled.

�����Their last challenge had been an ice giant, which Pyra had simply melted with a fireball. Now they found themselves trapped in an ambush.

�����Fiore drew his sword, cutting down the first two of the winged beasts to swoop at them. "They absorb fire attacks, and earth magic isn't very effective, either." Which made both of his talents inneffective against this particular enemy.

�����Pyra drew her own sword, cutting down the next two, and Jinx punched at one.

�����A red mark appeared on Jinx's fist. "Awww!!" He cried, looking at it. "Guess I got burned."

�����Chanse pulled out her flute, playing a liquid tune that sounded like rain. A cloud formed, drenching the monsters. They screamed as if in agony, and fizzled away.

�����"That's some magic!" Jinx said, impressed.

�����"Thanks," Chanse blushed.

...

�����"It... It's getting dark." Ivy stuttered.

�����The group was moving through a cavelike portion of the maze.

�����"Light come forth!" Ren chanted. A small beam appeared over her hand, lighting their way.

�����"Much better!" Kris said.

�����The path kept getting darker, however, and soon the tiny beam wasn't helping very much.

�����"What's that noise?" Alaska asked.

�����The others heard it, too. It was a soft, surrsurrous sound, like silk rubbing against satin.

�����"It sounds like..." Ren began.

�����"Living shadows!!" Kris exclaimed pointing all around them.

�����"EEEP!!" Ivy panicked.

�����"Ray of Hope!" Ren chanted, her hands clasped in prayer. The room filled with a radiant light, banishing all the shadows before it faded away.

�����"There may be more," she said, calmly, "but they're afraid of light. Did you bring any of your illumination amulets with you, Kris?"

�����"Yeah I think so." She dug through her bag. "Here they are!" She pulled out three of them. "Invoke!" she commanded.

�����The amulets lit up. Kris gave one each to Ivy and Alaska, and put the third one on herself.

�����"That should keep them away," Ren said, satisfied. The group continued through the cave.

...

�����"You're MEAN!!! MEANIE!!!" Brittany exclamed, looking at the fresh spot of paint on her shirt, the second mark against her.

�����"Don't expect me to dive in front of you every time you're in trouble, like those other two idiots," Jacob retorted. "I tried to warn you, and you didn't listen."

�����Brittany stuck her tounge out at him. She had just sprung another trap.

�����Jacob ignored her. Let's see how far we have to go, he thought. "Corvus, go scout ahead," He commanded.

�����Corvus let out a "Cawww", and took to the air. Jacob pulled a crystal ball out of his robes. An image appeared, showing him a view through the crow's eyes.

�����"We go left." Jacob decided. "But first, I'll summon some help... Cerebrus, come forth!"

�����A shadowlike portal opened. Cerebrus, a giant, three headed dog with large teeth emerged, snarling in anticipation.

�����"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK! MONSTER!!!! A REAL ONE!!!" Brittany screeched, fainting.

�����Cerebrus's three heads whined, unhappy about the noise. One of them sniffed at the unconsious Brittany.

�����Jacob sighed. "Sorry about that, Cerebrus," He apologized, giving each head a gentle pat. Now what? He was very tempted to leave Brittany exactly where she had fallen, but he knew his score would suffer.

�����"Damn!!" He swore, looking for some way to rig up a stretcher.

...

�����Fiore's fingers danced nimbly through the air, forming the complex earth rune. The completed symbol glowed brightly, and he threw it to the ground. The earth rumbled, and sharp spikes of rock rose from the floor, impalling the giant snake before them.

�����Chanse whistled, impressed. "Wow, you're good!" He had cast the whole spell in just a few quick seconds.

�����Fiore remained silent, gazing at the place where the snake had been, as he wiped sweat from his brow.

�����"Oh, Fiore-kins! You saved us!" Pyra exclaimed, latching onto his arm.

�����"How do you expect him to cast any more spells, with you hanging on him like that?" Jinx protested.

�����Pyra glared at him, but realized that he was right, this time. She let go.

�����"It shouldn't be too much farther, now," Fiore said, looking at the path ahead of them.

...

�����Group two stood at at a three-way crossroads. The path behind them was the way they had just come, eliminating that as a choice. The second path branched off to the left, and the other to the right.

�����"Which way?" Alaska wondered.

�����There was a howling noise coming from the path on the left.

�����"N...not that way!" Ivy said.

�����"It sounds like... it's getting closer." Ren observed.

�����"What the?" Kris said, reaching for an amulet.

�����A giant, three headed dog came running towards them.

�����"EEEEEK" Ivy screamed.

�����The dog's three heads howled, and it came to a halt.

�����"What is that thing?!" Alaska yelled, getting ready to freeze it with a spell.

�����"Wait!" Ren said, noticing the figure on the dog's back. "Jacob? What in the world? What happened to the rest of your group?"

�����"The idiot brothers got themselves eliminated," he said dismounting. "Brittany fainted." He pointed to the makeshift sled attached to Cerebrus's back.

�����Ren came over to examine the fallen Brittany. "She'll be fine in a little while. She just needs to rest."

�����"A R... real M... m...monster!" Ivy was stammering, looking at Cerebrus. "P... p... please don't eat us!"

�����"Don't be silly," Serenity said calmly. "You won't hurt us will you, puppy?" She scratched behind the ears on each of Cerebrus's three heads.

�����"Some puppy. He's humongous." Kris whispered to Alaska.

�����"Amazing. That's the ugliest, scariest dog I've ever seen, and Ren's not even a little bit afraid of it," Alaska whispered back.

�����Cerebrus wagged his three tails, in appriciation of Ren's attention.

�����"That's a good puppy!" Ren said. "What's his name, Jacob?"

�����"Cerebrus," Jacob answered, surprized that she wasn't terrified. Most people were.

�����"Wherever did you get him?" She asked.

�����"... I found him over the summer. He was hurt, so I helped him. We're friends now."

�����"Ahem!" Alaska interrupted. "That's very nice and all, but we really should get a move on. The other group could be almost at the center by now."

�����"So... do we work together, or do we work against each other?" Kris wondered.

�����"Sorry. I work best alone," Jacob said. He jumped on Cerebrus's back, and the two of them took off, still dragging Brittany on the stretcher.

�����"HEY!!!! NO FAIR!!!" Alaska protested.

�����"That jerk!" Kris yelled. "C'mon girls! After him!!!"

�����"All's fair in the labyrinth," Serenity said softly, as she and her group ran after Jacob. Still, she felt strangely dissapointed.

...

Continued

...

This story and its characters are � Chibi Ningyo (Cara V.), 2000.

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