"There it is!" Pyra exclaimed, pointing ahead. Their path had led them up a hill of sorts, and they could see a circular clearing far away in the distance. All the other pathways met at that point.

     "At last! The center!" Chanse said, joyfully.

     Jinx's stomach growled. "About time, I'm starving!"

     The four of them started running towards their goal.

     "It looks like... something's coming down that other path." Fiore noticed, pointing ahead.

     "Hey, yeah!" Chanse agreed. "Whatever it is, its headed for the center, too!"

     "Do ya think its one of the other groups?" Jinx asked.

     "Oh no they don't! I'm not about to let anyone beat me!!" Pyra said, running faster.

     Pyra, hole!" Jinx warned, pointing to the ground ahead.

     Jinx's warning came just in time. Pyra jumped into the air, flipping acrobatically over the hole.

     "Good thing she has quick reflexes." Jinx joked, leaping across the hole as well. Chanse and Fiore did the same.

     "What is that thing?" Pyra asked, as they got closer to the center.

     "Looks like a monster!" Jinx said, squinting to see. "Yep, and it has three heads. Ugly thing!"

     "Isn't that... Jacob on it's back?" Chanse asked. She was still too far to see clearly, but the figure was dressed in black, and she sensed a familiar power signature.

     "I believe so," Fiore agreed, "and he's riding one of his summoned creatures."

     "CHEATER!" Pyra yelled, running even faster in her anger.

     "Not really... there's nothing in the rules against it," Fiore replied.

     "Still, there's no way I'm gonna let that jerk beat us!" Jinx yelled, running faster still.

     "It's no use, he's moving way too fast!" Pyra lamented.

     "Don't give up yet! There may be a way!" Chanse cried.

     "You have an idea, Chanse?" Fiore asked, hopefully.

     "Yeah, I just might..." She pulled out her flute.

...

     "Damn!" Jacob swore, looking down at the fresh red mark on his robes.

     He hadn't even noticed the fire wryven. His own fault. It was because he had gotten overconfident, riding on Cerebrus, and was moving too fast. It had swooped down and shot a jet of fire/paint at him before he had time to react. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he was distracted by the feeling of guilt he had for leaving Ren and the others behind, he told himself.

     He looked at the sled behind him. Brittany still only had two marks. Lucky her. He resolved to be more careful, even though he knew the center was nearby.

     Through Corvus's view from above, he noticed a movement on one of the other paths that lead to the goal. Fiore's group, he thought. No matter. Even though he had slowed Cerebrus's run down a bit, to stay alert for more dangers, he would still be able to outrun them.

     Just as he was certain he would make it to the center first, he heard the sound of a flute ring out, echoing from the distance. It was a light, airy tune, and the breeze around him seemed to pick up a bit.

     "What the Hell?!" He exclaimed, looking in his crystal ball. That girl... Chanse, he remembered. She had cast a flying spell! Her group was moving much more quickly now, floating easily through the air.

     "Damn!!" He cursed, realizing they would probably make it to the center before him.

...

     "WHEEEE!!! We're gonna make it!!!" Jinx exclaimed, totally exhillerated by being able to move through the air like a cloud.

     "This is fun!!" Pyra agreed.

     "Almost there!" Chanse cried. It was a good thing she had read over the labyrinth's rules earlier. Although it was considered cheating to simply fly over all of the obsticles and the walls of the maze itself, you could skim just over the ground, as they were doing. Their was a similar rule about teleporting: you could only do it for very short distances, and not through any of the walls.

     She really is quite good, Fiore thought, impressed. And to think, this is her first time to run the labyrinth, too.

     "We won!!" Pyra cried, when they reached the center first. "Oh, Fiore my love, we made it!" She latched onto his arm, causing sweat to drop from his forehead.

     Chanse ended the flying spell, setting the group gently on the ground. They collapsed with exhaustion. A few seconds later, Jacob came bounding in on Cerebrus.

     "HA HA, looser!" Jinx teased. Jacob glared at him, venimously, and Cerebrus growled.

     "Now, Jinx, don't be a poor sport," Fiore cautioned. "It was a good match." He nodded at Jacob in polite aknowledgement. Good thing he doesn't have the 'evil eye' talent, Fiore thought. If he did, his brother would be dead by now.

     Jacob ignored Fiore and dismounted. He headed over to Chanse, who was resting quietly, and held out his hand to her.

     Chanse stared at his hand, then she shook it, cautiously.

     "I underestimated you. It won't happen again," he said, softly. Then he moved away to check on Cerebrus, who was whining at the stirring Brittany.

     "Where... where am I?" Brittany asked, confused. Then she saw Cerebrus looking at her.

     "EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKK!!!!" She screamed, fainting again. Cerebrus howled at the noise.

     "Hey, wait a sec... Where's sis and the others?" Pyra wondered.

     "MUSH!!! MUSH!!!" A female voice cried, suddenly, from the same path Jacob had emerged from.

     "That sounds like..." Fiore began.

     "Alaska!" Jinx finished.

     Group two came barreling down the path, riding on a makeshift dogsled. It looked like it was made out of a bunch of Ivy's vines woven together. Instead of dogs, it was being pulled by one of Kris's propulsion amulets. Alaska was at the front, using her magic to coat the ground in front of the sled with a layer of ice.

     "Aww, man, we got here last!" Alaska complained.

     "I... I'm just glad we made it," Ivy stuttered.

     "The sled was a great idea, though, Ren!" Kris said, "There should be bonus points for creativity!"

     "It couldn't have been done without all of us working together," Ren replied, modestly.

     Magnus's voice came over the labyrinth's intercom. "Congratulations! You have successfully completed the challenge. Your final scores and student ranks will be posted in about a week, once all the other students are finished. Until then, relax for a bit. Once we start assigning you to missions, there won't be much time for it.

     A green portal opened in the midst of them. "Please step through the portal. You will be transported out of the maze."

     Everyone stepped through, tiredly.

...

     That night, Magnus sat in his office behind a mound of paperwork. Isis sat next to him.

     "That went fairly well..." Magnus said, satisfied.

     "But it could have been better..." Isis noted. "Some of them still need some work."

     Magnus sighed. "Yes, I know, but at least they are getting to know each other. I'm hoping that in a few months, they will have completely melded into a team. They're among the best students. I think that they may be the ones we've been waiting for..." He sighed again. "Soon... I can feel it."

     Isis looked at him, a bit of sadness in her eyes.

...

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

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