After finishing his story, Evran could finally smile again. He still hurt deeply from the loss of his friend, but when he compared himself from before they’d met to the man he became, Evran felt only pride in all Lerrum had done for him. He could endure this. He could move on. He could protect what he had left.

  Evran stood up, testing out his newly repaired lumbar. It was a bit tight, but nothing a good stretch couldn’t fix. “Alright, listen up! I know this will sound insane coming from me of all people, but here it is. All of us are getting out of this labyrinth alive, I promise.”

  “Well, yeah, we’re safe now,” said Narro. “We just gotta wait here until we’re rescued. We might get a bit hungry for a bit, but that’s all.”

  “I don’t think it’s that simple,” Kaila responded. “I mean, no one has any idea we’re here. Would a rescue operation even bother to search the labyrinth?”

  “Kai’s right, we can’t stay here. Our best bet is to catch up with the adventurers and help them defeat the guardian, then wait for rescue in the crystal chamber.”

  Narro cocked his head. “You know that thing is still out there, right?”

  “We’ve fought it a few times now, and while it’s still a big threat, I’m feeling more confident against it. The last two times, we’ve been at a huge disadvantage. Once we’re rested up, the three of us should be more than a match for it.”

  Kaila’s gaze fell back to the ground. She still had her doubts, apparently. Narro seemed to be considering it. He’d lost an arm, nearly two, but after fighting it three times, he seemed to have found a way to keep pace with it. Evran had all the confidence in the world in his friend’s abilities. The grin appearing on Narro’s face signaled an end to his considering it.

  “Alright, whatever. What’s the plan?” he asked.

  “We eat some food to keep our strength up, then get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow, we head back into the labyrinth and hopefully catch up to the adventurers.”

  Kaila perked up at the mention of food and began scrounging about the floor to see what all had survived the attacks. She picked up a loose biscuit and began to brush off the dirt, only to throw it away when she found the other side slick with Evran’s blood.

  “Gross!”

  They had quite a bit of food, despite their circumstances. Evran had a few choice items he’d hoped to share with everyone before all hell broke loose, and there were also the extra rations left by the adventurer party. Still, they couldn’t afford to be picky, as their rescue was likely to be weeks away, and they certainly didn’t have that much. By then, Kaila might be willing to trade her wand for a blood-soaked biscuit.

  “If anything, it probably improves the flavor!” Narro joked.

  Not wanting anything to go to waste, Evran cleaned off what he could and ate the disgusting morsel. The blood did in fact make it worse, if only in his mind. Kaila helped herself to another few servings of the same cured sausage he’d shared with her the day before, and Narro devoured a whole loaf of talonfruit bread. Eventually, even Evran abandoned his restraint and attacked a few of the sandwiches he’d prepared for lunch. They might regret their gluttony later, but for now, they needed to be at full strength for the trials to come.

  After sating their appetites, they decided to actually explore the safe room they found themselves in, having remained at the entrance the entire time. The hallway they were in continued for a few meters past the barrier, then ended at a wall with an opening on either wall. Both led to the interior of a large octagonal room, maybe ten meters wide and with an arched ceiling that went surprisingly high up. Where the rest of the labyrinth had been carved out of solid stone, the walls here were lined with mortared bricks. There were two small openings on the far diagonal walls through which a small channel of clean water ran.

  As they entered the center of the room, Evran looked to Kaila to see how she felt about their new temporary home. Her eyes were wide with amazement as she stared at a mural on the opposite side of the end wall of the entrance hallway — a fully intact mural.

  “Uh, Kaila… didn’t you say these murals were always destroyed?” Evran asked.

  She failed to respond right away, her attention fully transfixed upon the impossible treasure. “Uh, yeah, destroyed,” she muttered incoherently, as she approached the mural. Kaila reached up and ran her hand across the relief, as if to confirm its existence.

  “Ev!” she shouted after finally coming to her senses. Her face was beaming with excitement. “This is insane! This mural… it’s whole!”

  “So?” Narro added dismissively.

  “Don’t you get it?” Kaila barked. “For thousands of years, people have been finding these murals in labyrinths, only every last one of them had been almost completely destroyed. We’ve only ever been able to find bits and pieces around the edges, and the occasional fragment of the interior portions. This one is complete and undamaged! It’s unprecedented! The find of a lifetime — an elvish one at that!”

  “Well, what’s it say? I can’t read ancient script.”

  Evran gave Narro a disapproving look. Ancient script was hardly all that different from the common script, which was just a crude version of elvish. The elven language had changed quite a bit over the ages, but not nearly as much as all the old human languages had. Their extended lifespans had much to do with its consistency across time.

  The mural depicted a giant flower, or perhaps the sun? From its center, labeled with the symbol for soul, erupted six wispy petals, each with a symbol of its own. Evran read aloud as he pointed to each petal. “Corpra, anima, affecta, menta, memoria, and magia.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “So this is ancient soul theory? It’s very different from ours,” said Kaila, still pouring over the strange scenes depicted on each of the petals. “In addition to its core, the soul has six parts. The corpra allows it to attach itself to a physical object, its quality determining the capacity of the vessel.”

  Enraptured with the mural’s strange contents, Kaila’s voice trailed off as she began contemplating the ramifications of their discovery on modern soul theory. Not wanting to leave Narro out, Evran picked up where Kaila left off.

  “Anima allows the soul to manipulate its vessel, giving strength and power to its form. Affecta gives emotion to the soul, allowing it to experience love and joy, but also hate and suffering. Menta enables complex thought and logic, present in all higher lifeforms except the being known as Narro,” Evran joked.

  After taking a light punch to the back of his head, Evran continued. “Memoria, the soul’s library of memories. Lastly, magia, creates the soul’s connection to the aetherial plane. It allows us to use magic.”

  “Ev, look here,” said Kaila, excitedly pointing to a pictograph off to the side. “When a vessel is destroyed, the soul shatters, and the petals are released. Only when the petals return to the core can it be reborn into a new vessel. Or wait, maybe any petals will do? Yeah, that’s it. This shows the same soul, but with different looking petals.”

  Evran stopped to consider this. When someone died, the core of their soul would separate from its six parts, then it would need to find six new ones in order to be whole again and reincarnate. Does that mean there are just random soul parts just floating about, or does this happen in another dimension like mana? Though the mural elucidated many discoveries about the nature of the soul, Evran was left with more questions than before.

  “What’s the pointy ring?” Narro asked.

  “Corona,” Kaila read. “A crown atop the soul, of gold or thorns, the power of the gods, or the seal of darkness. Many crowns, but one is king.”

  “The other parts were a bit more informative. Why is this section all confusing and poetic?” asked Evran. He reread the poem, but in its original tongue. It’s rhyme and meter, not to mention its symmetry — the verse was perfect across too many levels, almost divine in its beauty. Did a god write this?

  Kaila turned to Evran and asked for some paper. As she must have expected, none of them had any way of recording their discovery. While the adventurers may have discovered the mural, Evran doubted they understood its significance. For Kaila, it was the most important thing in the world right now. If it gave her motivation to escape this place, Evran was more than happy to have helped her find it.

  Still, something unnerved him. For thousands of years, something had prevented people from laying eyes upon one of these murals. Evran wondered if that thing had truly failed this time around. Was that why the dragon showed up when it did? It was right after the adventurers went inside the labyrinth. Why would dragons care? None of it made any sense to him.

  ***

  Evran awoke to the discomfort of a full bladder. Oh, gods, there’s no bathroom! In his childhood, his ambition of becoming an adventurer led him to read a great deal on the topic — general guides, firsthand accounts, and even a few fictions. Despite all that, no one had deigned to enlighten him on the subject of doing one’s business within a tiny safe zone surrounded by your party. Thankfully, there was a small channel of running water coursing through the room. Surely his friends wouldn’t mind if he just took a leak in there, right? At the downstream end, of course!

  After resolving his issue, Evran returned to bed, his mind occupied with thoughts of using earth magic to mold a chamber pot should he find himself confronted with nature’s other call. The three of them all slept next to each other on the hard floor of the labyrinth, with only their thin cloaks to use as blankets.

  “That could have been quieter,” Kaila whispered as Evran lay back down on his still-warm section of the floor.

  “Sorry!” he apologized in a hushed voice. “Did that wake you?”

  “Ah, no. Actually, I did the same thing a few minutes ago. I was afraid I woke you.”

  “Ew, gross!” he teased.

  “Fall off!” she cursed, pretending to be offended. Kaila gave Evran a light shove before retreating beneath her cloak. After a few seconds of silence, Kaila peeked her head back above her cover. “Say, Ev… do you think we’re gonna die in here?”

  “I want nothing more than to tell you no,” Evran began. “But I won’t lie to you. Our odds aren’t great. It’s only going to get harder in the second and third layers. Hopefully, we can catch up to the adventurers quickly.”

  “I see…”

  It pained Evran to hear the sadness in her voice. She’d been so happy earlier when she discovered the soul mural, but now she despaired. That mural would create an upheaval in academic circles, and perhaps change the world in ways they could never imagine. And she might not get a chance to witness any of it.

  “Kai… I’ve lost everyone who’s ever cared about me. You two are all I have left in this world. I won’t lose you, too. I can’t.”

  A forlorn smile appeared on her face. He could tell she didn’t think they would leave this place alive. Nothing he could say would convince her of that. Hell, it’s not like he really believe it, either. Why should she? Kaila reached over and placed her hand on Evran’s cheek, as if he were the one needing comforting. Her head perked up slightly, as if she’d just had an idea of sorts. The fake smile on her face shifted into something real, as her cheeks and ears turned red.

  “Do you remember all I said about aurachroma?” she asked.

  “Mostly.”

  “My mother’s was quite beautiful. I don’t remember what most of it looked like, but she had this really cute stripe across her nose. That was always my favorite. Every elf has their own pattern, but they often inherit bits and pieces from their parents. I pestered my mom so many times, trying to get her to tell me if I had the same stripe, though she never did.”

  After a brief silence, Evran reached a hand up to grasp his staff, which sat leaning against the wall by his head. He was getting better at using aurasight, but still needed to at least touch the staff when activating it. He was confident he’d soon be able to use it without the staff’s help — that is, if he survived long enough.

  Her aura was a dark blue. He didn’t need anyone to tell him what emotion that represented, for he felt the same way. Despite the anguish bleeding from her heart, the girl across from him still wore a genuine smile. Even in the darkest of times, there was always a light, and hers was radiant.

  Kaila had some way of knowing when he used his aurasight on her, something she was reluctant to share for whatever reason. Even without it, she’d seen him reach for his staff. She knew exactly what that meant, and her smile deepened. With the ability active, Evran let go of his staff and moved his hand next to Kaila’s face. Her smile changed to a look of intense curiosity. Closing her eyes, she stretched her neck out, inching her face closer to Evran’s hand. Her whole being trembled in anticipation. Evran touched a finger to the side of her nose, then traced a line across it. The small blue stripe brightened in the intensifying glow of her aura.

  Her smile returned, bigger than ever. Kaila opened her teary blue eyes and gazed into Evran’s. She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. After taking a deep breath to compose herself, Kaila once more closed her eyes and lifted her head toward him. Without a moment’s hesitation, Evran leaned in and kissed her.