Chapter One: Chase
“You can’t run forever!”
screamed Lillith, and she ran into the Labyrinth.
The stone walls moved all around her, but she didn’t care. She knew the Labyrinth better than anyone. He didn’t. He would run into a dead end sooner or later—he had to—and she would bring him back home.
Lillith ran through the Labyrinth with impressive speed. Making swift strides, she kept her eyes on the prize and maintained hawklike focus. She noticed her prey milling about in a nearby dead end, and she sprinted over and quickly grabbed his arm.
“Ah!” he exclaimed. He tried to get away from her grasp, but it was to no avail. “Wow, you’ve got a really good grip.”
“You can’t keep running away from the kingdom, Adam. You can’t just outrun your problems. You couldn’t even outrun me.”
Adam gave Lillith a lopsided grin. “Heh. I guess not. But, hey, we could work something out, right? Make a deal?”
She narrowed her eyes and pulled him closer to her by the collar of his shirt. “The only deal we’re making here is one where I bring you back into the kingdom, and you don’t try to fight.”
He laughed nervously. “How does that deal benefit me?”
Lillith’s free hand went to the short silver rod tied to her belt, slowly beginning to pull it out.
Adam threw his hands in the air in surrender. “Okay! Okay! I get it! I just—” He sighed. “Hear me out, okay?”
Before Adam could explain, someone stabbed Lillith in the shoulder. She screamed in pain and stumbled forward.
Adam got a clear look at who attacked Lillith — it was a stranger in black and gold robes and a mask fashioned after a deer skull.
Adam looked at Lillith, fear and confusion in his face. She pulled a silver rod out of her belt and smashed the attacker in the legs—but they delivered a painful blow to her head in response.
Lillith fell unconscious, landing harshly on the ground.
Adam let out an emotion-filled scream. The attacker pulled a khopesh out from their pocket, stained red with blood. Adam stepped back.
But then, jumping to action, Adam quickly bent down and delivered a sweeping kick to the cultist, and they cried out in pain. Adam uneasily picked up Lillith bridal-style. As he ran past the masked attacker with great speed, the Labyrinth, which had once seemed only somewhat eerie to him, was now extremely sinister and dangerous.
“Stop running further into the Labyrinth,” said Lillith in her wavering strength.
“I’m not going back, and I’m not going to leave you behind either,” Adam said.
“It’s my kingdom, you idiot. You think I care about some fool’s attack? Dad gave me a job. Take me back to Aamon.”
