Klara cursed as Mikhail left the line a step ahead of her and aimed for the door closest them, second from the right. She narrowed her eyes. He wasn’t going to beat her.

  She pushed herself faster, and her feet barely touched the ground as she shot past Mikhail. Klara grinned, her reputation of fastest runner would hold for another day.

  The three entered the maze and swept down a straight stone corridor barely wide enough for two people to run abreast. Their boots clattered against the cobblestone floor, casting echoes that blended with the distant yells from the other teams.

  After a moment of running, Klara let out a growl of frustration as, in the dim light, she saw a wall sealing the path. She slowed to a jog as they approached the dead end.

  Mikhail caught up with them and doubled over, wheezing.

  “Great choice of door… Borislav,” Klara said.

  “Oh, it’s all right,” Zin said, hefting the crossbow. “We scale it!”

  “You… need to load… first,” Mikhail said between wheezes. “Sure you can? Heavy draw.”

  Klara looked at Zin and saw a glint of amusement in her eyes.

  “Well,” Klara said, shrugging, “the gentleman offers.”

  “He does.” Zin thrust the crossbow at Mikhail.

  “Better let the big, strong man load it,” Klara said.

  Mikhail glared at her and snatched the crossbow from Zin. “Very mature.” He slid his foot into the stirrup, braced, and hauled at the bowstring. It moved.

  Sort of.

  Mikhail grunted and strained, moving it another inch.

  “Get moving,” Klara said, “we don’t have all day.”

  “Well, technically we do,” Zin said. “We’d just lose.”

  Air burst from between Mikhail’s clenched teeth as he released the string and straightened, panting.

  “Are we done embarrassing him?” Zin asked as she took the crossbow from Mikhail and pulled the string back with ease.

  Klara shrugged as she eyed Mikhail. “That depends on a lot of things. Such as, if he’s really a Sentinel.”

  Mikhail paled, and he glanced at Zin who was still focused on loading the crossbow. He shook his head, desperation clear on his face.

  Zin set the grappling hook in the firing groove. “Klara, no one is a Sentinel here. We’re all less than a ‘dishonoured guildless’ remember?”

  Mikhail nodded. “Exactly right.”

  Klara glowered at Mikhail while Zin nestled the crossbow against her shoulder, took aim, and fired. The grappling bolt smacked into the top edge of the wall.

  Zin set the crossbow on the ground and gave the rope a solid tug before tying it to the crossbow’s stirrup.

  “Come on, we’re wasting time,” she said and shimmied up the rope. Once on top of the wall, she crouched, keeping her profile low, and signalled that it was clear.

  It’s only twenty feet high, barely anything… Klara took a deep breath and grabbed the rope, scaling the wall.

  Zin grabbed her hand when she reached the top and helped her up.

  With a tight grip on the wall, and her hearts thundering in her chest, Klara stared around the maze. The walls were only a foot wide and stretched the width of the cavern. The maze itself looked only two hundred yards deep. In theory, it wouldn’t take long to navigate the maze. If they found the right path.

  And from where she sat, Klara could see the path…

  An idea struck her, but she ignored it. Too dangerous. She sat a moment, listening to the other teams arguing as they moved through the maze. At least hers wasn’t the only team with disagreements…

  The rope slapped against the wall in front of her, and she glanced down at Mikhail struggling to climb. Nausea swept over her as she took in the drop.

  Just don’t land on your head and you’ll probably live.

  Zin stood and crept along the wall, apparently unfazed by the long fall only inches on either side of her.

  Klara turned her attention back to Mikhail, now halfway up the wall. Oh, this is ridiculous. “Come on,” Klara said, “the other teams will be finished by the time you’re done climbing.”

  Mikhail looked like he wanted to object, but didn’t. He just continued to climb.

  “The others don’t sound like they’ve made it far,” Zin said, returning, “but let’s get him up so we can win this.”

  Klara nodded, remaining seated as they grabbed the rope, and together hauled Mikhail up and dragged him onto the wall.

  While Zin pulled the rope and crossbow up, Klara once again surveyed the maze. Her idea still itched at her. They could win in minutes with it…

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “I have a plan,” Klara said. She licked her lips, this idea was beyond stupid, but she had to face her fears.

  “Yeah?” Zin said.

  “Well, Yefimova gave no details on how we had to get through the maze… What about running along the top of the walls?”

  Zin gazed at the walls, then down at the corridor.

  “That idea is beyond stupid,” Mikhail said. “One misstep and one of us dies.”

  “He’s right,” Zin said slowly. “And, while we might cover good ground, we’re exposed up here. It wouldn’t take much for another team to knock us off the wall.”

  “We can hear well up here,” Klara said. “I don’t think we’d have a problem with the other teams. And we can go slow. Even shuffling along the wall would get us out first because we can see the path through.”

  Zin shook her head. “It’s not worth it. Scout out a path from up here, and we’ll follow it down in the corridors.”

  “Who put you in charge?” Klara asked, her temper rising.

  “You know, you’re right,” Zin said, ice coating her voice. “This is a team exercise. We should vote. Those in favour of the corridor?” Zin put her hand up.

  Klara turned her glare to Mikhail, who squirmed but slowly lifted his hand. “Corridor. I just don’t think wall running is a good idea.”

  “That’s settled then. We go the corridors.” Zin lowered the rope over the opposite side of the wall and swung down.

  For a moment, Klara entertained the thought of pushing Mikhail off the wall. He might survive—if he didn’t hit his head. Healing extract would fix any serious damage…

  Mikhail must have read her thoughts on her face because with great haste he scrambled over the edge and followed Zin.

  Klara blew out a resigned sigh, took one last look at the maze and tried to memorise the path out, grabbed the rope, and dropped over the edge.

  After a short, nerve-wracking descent, her feet hit the ground. While she enjoyed the wide, solid floor, it still hurt to have her idea rejected.

  “Well,” Mikhail said, staring at the rope. “Guess now we have to say goodbye to our one tool.”

  Zin patted the rope, her lower lip protruding. “Farewell, good rope. You were a mighty addition to the team and probably the most helpful so far.” She untied the crossbow and shouldered it.

  “Why bring it?” Klara asked. “We don’t have any bolts.”

  “Tool caches,” Zin said.

  Klara shook her head and broke into a jog down the corridor, trying to remember the best path through the maze. She missed the distinct advantage of hearing the other teams’ locations. Down in the corridors, the echoes obscured their whereabouts. Was one to their left? Or behind them?

  Half a dozen corners and intersections later, arguing voices grew clearer ahead of them. Klara slowed to a walk and raised her hand. Mikhail and Zin stopped running, though Mikhail’s laboured breathing made it just as hard to hear anything as their footfalls had.

  A dozen yards ahead, their corridor intersected with another. Matvei’s distinct, high-pitched whine reflected from the right-hand side of the passage.

  “There’s a squad ahead,” Klara whispered to Zin and Mikhail. “Wait here.”

  She crept to the intersection and peered around the corner. Sure enough, Matvei, Irmina, and Yeger stood a short way down the corridor and were unpacking a small chest. Yeger took a grappling bolt and rope and slung it over his shoulder, while the slight young woman, Irmina, took the pickaxe.

  Klara returned to Zin and Mikhail. “Team one just discovered a cache of tools. A grappling bolt and pickaxes. That grappling bolt and rope would be perfect. If we’d been on the top of the wall, we could have got there first…”

  “If we hadn’t spent so long arguing, we’d also be here first,” Zin shot back.

  “Hey,” Mikhail said, “we didn’t get the tools, so now what? Should we launch an attack? Take the weapons for ourselves? Who’s on that team? Can we risk a fight?”

  “Irmina, Yeger, and Matvei,” Klara said, vexed by his interruption.

  “Matvei?” Zin said. “He’s a good fighter. Yeger’s a bully—big and lumbering, but tough. I’ve never seen him knocked out. Irmina though, she’s small, but she’s smart. Definitely the brains of that group—though I doubt she’s good at close quarters combat.”

  Klara and Zin glanced at each other, then at Mikhail. Zin could fight, and she could fight, but him?

  “You’re right,” Zin said. “Borislav doesn’t look like much of a fighter either. So we’re about even.”

  “Hey!” Mikhail said.

  “Quiet,” Zin and Klara whispered in unison.

  Mikhail narrowed his eyes and held out his hand. “Load the crossbow.”

  Zin’s eyebrows arched high on her forehead. “We have nothing to shoot.”

  “Just load it. Please?”

  Klara watched, bemused, as Zin primed the crossbow.

  Mikhail took it and faced Klara. “Do they have anything with range?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Lure them around the corner.”

  “What’ll that do?” Zin asked.

  Mikhail winked at her. “Even the odds.”

  “No,” Klara said. “Combat is too risky. We should wait until they’re gone, then continue.”

  “We need that grappling bolt,” Mikhail said. “The only way we’ll get it is if we fight them. Now, you’re right, I’m not the strongest in unarmed combat, but trust me, and get them around this corner.”

  Klara ground her teeth as she studied Mikhail. “I only trust those who show themselves worthy. You haven’t done that yet.”

  “Well, let this be my chance,” Mikhail said.

  “Uh-uh,” Klara said, “not happening—”

  “Oh for the love of…” Zin said, her voice rising with every word. “What are you two, ex-lovers? You’d certainly think so with how much you bicker!”

  “Zin,” Klara whispered, “listen.”

  The voices of team one had disappeared.

  “They’ve either moved on or…” Klara crept to the corner and poked her head around.

  Team one was five yards away with weapons raised. Matvei saw her and in a blink he had his pickaxe up and flying towards her face.

  Klara dropped.

  The pickaxe flew overhead and crunched into the rock behind her. She rolled back from the corner, and Mikhail stepped forwards—though remained out of sight from the other team. He raised the crossbow.

  “What are you doing?” Klara asked, quickly standing.

  “Watch and learn,” Mikhail muttered.

  The mountainous Yeger appeared around the corner, fists up. He growled when he saw Mikhail and lunged.

  Mikhail sidestepped, crossbow pointing past Yeger’s head.

  Yeger reached up to grab the crossbow with one hand while the other swung towards Mikhail’s head.

  This is going hurt… Klara prepared to tackle Yeger the moment Mikhail ran or fell.

  Mikhail didn’t retreat. Instead, he took another step and brought the crossbow limbs level with Yeger’s head. He fired.

  Crack!

  The crossbow limb smashed into Yeger’s jaw and sent him staggering. He collided with the wall across from the intersection, and his eyes rolled up in his head as he slumped to the ground.

  All movement in the corridors froze. Klara’s jaw dropped. The little yutzi mucker knocked Yeger out.