“The Saturn path didn’t rely on colors,” Ylnah’s porcelain colored finger pointed to the tiles. “We could try that path.”

  Malcolm's eyelids fluttered, his breathing still shallow. Izzy's hand rested on his shoulder. "He needs more time."

  “Or I could take this one,” Valgrin stepped toward the tile with the correct symbol. “I’ve recovered from the music. Don’t have as fast of a reaction time, but mine isn’t horrible. Everyone ready enough if I go?”

  Malcolm nodded and reached for Izzy’s hand, pulling himself up. “I’m close to being able to take on another path. But with every minute mattering, you go.”

  “I’ll keep a light bright enough in case it goes dark or something.” Skwilly offered. “Might help some if the flash happens again.”

  Valgrin nodded, took a deep breath, and cautiously stepped on the first tile. An audible click echoed through the chamber. Everyone froze. Seconds stretched into eternity. When nothing happened, Valgrin's foot hovered over the next tile, trembling slightly before committing. Another click, louder this time.

  Bridget exhaled, her voice barely above a whisper. " Could those clicks mean we' re on the right path?"

  “It’s possible, but I’m not sure.” Valgrin said as his eyes darted around the room, “No changes that I can see." He swallowed hard. "I' m stepping on the next one.”

  Once again a click followed his landing on the tile, again it was a little louder than the previous.

  “If that keeps up, it’ll be louder than the music was in three or four more tiles.” Ylnah paused and looked at Valgrin as he turned to face her. “I’m just thinking out loud, but should we do something to change it up a little. I could step on the first one now, or in time with Valgrin’s next step.”

  Her arms raising above her head, Izzy said with a sigh, “I’m at a loss on what to do. Your idea seems as good as any.”

  The others chimed in their agreement to Izzy’s statement. After some more discussion they all agreed to have Ylnah step out on Valgrin’s next step.

  Valgrin turned back around, shoulders tense, he prepared for the next step. He called out, “Ready. Step.”

  The sound of two sets of feet landing echoed in the chamber. Then, nothing. No click sounded. No one moved. No one breathed.

  Malcolm finally broke the stillness, his voice barely above a whisper, "That worked…maybe?"

  In a hushed voice, Valgrin replied, “Maybe. Let’s go again. Ready…step.”

  No click, a soft hiss of air cut through the silence.

  "Ow!" Izzy's hand flew to her neck, her eyes widening in shock before rolling back. She crumpled to the floor like a marionette with severed strings.

  "Izzy!" Malcolm lunged forward, catching her head before it struck stone. "Izzy? Can you hear me?"

  "Ev'rythin'…spinnin’…" Each syllable dragged as if pulled through mud. Her fingers fumbled at her neck, finding something small and metal. "Ssssomething…hit me," she whispered, her voice fading as her head lolled against Malcolm's arm.

  “Izzy! Stay with me.” Malcolm lightly slapped her cheek, “Anyone got anything to fix poison?”

  Her hand brushed Malcolm’s away, “Shtop…on belt…metal vile, green shtopperer.”

  Bridget thrust a glass vial at Malcolm, her hand trembling. “Use this. Not sure we can trust her answer.”

  Pressing the vial against Izzy’s lips, Malcolm forced the potion into her mouth. Sputtering Izzy began to try to push it away, choking as the potion hit the back of her throat.

  Bridget grabbed a wrist so Malcolm could continue. He clamped his hand over her mouth, forcing her head back until her throat convulsed in a swallow. Only then did his breath escape in a ragged gasp.

  Ylnah caught Valgrin' s eye with a frantic wave. In a hushed voice she asked, “What do you and I do now?”

  “Not sure yet, hold still for right now,” Valgrin then raised his voice, “Malcolm, how’s she doing?”

  Malcom’s head swiveled to look back at Valgrin. “She seems to be…”

  "Better," Izzy interrupted, her voice weak but clear. She pushed herself up on one elbow. "Give me a minute and I'll be fine."

  Malcolm spun around, crushing Izzy against his chest with arms that trembled from relief. Bridget joined in on the hug, her embrace enveloping them like a protective cloak. From their positions on the tiles, Valgrin and Ylnah's voices rose in a ragged chorus of celebration.

  “You’ll have a few minutes, at least, to recover. We have to figure out what the two of us, “ Valgrin pointed to Ylnah as he spoke, “are doing next. Keep going forward, retreat, or go with one of the many other options?”

  “Need to come back,” Bridget stood, hands on hips, “I’d like to say forward, but that wouldn’t be the prudent thing.”

  The group spent the next several minutes discussing, and debating, their next steps.

  “It’s settled then back the way we came," Valgrin said, the back of his hand brushed across his forehead. He looked over at Ylnah,"And we go at the same time.”

  Malcolm gripped Izzy's elbow as she swayed to her feet, her face still ashen. She squared her shoulders and gave a tight nod. Breath held collectively, muscles coiled, they fixed their eyes on the tiles that had betrayed them, ready for the next betrayal.

  On the first step, the click returned, causing everyone to freeze. Several heartbeats later, Valgrin and Ylnah stepped to the next tile, both breathing a sigh of relief when nothing happened, other than another click.

  “This is getting to be very much a deja vu feeling.” Valgrin grumbled.

  Ylnah nodded, “I agree. This next step gets me off the tiles, I wonder if anything changes then?”

  “Let’s find out.” Valgrin tried to keep the tension out of his voice. “Step.”

  Ylnah fell into Malcolm’s outstretched arms, squealing, “Made it!”

  Valgrin stared at the tiles. “Here goes the next step.” His foot hit the tile and a blue flash filled the room. Valgrin found himself standing next to Ylnah. My eyes have to be as huge as everybody else's.

  He took in a deep breath and let it out.

  “Not that I’m not happy, but that seemed a bit to eas…”

  The scraping sound of rocks grinding together interrupted Izzy. Several ragged-edged holes appeared along the top of the front wall. Hundreds of what looked like harmless wide blue ribbons, almost decorative, swam through the air crossing the rows of tiles with ease. Some dropped to floor level, others lazily drifted midway between ceiling and floor, and a handful stayed high. Behind them followed several flying spiny spheres that reminded Valgrin of hedgehogs curled into balls—cute, if not for the context. Then, as the ribbons rippled to the middle of the room, their wedge-shaped heads unhinged like grotesque flowers blooming, exposing gaping maws ringed with crooked fangs that glinted in the chamber's dim light. At the same time a flurry of needles shot from the spheres. Valgrin's ice shield materialized just as Bridget's bracer transformed into a buckler, both intercepting the deadly hail of projectiles just before they reached the others.

  The twang of Izzy’s bow sounded and three flaming arrows whooshed over Valgrin’s head, each finding its mark with deadly precision, igniting those nearby in a chain reaction of fire. Valgrin grinned at the drifting ash. Arrows! Valgrin released two full volleys of Snow Arrows tearing through the undulating swarm. The creatures dropped by the dozens.

  “Eat this!” Malcolm shouted. A crackling ball of lightning materialized amongst another clump of ribbons, pulsing once before exploding outward. Arcs of electricity danced from creature to creature, their blue bodies convulsing before dropping lifeless to the floor.

  “We’ve killed at least a couple hundred of these things and it’s barely made a dent.” Bridget exclaimed.

  “Working on it,” Izzy replied, her voice quiet but firm. Another arrow flew over Valgrin’s head, this one aimed not at the creatures but at one of the holes in the wall. “Let’s see what this does.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Valgrin watched the flaming tip disappear into the dark. He wasn’t sure if he could’ve counted to three before jets of flame erupted from every opening, setting off a spectacular display as more creatures ignited. A muffled boom shook the chamber, dust raining from the ceiling as the wall bulged outward without breaking.

  “Are they retreating?” Ylnah stepped in between Bridget and Valgrin to get a better look.

  Valgrin watched as the ribbons changed directions. Sea snakes, that’s what I’ve been trying to remember. They look like fantasy sea snakes, swimming in the air. He shook his head quickly to bring his thoughts back on track. “Seems Izzy’s attack messed something up. Magic? Communication? Don’t know, but they are backing up, for now.”

  Malcolm joined in, “Doesn’t look like they have a place to go though, so I imagine they’ll be back.”

  Clapping his hands together, Valgrin pulled one of the spines from his ice shield. “Izzy is this the same as the dart that got you?”

  She took the spine and before she looked at it started to shake her head, “The one that hit me was metal, didn’t feel anything like this one.”

  “Damn!” Malcolm stared back out at the creatures, “Then we have something else to deal with after the ribbons and spheres. I’m tired of this shit.”

  “I imagine we all our, dear.” Izzy snaked her arm around Malcolm’s waist.

  “And on cue,” Bridget pointed at the monsters, “they’re headed back our way.”

  Valgrin's hands swept outward. “Bridget, watch your toes.” His fingers took on a slightly lighter shade of blue as a curved wall of ice materialized. The protective semicircle rose to roughly waist high. “Should force the floor level monsters up, easier for us to deal with.”

  “Just in time too,” Malcolm pointed at the creatures.

  Valgrin turned to look, he saw the hedgehoggy creatures merge into to three large, dark brown, spheres. They began to move closer. The new spines looked more like full-size spears than darts.

  “This does not look good.” Valgrin thickened his ice shield. “Get on the ground behind the wall!”

  The spheres expanded as the floated nearer.

  “Get down now!” He felt Skwilly bump up against his leg.

  The first explosion sent spines crashing into the ice wall. Cracking sounds echoed through the chamber, Valgrin sent more magic into the wall to help it hold.

  Ylnah took advantage of a slight lull, standing her arms thrust forward. “Force Wall.” she growled just as the second explosion hit and proved the wall effective. “Not much left of my wall. Your ice wall take another sphere?”

  “Should, we’ll all want to stay in the center though.” Valgrin nodded.

  “This doesn’t make sense,” Malcolm declared, his hand scratching at his chin. “Each explosion is taking out a sphere and a lot of the ribbons. Seems counterproductive to me.”

  Valgrin peeked over the wall and nodded.

  “Make us waste resources?” Izzy asked.

  “That or only slow us down.” Malcolm replied.

  The third explosion ripped through the force wall, several spine spears embedded into the ice wall.

  That's three!" Bridget lurched upward only to scream as a blue-gray tentacle whipped across her shoulder, its barbed surface tearing through fabric and flesh. "Argh, idiot!" Blood streaming down her arm, she twisted her dagger in a frenzied arc, severing the pulsating appendage that oozed viscous fluid onto the floor. Before she could recover, another tentacle lashed her opposite shoulder with brutal force, driving her to her knees. Malcolm's sai flashed in the light as he carved the writhing ribbon into gelatinous chunks.

  Valgrin unleashed another devastating volley of Snow Arrows, impaling dozens of ribbons that had surged forward under cover of the chaos, their dying shrieks filling the chamber as they thrashed against the crumbling wall.

  Bridget popped up between Malcolm and Valgrin, blood-soaked and feral, daggers glinting in each fist. "Healing potion," she snarled through gritted teeth. Her blades became silver blurs, matching Malcolm strike for strike as ribbons shredded under their onslaught.

  Almost seems like I’m moving in slow motion compared to those two. Valgrin’s katar sliced another ribbon in half. Ice Daggers exploded from his fingertips, impaling ribbons that shrieked and thrashed in their death throes.

  The chamber rocked with concussive blasts as Ylnah's Explosive Air detonated in rapid succession, the shockwaves hammering Valgrin's eardrums. Two of the ribbons were slammed into one tile, setting off a pillar of fire that took out a few more.

  “Glad we didn’t step on that tile!” Malcolm quipped as he finished off another ribbon.

  The last of the ribbon creatures twisted as flames consumed them, their ashes spiraling down like macabre confetti, victims of Izzy’s flaming arrows.

  Malcolm pumped his fist in the air with a hoarse "Hell yeah!" while Bridget wiped blood-spattered sweat from her brow. Izzy merely nodded, already counting her remaining arrows with nimble fingers. The battle hadn’t been overly difficult, but it had taken a lot more time than expected.

  “And now we’re back to where we started.” Skwilly sat back on his haunches. “How are we getting across?”

  “Stop stealing my lines,” Malcolm joked.

  “We have to be missing something.” Valgrin walked over and studied the tiles, again.

  The others came along side him. Fingers marking paths in the air, a frustrated groan, and they’d go back to finding a new path to trace.

  “Uh, could it be we’re looking at it wrong?” Ylnah asked timidly. “We’re trying to tie colors or symbols together, or both. What if it’s not the same symbol, but the same types of symbols.”

  “Like what?” Valgrin asked.

  “These straight lines and right angles, different symbols but if you follow them like directional instructions—I can make a path the other side.”

  Everyone drew closer to see what Ylnah was pointing at. “Start here, go straight like the symbol until you hit the right angle to the right. Follow it until the right angle to the left, which gets you walking back towards the far wall. Keep following it directionally until a change, and you get to the far wall. You don’t get there in the most efficient way. In fact there is one place you have to head back to the start, until it shifts you back around.”

  Izzy looked it over, “That’s a great idea, but it does make us walk on tiles we know, or think, are bad.”

  “Maybe the magic is tied to previous step or steps.” Malcolm shrugged.

  “I got nothing better.” Valgrin added. “I’m willing to go first.”

  “I can go second,” Skwilly offered. “I haven’t been able to help much in this room, I’d like to help.”

  “Not sure I like that,” Valgrin frowned. “But, I can’t think of anything other than I don’t like it to stop you, so unless someone else has a reason?” Valgrin paused, nobody offered one. “Should we allow three or more on at the same time?”

  They decided to keep it down to two on at any one time. With that all figured out, Valgrin stood ready to take the first step. Then the second, the third, no issues arose. Skwilly stepped on a tile when Valgrin made it to the ninth tile, the first one on the fifth row.

  A few more tiles later, Valgrin stopped to take a deep breath. “At the part where go back a row for a couple of tiles then start the final stretch. One of the tiles I’ll be stepping on is the one that caused the pillar of fire. If I make it past that one, I’m thinking Ylnah found the answer.”

  “You’re about two-thirds there. I’m thinking you’re right.” Malcolm called out.

  “Doing okay, Skwilly?”

  “Yep, just following your lead on when to step.”

  “About to step on the pillar one.” Valgrin hesitated a couple of times before carefully putting weight on his foot, fully on the fiery tile. No pillar appeared, the tile reacted like all the others on this try.

  “Whoohoo!” shouted Ylnah.

  “Skwilly, ready to pick up the pace?” Valgrin turned to face the priggy for a second and caught him nodding his agreement. “Keep up then.” Valgrin followed the directions the tiles told him to go, jumping from the last row to the black tile marking the end of the colored tiles. “Made it!” He shouted back to the group.

  They all cheered and breathed a sigh of relief. Ylnah took the next position, Malcolm made sure Izzy and Bridget went before he did. Soon they where all on the other side.

  Izzy’s hand ran over the bulging wall, “Stout wall, surprised it moved at all.”

  “This room has been nothing but surprises,” Malcolm said with a bit of a snarl. “Most seemed a little to coincidental for my taste. Lets be safe and stay ready.”