Wren watched as May walked in circles. The girl murmured to herself as she tried to find a way out of the maze.

  "I'm telling you, May, whatever you think of, I already tried it."

  "I know, I know. It's something, a small thing, I don't know."

  The girl touched the walls. She tried some spells she knew that helped reveal things and secrets. Yet, it all looked the same as before.

  The talk with Karina had helped May, especially knowing that her friend would carry the mission forward. But May also regretted not asking about the time, because now she would know for sure if time was flowing differently or not inside the maze.

  "Can't you call her again?"

  "I told you, it doesn't work like that. And since I'm the one who's trapped, I can't call. But even if I could, she severed the connection. It was risky."

  Wren rolled in the bed; he felt like his mind had already given up trying to find a way out. Now the only thing he hoped for was that the Agency would send teams to rescue May and him.

  "I hate that our guns are so useless in this scenario. I could use some brute force right now, Wren."

  "Yeah, but that's not how it works. Our weapons, you know, are the ones we have the most affinity with. And our fighting style and everything..."

  "I know all that, but it doesn't stop me from getting frustrated. I hate being trapped and not being able to do anything. What if Karina is in dire need of my help? Ugh, I don't even wanna think about it."

  "That's one thing to consider, but really, what can you do? As I said, I tried anything and everything. It's hard to keep track of the days and weeks here, but I can tell that I've been trapped for quite some time."

  "And you don't remember who trapped you? Or even, how you got here?"

  "No, I don't..." Wren said, and his expression was distant. "I think I'm starting to remember one thing or two, but everything still looks, I don't know, distant. It's like the things didn't happen to me, but to someone else."

  "I guess it's a side effect of losing memory. But you will get better. I'm not very good at healing spells, but I can try again. Did it help?"

  "It did a little, I mean, it couldn't have gotten worse, right?"

  "Hey, I'm not that bad. I simply have to practice more. And restructuring someone's memory is hard, for your information."

  "Guess so, never tried it myself." Wren smiled.

  "You should learn a thing or two about cure and stuff. You never know when it might come in handy." May stopped on her tracks. "But enough of complaining, let's explore a little more."

  "I don't think we're going to-" Wren's words were cut short by a sharp sound outside in the halls.

  "What the hell is that? Are there any monsters here, Wren?"

  "I didn't think so, I hadn't found any."

  "You didn't think so? Didn't you think that they could be hiding and trying to wear us out?"

  "Well, now that you put it that way..."

  Wren jumped to his feet, and he went to the door. But May stopped him midway.

  "Wait, we should be careful. What will we do if it's waiting for us outside?"

  "We'll fight. But I don't believe that's the case. If you listen carefully, it's a little far yet. But we should act fast."

  They jumped into the empty hall, and as Wren had said, nothing waited for them there. But the noise changed, and they heard something charging in their direction. They ran past the halls that looked the same, but the noise got closer and closer.

  "Shouldn't we get inside a room?"

  "I don't think so, not with the creature on our trails like that."

  "You're right, but what will we do? These halls... They all look the same. And the thing is getting scarily close."

  "I have an idea. But you gotta trust me, May. You know, I can't make you dash as I do. So..."

  Wren turned his back to May, and she got the idea before he said it. As the noise got louder, the girl didn't protest as she jumped on her friend's back.

  "You should hold a little tighter." It was all May heard before the world turned into a blur.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Wren moved across the halls and walls like a jet stream. He flew so fast that May didn't even know how he didn't hit a wall. But he knew what he was doing, even with the extra weight.

  May had lost track of time when she perceived that the noise had stopped. She barely got her voice out when she said:

  "Wren, I think we're safe."

  The boy stopped on his track, and May got down from his back.

  "You're right. I can't hear it or sense it anymore." Wren put his hand on his knee; he caught his breath. "Wow, that was tiring. I almost ran out of magic."

  "I thought so... But tell me, what kind of creature do you think was after us?"

  "I don't know, but from the noises it made, I'm sure it was big."

  "I think so too. And so, there are monsters here. It shouldn't be a surprise, but the weird thing is: why are they after us now? They could've come any time."

  "You said it yourself, May, maybe they were waiting for us to get tired or something like that."

  "Yeah, right. And I'm sure that by now they want to get rid of us." May said, and her hand brushed her own hair. "When I first arrived here, I thought they were trapping us, I don't know, a way to keep us away for some time. Or to leave us here and forget about us. But now I'm not so sure. Maybe they think we're getting close to the way out."

  "I wouldn't be so sure. Everything looks the same to me."

  "Maybe... But I don't know. I can't think of any reason why they would try to kill us now, aside from what we discussed."

  "Is there any chance this is their big plan? Or maybe their magical power is running out. Keeping a maze that big takes a lot of power."

  "I guess so, but if that was a problem for them, they would have made something smaller from the beginning. No, they knew what they were doing; there's a purpose behind it. It's that we didn't connect the dots yet."

  "It's a possibility. Do you think, I mean, if there are monsters here, maybe there are also other people here too."

  "Yeah, I think so. But why didn't we find them?"

  "Maybe we're not supposed to find them, maybe that's how the magic in the maze works."

  "But then, how did I find you? We're together here, remember."

  "I know, but there's something different: you came here willingly, you weren't thrown here like me. That can be the key, because if you had been thrown here, you would be in the place they wanted you to be."

  "I believe you're right, at least, that makes sense, Wren."

  "Yeah, maybe the things here work better on one person at a time. They need everyone alone in their own..."

  "Wait, wait, wait. I got it. Yeah, I think I got. How could I not see it before? That's it. It must be!" May spoke, a glint of triumph in her eyes.

  "So tell me, what did you discover?"

  "The reason that monster was after us now. And the reason it ignored you before. Now it all makes sense!"

  "Well, help it make sense for me, too, if you wouldn't mind."

  "Think, Wren. You said it yourself!" May laughed before explaining. "And we were trying it for such a long time, I would never have guessed that we were trying it the wrong way! The thing is, as you said, they wanted the people here to be alone. But why? And the reason is that when you mix two different people, with different types and kinds of magic, you can end up with something so unique or different that, in a sense, it can break the maze."

  "May, I understand the words you're saying, I know it all. But still, I can't see what you're seeing, you get me?"

  "It's easy, Wren. There's probably something about our magic that is the key to getting out of here. That's why they decided to send some kind of creature after us. They didn't want us to discover it."

  "When you put it that way, it makes a lot of sense. But what is the thing we can do? I mean, we tried a lot of things together."

  Wren noticed that May had blushed a little with the statement.

  "I guess I need to think a little. I don't have the answer for it yet. But give me some time, and I will think of something."

  Wren nodded in agreement. He knew May was the brains, and he was... Well, he was the brawn of everything in the moment. Especially with the blank spaces in his memories.

  "At least if I could remember anything useful..." He muttered to himself. May walked from one side to the other in the room and didn't even hear the young man.

  The magical flow around May made her glow. The threads are visible to anyone with magical sensitivity. Like when the girl had first come to the maze, she touched the walls and felt everything. She muttered spells and enchantments. And she tried all the different stuff a witch could do out of her own head.

  "Don't you think that using magic like that, the creature will find us faster?" Wren asked out loud.

  "No, I don't think so. Everything here is so disrupted that, in a sense, it would be hard to detect and follow. I mean, that's the reason why we only reacted to the sound of it. In a normal situation, we would be able to feel any strong creature close to us. I guess that's handy sometimes here. But it's also dangerous, I mean, we almost got caught, right?"

  "Yeah, yeah, right. I mean, I was doing anything and everything with magic, because I assumed there were no monsters here. And of course, in the beginning, when I had lost my memories, I didn't even remember that using magic like that could be unsafe."

  "You were safe, like I said; they couldn't detect you. As I see it, there was always a small chance that they were too close to you and would detect anyway, but..."

  "But...?"

  "The person behind the maze. It's obvious they're manipulating it all."

  "Oh, right. You're right. If they wanted, they could've put a monster damn near me. Maybe I'm not that important." Wren said, and he looked at his own feet, a little deflated. "Amnesia, this thing sucks. I don't even remember exactly who I was, you know? Of course, you helped me with your powers and stuff. And you also helped tell me things I did and stuff that I am. But on a deeper level... I can't explain, I don't remember shit. In the beginning, I couldn't even remember that I was an Aether devotee. I had to use mag-"

  May cut Wren's rambling; her eyes lit up like fireworks in a dark night.

  "Wren! That's it! That's the thing. How could I have forgotten? You're an Aether devotee!"

  "Right, May. And you have known it for, I don't know, ages, since we're friends."

  "I know, I know, I know. But there are these kinds of details that you tend to gloss over with time. I can't explain it, I just didn't connect the dots."

  "But why are you so excited about it out of the blue? I don't know how it helps us get out of here. I said it to you before, I tried everything..."

  "Oh, Wren. But you didn't try everything with me. And don't look at me that way!"