Follow Darx

I reach the maze both culprits got into and hesitate. These guys seem to know the maze better than I do. It wouldn’t be unreasonable for them to set a trap for me. I would in fact be fairly easy for that plague mage to put me in a very debilitating state. This would be a good case for me to call some backup and I summon both the water elemental as well as the air elemental I’ve made a contract with. Not the owl, that one would be too dangerous in this situation.

As I summon my elementals, I notice a suspicious dark spot on the grass. I kneel and study it closer. It’s blood and it’s still wet. Hang on, I used a [Ball of water] on one of them. Did it hurt him enough to make him lose enough blood to leave a trail? Well, that will make it easier.

I send the water elemental out in front of me and the air elemental can fly above us. We follow the drops of blood on the ground until we come to the center of the maze, which looks like a large square with a white stone circle in the center and some benches next to the maze walls. There is another spot of blood in front of the stone in the center. I look ahead and see there to be another passage back into the maze. I head into it and search the ground for more spots, but I don’t find any. Did I miss anything?

I head back to the last spot and think about where to go. Then I remember one of them is an earth mage. I look closer at the stone circle, more specifically at the edges. There I notice that some of the longer blades of grass bend down and grow under the stone. No, they didn’t grow under the stone. The stone was lifted and when it was placed back, the grass got stuck under it. There must be some kind of secret passage underneath they used to get in and have already used it to escape. I guess that means I lost them. I don’t have the earth magic necessary to lift this stone, and even if I did **** it open, I would enter and underground tunnel. I would have little space to maneuver and be surrounded by the very earth that the earth mage can use against me. It would be far too dangerous for me to continue pursuing them and Kiara told me not to take unnecessary risks.

I break off the chase and head back to the pond in the center of the garden. To the right of the pond is the passage that leads to the underground workshop. I quickly find the spot where previously I tried to dig back inside before Kiara told me to chase after the trespassers instead. This time, with the water elemental already out, I told her to take on the shape of a drill and dig further. Pieces of mud start getting thrown in all direction, but eventually she creates a hole big enough for humans to pass through.

I look inside and yell “Kiara! Amelia! Can you hear me?” But I get no response.

I push through the opening and get way more mud onto me as than I want. Then I head into the room and not only do I find it better lit than before, but I also find Kiara and Amelia perfectly healthy and reading a book. I may have lost the bad guys, but at least I am happy these two are fine.