The roar of hooves and paws tore through the maze as Aeric shot forward on Sylver, his heart pounding in his chest.
He kept glancing behind him, and he saw as Aryanne surged after him on that damned ferocious Dreadhound, her eyes blazing with fury, as her voice echoed across the stone walls.
"I'm coming for you, your bastard abomination!"
Aeric knew glancing over his shoulder was a risk, but he risked it anyway. He did a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that Aryanne's Dreadhound was gaining on him fast.
The beast's fangs bared, muscles rippling as it bounded closer with terrifying speed.
'Sylver's really fast. He has a stat speed of 9! And yet!' Aeric looked back once again. 'How fast is that Beast!?'
His mind raced with questions. Should he turn and face her head-on, or was it wiser to stay ahead and avoid a direct clash?
Staying ahead though? How much longer could he stay ahead? He tried to urge Sylver to run faster. The Dreadhound was gaining on him by the second!
Before he could decide, he felt the ground shake and saw a shadow rising above him. The Dreadhound had jumped and it was lunging straight for him, claws slicing through the air, aiming to crash down on him.
Aeric's eyes widened, he tugged on Sylver's reins, urging him to run faster but also braced himself for possible impact.
But then, the air rang with a piercing neigh. Another shadow shot out, this ti from his left. The maze wall shattered, throwing stones into the midst as Celestia burst through on her Winged Pegasus.
The Pegasus plunged forward, horn lowered, wings spread, catching the Dreadhound mid-pounce, while Aryanne yanked her mount out of the way by a hair.
The Moonlight Daughter was lucky. She had averted the Pegasus's horn by sothing of a breath's distance. But the impact pushed her Dreadhound sideways and sent Aryanne sprawling across the ground.
The Dreadhound collapsed alongside her, letting out a deep, guttural growl. The Heart Token flew into the air, and on sighting it, Celestia called, "Aeric!"
She shot out a sun blast which pushed the flag closer to Aeric and he caught it adeptly. They smiled at each other.
/Team Moonlight has lost their Token to Team Dawnstar/
Aeric lifted his head. "What was that?" he asked.
"The gamaster. He declares what happens so that the players can be inford on others' progress."
"Oh."
Aryanne grimaced. "You're so worthless. You don't even know anything about anything."
Aeric looked down at her and smirked. "Told you it would work," he said to Celestia. "Aryanne wasn't going to miss out on the chance of catching alone."
The Moonlight Daughter looked at the two of them and frowned. "This was a trap?"
Aeric winked at her. "And you are the fool."
They had so noise not far away and Celestia gave Aeric a fierce look, her voice ringing out, "Go! Go!"
Aeric nodded, he held the token tight alongside theirs, adrenaline kicking in. "Go, Sylver!" he urged his Companion forward, and they darted deeper into the maze.
~ ~ ~
Elsewhere in the labyrinth, the Twilight twins, Nyx and Nyssa, had just ran into the Elysium sisters, Phoebe and Linnette. They didn't honestly run into them, they had specifically targeted and gone after them.
Now, a fierce altercation was happening. Nyx's Viperbird slithered between the maze walls, trying to ensnare Phoebe's Turtlebear, while Nyssa's Thunderstag stord forward, antlers crackling with sparks.
Phoebe and Linnette fought valiantly, their Fireant and Turtlebear holding ground as best they could. But they were outmatched.
Phoebe's Turtlebear managed to escape the Viperbird's tight snare, but it was caught with a sweep of its tail. Nyx successfully unseated Phoebe with that swipe, sending her tumbling from her mount and crashing hard on the very rough floor.
Nyssa followed her twin sister's lead, surging in with her Thunderstag, its hooves sparking as it reared back and crashed down, stomping on the head of Linnette's Fireant, almost crashing through.
As a result, the young Elysium princess was thrown off and crashed beside her sister.
Nyssa ca down from her Beast, walked towards the fallen Daughters and picked the Heart Token beside them.
"No hard feelings, girls," Nyx said, waiting on her sister. "But we've got to get you out of the way early so we can focus on our target."
Lying there, Phoebe instantly began to cry, while Linnette, who was ironically her younger sister, wrapped a comforting arm around her as they watched the twins vanish into the maze.
~ ~ ~
Aeric hurtled through the corridors, the sound of pounding hooves and paws resounding everywhere in the maze.
'From what I heard, Linnette and her sister have already lost their Tokens. Since Aryanne was on and she was her team's Seeker, it's either the Twilights or my sisters who have captured it.'
A thought ran through his mind. 'If I can outsmart them, I can take both theirs and Linnette team's Tokens.' He narrowed his eyes. "Sylver, activate stealth; Shadow Cloak!"
The wolf beast suddenly completely turned black, and then turned to a shadow, and then completely disappeared out of view. Aeric also disappeared of course. Present, but invisible to the eyes who couldn't see shadows. They kept running through the maze still, cornering when they arrived at dead ends.
"We're coming for you, Aeric!" he heard suddenly, causing him to bring Sylver to a halt.
A cold sweat dripped down his back as Nyx's voice echoed again through the deceitful paths, her laugh chillingly excited.
'Stay calm, Sylver,' he petted the beast gently. 'Just stay calm.'
Sssssssssssssssss.
'Fuck.'
The hiss of a serpent. Nyx's Viperbird slowly slithered into the corridor he was in, and it weaved effortlessly through the maze, using its heightened senses to track him.
"That's strange," Nyx said. "I thought for sure that he was here."
Nyssa joined with her Thunderstag, scanning the place carefully. Aeric stayed still, watching them as they searched for him while he was just sitting there, on top of Sylver.
"Where did he go?" Nyssa asked.
"Hmm. Silverwolves can't teleport, can they?" Nyx asked.
"No. But they can go invisible."
Aeric's heart dropped.
"Oh, that's right. Which ans, our abominable far brother is not so far after all. He's probably right here with us. Right now." Nyx smiled mischievously as she continued to peer around while her Beast slled.
Aeric felt his heart continue to pound and pound, but he could also sense Sylver getting worried. It seed the wolf beast did not like snakes.
'Calm down, Sylver. Calm down buddy.' He stroked his mane. But the beast suddenly growled, revealing itself and roaring as loud as it could.
'Ugh! I guess that's the synergy issue I was talking about!'
"Gotcha," Nyx hissed, her Viperbird lunging forward.
Aeric swung Sylver around, and in a fluid movent, he leaped over the snake beast's attack. But Nyssa was already coming in.
"Go Stealth! Shadow Cloak!" Aeric commanded.
They disappeared into the shadows once again. Nyx's Viperbird hissed in frustration, its forked tongue flicking in the air to sense him. Nyssa's Thunderstag looked left and right, unable to find him.
Aeric evaded them completely, but he also saw that they had two flags, which ant they were the ones to take the Elysium sisters' Tokens.
He continued riding away, thinking of an attack plan, when lina rounded the corner and blocked his path.
Aeric's eyes widened. 'What? Can she...'
"I can see you," she looked straight into his eyes and said.
Her Nightpanther as well, snarled as its amber eyes locked onto Sylver's red ones. Aeric cursed under his breath; the Nightpanther's vision could pierce his cloak, and it seed lina also had powers that could also see through invisibility.
lina grinned, sensing his frustration.
"lina caught him!" he heard Nyx yell with anticipation behind him, and that was when he realized that they weren't trying to collect his Heart Token.
They could have if they wanted to. They had played this ga many tis before, but yet...
'Oh no. This isn't a ga... '
Aryanne had inford everyone that this was an opportunity to take out Aeric by teaching him a lesson inside the Maze, where nothing could be done to stop them.
Everyone was to attack him. Everyone.
'...this is a set up.'
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