A Wanderer's Lies

"Escape? Given the circumstances, I find that hard to believe."

'Weirdo.'

Isaac added inwardly, however, he couldn't deny his interest was piqued upon her outlandish claims.

"You shouldn't be so quick to judge people. After all, I am the only chance you have at escaping the city." She protested, the same smile never leaving her face.

"Fine, humour me. How are you going to escape?"

The female started walking toward Isaac as he stepped back.

She passed him, looking toward his hand-drawn map as she continued to speak.

"It's clear that you've already figured out this city isn't normal." She started as Isaac raised an eyebrow.

"I mean the terrain. This city is named Aionthos, The Labyrinth City, built by the most talented architects and the most revered war strategists."

"Built by a nation which prided itself on its powerful army, the city was made to be the perfect base in case of any ambush from neighbouring nations."

"Despite this, said nations felt they had nothing to fear. Upon arriving they would enter the city, soon finding themselves lost in the maze."

"They would ultimately die from starvation or by the swords of the home nation." Saying this, she bent over and began to draw new paths onto Isaac's map.

"It wasn't soon after that Aionthos became known as the Nation with the strongest military power and the most thriving."

"Sounds more like a prison rather than a safe haven," Isaac commented

"Quite the contrary. Despite the slight adjustment period, this city was once one of peace and prosperity. Low crime, happy residents and…" She paused.

"It was once so beautiful." She mumbled, standing and looking around.

For once, Isaac caught the innocent smile faltering for a second.

"Is that what happened to this place? Other nations ambushing the city? Is that the war that made everyone abandon their home?" Isaac asked, pointing toward the carvings on the wall.

"No. That was something that ensued generations after the time I speak of. Something far more terrifying." She said, whispering the last sentence, yet still speaking loud enough for Isaac to hear.

"How do you know all this? You appear mysteriously in the middle of this place and expect me to believe you?"

Isaac found the story intriguing, but at the end of the day, it was just that, a story.

He wasn't going to risk an escape plan that could very well be a suicide mission.

"Is this proof enough?" She asked, pointing to Isaac's map as she took a step back.

Isaac slowly walked over to the female who dusted her hands. Looking down, he witnessed his map had become vastly larger.

New paths he'd never come across, or some he had even avoided were all right here before him. Even the east side he purposefully avoided was filled in.

"Long ago, I too used to live in this city."

'If she's telling the truth, then she'll be incredibly useful. However, this still isn't enough for me to escape. Some paths are shrouded in plant life, and I have no interest in traversing toward the east. Meaning there are only one or two paths that'll safely get me out of here…' Before he could finish his thought, Fetoh cut him off.

"I'd advise you not to get your hopes up. This map isn't the accurate layout of Aionthos." As she said this, Isaac looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Are you telling me you just ruined my map for no reason?" Asked Isaac, ready to plunge his bone sword through her throat as he revealed an unnerving smile.

"No, yours was also inaccurate. The layout of the city can't be drawn on one map. The structure of Aionthos changes every night." Saying this, Isaac couldn't help but stare blankly with a dumbfounded expression.

He noticed the city seeming more unfamiliar as the days went by, but he just thought he was imagining things.

After all, what were the chances this city was alive?

Isaac looked toward the map once again, pointing out something he'd noticed she'd added.

"What is this?" He pressed his finger against a tall cylinder building in the middle of the map with a large sphere atop it.

"Despite the city changing once a day, during the night to be more specific, there's one place in the centre of Aionthos which never changes position."

"The Tower." Isaac chose not to mention the fact this place has no night and day, and instead asked something else.

"Where is this tower? And what's so special about it?"

"The Tower is taller than any building in the city. It'll help us see Aionthos from a bird's-eye view, seeing which path leads to the city's exit."

"Are you forgetting the heavy fog and darkness in the atmosphere? I can barely see a few metres in front of me. We won't be able to see the whole city."

Fetoh shook her head.

"What you call fog is merely the pollen exuding from the plant life. The further we move from it, the clearer the air will be."

"We won't be able to see the paths, but we will see the buildings. With it, we can determine the directions of the path's between them." Hearing this, Isaac couldn't help but freeze for a moment. It sounded too good to be true.

However, the next words he heard quickly proved his point.

"And the Tower is located exactly east of here."

"East?" Isaac paused.

Not only would he be risking his life, but he would also be walking straight toward whatever monster was in that direction.

After a few seconds, Isaac spoke.

"Why should I trust you and follow your plan? For all I know, I could be walking into a death trap." Isaac asked, but unfortunately, he already knew the answer.

"Given the current circumstances, I don't think you have a choice." She replied, her smile unwavering.

Yet, her words now carried a subtle nuance, as if she were mocking him.

She was right. Isaac could reject the offer, however, if what she said was true, he was as good as dead if he didn't accept.

"How did you survive whatever happened here? And why were you standing in the middle of the path when I saw you?"

He was going to risk his life with this chance, therefore he thought it was only right to try and leech as much information from her as possible.

"I'll tell you once we reach the tower. Deal?"

'What's she planning?'

Isaac was a good judge of character, however, for once, he was completely stumped as to what was going on inside of Fetoh's head.

"Fine."

***

Isaac peeked around a corner, confirming the compass' validity.

Ever since it couldn't sense Fetoh, Isaac had an urge to make sure the only thing that was keeping him alive wasn't broken.

Behind him, Fetoh stood with her bright smile, waiting for Isaac to proceed as she followed.

Isaac hopped a small distance, looking at his compass as he travelled directly toward where the needle was pointing, straight ahead.

With every step, he became more nervous. He tried to take a deep breath but the heavy and suffocating atmosphere always made it hard.

Rummaging through his pockets, he took out a blue berry and quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

"How much further till the tower…" Isaac looked back, his sentence cut short after witnessing Fetoh's expression change for the second time.

"That's not how you should be using those." With a straight face, she spoke pointing toward the berries in Isaac's pockets.

Despite her face being neutral with no emotion, to Isaac who had only seen her smiling till now, she might as well have been frowning with a detested expression.

"What?"

"You shouldn't be eating them, I mean. It's a miracle you haven't been poisoned to death." Isaac raised an eyebrow.

The berries were one of the only reasons he was able to survive this long.

"Allow me to show you what I mean." Snatching Isaac's bone sword from him, she leapt out of the corner they were hiding in and bolted toward the many vines slithering nearby a Cranium that had suddenly appeared.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Despite trying his best to whisper, Isaac's shock could only result in an outburst of vocals as he could only watch Fetoh sprint closer and closer to the Cranium.

The Cranium, long noticing the smiling female running toward it, waved its arm as a vine with countless unbloomed flowers of varying sizes shot out toward her.

Digging her feet into the ground, Fetoh leapt over the vine, slashing the stem of the flowers rapidly as they dropped to the ground.

Soaring through the air, Isaac could only be mesmerised by her smooth movements and elegant swordsmanship, akin to a dancing ballerina rather than a sword wielding brute.

Meanwhile, Fetoh's tricks did little to slow down the vines. Countless more appeared, surrounding both Isaac and Fetoh, snapping the boy out of his trance.

'This crazy b…! No way, will I have a Cranium claw its way out of me!' Yelled Isaac internally, finding a solid patch of ground between plant life and holding his breath.

As he did, he was barely able to notice Fetoh grab one of the severed unbloomed flowers and force a berry into it, without it exploding in her face.

'When did she…?' Isaac checked his pockets, noticing the berry was one of his.

Fetoh held the flower, shaking it a few times as Isaac could visibly see it expanding, similar to a balloon with air being pumped into it.

At the same moment, countless vines came rocketing toward Fetoh, ready to riddle her with holes.

However, before her inevitable end, Fetoh launched the flower toward the Cranium who had been hiding behind the vines.

Upon impact with the sphere on the Cranium, the unbloomed flower burst, releasing a black gas, completely shrouding the Cranium.

Soon after, the vines halted midair, right before Fetoh.

As the vines slumped to the ground, Isaac unknowingly released his breath as his jaw dropped at the sight before him.

The black air dissipated, revealing the Cranium stumbling as its skin rapidly turned grey.

Falling to the ground and onto its knees, its skin, bones and flesh started to turn to ash.

But most notably, its sphere head also started to deteriorate, crumbling until the being was reduced to dust.

"You just killed a Cranium."

"It seems so." Fetoh replied with a light chuckle.

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