The maze starts out just how one would expect. There are turns, twists, branches and dead ends, all made of the same, endless gray stone. I can see the cave ceiling far above us, and think about how easy it would be to fly above it, if the energy field wasn't there. They had to make it complicated, of course. Just leaving the Amulet at the entrance was too easy. I don't really understand the point of the maze anyway. I mean, even if it took us a week to go through every corner of the labyrinth, we would inevitably find the Amulet, right? At this point we're just wasting time.

I find out just how wrong I was after about an hour of wandering the corridors. Garret and my dad walk at the very front of the group, leading the way. Kara and her mother stay about twelve feet back from them. Anne, as always, walls a bit apart from us, way off to the side between the groups. Chase and I bring up the rear, letting our fingers brush against each other discreetly as we go. I let a smile creep up onto my face.

A loud cracking sound splits the silence, as loud as a gun shot. We all jump, frantically searching around with our eyes. Kara lets out a high pitched scream. Far down the passage I see something wrong with the floor. It seems to be changing, large chunks of it turning from gray to black in an instant. I squint at it, trying to tell what it is. . . Oh no. All at once I realize that the floor isn't changing; it's disappearing, falling into an empty abyss below in pieces. And soon the rock beneath us will join it.

We immediately start to run in the other direction, but automatically stop as we see a second fissure opening up there as well. And they're getting closer.

"Flying groups!" Garret calls. We look around for Morgan and Anne in desperation, trying to find them before the cracks join and reach us. Out of the corner of my eye, I see them widen to encompass the whole passage. There's no way to survive it unless we reach one of them in time.

"Haven!" Anne yells, grabbing my wrist and lunging for Chase's as well. Kara already has a hand on her upper arm. Morgan takes my dad and Garret's hands just as the splits join, and the narrow floor space we had disappears, the ground falling away into oblivion. I watch in fascination as the rock drops further and further into the ground before fading out of sight.

We hover there for second, each group on opposite sides of the space. I try to even out my panicked breathing.

"Wow," Chase says. "That was clos-"

Before I can blink, a solid wall of rock shoots up from the center of the fissure, climbing at top speed towards the electrified ceiling.

"NO!" Kara yells, reaching out for her parents just before the wall slams into the transparent barrier with a flash of electricity and a crackling sound.

"Dad!" I call out, eyes widening as I take in the situation.

Below us, the chunks of rock that were the floor start to rise, making their way towards us and recreating the ground we stood on. The already thin corridor has been split in half, leaving us with two mini halls about three feet in width. After a few seconds, Anne sets us down on the newly created stone, as smooth as if it had never been broken.

"NO!" I scream, running towards the new wall and banging my fists against it. "Dad! Can you hear me? Please say something!"

I press my ear against the stone, straining to hear something, anything, but all I am met with is silence. If they're okay, there's no way of knowing. I lean my forehead against the wall and grit my teeth, desperately wishing to be on the other side.

"Haven," Chase says, putting his hand on my shoulder. "We have to keep moving. They'll go forward, further in, right? We will too. If we try to head towards the left and they lean right, we're bound to find them eventually."

"That's how Dad would do it," Kara speaks up for the first time. But her eyes are downcast, and she can't hide the worry in her voice. We're all uneasy about being split up.

Anne sighs. "We don't have leadership now! What are we supposed to do separated? It would be just as likely to find the Amulet in the time it takes to find them, possibly even less because the Amulet won't move around like we will."

"It doesn't matter," I tell her. "If we find the Amulet first, Chase can just torch walls until we find them." Soon after the start we discovered that there's some kind of enchantment on the walls that prevents us from breaking them. But with the Amulet, its power would overcome the spell.

"I agree," Chase says, stepping forward. "Finding the Amulet has to be our first priority. We can do practically anything we want to once we actually have it."

After a second everyone agrees and we continue down through the passage.

*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•*•

The next obstacle appears a few hours later. We barely spoke at all in between, instead sharing small worried glances with each other and concentrating on the path ahead. Chase becomes our unofficial leader, standing in the front and choosing all of the turns for us. Of course, we try to veer left, but often we have no choice but to go right. Not to mention all of the dead ends and times we have to turn around and pick a different passage. It's very frustrating.

We're just coming up to a dead end when the wall in front of us starts to move. We automatically tense, ready to run, but somehow another wall has appeared behind us, instantly blocking our way out. The area left is about twelve feet wide. Whatever the challenge is, it's happening now. I scan the small space, waiting.

There is a loud grinding sound behind me and I whip around to see the dead end wall start to inch upwards slowly, revealing the space beyond. At first glance it looks empty, the visible strip of floor stretching out uninterrupted. But as the door rises it reveals the shape of four massive golden paws, each at least a foot in diameter.

I take a step back, filled with trepidation as Chase and I unconsciously find each other to stand side by side. My stomach flutters as his shoulder brushes against mine, but I keep my eyes on the rising door. More and more of the great monster is uncovered as we watch, revealing a heavy velvet coat that seems to shimmer and ripple despite the flat, breezeless air. And then, a few seconds later, I see the arching shapes of two, enormous silver wings. My breath catches in my throat and I go still, my grip loosening on Chase's shoulder. Its wings are so beautiful, majestic and powerful-looking, even folded by the creature's sides. This is true beauty. A harsh beauty, regardless. This animal has been trapped here for hundreds of years, just waiting for someone to come down for it to defend against. All this time. It's possible that its never even seen the sky. I let out my breath, long and slow. What right does anyone have to keep an animal like it in a cage?

Not it. I correct myself as the door rises to reveal the head. She. I stare in open mouthed shock at her face, the face of a beautiful, exotic woman. Her hair is long and midnight black, as straight as an arrow, falling down past her shoulders to her great lioness paws. The woman's cheekbones are high and arched, all of her facial features sharp and distinct. Her eyes are dark and unguarded, seeming to stare right through you, directly into your soul. This was no animal. This was. . .

"A sphinx," Chase whispers from beside me.

"You're telling me that sphinxes are real?!" I hiss, feeling myself begin to panic.

"In theory, yes," he says. "They were created by binding the life force of a Mage to that of an eagle and a lion. Yet another art lost in the Nation Wars." He glances at me sideways. "Before the empire, a couple of Gifted started their own religions and cults of humans based on the theory of their own superiority. Egypt was famous for these. The legend of the Sphinx there was actually based off of a Mage-turned Sphinx who would kill people who could not answer her riddle."

"That sounds awful," I say, examining the Sphinx and watching the wall inch further and further up, slowly revealing more of her. "Does that mean she'll. . ."

"Hello, seekers of the Blue Amulet," she says, her voice echoing out larger than life into the cavern. "I am Avis." The wall stops moving, just high enough for the Sphinx to walk through. I can see the corridor stretching on behind her, and I desperately wish we were on the other side. Despite Avis's breathtaking beauty and majesty, it's a dangerous fascination. She could kill us all with the swipe of a paw.

"I am Chase," the boy beside me says after a pause, taking a shaky step forward.

"I am Annalise," Anne adds, following his lead.

"I'm Haven," I chime in.

"Kara," the younger girl calls, lifting her head to look at the Sphinx.

Avis nods, stamping a paw and flicking her tail back and forth. "Wonderful. I protect the Amulet from all unworthy and undeserving. I am it's guardian." She pauses a second, then leans in closer, ducking out to peer at us. We all instantly press against the wall, afraid for our lives. I hear rumbling coming from her throat: a chuckle. She's laughing at us. I feel anger bubble in my chest.

"Yes, yes I think you'll do," Avis says, taking a step back. "Very well. In order to continue on through the maze, you will have to answer a question, one for each of you. For every question you answer, I will allow one of you to pass through."

"So a riddle?" Kara asks. My shoulders sink. I'm horrible at riddles. This is exactly what I guessed might happen.

"Yes," Avis says. "Exactly."

"Do we each have to answer a question or just four in total?" This time it's Chase who asks the question.

"Hmmmm," the Sphinx muses in the back of her throat, sounding suspiciously like a purr. "The latter."

He nods, and we all look towards Avis expectantly. I feel my whole body tense as she starts to speak.

"The man who invented it doesn't want it for himself
The man who bought it doesn't need it for himself
The man who needs it doesn't know when he needs it."

I stare at the floor for a second, deliberating. Honestly, I've never heard this one before.

"A coffin," Anne says simply, leaning against the wall with a frown on her face. She looks subdued, with none of the usual flippant disdain in her expression.

Avis nods once in her direction, eyes blinking slowly. "Correct. I shall proceed to the next riddle, then.

"The more that there is, the less you see
Squint all you wish when surrounded by me."

I bite my lip nervously. This one's unfamiliar as well. Out of the corner of my eye I see Chase run a hand through his dark hair. He doesn't know it either.

"Darkness," Anne answers after a second, still focused on the floor.

"Very good."

We all look in her direction, questioning with our eyes. She notices and looks up, glancing quickly at us before resuming her cross examination of the stone at her feet.

"Nate liked them," she admits. "Riddles. He wouldn't shut up about them. Would memorize random lines and rhyming phrases just to ask people. It was annoying as Hell. . ." She trails off, sinking into a brooding silence.

I reach out a sympathetic hand before dropping it awkwardly to my side. I'm not sure what to do. Guilt fills my chest and I feel a sharp stab of pain as my teeth sink further into my lip.

"That's good then," Chase tells her, his voice low. He takes a step closer and puts a soothing hand on her shoulder.

I feel a pang in my chest but then quickly brush it away. Stop it. I tell myself. You're being a selfish prick. I turn back towards the Sphinx, swallowing, hard.

"Each morning I appear to lie at your feet
All day I will follow no matter how fast you run
Yet I nearly perish in the noonday sun. What am I?"

"Your shadow," Anne says. "Easy."

"Correct. I never was, I am always to be. No one ever saw me, nor ever will. And yet I am the confidence of all, to live and breath on this terrestrial ball. What am I?"

We all turn towards Anne, waiting expectantly. But her face is drawn into a frown, brow furrowed as if deep in thought. I feel my stomach drop when she looks up, shaking her head sadly.

"No. I don't know that one."

I turn towards Chase, sending him a worried look.

"We have to think it through somehow," he says, facing me. "Ideas?"

"You should probably know that you only have two minutes to answer each riddle," Avis says. I immediately feel the pressure of the time limit, tensing up all over my body.

"Alright, um. . . No one ever saw me, nor ever will," Chase thinks out loud. "So it has to be something insubstantial, or like a concept, or possibly something invisible?"

"Like. . . Wind, maybe?" I add, desperately trying to come up with a feasible answer.

"I don't think so," he says. "No one ever saw me. . . Can you repeat the riddle?"

Avis does, and we puzzle over the words for a second, deliberating.

"One minute," the Sphinx calls.

"Okay, okay," Kara says. "A concept. No one ever will see me? Always to be?"

"Could be. . . A soul? I don't know. No one ever sees the soul," I point out.

"But always to be?" Chase asks. "It doesn't fit. Umm. . . Dammit, I can't think of anything!"

"Thirty seconds."

"UHHHH!" I exclaim, gnawing on my lip hard enough to make it bleed. "C'mon, we need to think!"

"Time?" Kara asks. We all look at her for a second, analyzing this answer.

I turn back towards Avis.

"Can you repeat it again?" I ask.

She complies, and we are all silent for a second, deliberating. It has to be it, and I say so.

"I can't find a flaw in it," Chase says, looking at us.

"Fifteen seconds."

"I think it's the best we can do," I admit, assessing the others. I watch Kara nod in agreement.

Anne scoffs. "Well don't look at me. Tell her or we'll run out of time."

"Ten seconds."

"Are you sure?" Chase asks.

"Yes, but hurry!" Anne hisses at him. "Go! Before it's too late!"

"Five seconds."

Chase takes a deep breath before turning around to face the Sphinx.

"Stop," he says loudly. "We have an answer. She looks at him expectantly and I see him swallow, once before continuing. "Is it. . . Time?"

We all hold our breath, waiting for the response.

Avis's expression doesn't change, not giving away anything as she quietly says, "no. That is incorrect."

Hi guys! I'm back! Updates still might be slow, and I'm really, really sorry for the time gap! I really wanted to work on this but I hit a wall and I had this huge existential crisis that's really no joke, and I had, like, no time cause of Marching Band and. . . Yeah, I'm just really sorry. I wanna say. . . Fourish, fiveish chapters left? Thank you so much for sticking with me!

-iambibliophilic