“Or the chamber with the small, flying blocks,” shouted Lianshi from her far side. “We just need to get across.”
Scorio studied the shifting segments of wall. One slammed against its partner right before him, perhaps a foot from where he stood pressed against the wall, the sudden draft of air ruffling his hair, the sound concussive. The blocks were only five feet tall; the ceiling easily some twenty feet in height all told. For a couple of seconds, the blocks remained pressed together, then began to withdraw.
“We could leap atop the blocks,” he called out. “Perhaps go from block to block as they smash together.”
But his idea was immediately ruined by the sight of a pair of blocks smashing together at the height of some five feet off the ground. A few moments later, he saw two segments crash right up against the ceiling.
“It’s a three-dimensional maze,” shouted Lianshi. “We need to think both vertically as well as horizontally. Move up and down.”
“But how?” Leonis’s shout was easily the most intelligible. “There’s no pattern!”
Mesmerized, Scorio watched as one block reversed its withdrawal and extended blindingly fast across the chamber to smash into its still retreating neighbor. They weren’t mirror reflections; sometimes they smashed at each other, other times one would pursue its retreating partner with terrible force.
“Reflexes and speed,” called out the Nightmare Lady. “Watch.”
And with a bound she ran forward, tail whipping behind her. Ran past the first set of blocks as they ground away like waves retreating from a shore, then leaped as a second set of blocks rushed to crush her. Lianshi let out a scream, but the Nightmare Lady’s leap carried her high, to land on the same blocks that would have killed her. She scampered forward, ducked under the third blocks as they slammed overhead, then threw herself back as the fourth wave crashed, both before and above her, together at the same time.
Scorio watched, feeling almost dizzy, as the Nightmare Lady caught herself, leaped high as the third blocks came roaring toward each other again, landed atop them, and then tripped.
It was her left leg that gave out under her. Her wounded hip.
She fell to the ground, and again Lianshi cried out in alarm. The Nightmare Lady pushed up from the ground with such force that she rose to her feet, then flung herself forward just as the fourth row of blocks smashed together again.
“Did she make it?” Lianshi’s question was wild with horror. The fourth row of blocks remained pressed together. “Did she get through?”
Scorio stared, unable to breathe, but when the blocks peeled apart to retreat, he saw Naomi crouched against the far wall, heaving for breath, her hip dark with blood.
The strength went out of his knees, and he heaved a huge sigh.
“She did it!” Lianshi gave a little punch up into the air and hopped off both feet. “She did it!”
“How by the ever-true fiend that lay with its mother will I get across that?” Leonis was scowling at the huge blocks. “Think I can batter them aside with Nezzar?”
“Worth a try,” said Scorio.
“Let’s see.” Leonis extended his hand, and his hexagonal club appeared a moment later, runes burning bright. They waited till the first row of blocks crashed together before them, and then he brought the club down with all his force upon an upper edge.
Cracks fragmented out, chips of stone fell, and the club bounced off with a dull, reverberating boom.
“Gah,” said Leonis, releasing the club with one hand and shaking it out. “That would take me a year to destroy.”
“Guess we’re not meant to brute force our way through.” Lianshi rose to her tiptoes, lowered back down, and then shook out her arms. “Here I go.”
Scorio wanted to stop her, to ask, “Are you sure?” But he bit back the words, gave her an encouraging nod, and watched as she readied herself.
In that moment, she was infinitely precious to him. He drank in the sight of her determined face, her wide cheekbones, her set mouth, the lock of black hair that had slipped forth to hang down past her mouth.
And then she ran forward, leaping past the first set of blocks as they withdrew. Continued right past the second set, an all-out sprint without finesse or any attempts at acrobatics.
Which was why the third set of blocks slammed together as she ran, crushing her between them.
Or trying to.
They compacted her tightly, but with a hideous groan that rose to a screech they came to a stop, some twelve or so inches apart, Lianshi pressed tightly between them. Alive. Her form shimmered with a subtle iridescence, then the blocks withdrew, she collapsed forward, stumbled past the fourth set, and crashed down next to Naomi.
“Lianshi!” Leonis’s boom carried over the crashing blocks overhead. “You all right?”
“Fine!” She sat up, raked her hair from her face, then gave them a nervous smile. “Just… catching my breath.”
“Damn useful power,” muttered Leonis. “I’m getting more envious with each passing second.”
“We’ve got this,” said Scorio. “You want to go next, or me?”
“You go.” Leonis reached down to give his bandage another tug. “I’m… yeah. You go.”
“All right.” Scorio ignited his Heart, summoned his scales, and then waited for the first blocks to crash together. They were withdrawing slowly, grinding away against the ground. Then, with terrible speed, they smashed together, blasting him with air once more. The moment they parted, he ran through.
Each block was about five feet deep. He crossed the first in two steps, but then threw himself back as the second set crashed together. No time to wait for them to part; he vaulted up with his one good hand, leaped forward, but saw the third set rush toward each other at his height.
Time seemed to slow. With supreme effort, he contorted his body, arching around to change his forward dive into a shoulder slam as he collided with the front face of the third block. The ones below him began to part, and with a grunt he leaped up onto the third blocks, his head brushing the ceiling, some fifteen feet above the ground.
The blocks began to withdraw from under him. He eyed the fourth set of blocks, saw that the ones five feet off the ground below him were about to part, and dove down on instinct.
The blocks parted just before he hit the seam. He speared through and crashed into Naomi, who caught him as best she could, which meant not at all, and they both slammed against the far wall and then collapsed to the ground.
Scorio immediately jerked his legs in before the fourth blocks could crush them, and pressed his back to the wall, dismissing his scaled form. Naomi sat up beside him, scowling, but gave him a grudging nod as Lianshi squealed and leaned over to hug him tight.
“You can do it, Leonis!” she cried, turning back to their companion. He seemed so close, only twenty feet away, but the crashing blocks did nothing to hide his fear.
“C’mon,” muttered Scorio, willing his friend to succeed. “You can do this.”
Leonis dismissed Nezzar, rubbed his palms together, ran his hand over his beard, then hunched. For a moment, Scorio lost sight of him, the blocks closing between them, but then he heard Leonis roar his defiance.
“He’s going for it!” cried Lianshi, scrambling up to her feet.
The blocks parted, and Leonis appeared in a dead sprint, eyes wide, pounding toward them as fast as he could go.
Time slowed. The first set of blocks crashed together behind him. The second set did the same. The third set parted just in time for him to rush through, and then he ran past the fourth set as they continued their retreat.
With a cry, he slammed into the wall, nearly bouncing off it, then turned to stare, glassy-eyed, at the blocks smashed together all at once like teeth being gnashed in fury.
“I did it,” he gasped, stunned, and then collected himself. “I did it!”
“You just ran right through?” Naomi’s incredulity was palpable. “That was your plan? Just… run?”