The air still smelled faintly of blood.
Kael leaned against the cold wall, catching his breath as the echo of their earlier skirmish faded into the Labyrinth's endless hum. His hands were trembling—not from fear, but from the lingering rush of adrenaline. The creature they'd faced was nothing like the wild beasts he'd known before. It was too deliberate in its movements, too… aware.
A soft rustle came from the shadows near the far wall. She was crouched there, tending to a wound along her forearm. The makeshift bandage she'd wrapped earlier had been shredded during the fight, revealing a thin but deep gash.
"You're bleeding," Kael said, stepping toward her.
"I noticed," she muttered, voice calm despite the pain.
He knelt beside her, pulling a strip from his already torn coat. "Hold still."
Her eyes flicked up to meet his—eyes the color of storm clouds over an endless sea. For the briefest moment, Kael felt as though she were weighing him… measuring something behind his face. Then she gave a small nod and let him work.
The silence between them was thick. Neither seemed willing to speak first, as if words might attract another thing from the dark. But Kael's curiosity gnawed at him.
"You never told me your name," he said at last.
Her gaze shifted to the flickering torchlight. "Names are dangerous here."
"So I should just keep calling you… 'hey you'?"
A faint smile ghosted across her lips—so fleeting that he almost thought he imagined it. "Aria," she said finally. "My name is Aria."
Kael repeated it quietly, letting the sound anchor itself in his memory. "Aria," he said again, firmer this time. "Good. Now if something tries to kill us again, I can at least shout the right thing."
Her smirk deepened by a fraction. "And you are Kael. I already knew."
He hesitated. "How?"
"I overheard you muttering in your sleep earlier. You talk more than you think."
That unsettled him, though he tried not to show it. If she had been watching him sleep, then she'd had the chance to do far worse than just listen. But she hadn't… or at least, she'd chosen not to.
He tied off the bandage, his fingers brushing lightly against her skin. She didn't flinch.
"There," he said. "Better than nothing."
"Better than bleeding out," Aria replied. She rose smoothly, her movements graceful despite the injury, and scanned the passage ahead. "We can't stay here."
Kael frowned. "We just fought for our lives. Maybe a moment—"
"No." Her voice was sharp now, eyes locked on something unseen. "They'll follow the scent."
Before Kael could argue, she was already moving, torch in hand. He hurried after her, boots scraping against stone. The corridors wound tighter here, the ceiling lowering until they had to duck beneath jagged outcroppings. The sound of their footsteps was swallowed quickly, as though the air itself wanted to muffle them.
After what felt like hours, they emerged into a wider chamber. The walls were lined with strange markings—deep grooves and spirals carved into the rock, their purpose unclear. At the center stood a monolithic stone, black as midnight and smooth enough to reflect the dim light.
Kael froze. "What is this?"
Aria didn't answer at first. She approached the stone slowly, fingertips hovering just above its surface. Her expression had shifted—gone was the guarded indifference, replaced by something that almost looked like… fear.
"This is old," she whispered. "Older than the Labyrinth itself."
"How do you know?"
She hesitated, then said, "Because I've seen it before."
Kael stared. "You've been here?"
Aria's eyes darted to him, sharp again. "Not here exactly. But I've seen stones like this in places where the ground bleeds light, and the air tastes like ash. They mark… boundaries."
"Boundaries for what?"
Her lips pressed into a thin line. "You don't want to know."
The shadows in the corners of the chamber seemed thicker now, pressing inward. Kael had the sudden, bone-deep certainty that they were not alone.
"Aria," he said slowly, "we should—"
A sound cut him off. Not the scuttling of the earlier creature, but a low, resonant hum, as though the stone itself had awakened.
Aria stepped back. "We need to leave. Now."
Kael didn't argue this time. As they slipped into the next passage, he glanced back. The surface of the black stone shimmered faintly… and in that shimmer, just for a heartbeat, he thought he saw an eye.