Chapter 2: Raistlin

I stepped through the door first. It was pitch black all around me, the darkest I think I've ever seen. Slowly, I walked as far forward as the light spilling through the doorway allowed, then decided enough was enough.

“Shirak.” The crystal on top of the Staff of Maguis lit up, just as it always had at my command. And good thing too, for rather abruptly the door closed behind, cutting off all light.

Now what? I thought, half expecting anything from a dragon to being back at that Test again, and I shivered at the thought. Then, I heard movement to my left. Looking, I saw one of those others, the cat one.

“Oh, it's you.” He had his sword unsheathed, ready for trouble.

“Which are you, Zantar or Zentarou?” I asked.

“Zantar. Raistlin, right?” I nodded. “Thanks for making that light. It's the only thing that let me find you.” One of his ears turned back the way he'd come, and he looked over his shoulder. Approaching were the other two.

“Where are we?” asked the one in red and white, either Mega or Proto, I had no idea which.

“Frag me,” replied the other as they came to stand with us.

“Well then,” I answered, “lets just get a good look around.” I'll admit, their confusion gave me some satisfaction, that they had no thought on what to do, yet I did. Tapping into my magic, I conjured several small spheres of light and sent them in different directions. The two in armor seemed amazed, while the cat only nodded approval.

“I thought you were a mage,” Zantar said.

“I am a red robed wizard,” I corrected, as dimly the space was lit.

“A wizard?” echoed the smaller of the two I didn't know. “Like Merlin or something?”

“I have no idea who this 'Merlin' is,” I answered, feeling a little annoyed with the expression on his face. It was like he didn't believe me.

“Looks like some sort of structure,” the cat said, peering out into the darkness, his eyes glowing in the light of the Staff.

“It's a maze!” the yellow construct clarified, after staring for a moment. He frowned. “Slag it all, I hate mazes.”

“First, I think some clarifying is in order,” Zantar said. “Which are you two?”

“Proto.”

“Sunstreaker.”

“Okay, I'm Zantar, and this is Raistlin.” I nodded in greeting. Abruptly, the entire room lit up brightly, so startlingly that we all had to shield our eyes for a moment. When we could see again, we could see we were on a high platform, above the maze itself by at least twenty feet. There was no wall back the way we'd entered, and the platform was itself barely ten foot square. If any one of us had walked forward....

“Whoa,”Proto commented, moving to the edge and peering over. “That's a long drop, and I think the landing wouldn't be much more pleasant.”

“Seems our first 'test' is a simple one,” I commented, eager to get this foolishness over with. “Merely navigate the maze to its finish.”

“And what's to stop me from just jumping onto the walls and walking across?” asked Sunstreaker. I had to smirk

“Try it.” He did just that, and I was fairly satisfied to see him hit the top, and get thrown off by an invisible force and flung down into the maze proper. The rest of us took the more conventional route down.

“You okay?” Zantar asked.

“Yeah. It'll take more than a little fall like that to hurt me.”

Impressive, I had to think to myself. And useful.

“We should hurry,” I said. “The easiest way, clearly, to escape a maze is to follow either the left or right wall exclusively. It may take a while, but it's far better than blinding guessing.”

“Works for me,” Proto commented and started to walk. Sunstreaker took up the next position, and Zantar motioned for me to go next.

“Safest in the middle, and I can hear behind us easier than anyone else.” He twisted his ears around to make his point. I frowned.

“And what makes you think I need the safest place to stand?”

“Because my twin, too, is a spell caster, and I know that keeping a spell caster alive is crucial in a fight, because they can end such fights very quickly, if they stay alive.” I only nodded – a fight with some sense, at least – and went ahead of him.

We followed the left wall, walking in silence for several minutes. I heard the occasional sharp movement from behind,and glanced once to see Zantar walking backwards, as if he thought he'd heard something. I clutched the Staff a little tighter.

It was as I turned back that I realized something about the two in front. They weren't changing in my cursed sight. At least, not very much. I saw dulled edges, fading colors, but all in all, nothing. Now, I had determined that Sunstreaker was a golem, or at least something closely akin to it, so that made sense. But Proto wasn't changing either. Odd, certainly.

Suddenly, Proto stopped dead in his tracks. We all came to a halt, I reaching back to stop Zantar from knocking me over.

“What's that?” he asked, pointing. Peering around Sunstreaker's larger form, I saw a reptilian creature with six legs, its back to us, standing right in our path. It didn't take a moment for me to realize our danger.

“Do not look at it!” I cried, throwing my sleeve in front of my eyes. “It is a basilisk, and to meet it gaze is to die!” The beast heard me, and turned to charge at us. I felt pushed aside, as Zantar came up to stand more in front of me, his eyes closed, I noticed. Sunstreaker, meanwhile, had made some sort of weapon appear out of nowhere – and they'd looked amazed at my magic? - and fired at the creature. The shots hit, and it hissed, glaring. At the last second, all of us looked away, and it took the opportunity to rush us.

Proto went down, the creature snapping at his neck and face. He blocked with his hands, bit it was only a matter of time. Sunstreaker punched it, succeeding in making it forget its target, in favor of this new foe. It latched onto his arm and wouldn't let go. In such insanity, and at such close quarters, it was only a matter of time before someone looked at its eyes.

Unless it had none.

Quickly I pulled the proper components from my pouch, and cast.

“Kalith karan, tobanis-kar!” The magical projectiles streaked towards its face, and struck true. Seeming to understand, Zantar lunged in and stabbed at the face. The basilisk shrieked and fell back, pawing at its face where one eye was punctured. A sweep of the tail knocked Zantar to the ground, and nearly me too. A quick flick of my wrist dropped my dagger into my hand, and I took a stab. Now, by no means am I a warrior, and I'm not very strong even for a mage, I'd admit it. But an eye is an eye, and still soft. Though the resulting squelch of fluid was still rather distasteful. Mercifully, Sunstreaker and Proto finished the suffering creature off.

“Everyone okay?” Zantar asked.

“Frag, that thing had a set of teeth!” Sunstreaker looked more annoyed than hurt, eying his wounds with a frown. “Ratchet's gonna let me have it for this, not that I can't handle it. But still, it ruined my paint job.” I understood about one fourth of what he said.

Suddenly, a cough knocked me back into the wall. Not again, I managed to think just before I had to focus on breathing. It was a bad fit too, one of those where I could've sworn I'd never be able to breathe again. The others were asking if I was okay, but I couldn't answer for many minutes. Damn this frailty of mine!

At last, it faded, and I wiped the blood from my lips. The others were looking at me, and their concern roused my ire.

“I am fine! Now, lets go. The smell of dead basilisk is stifling me.” They obeyed without a word, resuming our previous marching order.

I had two more, thankfully smaller, fits before we found out way out of the maze. The final exit opened into a wide room with a single door opposite us.

“Through there, I guess,” Proto said. We took about three steps, when the Voice sighed softly. Instantly all of us froze in place, wondering what was next.

Nothing. No beast, or spell,or even speaking. Just the sign, and then nothing.

Deep within I began to sense that something was wrong. I don't know where the feeling came from, but there was something... wrong.

As if feeling it too, the other three jogged for the door. Naturally Sunstreaker reached it first, and it opened... and he gave the most frightful, heartrending cry I'd ever heard in my life.

“Sides!!!” All of us rushed in, to see we were back in the first room...and the others were laying on the floor. None of them changed in my eyes, they were all dead. Sideswipe was a dull gray color, no light in his eyes at all. Zentarou lay curled up, his fur patchy and dry. Mega was laying on his back, eyes closed and motionless. And Caramon...

As the others rushed to the fallen, I only stood, struck dumb by the shock. Caramon's eyes were sunken in, and he was pale, so pale. His eyes were closed, though his expression was frozen in a mask of fear, and worry. How long were we walking in that maze? He didn't look like he'd starved, or fallen ill, just...died.

“Caramon...” I barely heard my own voice as I slowly approached and knelt at his side. My twin was dead. I looked up towards the ceiling.

“How?”I called out to the Voice.”How could you have let them die!? You seem so powerful, why didn't you do something?” I was feeling a lot like I felt when Caramon had fallen ill, while tending to me after our mother's death. He was gone, and now I was alone. Getting no answer, I looked back down at him, and smoothed some hair our of his face. “My brother...”

Suddenly, all of the dead began to sparkle. It covered them, as the Voice spoke: “Enough.” Right before my eyes, Caramon's body vanished. All of them, simply gone as if never been. Sunstreaker gave a roar of rage and punched the wall, shaking the entire room. Again, the Voice spoke. “Your brothers are all right. I am sorry for having to put you through that, but it was necessary. Now,” A door appeared. “go back to your brothers.” Sunstreaker all but ran through, where I could hear the others voices, especially Caramon's asking if I was alright. Proto and Zantar quickly followed, though I took a moment to glare up.

“You do realize, I will likely kill you for that,” I warned. The Voice just gave a small “Umhmm,” and I headed back into the real first room.