Labyrinth Gremlin Novels & Stories

Even though they were exhausted, the Blade's dim brightness kept them focused on their mission. They eventually arrived at the centre of the labyrinth, a big room filled with a strange, fluctuating light. A pedestal with a piece of crystalline light on top stood in the middle of it. It beat in time with the beat of Kael's heart. With amazement in her voice, Zara said, "The Fragment of Truth." The surrounding shadows started to twist furiously as Kael got closer to the pedestal. A tall figure—a representation of the Labyrinth itself—rose out of the shadows. It was a whirling vortex of light and shadow, constantly shifting in shape.

He sighed slowly and massaged his temple, exasperation gradually welled up inside him. "…Gremlin, call two more of your kin to come here and bring some shaving tools and some scented therapy candles. We need a lot of help here." The gremlin—a creature who understands emotions from words— apparently sensed discomfort in Noel's words and was alarmed by it before quickly called in more than two gremlins with tools more than what he asked. The gremlins then immediately lit up the scented candles and prepared the necessary ingredients for an aromatherapy bath without being asked.

I nodded slowly, trying to memorize every word. "The second day is the Trial of the Labyrinth," Earth continued, her voice dropping lower. "It is a massive underground stone maze beneath the pack. It is filled with deadly traps and silver-tipped spikes. But the real danger isn't the maze itself, Tamara. It's the other contenders. In the labyrinth, there are no rules. Attacks from behind are expected." "And the final day?" I asked, my voice trembling slightly.

"And let a bunch of rotting old fossils like you laugh at my expense? Dream on, Bram. Your pathetic mind games don't work on me." ​"Impudent brat!" one of the elders yelled, his fragile, paper-thin skin trembling violently with rage. "You have no idea what horrors are waiting for you inside! The Sacred Labyrinth has never allowed a single drop of dirty blood to walk out alive! You will be torn to shreds before you even pass the first corridor!" ​I didn't give a damn about their empty, pathetic threats.

I whispered. I turned toward the center of the labyrinth. Standing there was the True Form of the First Luna. She was no longer the giant titan or the silver-skinned Queen. She was a weaver, sitting at a loom made of frozen starlight and human nerves. Her hair was a river of obsidian oil, and her hands moved with a mechanical, horrifying precision, stitching the "Grey" threads of our lives into a solid, unmoving tapestry of silver-glass.

The Helm of Awe covered my left shoulder and on my right was Valknut. Yggdrasil was in the middle and flowing from the roots of the tree was a wolf head. On either side of the wolf was a Jericho 9mm, Kiran’s personal touch to my Zeta mark. From the bottom of the roots, down my spine, was a ghost rune designed by Malachi with my name Jericho adorning the top of Yggdrasil. An hour and a half later Marcus was finished and I put my shirt back on. Tonight I would have to undress with every member of the pack present and shift for the first time in my life.

She was so focused that she had not even noticed Wren had walked into the building. “You are pretty focused. Did something interesting happen?” Wren asked from her doorway as he entered her office. “You could say that. I met my first gremlin today,” Lindsay answered. Wren had sat in the chair across from her and had begun taking their lunch out of the bag, setting it on her desk as she said that. He stopped in mid-action. He turned and looked at her with a worried expression on his face. “You met a what?” he asked. “A gremlin. You know, one of those little lizard-like creatures that are about two feet high and likes to cause destruction and mayhem wherever it goes,” Lindsay answered.

Most in the Half-Market ignored the duo,just two more girls in hoods,but Gnash was a connoisseur of "Others." When Anna turned her head to check on Sophie, her hood shifted. For a microsecond, the internal aurora of the Labyrinth caught the electric, unmistakable blue of her irises. Gnash froze, his cigar dropping an inch. McKinnley. The name was a ghost story in the Labyrinth. He’d heard the council confirmed the line dead, but those eyes didn't lie. He didn't move. He didn't reach for a blade. Gnash was a professional, and he knew that a girl who looked like a McKinnley but moved like a predator was far too dangerous to engage for a small-time snatcher like him.

He pointed into the gloom. I increased the light from the globe in my hands, ready to fight, even more ready to run, but saw nothing. Then I noticed movement on the tunnel floor. It was low and flat, and gave off a green glow. It was moving slowly towards us, sliding across the ground. “What is it?” I asked. “A slime,” said Nyx. “Poisonous, probably. Once they attach themselves to you, they don’t let go. Vicious.” It looked like one of those robot vacuum cleaners, but rather than cleaning up, it left a trail of jelly in its wake. It didn’t seem particularly menacing. Slipping on the slime’s trail was probably the biggest danger; might have twisted an ankle.

Adeline is howling angrily in my mind at the loss of her mate, but I simply push her to the side and ignore her. As I stand to exit the Labyrinth the walls shift and change in front of my eyes. Creating a straight path to the exit. Grabbing what scraps of fabric I have left of my dress I try to cover myself as much as I can as I slowly walk to the exit. The grinding sound of the metal doors being opened fills the silence of the evening and I walk out of the Labyrinth with my eyes cast to the ground.