The roar of hooves and paws tore through the maze as Aeric shot forward on Sylver, his heart pounding in his chest.
He kept glancing behind him, and he saw as Aryanne surged after him on that damned ferocious Dreadhound, her eyes blazing with fury, as her voice echoed across the stone walls.
"I'm coming for you, your bastard abomination!"
Aeric knew glancing over his shoulder was a risk, but he risked it anyway. He did a quick glance over his shoulder and saw that Aryanne's Dreadhound was gaining on him fast.
The beast's fangs bared, muscles rippling as it bounded closer with terrifying speed.
'Sylver's really fast. He has a stat speed of 9! And yet!' Aeric looked back once again. 'How fast is that Beast!?'
His mind raced with questions. Should he turn and face her head-on, or was it wiser to stay ahead and avoid a direct clash?
Staying ahead though? How much longer could he stay ahead? He tried to urge Sylver to run faster. The Dreadhound was gaining on him by the second!
Before he could decide, he felt the ground shake and saw a shadow rising above him. The Dreadhound had jumped and it was lunging straight for him, claws slicing through the air, aiming to crash down on him.
Aeric's eyes widened, he tugged on Sylver's reins, urging him to run faster but also braced himself for possible impact.
But then, the air rang with a piercing neigh. Another shadow shot out, this time from his left. The maze wall shattered, throwing stones into the midst as Celestia burst through on her Winged Pegasus.
The Pegasus plunged forward, horn lowered, wings spread, catching the Dreadhound mid-pounce, while Aryanne yanked her mount out of the way by a hair.
The Moonlight Daughter was lucky. She had averted the Pegasus's horn by something of a breath's distance. But the impact pushed her Dreadhound sideways and sent Aryanne sprawling across the ground.
The Dreadhound collapsed alongside her, letting out a deep, guttural growl. The Heart Token flew into the air, and on sighting it, Celestia called, "Aeric!"
She shot out a sun blast which pushed the flag closer to Aeric and he caught it adeptly. They smiled at each other.
/Team Moonlight has lost their Token to Team Dawnstar/
Aeric lifted his head. "What was that?" he asked.
"The gamemaster. He declares what happens so that the players can be informed on others' progress."
"Oh."
Aryanne grimaced. "You're so worthless. You don't even know anything about anything."
Aeric looked down at her and smirked. "Told you it would work," he said to Celestia. "Aryanne wasn't going to miss out on the chance of catching me alone."
The Moonlight Daughter looked at the two of them and frowned. "This was a trap?"
Aeric winked at her. "And you are the fool."
They had some noise not far away and Celestia gave Aeric a fierce look, her voice ringing out, "Go! Go!"
"Where did he go?" Nyssa asked.
"Hmm. Silverwolves can't teleport, can they?" Nyx asked.
"No. But they can go invisible."
Aeric's heart dropped.
"Oh, that's right. Which means, our abominable far brother is not so far after all. He's probably right here with us. Right now." Nyx smiled mischievously as she continued to peer around while her Beast smelled.
Aeric felt his heart continue to pound and pound, but he could also sense Sylver getting worried. It seemed the wolf beast did not like snakes.
'Calm down, Sylver. Calm down buddy.' He stroked his mane. But the beast suddenly growled, revealing itself and roaring as loud as it could.
'Ugh! I guess that's the synergy issue I was talking about!'
"Gotcha," Nyx hissed, her Viperbird lunging forward.
Aeric swung Sylver around, and in a fluid movement, he leaped over the snake beast's attack. But Nyssa was already coming in.
"Go Stealth! Shadow Cloak!" Aeric commanded.
They disappeared into the shadows once again. Nyx's Viperbird hissed in frustration, its forked tongue flicking in the air to sense him. Nyssa's Thunderstag looked left and right, unable to find him.
Aeric evaded them completely, but he also saw that they had two flags, which meant they were the ones to take the Elysium sisters' Tokens.
He continued riding away, thinking of an attack plan, when Melina rounded the corner and blocked his path.
Aeric's eyes widened. 'What? Can she...'
"I can see you," she looked straight into his eyes and said.
Her Nightpanther as well, snarled as its amber eyes locked onto Sylver's red ones. Aeric cursed under his breath; the Nightpanther's vision could pierce his cloak, and it seemed Melina also had powers that could also see through invisibility.
Melina grinned, sensing his frustration.
"Melina caught him!" he heard Nyx yell with anticipation behind him, and that was when he realized that they weren't trying to collect his Heart Token.
They could have if they wanted to. They had played this game many times before, but yet...
'Oh no. This isn't a game... '
Aryanne had informed everyone that this was an opportunity to take out Aeric by teaching him a lesson inside the Maze, where nothing could be done to stop them.
Everyone was to attack him. Everyone.
'...this is a set up.'