Wren looked at May, his mouth wide open.

  "You're planning to do what?"

  "Oh, come on, Wren. It's not that crazy."

  "May, you're my friend. I know you, and we both want to get the hell out of here. But please listen to me. This is completely crazy."

  "There are situations in life that only an out-of-the-box solution will help you."

  "I know. It's just that..." Wren looked uncomfortable. "Isn't it a taboo? We all heard rumors."

  "I mean, it is. But I won't be making another deal or anything like that. I will just ask for some help..."

  Wren's eyes got even wider, his mouth still open.

  "You must be kidding! You can't be serious. Do you think an ancient being will help us?"

  "I don't know, Wren. Maybe we can offer him something. This is the only thing I can think of."

  "You don't know? Oh, May. I don't think we should do this. Let's keep the hope, right? In due time, they will come and rescue us, I'm sure of that. You talked with Karina outside. She wouldn't let us rot here."

  "I need to get back now, Wren. I need to help Karina with the mission. And honestly, you could help us with the mission too. Weren't you doing something like that before?"

  "Right, right. I don't remember for sure, but yeah, I guess so." Wren pondered for a moment, and he took a good look at May. He knew the girl was sure of her idea, even if it sounded insane. But he also knew how smart May was, so if she thought it was the only chance they had, maybe he should consider the idea too.

  "So what do you tell me, Wren. Are you going to help me? I don't know if I can do it without you, maybe I could try..."

  "No, it's alright, you don't have to try it without me. I'll help you."

  "Nice, what made you change your mind?"

  "I don't know. Maybe it's how you said it. You sounded confident. I bet you're always convincing Karina of the craziest things out there."

  "Ha! It's not like that. But this time, I swear I'm sure. We need to do this. There was this thing, like I told you before, we were investigating. I feel something is wrong with the mission. I need to go back to help Karina. Things can go off the rails, and that's the only way I see to get back."

  "As I said, I'm convinced. I will help you. And anyway, it will be good. To be out of here. I'm tired of this maze. Tell me, what should I do to help you?"

  "Okay. Let's start from the beginning, and please correct me if I'm wrong. But you're tied to Aether, right?"

  "You know that's not something we're going around talking about. But yes, you're right. I'm devoted to lord Aether. All my family is. It runs in my family from generation to generation. Father teaches his son and daughter. The most talented always end up becoming a hunter."

  "Hum, great. That will help. Because, as you should know, better than me, Aether is a primordial being. It means that, in a sense, it's older than other usual deities. That also means you're in contact with ancient magic. And you probably don't even realize it. It explains why it's generational, because it's some kind of art that can easily get lost."

  "Tell me something I don't know, May. I don't see how everything you said will help with your plan."

  "If you let me finish. The thing is: Chaos is also an ancient being. One of the oldest, the one that was there before everything else. And Chaos also represents the void, the space in between everything. Whoever locked us here in the maze locked us in a separate space. If we can cross and navigate the void between this space and our earth... We will be able to get back."

  "Lord Chaos is unpredictable, May. It's not that he is 'chaotic', please forgive me for the pun. But it's more than he's a hard-to-read deity. I never knew about anyone who was connected to him." Wren lowered his voice to a whisper. "And like I said before, isn't it a taboo to be connected to more than one deity?"

  "You don't have to whisper, Wren, there's no one here besides us. And yes, it's a taboo. But as I said, I won't try to connect myself with him. I will just ask for his help. And he will ask for something back. Let's hope it's something we can do."

  "Alright, but do you wanna know what I don't like about your plan? It depends on a lot of things we can't control. Everything can go wrong, and we can end up in a situation worse than our current one." Wren said, before he added. "But like I said before, this time I will trust in you. Let's do it."

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  ***

  May and Wren walked past the maze halls; at this point, they were used to its patterns. They looked through empty rooms that all seemed the same, but they knew there was one or two different things in every three iterations.

  But before they got to the room, May thought of something. They might need help to get back, just like a lighthouse. So she needed to get in contact with Karina again and explain to her what she needed to do. It wasn't easy to rebuild the connection once it was severed. But May had been prepared for it; she had let a single string of the link with Karina still intact. It was a matter of rebuilding everything based on that link.

  Once she was able to speak with her friend, she heard the desperation in Karina's voice.

  "It seems that something very wrong is happening." The girl thought to herself. But she didn't feel desperate; instead, she felt reassured of her plan. May needed to do it, whatever it took.

  She closed the connection once again, and this time, she didn't need to sever it. At least she took into account what Karina had said. Their enemies were aware of who they were and waited to take action.

  As they ran, Wren asked once again:

  "Please remind me. Why do we need the biggest room possible for this enchantment?"

  "I believe the bigger the space we get, the better. Especially if we consider everything we'll have to draw on the floor. If we do it too little, we might end up doing something wrong. And I don't want to end up in front of some random deity we know nothing about."

  "Yeah, you're right. Let's find one of those bigger rooms. I guess they'll do the trick."

  And after they walked a little, they found the room. They pushed the beds and other furniture out of the room, and soon it was empty.

  May murmured some words, and the tips of her fingers burned the carpet. The girl made a big circle, with the diameter almost as wide as the room itself. She worked from the border of the circle up to the center, and she drew runes and occult symbols. Wren felt her magical power as it flowed all through the process.

  May worked with care and caution, especially since she had to draw everything from memory. Thankfully, like most of her magical books, she had read them countless times. Her magical books were like old acquaintances to her. And she knew every little detail about them. If May forced her mind, she would be able to recall even the page on which the enchantment was. And so she felt proud: the nights awake she spent studying the books weren't in vain.

  As soon as May finished, she asked Wren to stand in the middle of the circle.

  "Well, if it were more precise, I guess it would work better. But that must do." May said more to herself than to her friend.

  "And what about now? What should I do?" Wren asked, his voice faltering in between the words.

  "Let me explain, because you will need to be careful. You've got to channel all the magic you can at once. Pull it all, like you're about to extinguish yourself. You will stop at the very last moment. While doing this, there's something important: we'll need to synchronize our magical power. It will be hard, since we don't fight together a lot, but that's the only way."

  "I definitely don't like the part in which I almost extinguish myself."

  "Wren, I won't lie to you. Doing this... You could die. Everybody knows what happens if you're not careful enough with your magical power. But I'll have to ask you once again, do you trust me? Because if you do, believe me when I say, I'll find the balance. I'll take us to Chaos."

  "That's alright, May. I won't go back on my word."

  Wren positioned himself in the center of the circle. He sat down in a comfortable position, and he concentrated his magical power. He let himself feel the forces of the wind that were present even in that closed space. The magical power flowed through his body, and he felt as if he was levitating a few inches above the ground.

  "Whenever you're ready, May."

  "Let's do it, it's now or never," May said as she extended her hands. Her own magical power flowed too.

  Wren breathed in and pulled the magic with all his force. His body got flooded with energy, a magical profusion that demanded his full concentration. The properties of the air inside the room started to change.

  May felt dizzy, but she couldn't lose focus. She needed to do it; it was their only chance. And now Wren's life was in her hands. She needed to sync with him before he used everything he had. But speaking was easier than doing; every time she tried to grasp the man's magical power, it seemed to slip through her hands. The force was too much to deal with.

  "Please, hurry up, May, it hurts too much. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it up."

  A single drop of sweat ran past May's forehead. She tried to remember every time she synced with Karina subconsciously. It was easy; she knew the other girl so well. But Wren was different. First of all, he was a man. And he had that rebellious energy about him that it was so hard to describe. In some ways, he was like the wind itself: he blew in all directions, a destructive force or a prelude to the seasons. And so the girl's mind got clearer, and she felt like she had a whole new perspective about it. That was the key.

  The symbols started to glow around Wren, and his burden lessened. In fact, he felt a different sensation, although he couldn't be sure what it was.

  "Did you do something, May? I feel different." He paused. "And I don't feel like I'm being drained for life anymore."

  "I just synced up with you; now our magical power is intertwined. You don't feel like you're being drained, because you're not. Now our powers are complementing each other, searching for a balance."

  "That's nice, but forgive me if I sound a little anxious. But what about now? What comes next?"

  "Well, now that I'm touching ancient power too, it's just a matter of opening the portal. It will just take a little, you'll see."

  "I didn't think it was that easy to meet the deities. Aren't they supposed to be hard to find?"

  "But they are. It's just that we're in a special case here. Since we're dislocated from our usual reality, the veil is thinner... I feel it, it's opening up. Let's go, Wren."

  Wren didn't have time to answer before May pulled him by the hand. He wanted to protest, but the darkness and magical power that engulfed the whole world left him speechless.