The walls of the maze rose higher with every step—

  or, more accurately, with every slither of Sally.

  What had started as a stone archway now towered above them, impossibly tall, like New York skyscrapers viewed from the sidewalk by an ant.

  The grey stones had been sandblasted smooth by centuries of desert winds. They gleamed faintly, almost polished, like the world’s most menacing bathroom tiles. The desert wind moaned through the archway, pulling a chorus of screeches out of the hollow stone—an orchestra of ghostly throat-clearing.

  They dismounted in front of the gate, the sun hammering down, sweat dripping into their eyes. The heat made the air quiver. Sand clung to their tongues.

  And then, the moment they stepped through the arch—

  humidity.

  The air went damp and heavy, sticking to their skin like a swamp’s embrace. The scent of greenery wafted over them, wrong in every possible way after miles of scorched desert. Ahead stretched a single corridor, lined with immaculate hedges. Well-trimmed. Evergreen.

  Narro frowned, peering left and right.

  “So… I guess it’s a maze?”

  “Maze, dungeon, garden—it’s all the same.” He traced the air with a finger. “Center’s where the prize usually sits.”

  Reralt was not listening. He knelt by Sally, who had lowered her chainsaw head onto the sand. Drool hissed where it landed.

  “Don’t worry, Sally. I’ll come back to play when we’re done here.”

  He smirked at Narro.

  “You want to play fetch some more?”

  Sally’s entire back half wiggled like a tail.

  “No!” Narro snapped. He stormed forward two steps, then froze as Sally’s head twitched toward him, sniffing.

  “We’re here to find the Hat. Save my daughter. Save my wife.”

  He crossed his arms firmly.

  “Did you forget that already?”

  Reralt nodded gravely. “Right. No. Of course not.”

  Then he patted Sally’s chest and whispered: “Don’t worry. We’ll play fetch again after.”

  He stood, turned to Narro.

  “You’d rather walk back through the desert? Without food or water?”

  And off he went, striding into the hedge corridor with heroic certainty.

  Narro sighed, already calculating where—and how hard—he’d kick him later.

  ***

  The hedge path was unnervingly quiet, the kind of silence that pressed against their ears. The only sound came from the wet squelch of their boots sinking into the damp earth, each step releasing a faint, sour smell of mold and greenery that had no right existing in the middle of a desert. The hedges themselves exhaled a cold, vegetal breath; when Narro brushed too close, he swore the leaves recoiled with a papery rustle.

  At the far end, a second archway glowed with sunlight, golden and warm, as if promising freedom. Relief flickered across Narro’s face—sweat cooling on his forehead, lungs filling with expectation.

  Until they stepped through—

  and stared into the drooling grin of Sally.

  The air instantly turned dry again, hot wind slapping them in the face. Drool hissed as it struck the sand, sending up little curls of steam. Sally’s chainsaw mouth revved with a wet gurgle that could only be described as “fond.”

  “Another wurm?” Reralt said brightly, blinking against the sunlight. “And also friendly! Hero’s luck.”

  “It’s the same wurm, genius.” Narro pressed his fingertips into his temples, feeling the grit of sand and sweat grinding together. “We’ve looped.”

  “Let’s try again.”

  They turned and trudged the corridor back. The air clung, thick and green; the scent of pine sap grew oppressive, then cloying, until it seemed to stick in their throats. At the end, the same arch spilled sunlight—mocking this time, brighter, harsher.

  And again: Sally’s wagging rear. Drool dribbling in ropes. Chainsaw smile.

  Narro held up a hand like a traffic warden, jaw clenched.

  “Stay here.”

  “Me or Sally?” Reralt asked, tilting his head.

  “Both.”

  Narro marched back into the maze alone. His boots sank deeper now, as though the earth itself was tiring of him. The air pulsed in time with his heartbeat.

  And on the other side stood Reralt, arms folded, smugness radiating like desert heat.

  “Forgot something?”

  Narro froze. Words crowded his mouth, each heavier than the last.

  Then he decided he’d need a strategy before attempting to explain.

  ***

  “It loops back,” Narro muttered, voice tight as though squeezed by the air itself. His eyes darted over the hedges—too green, too symmetrical, their leaves glistening faintly with dew that never dripped. “Not in distance. In space.”

  He waved his hands vaguely, carving invisible shapes in the damp air. The humidity clung to his fingers, turning every gesture into a slow-motion blur.

  “We walk forward, and the maze warps us back.” The words tumbled out, sounding less like clarity and more like a confession.

  Reralt scratched his chin thoughtfully, squinting at the perfectly trimmed hedges as though they were a crossword puzzle. “Got it.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  From behind, Sally gave a wet snort. A puff of hot air blasted out of her chainsaw snout, carrying the sour stench of desert saliva. Somehow, she managed to roll eyes that weren’t even there.

  “Really?” Narro asked. His voice cracked on the word. He wasn’t sure if he was questioning Reralt, the wurm, or his own unraveling sense of physics.

  “Yes.” Reralt nodded with absolute certainty. “We walk backwards now.”

  And without hesitation, the hero began shuffling backward down the path, boots sucking against the damp earth with each step. The hedges seemed to lean in, whispering against each other as if curious about this new tactic.

  Narro stared after him. Against all logic—against everything—the world briefly made sense.

  “Reralt, wait, that’s just—” His words caught in his throat. The humid air swallowed them whole.

  He swallowed hard, turned, and began walking backward beside Reralt and the Void. The Void hissed irritably at the disturbance, her tail flicking damp clods of earth.

  Better to humor Reralt’s idiocy first.

  He needed time to think anyway.

  ***

  Halfway down the corridor, Narro felt the damp air thicken, as though the hedges were closing in. He glanced at Reralt—

  then at his other side.

  Reralt was there too.

  The Narro in front of him froze, mirroring his exact horrified expression. A bead of sweat crawled down his cheek, cold in the humid air.

  “Are they mirror images?” both Narros asked at once, their voices overlapping like badly tuned instruments.

  “Well hello, you handsome devil,” both Reralts boomed in perfect stereo.

  They slapped a high five that cracked like thunder. The hedges rattled, leaves trembling in applause, releasing a sharp, resinous scent as if the plants themselves were impressed.

  The Narros groaned in chorus.

  “Are we split in two?” they muttered, identical frowns deepening.

  Sally drooled happily behind them, her saliva sizzling into the sand.

  “Sally’s got double the fetch partners now!” Reralt cheered, grinning wide.

  A second hiss answered—Sammy, identical but not, tail wagging in syncopation.

  “Sammy’s got double the fetch partners now!” the other Reralt added, just as cheerful.

  The Narros blinked, their stomachs sinking as if gravity itself had doubled.

  “Wait. What’s your wurm called?”

  “Sally,” said one.

  “Sammy,” said the other.

  Both Narros nodded grimly. The realization hit like a weight—two universes, equally cursed.

  Meanwhile, the Reralts flexed at each other, their muscles gleaming slick in the hedge-light, each vein popping like vines trying to outgrow the other.

  “I call this one Heroic Victory,” one said proudly.

  “And this one Heroic Victory—with a twist,” the other countered.

  They twisted the exact same way, down to the angle of the smirk.

  The Narros pinched the bridges of their noses in stereo. The air smelled of pine, sweat, and despair.

  ***

  They sat down in the middle of the maze, knees sinking slightly into the damp earth. The air was thick with the smell of resin and mildew, like a greenhouse left too long to rot.

  The Reralts quickly decided they were very bored. They lay back against the hedges, which rustled disapprovingly, and started comparing bicep angles.

  Both Voids padded away with perfect disdain, claws clicking softly against the ground. They climbed back onto their respective wurms, curling up in the warmth of chain-sawed flesh for well-earned naps. Within moments, both were purring—or snoring—it was difficult to tell.

  “So… alternate dimensions,” Narro muttered, staring at the mirrored path as though it might blink first.

  “Right,” Other Narro said, massaging his temples. Sweat slicked his fingers; the air was so damp it felt like thinking underwater. “The only difference so far is the wurm’s name.”

  “So this isn’t a maze,” Narro concluded, his voice flat. “It’s the entrance to a multidimensional dungeon.”

  “Which raises the question,” Other Narro sighed, “how do we get in?”

  The Reralts immediately sprang upright.

  “Well, if it’s a door, we open it!”

  They slapped each other’s backs so hard the hedges shook loose a shower of needles, releasing a pungent, piney sting into the air. Both heroes nodded in self-congratulation, basking in the glow of shared brilliance.

  “It amazes me how often he’s right,” Narro muttered darkly.

  “Don’t remind me,” Other Narro groaned.

  The Narros bent low, eyes narrowing at the mirrored sand path. Each grain seemed too deliberate, too still, as if waiting to be found out. They sifted handfuls through their fingers, muttering half-finished theories, growing more frantic with every scoop.

  Then, simultaneously, their faces lit up. They grinned the same grin, shook their heads in unison. Obvious.

  Together, they clawed at the sand, scraping until their nails stung. Damp grit caked under their fingers. At last, a buried shape revealed itself—a stone frame, green as moss but hard as iron, humming faintly as though pleased to be uncovered.

  The vibration crawled up their bones, making their teeth buzz.

  ***

  In the center of the frame sat a single, shiny red button.

  One on each side.

  It gleamed with unnatural brightness, as though freshly polished, humming faintly in tune with the green stone. The air around it grew warmer, thicker, the scent of hot metal bleeding through the humid hedge-air.

  The Narros stared at it. Long. Hard. Too long. Their stomachs tightened as if the button were staring back.

  Then, as one, their eyes snapped to their respective Reralt.

  “Reralt, no!” they screamed in perfect unison, voices cracking.

  Too late.

  With heroic certainty, both Reralts lifted their boots and stomped down.

  The stone vibrated violently, a deep bass note thrumming through the ground. The hedges shuddered, leaves fluttering as if letting out a long, weary sigh.

  Sally and Sammy perked up at once, tails wagging, chainsaw maws revving as drool sprayed in stereo, sizzling where it hit the sand.

  The red buttons pulsed. Once. Twice.

  Then—

  darkness.

  Sound cut first, then sight. Heat drained away, leaving only the heavy weight of silence.

  Both Reralts and both Narros crumpled where they stood, swallowed by the humming blackness.

  ***

  Her head tilted into the burning desert wind, eyes half-closed in smug serenity.

  She sat like a figurehead atop the great sandwurm, queen of heat and hunger — the Void that meows.

  Her goals were simple: food, sleep, adoration, occasional cruelty. And one other thing. A very important thing.

  Behind her, the humans clung to the beast — one trembling, one flexing, both equally useless. She regarded them with the weary affection of a deity forced to work with leftovers.

  Stretching her paws into a perfect T-shape, she let out a meow so vast it echoed through the dunes.

  In her own inscrutable language, it meant only:

  I am the king of the world.

  Then, with a flick of her tail, she smiled at the secret thought curling behind her whiskers.

  Soon, she purred. Soon.

  Bat things will happen if you do not follow Reralt.

  You will sleep upside down.

  You will gain surprisingly better eyesight than people think.

  and use all the other wonderful buttons this fantastic site offers.

  Well — better.