Zelda took the attack on her shield, then dove to the side. The dilopoad landed where she’d been standing, its back to the hydra hedge.
“Crap,” Zelda said, pulling herself to her feet and looking down at her shield. It was off.
“Overloaded,” Thorne said. “Not good.”
“Uhm, Zelda?” Kaiden asked. “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
“A freaky chameleon-spider-frog that’s trying to lick me to death?” she asked as she raised her hammer-gun and took aim.
“Behind the dilopoad.” Kaiden pointed, before remembering he was in the broadcast room and she was in the labyrinth. “On the hedge.”
“Oh my god. Kai, you’re brilliant!”
The dilopoad’s venom had hit the plant earlier and burned through it a bit. And the hydra hedge hadn’t regrown to repair the damage.
“Odditor said the venom stifles health regen!” Thorne said.
“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Kaiden asked, but Zelda was already in motion.
She charged the dilopoad, then fired off an Improved Burst Arrow. She was aiming to miss, though, and the attack hit the ground at the creature’s feet. It hissed and scrambled away, creating just the opening Zelda needed to take its place next to the hedge.
“Come at me, frog boy,” Zelda taunted.
The dilopoad seemed happy to oblige. It lashed out with its tongue. Zelda dodged to the side. Not quite enough, though. Some of the venom splashed down on her arm and set her health bar to flashing as it sizzled through her armor. Her health ticked down to fifty-four percent.
But the move had done its job. Zelda saw the majority of the dilopoad’s attack had hit the hedge. The plant was squirming and seizing as if trying to regrow, but the health regen debuff from the venom was stopping it.
Zelda fired into the part of the hedge covered by the bubbling venom. The hedge burned back. Enough for her to rush through. She did just that.
Zelda clambered out of the far side of the hedge then turned to face the dilopoad, which was squealing and pushing through after her.
“Sorry. Tough luck, frog boy,” she said, then hit the hedge with an Improved Scatter Shot. The other side of the plant had been covered in venom, but this side wasn’t. The attack exploded and the hedge responded, repairing the new damage and surging out toward Zelda. The dilopoad was caught up in the rush and it squealed and hissed as thorns punctured through its body, skewering it inside the hedge.
Dilopoad assisted kill – 3,000 EXP
The creature stopped thrashing and there was silence for a long moment as Zelda turned around to face the flag.
Chapter Forty-Nine
“It’s right there,” Kaiden said, unable to stop himself. “Yours for the taking!” But no. Bad things always happen when you touch the flag.
It was so close Zelda could have reached out and touched it. But she didn’t. Instead, she crossed her arms and leaned casually to one side, like she was waiting.
“What’s the hold-up?” Titus asked.
“Building charge,” Zelda said bluntly.
“For…?”
She looked toward the camera, leaning into the drama a bit, and smiled.
“My grand escape.”
“Aha! A flair for the dramatic!” Odditor cried, almost laughing as he did. “Why, this little lab rat is after my own, my own heart with lines like that. And look, she’s so close to the flag.” He drew out the moment. “So close to halfway done.”
Zelda only smirked as Odditor’s words carried out over the labyrinth. She pulled away from the camera drone to study the walls around her. They rose high into the air, just like all the others had.
“Titus, what’s the timer at?”
“Twenty-six minutes.”
“Great. And Kaiden, remind me, when I entered the maze, my shadow was on my left?”
“Yeah. It was on your left.”
“Perfect.” She looked down to the ground, then turned until her shadow was on her left again. When it was, she paused for a moment, then turned completely around to face the opposite direction. That done, she raised her gaze to the wall in front of her. She closed one eye and lined up her thumb, pointing roughly straight ahead.
“Getting to the flag is only half the battle,” she said. “You also have to get back out. But the labyrinth changes its shape and layout frequently, which means trying to remember the route I used to get here is no good. The ‘always turn right’ plan was one idea to solve that, but not my only one.” She smiled at the wall ahead of her, then raised her hammer-gun. “You see, I can’t rely on the labyrinth to give me accurate information. But as sentient as this labyrinth is, and as controlling as Odditor is, there’s one thing here neither of them can control.” She nodded up to the sun, shining down on her and the labyrinth. “The sun.”
She’d been standing still while delivering her explanation, and now Kaiden realized why.
Ability: Sniper Mode
Warden must remain stationary for five seconds to activate or deactivate this mode. While in Sniper Mode, movement is locked and the warden’s hammer-gun extends into a rifle. Range and damage dealt from all attacks are increased by 100%.
Zelda’s hammer shifted into its rifle orientation as she finished her explanation. At the same time, she began charging an ability.
“What’s this?” Odditor asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“It was morning when I entered the labyrinth and my shadow was on my left. Thus, we can assume I was roughly facing north. The labyrinth changes, but the one thing that never moves is the flag. It was straight ahead of me when I entered the labyrinth. Straight north. So, to go back, all we have to do is turn south…” The ability charging on her hammer-gun was just about done. She smiled. “And make ourselves an exit. You see, I noticed something in that cave. The ceiling broke when I hit it hard enough. Which tells me so will the
