Chapter Nineteen - The Maze
Haha, now I can only think of The Maze Runners whenever I read this chapters title. I read the first and second book while I was on vacation, and will hopefully have The Death Cure soon. cx Also, before anyone asks, I elaborated on the maze a little. Instead of the simple hedge maze from Reign, I've turned it into a maze that resembles the one from The Goblet of Fire in the Harry Potter series, if that makes sense. Basically? It is a lot more dangerous and - as you could consider it - deadly. So, just keep that in mind. xD
Evx : Haha, yes. Happy ending would be if they have kids. Sad ending? Well, there are many, many sad endings I could write... :3 I agree though. They would be great parents.
andgirl12 : No problem! And I'm glad it was cute. c:
Guest 1 : Aw, but that would be no fun! cx No, it's sadly never as easy at that.
booknerd00 : Hehe. Dates! I'm glad they were super cute!
themagicalmarissa : Well, considering Mina didn't save Ferah's life, we can assume that Ferah is dead. Deceased. No more. I won't drag her back into this story. And thank you so much! It means a ton to hear you say that. c: And trust me, I don't want murder on my hands. ;) Of course, no guarantees you won't die from a heart attack or anything when reading my stories...
So, who's ready for the final test?
Mina's POV
In The Past...
"What do you do as a prince?"
My question seems to take him by surprise. Not that that's very surprising to me. He might not expect me to be interested in that. But I am. I'm also trying to assess character though. Mother says I need to only be friends with those that behave properly. Naturally, I never follow that rule. Father says to give everyone a chance. I never follow that rule everyone. I assess the character to the best I can, deciding if they seem fun and nice, and if they do I decide whether or not to try and become friends.
It's a tedious process.
"Why do you care?" He raises an eyebrow.
"I was just curious." I respond. "Is that so wrong?"
"No, it's not wrong. I'm just surprised that you're interested in my life." He admits. "I don't do a lot. I have tutors, but I hardly ever go to those boring lessons. They teach me stuff I already know, so why bothering going if it's a repeat? The only thing I have even a bit of control over is food. Everything else is controlled, like clothing, social interaction, and anything else. If I do it myself, it's technically not allowed. Even my marriage, at the age of nineteen, will be dictated if I don't choose fast enough."
"Sounds awful."
"It is." He nods, and offers a sad smile. "But I'm enjoying my life to the best of my ability while I can, and try not to dwell on that too often when I'm having a good day. So let's make it a good day! Let's play a game!"
"I knew you'd change your tune on games after some time." I grin, leaping to my feet. "What should we play?"
In The Present...
Staring up at the hedge walls, I refuse to admit to myself how terrified I now I am. Annalora is starting on the other side of the maze. It's a race to the center and up the tower. That wasn't the part that was scaring me though. No, the part that was scaring me wasn't the fact that I could very likely lose, or the fact that Annalora hated me and would probably attempt to hurt me and play dirty. The part that scared me was the fact that they said anything could be inside of this maze.
Somehow, I always knew it would come down to me and Annalora. I'd been hoping against all hope that I was wrong. That she would be out. But she was the one with the knowledge to complete. I was the one with the motivation to win. Both reasons to win would be put to the test right here. Which one would be stronger?
"On the boom." The female Brownie - who'd been helping me all this time - stands beside me, and whispers. "Three...Two...One..."
The boom rattles me - what exactly did they use to make that noise? - but I take off anyways. It doesn't take me long to get over that. It's easy at first, but eerily quiet. Which way? That's the question that bounces around in my head. Which way?
A piercing, shriek-like noise hits the air. Somehow, I doubt that came from Annalora. I turn, pressing myself against the hedge walls. The branches prick at my arms, but I ignore them. What is this thing that's making these noises?
It doesn't take long to find out. I hear a quiet hiss this time. Not one hiss though. When I listen closer, I hear thousands. That's no average beast. Of course, there's no such thing as an average beast, but that's not what I mean. This beast is one of the deadliest that I can think of. A gorgon. What are they thinking?! What possessed them to put a gorgon in this maze? Are there more? The fear spreads though me. I take off, and it must hear me, because I can hear the soft rustling of grass as it pursues. If only I had a mirror! I could turn it to stone, like in the stories!
It's when I trip on a leg bone - ew! - that I get an idea. I'd be revolted and wonder what else they've hosted in this maze if there wasn't a gorgon behind me. But, there is. So I ignore the fact that there's a skeleton, albeit half-swallowed by the hedge, and focus on trying to figure out what to do - and get up - as the monster behind me swiftly approaches. If it grabs me with it's tail now, I'm a dead man. Er, woman.
My hand manages to grab a shield laying next to the skeleton. It glints in the sunlight, and hope leaps up inside of me. I've found my mirror. Covering my face with it when I hear a very loud hiss - signifying how near the gorgon really is - I turn. And the hiss morphs back into a terrible screech.
After a few minutes, I dare to look at the creature. I'm still slightly afraid to peek, afraid it didn't work. Afraid this is a trick, and I'll be turned to stone. But, it's not. The monster is now completely encased in stone. If I weren't so terrified, I'd be proud.
So the maze is very deadly. They failed to tell us that when they briefed us about this place. Great. Just great. What are the Fates playing at? This is the most idioticly dangerous thing I've ever been involved with! I begin to run, fear directing me this time. What else could be here?
I get my answer soon enough. I only just avoid an attack by a minotaur. I'm not taking this quite as seriously as I probably should be, but that's probably to distract myself. What next, a dragon?
Nope. Wrong guess. Instead, the next threat arrives with a violent clicking. And it's a big threat.
It's a spider. Not a tiny one. A huge one. A big, black beast that looks kind of furry. Gross. And it's eight eyes are all focused on me. Even grosser. It clicks it's pinchers - the source of the clicking noise I heard originally, which should've been my hint to run. And it steps a bit closer. I normally don't mind spiders, but a spider times a million in size? Anyone would fear that. I'll be avoiding spiders like the plague once I make it out of here. If I make it out of here.
I find after a few minutes that I'm being chased in circles by this giant arachnid. It's toying with me. I'm doomed. I'm going to die in this awful maze of hedges. The thought claws away at me inside. This can't be happening! Annalora can't be the one to win! Ferah's dire words echo in my head before she was dragged off. Annalora must be the one she was meaning. She must be what would mess up everything. I have to beat her, not just because I love Teague, but because I need to save the Fae as well. Innocent Fae that she won't care about, that she will crush under her heel, if she wins.
And then there's a soft squish followed by a squirting noise. Double the gross factor. I hate this maze even more. I turn slowly as the spider collapses, and begins to twitch as it dies. The light is leaving it's eyes, but I can barely stand watching it die so slowly and painfully, even if it did want to kill me. I hate death. But then, the thing standing behind the spider grabs my attention.
It's Annalora. She pulls a long, lethal looking dagger from where it was imbedded in the spider's head, and then she doesn't even bother to wipe the blood off of it. First off, why did she just save my life? Second off, how on the plane did she manage to get a weapon in here, when we were told we'd have nothing but our wits about us? Nothing in the maze responds to Fae magic, because it's been, in a way, turned off inside of us for this.
"Why did you save me?" I'm very hesitant to find out, because I have a feeling the answer isn't going to be good from the way she's looking at me.
"Because I want to be the one to kill you." A crazed look takes face, and I can detect the insanity in her voice. "I didn't bother trying to find the center of the maze and the tower. You know why? Because Prince Teague will have made it impossible for me to open it. No, only you will be able to open the door. Which is why I set off to find you instead. But you were clever. I nearly let the spider take your life, till I realized how close we are to the tower." She's right, I can see the top of the tower over the hedges, just barely. "Then I realized if you figured that out, you might escape. And I couldn't have that. Besides, I want to see you die at my hands. I want to feel your blood on my hands. The warm, sticky blood that carries your life essence. I want to see your face as you see me, your killer. I want to watch your chest struggle for breath, trying to get air into your system. I want to see your struggle to live."
Dread fills me. Annalora's dress is crimson, but it has darker splatters of crimson on it too, and they look wet. It's blood. Cold hands grip at my heart. There is blood on her dress. Real blood. Real blood that signifies she used her dagger. I try to push that last thought away. I want to blame it on her running straight through the hedge walls, something I should've thought of doing. After all, if she ran through, her arms would be scratched and bleeding. But after what I saw with the spider, I think it's the blood from any beasts she might've faced. Disgusting.
And my blood will be splattered on there too if I don't do something. And I need to do that something fast. I need to get to the center of this horrific maze, or I'm going to wind up dead. If not from the maniac Annalora, then from one of these crazy beasts.
I do he logical thing. I take off running, which seems to wake Annalora back up. The ugly gnome lets out a crazed laugh that sens chills down your spine and would probably haunt my nightmares forever if I make it out alive, because that's all I want now. To make it out alive. Of course, I still want Teague, but being alive is a bigger priority. She runs after me, and the thought that she wants to kill me consumes me. She wants me to die! I think the hedges are growing closer together now too, and I only hope the walls end up closing behind me so that a dead end blocks her path. Or, better yet, close around her so she's stuck. She'd probably fight her way through though.
I just need her to slow down!
Uh oh. This doesn't seem good at all. Crazy Annalora has lost it. Gone totally insane. Very similar to what happened in Reign, cause who doesn't love a psychotic, angry killer trying to keep a girl from her happy ending?
I imagine the gorgon looking like Medusa did in Once Upon a Time. cx If that makes any sense? The snake body, with red eyes and the snake hair.
So, are you guys up for getting five reviews so we can see what happens? After all, we can't have Mina be left in limbo as Annalora chases her...
~ Dagger