Apple took in every detail of the maze. The walls were made out do pitch black thorns, their ends glinting in the little light that was available. The purple fog from earlier was much thicker now. It covered the floor, making it impossible for Apple to see what she was treading on. It seemed to get colder the more Apple pressed into the maze. She tried to memorise the way she came, all the twists and turns, in case she needed to get back out again.

Right. Left. Left again. Middle of a fork. Right. Right. Right. Left. Left in a fork. Right.

Apple wasn't sure how long she had been walking, all sense of time seemed to have vanished as soon as she had entered. She sighed as she turned out of yet another dead end. She was about to turn around when a soft sound froze her in place. It was the sound of something breathing, mixed with a low growling. Apple's heart rate fastened and she tried with all her mite not to move a single muscle. Slowly, she turned her head. She was terrified of what she was going to find. And it was in fact nothing good.

A terrifying monster stood only a few meters away from the terrified princess. The thing was covered from head to toe in greyish armoured scales that were so shiny, they appeared impenetrable. Its two skinny arms ended in two pointy black claws that were almost half the size of the arms themselves, and just as thick. It had eight legs running along its long body, but instead of feet, the legs ended in the same jet-black claws that glinted in the dim light. Its long tail, which was covered in huge grey plates, swung back and forth threateningly. As it impacted into the ground, Apple could see rather large cracks appearing. She didn't want to even contemplate what would happen if it made contact with any part of her. And finally there was its grotesque face. Mounted onto of its head were two gnarled horns. Its mouth revealed needle-like teeth overtime it screeched while the mouth was framed by two long pincers on either side of the jaw. And then there was the eyes. Five of them. Two on the left, two on the right and one in the middle. Blaring yellow in colour, they stood out against the rest of the monster's grey body. And these eyes met with Apple's. She could feel just how intensely it was staring. almost as if it was looking through her physical self and was rather looking at her soul. Apple backed away from it very slowly, not wanting to state it into action, only to feel the tiny stings of wall behind her and the thorns gentle pressing into her skin. Desperate to get away from the beast and already high off adrenaline, Apple pushed so hard against them that they pierced her skin. Blood slowly trickled down her face, arms and legs. This appeared to set the creature off as suddenly it let out a macabre shriek and lunged towards Apple, it's mouth wide open showing-off its razor-sharp teeth. Apple jumped out of the way just in time as the beast smashed face first, reducing the thorn wall to nothing more than a small pile and comping off unscathed itself. Nothing could penetrate those tough armoured scales. As it recovered, Apple took the opportunity to run, trying to leave as much space as possible between her and the ugly beast. She turned corner after corner not caring where she going. The ground beneath her shook, indicating her her that the monster was back on the chase. She didn't dare to look back. Off she ran.

Left. Left. Right. Middle fork. Left. Left. Right.

Apple quickened her pace as it gained on her. It tried lunging for her again, but Apple was too quick so this on resulted on the beast falling to the ground.

Right. Right. Left. Left. Left. Right of a fork. Right. Right. Left.

Apple was beginning to loose hope. She couldn't keep running forever and that thing didn't show any sign of stopping. She could already feel her calves aching and her heat was pounding so hard that she feared it may burst from her chest. A stitch was already forming on her side. Sweat poured down Apple's face. It was getting hotter. A lot hotter. There was a red, fiery glow up ahead. Apple stopped just before she plunged head first into the blisteringly hot lava pool. Now she had a new problem. She had nowhere to run and the beast was only a few seconds from trapping her into this dead end. Apple immediately looked at her surroundings, trying to find anything that could aid in her escape. Strewn throughout the lava pool were multiple large rock columns, some of which were covered with tangled vines. As the beast gained on her, she had just a few moments to jump as far and fast as he could. She could feel to heat of the lava below her as she flew through the air. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Apple hadn't had much time to think about what she was doing and she prayed that in those few moments of hysterical panic she had made the right decision. It wasn't until her right hand clasped around the thick green vine. Using the vertical rock-face and the vine that appeared to hold her weight, Apple pulled herself up onto the top of the rock column. The monster paused for a moment, pacing around the pool of lava, seemingly perplexed at this unexpected move. It soon got over this shock and leaned back onto it's hind legs, about to jump. Apple noticed this and was able to make it to a nearby column that wasn't too far away before it smashed on top of Apple's original column. That column was considerably larger than the one that Apple was currently standing on. The beast seemed to be dazed for a moment before turning his attention back on apple. His five eyes fixed on Apple as it prepared itself for another jump. Quicker this time, Apple hoped from one column to another with the beast only just a leap behind her. As the beast landed on one of the smaller columns, Apple heard a dull crack and saw the stone slightly split at the top. Apple knew that she couldn't keep this up forever. As she hopped from stone to stone, she could feel her legs ache. It was coming harder for her to find the strength to continue with each jump but the beast showed no signs that It was getting tired. Looking at the remaining stones, she noticed that the stones near the centre slowly became thinner and perhaps even more unstable in an almost spiral pattern. Thinking quickly, Apple headed in the direction on these stones. Being quite small and not weighing very much, the stones were able to hold her weight. It was different for the beast though. As the space onto of the columns became smaller, she could see it struggle to balance on its huge feet. And then finally she heard the sound that she had been hoping to hear. A crack, louder than the others. The monster had finally landed on a column that couldn't support its massive body. It gave out a shrill cry and Apple saw it stick out its short arms and attempt to get its claws dug into the nearby stone columns but it was no use. Down it fell. Apple didn't wait to see it reach the bottom. Instead she leaped from one stone to another until she was safely on the other side. The beast reached the bottom and the force pushed the lava upwards, scolding many of the surrounding columns.

Apple instantly felt very fortunate that she had decided to move. Apple stood panting, not believing what she had just witnessed. She brushed her hair out of her eyes to find it mattered together by blood and perspiration. She sat down and started tending to her wounds on her arms and legs. Dried blood coated her legs and arms. Apple always carried a first-aid kit around with her. Some prickles were embedded in her skin, making it nearly impossible to get them out, even with the help of tweezers. Once she was all bandaged and her wounds were as tendered to as they could be, she got up and continued her way to the centre of the maze.

Apple hadn't been walking for long when the thorn walls started caving in. Slowly at first, you could tell that they were moving unless you stared at them for long enough, and then faster and faster. Apple spun around as she heard the rustling of leaves to find the thorns falling on top of each other. In a split second Apple was off running again. She was sure that if she has waited just a second longer she would have been buried alive under the sharp thorns. The thorns seemed to come to life. As they started collapsing in front of her she took a sharp left. She kept running and running. Until she just stopped, dead in her tracks. Where there used to be a path ahead of her now was just a thorn wall with a gap that was shrinking by the minute. Thorns had covered her way out of the maze and trapped her with nowhere to run. The only way to carry on was to go through the thorns. Apple braced herself as she squeezed in. There was enough gaps in the thorns for her to slowly make her way through, but it was a painful process. Thorns got caught in her hair, clothes and any skin that wasn't protected. She had to cover her face with her arms to ensure that the thorns would get to her eyes while still pushing apart the thorns so that she could get through. She could feel the sensation of millions of small, sharps spikes digging into every possible place on her body. Apple's breathing started to increase and she had the overwhelming sense of being smothered. As claustrophobia set in, Apple didn't think she could handle much more. Maybe she should turn back? Luckily, small patches of light started to make its way through gaps in the thorns, signalling the end of her struggle. With one final push Apple was free from the prickly wall. If she wanted to get the key, there was only one way to go. Forward.