by Cece Rose
“Can you fly up and find the right directions for me?” I ask her.
“Tis a big maze, I shall have to fly a little across it to determine which way is the correct one,” she says, and I nod.
“That’s okay, do you happen to know which way is north?” I ask. She tits her head in confusion at me.
“It’s that way,” she says pointing behind me, and I sigh. Great, I’ve been going in the completely wrong direction, then. “Why don’t you know where north is?” she asks curiously.
“I don't have a compass and there are no normal stars,” I answer with a shrug.
“The stars are all here,” she replies with a frown. I turn around and look up, trying to spot the damn little dipper and north star, but they’re nowhere in sight.
“Um, no they’re not?” I say, unsurely. I’m not exactly an expert on astronomy, but I know what the little dipper looks like at least. Abby huffs at me, like I’m being ludicrous.
“Look, right there, you silly giant, they’re just backwards here,” she says, pointing at the sky. I focus and try to picture what the little dipper would look like in reverse, I eventually spot it.
“Well damn,” I mutter, staring up at the bright star that shines the way of north.
“Did you not know the sky is the other way here?” she asks.
“Nope, somehow, I never needed to stargaze in the demon realm before,” I answer sarcastically. She nods, not seeming to catch the sarcasm in my answer. “So, can you find the way to the north exit?” I ask, trying not to chew my bottom lip off from the anxiety wrecking through me at the thought of being stuck in this damn maze forever.
“Yes, I can,” she answers, and then quickly shoots up, flying over the tops of the hedges and out of sight before I can ask her anything else. The vines shoot out from the hedge again.
“Shit!” I curse, narrowly dodging their grasp. Stupid freaking maze. I slowly start walking in the direction Abby pointed out was north, figuring she will be able to find me easily that way. I can’t exactly stay still thanks to the stupid labyrinth’s anger issues. I come up to another brick wall section and pause, not wanting to have them close in on me. I look up for Abby, but she’s not in sight.
“Abby?” I call out, as I press a hand to my head feeling pressure build. I leap back as something appears right in my face, almost dropping my sword as I stumble. “Shit, you fucking scared the crap out of me!” I snap, glaring at the demon now standing across from me.
“You haven’t even crossed into the next section of the labyrinth yet, what have you been doing, taking a leisurely stroll?” Asmodeus asks, an eyebrow raised.
“Shouldn’t you be waiting at the north exit?” I question, ignoring his comment.
“Adramelech is watching it for me for a moment, I said I had a quick bit of business to attend to,” he answers.
“Business to attend to?” I ask.
“Yes, if you should survive this task, which right now I am beginning to doubt your ability to, I would like to make a deal,” he replies.
“A deal?”
“Yes, you do something for me, and I give you this list,” he says, producing a white envelope from his pocket. A golden seal on the back holds it shut.
“Is that…?” I ask, trailing off as I stare at it. I resist the temptation to try and snatch it, but it’s there.
“The list of every higher demon with orange eyes, yes, it is,” he answers smoothly. I look at his face, there's a satisfied look there. I chew on my lip, contemplating it. “I've even listed them in order of which I think could be most likely. For example, those who don't frequent the human realm are at the bottom of the list. I've made handy notes about of each of them as well. You'd be getting a very good deal here, Desdemona,” he says. His words are slow, confident like he's already so sure of my answer. I shake my head.
“No,” I reply, turning away from him to figure out where to go next.
“No?” he echoes questioningly.
“Yes, no. N.O. Not interested,” I reply. Spotting a gap in a hedge, I head towards it and down the next stretch of pathway. He sighs.
“That’s a bad direction to go in, Desdemona,” he calls after me, and I snort.
“Sure, how do I know you’re not tricking me?” I call back, not stopping.
“Because, I am very sure you will change your mind about my offer,” he replies, suddenly right beside me. Stupid freaking demons are too damn fast.
“Look, I already have one demon that I have dealings with, I’m not looking to dig my hole any deeper. I’ll find out the information another way,” I say, as I take a better look at him. He’s wearing a midnight-blue coloured suit, and his blond hair is slicked back. Other than the glowing demon eyes, he looks like a handsome rich guy. Why can’t the monsters just look like monsters?
“You won’t, and then you’ll change your mind,” he says surely.
“What is it that you want from me, anyway? Not that I’m considering it, but I am curious as to what you could possibly need from me,” I reply, continuing to walk through the maze at a brisk pace, which he easily keeps up with.
“I’ll tell you, once you come begging for the list,” he says, smirking, and I roll my eyes. Frickin’ demons.
“That’s not fuck-ing happen-ing,” I reply in a sing-song voice.
“Well, it won’t if you don’t make it out of here alive. May I suggest you stop wandering around aimlessly and come up with a plan?” he says, his tone sounding a mixture of boredom and dismay.
“You can suggest things all you like, doesn’t mean I plan to listen,” I say, shrugging.
“It truly is a miracle you’re alive. If I were Adam, I would have killed you multiple times by now,” he drawls.
“But, you’re not, and I’m alive. Are you just here to distract me? Because I need to get back to escaping the labyrinth, and you’re kind of distracting,” I reply.
“I’ll take it as a compliment. I’ll leave you to it, then. One word of advice though, halfling, you may be tempted to run through the walled sections, but try the opposite approach,” he says smirking.
“What’s that even supposed to mean?” I question him. Instead of answering, he winks, and then with a pop, he’s gone. It’s like demons just can’t resist popping out on people like that.
“Abby?” I call, hearing the familiar buzzing sound approach.
“The demon’s not coming back, right?” her voice calls from out of sight.
“I don't think so,” I answer. She zooms out in front of me and hovers around eye level. “Did you find the way out?” I ask her.
“I think I found a way for us to make our escape, but tis far. The path isn’t as the dragon flies, it’s twisted. You have to make so many turns that lead you back, before you can make turns that will take you forward,” Abby answers, placing her hands on her hips.
“That’s kind of the purpose of a maze, to make the path confusing. It wouldn’t be much of a maze if it was a straight path,” I say, sighing.
“Well, mazes are foolish. Why do you giants make such absurd things?” she asks.
“No idea, Abby, but I really wish nobody invented mazes,” I answer. I scan the area, spotting three ways I can go from here. “Which way, Fairydust?” I ask her.
“Why are you calling me these things when my name is Abbithalia? You’ve called me Tinkerbelle, Abby, and Fairydust?” she asks, narrowing her eyes on me.
“It’s a nickname, do you not have nicknames?” I ask her, and she shakes her tiny head at me. “It’s basically what friends do, they call each other nicknames because it’s quicker, I guess,” I explain.
“Well, nicknames are silly too. Fairydust is the silliest, for I’m a pixie, not a fairy,” she says, huffing.
“Fine, no more Fairydust,” I say, and she huffs. I narrow my eyes on her. “Which way then, Pixiedust?” I ask, smiling evilly at her, as she glares back at me.
“Next left,” Abby says, fluttering above my head. We reach the turn, and I pause
. Staring down the walled section of the labyrinth, I try and steel my nerves.
“Is there another way?” I ask.
“Tis no other way, we don’t have time,” she confirms resolutely.
“Fuck,” I mutter. “Fly up above, Abby, I don’t want you getting trapped,” I say gently. She nods and flies up and zips across to the other end. I’m amazed how fast she can fly. Taking a step into the walled section, I pause waiting for them to start closing in. When the walls don’t budge, I creep in a few more paces, but nothing. I continue walking, gradually picking up my pace eager to get out of the walled section. A soft rumble comes from the walls, and ever so slowly they start to creep in. Crap. I look both ways, I’m much closer to the beginning than the end of the walled path. I turn back and run, the walls seem to be closing in faster and faster as I race back to safety. I speed up, and the walls seem to close even quicker on me. Wait. The opposite approach to running through… I take a deep breath and come to an abrupt halt to test my theory, casting a silent prayer to a being I don't believe in that this works.
The walls make a painful groan of a noise and stop. I stay completely still, and gradually, they begin to move back outwards, until they reach their original position.
“Tricky fucking demons,” I say aloud to myself, letting out a breath. After a moment, I slowly begin to move forward again. Any time the walls begin to move, I slow down or pause, waiting for them to return to their original position. Eventually, I reach the other end of the walled section, oddly thankful to be back in the bush section. The thankfulness quickly fades when I realise something.
“Abby?” I call, whirling around in a circle trying to spot her. When she doesn't flutter into my eye line, I begin to panic. “Abby!?” I call louder, as I take a few steps in what I hope is the right direction. I listen, attempting to calm my breathing as I try to hear the buzzing sounds her fast wings make, but all I hear is silence. “Abby!? Stop messing around; I promise to stop calling you Pixiedust!” I shout. Still nothing. Fuck.
I speed up, racing through the maze in the general direction we had been heading. The silence is broken by a high-pitched scream coming from up ahead to the left, I race down to the fork in the path and turn left, freezing at the sight I see. A monster has hold of Abby by her tiny legs, dangling her upside down.
“Put me down!” she wails, thrashing about in the monster's grasp. I stare slack-jawed at the beast holding her, trying to work out exactly what it is. The head of a bull and the body of a man, a stupidly hairy man. Wait, a labyrinth, a half-bull half-man creature…it's a freaking Minotaur. If I wasn't so terrified, I'd laugh. The Minotaur begins to shake Abby, clearly unhappy with her wailing. Shit.
Without time to think of a better plan, I lift my sword and race forward to rescue the annoying little pixie. The Minotaur turns in my direction hearing my loud approach and drops Abby. She hits the ground with a small thump and doesn't get back up. Halting as I stare at the spot where she's lying on the ground, I watch her for signs of life. When she doesn't make any movement, I look back up at the Minotaur seeing it dragging its cloven feet across the ground. It breathes out deeply through its nostrils, and smoke puffs out. Please don't let it breathe fire.
I'm about to slash with my sword when I stop. Maybe it's friendly and Abby just confused it? It has probably never seen a pixie before.
“Hey, easy there, Minotaur-thing-person, fuck what is the correct thing to call you?” I say, rushing my words out despite trying to speak slowly so it'll maybe understand. It pauses and looks at me. Huh, maybe talking to it is workin—My thoughts are cut off as the Minotaur charges towards me. I panic, and dart left, falling to the floor to escape being crashed into. That was way too close.
It rushes towards where I am lying on the ground, and I roll before it can get me. It thrusts its head downwards towards the empty spot where I was just lying. I stare at the sharp horns on its head, I would have been so fucked if I hadn’t rolled when I did. I jump up into a semi-crouched position, clutching my sword so tightly I am scared my fingers will snap. I spare a glance in Abby's direction now I am closer, for a second I'm convinced the fall killed her, but then I notice her wings flutter a little. Shit, is she alive?
The minotaur lets out a fierce roar and charges towards me again, I run, darting towards Abby, I have to save us. I reach her, crouching over her as I scream, “Circumdo adnecto!” My familiar bubble of pulsing, red energy pops up around me. I cringe as I feel the Minotaur slam into the side of it, bouncing back. It charges again, and again, trying to batter its way through, but it does no good as my circle holds strong.
I sit back, dropping my sword and picking up Abby, just holding her in my hands as I look for signs of life. I see the slightest rise and fall in her chest and breathe a sigh of relief. She's alive. I tuck her into the inside pocket of my leather jacket, not knowing where else to put her. At least she will be warm and safe in there.
The Minotaur continues its assault on my circle, making no progress in taking my circle down; brute physical force does nothing against magic. I look up at the sky, it's still as dark as always in the demon realm, but I know my time must be running short. How the hell am I going to find my way now, with Abby unconscious, there's no way to know where I am going, and not enough time to find it by luck. And then, there's the issue of the freaking Minotaur that looks pretty keen on disembowelling me with its pointy horns. Holy shitballs, I am so fucking doomed.
Tears of frustration start to fall down my cheeks. This is impossible, there's no way I can find my way out of this labyrinth alone. I turn away from the Minotaur, not wanting to watch as it continues to slam into my circle. I consider shoving some energy through my circle at it, but even if I did take it out, it's not like I can find my way out of this place in time. It's pointless. Mona, the halfling with magic, is defeated by a freaking maze. Great. I wish this stupid maze would just burn to the freaking ground—wait—they never said I couldn't destroy the maze. Standing up, I consider my options. Dropping my circle and using fire magic would be the easiest option, but I don't fancy my chances outside of my bubble with the Minotaur. I know I can push energy out through my circle, maybe I can use my magic outside of a circle, too? Screw what people say is possible or not, nothing about me is possible, why should this be?
Squaring my shoulders, and clenching my jaw, I place my hands up against the edges of my circle. Feeling a sense of determination replace the hopelessness as I let my magic flow. Tugging as hard as I can on the magical centre inside of me, I push it into the circle, and then I think of the green flames, I picture them flaring out in every direction from my circle, tearing down every inch of this damn place. I try and remember the words...Flammis concreuerit orbis. Orbis is like an orb of fire, right? And I don't want a little orb, I want a damn explosion of flames.
“Flammis concreuerit,” I shout, pushing the magic out with as much force as I can muster. I feel it slowly creep out through my circle at first, and then as it comes to the outer rim of the circle, I feel every inch of my energy suddenly shoving out in a rush. A golden tinge flares out over my bubble, glowing brightly, and then the flames come. Instead of green flames, glittering golden flames flash out, destroying everything in their path as they spread. They move rapidly, spreading faster than I could ever imagine flames moving. I hear an ungodly roar of pain and cringe, but I keep shoving every bit of power I can out. There's no time to worry about anything else in this hell of a maze I could be killing right now. I need to pass this stupid test; I need to survive.
I collapse to my knees from exhaustion, still somehow miraculously managing to hold my circle in place. I breathe deeply, watching the flames destroy all that is around me until only burnt ashes remain. It didn't just destroy the bush parts of the maze, the walls crumbled under my magical flames, too. There's no sign of the Minotaur now, or any other creature for that matter, so I let my circle drop. I'm so drained I could just lie down and sleep for days, but this isn't the end yet.
F
orcing myself to my feet, I make myself walk in what I hope is the north direction. From the reverse stars in the sky, I would assume so. I walk as the crow flies, straight on, stepping over ash and broken remains. I keep stumbling forward, almost tripping over debris as I make my way.
Finally, I see figures ahead. I straighten my shoulders and try to gain some composure, not wanting to show weakness in front of them.
“Dove, I didn't expect you to destroy the damn labyrinth,” Adam drawls as he steps towards me. I relax my shoulders a little, glad I have made my way to Adam and Asmodeus, rather than other demons.
“You said no rules,” I mutter, as I come to stand in front of the two of them. They both look concerned, rather than happy at my finding a way to escape. I can never figure out what these demons are thinking, didn't these two want me to pass?
“You killed the labyrinth, she's been alive for centuries,” Asmodeus says, his tone agitated.
“Fuck the labyrinth, you guys said no rules. I escaped the labyrinth, didn't I?” I retort. A wave of exhaustion hits me, and I waver on my feet. A hand rests on my back, holding me up.
“Yes, you did. How did you do that, I've never seen flames like that?” Adam questions me.
“Just Flammis concreuerit,” I mutter, feeling my eyes close as I lean back against him. I’m just so tired. The demon is too damn comfortable, who'd have thought a demon would make such a good damn pillow?
“She’s going to pass out, you should get her away from here, old friend. They all saw her destroy the labyrinth, there is no question, the first test has been passed. You can take her home to rest before the next, she will need it,” Asmodeus says quietly. I'll need rest? That cannot mean anything good.
“Come on, love, time to jump home,” he says. I nod my head, agreeing to him jumping me out of here. I need to get home and let the guys know I’m okay. “Fuck, sorry, Firefly, it's hit daybreak where you live; I can't take you back.”
