A Play Of Light And Shadows

Chapter 3: The Road Less Travelled

Stunned for the longest moment in their admittedly short lives, it took a while for Selene and Nyx to snap themselves out of it. After all, neither of them had ever come across a skeleton before, and discoveries like that are never for the faint of heart. At once, they stumbled backwards, away from the macabre sight in front of them. Turning yet another corner, it seemed like they finally caught their breaths again, and they settled for a moment to put together a plan.

Selene, being the bookworm of the two, came forward with the information vital to their approach. "I remember reading this dusty old tome about how to create and solve puzzles, and I'm certain labyrinths were in there somewhere... Hang on..." She muttered to herself for awhile, twirling a small curl between long fingers, as she usually did when she immersed in thoughts. Usually the golden brown skin of her hands was stained with traces of ink while doing so, as she preferred to take plenty of notes of her thought processes. No paper nor quills handy, she had to rely on her rather impressive memory, although her perfectionist nature itched in the back of her mind, manifesting as an urge to make lists.

"Got it!", she said at last, relief washing over her defined features. "If this maze is simply connected, then just by keeping one hand connected to the hedge at all times, we shouldn't be able to get lost, and we should come across an exit at some point. If there is one, that is."

Nyx tried and utterly failed to be hopeful about this plan. "What if there isn't, though? Or what if this isn't one of those connected maze thingies you were talking about? Or what if," she suddenly lowered her voice considerably, "something else killed that unlucky soul back there?"

Selene shifted a bit uneasily before answering. "Well, in all those cases we could always try blasting our way out with magic." Seeing the look on Nyx' face she quickly added, "And no, I don't think we such start off by trying that. This maze is quite obviously magical, and like you so eloquently pointed out, there might be something living in here that is as well. Either way, we just can't risk angering anything or anyone by using our magic while less intrusive options are still open."

"Why do you always have to make such excellent points?", Nyx groaned, feigning annoyance unconvincingly. She glanced upwards for a moment, noticing the dimming of the light seeping through the canopy overhead. "If I can add a slight adjustment to the plan, could I propose we wait until morning before we continue traipsing through this labyrinth, and get some sleep instead? I'd rather not face some unknown magical beast in the dark - I mean, this place is already dark enough by day."

Her friend nodded in agreement, and they decided it was safer for them to sleep in shifts, allowing one of them to be awake and alert for incoming danger at all times. As Selene wasn't sleepy yet, she offered to take the first watch, and so Nyx tried to make herself comfortable on the sandy floor of the maze. Her cloak tucked under her head, sleep didn't seem to come easily, caused in equal parts by the thrill of unknown dangers possibly lurking all around her, and always being a tad self-conscious when it came to sleeping near Selene.

Eventually though, she seemed to have dozed off, as she awoke with a start on the agreed upon time, with a tired Selene nudging her gently. Blushing slightly, Nyx moved to sit with her back against the hedge, as Selene curled up to sleep. A while later, they had both settled into comfortable positions; Selene drifting off in a slumber, Nyx straining her ears for even the faintest of sounds that signaled movement nearing.

She spent hours in that state of heightened alertness, with the slightest rustling of leaves being turned into the sound of footsteps of incoming monsters by her overactive brain. When the light seeping through the roof of leaves above her head signaled the rising of the sun, Nyx' heart seemed to find its steady rhythm again.

She awoke Selene, who had ended up sleeping sprawled in the center of the pathway, and after breakfasting on a rationed portion of the food in their bags, they set out to find a way out of the eerie confines they had found themselves in.

Stumbling on through the maze, they both kept a hand against the hedge on their left, neither of them daring to speak. Still, there was little else to hear than the wind stirring the leaves and the scurrying of little animals, and so their fear of a monster lurking within the maze started to wane. The image of the fallen traveler stayed clear before their mind's eye, however, even more so when two hours had passed and they hadn't yet come across an exit. What they did come across, however, were more perished travelers, leading to more fear-inducing images haunting their thoughts. It felt like the maze was pointing out their destiny, over and over again.

As they settled to take a break and regain some energy for a trek of unknown proportions still ahead of them, something kept bothering Nyx, poking at the edges of her thoughts. She sprang up again, and started walking in circles around the spot Selene was sitting in, feeling the weight of her gaze as it tracked her movements. Right when Nyx thought she was going insane and that she had imagined it all, her eyes found what had been bothering her, and the realization hit.