A Play Of Light And Shadows

Chapter 4: Signs of Life

Nyx had been dead wrong earlier, when she had thought that the maze was pointing towards their destiny, to their impending ends. All along, it had been pointing them to the exit instead. At least, she hoped that was it, and not just some figment of her anxious imagination.

"Selene?", she said, voice croaking a little after the hours of silence, "Have you noticed anything weird about these hedges?"

Selene looked at her for a moment, eyes wide with surprise at the sudden statement. Then, those curious amber eyes started scanning the hedges around them, eager to solve this puzzle Nyx had supplied. Her eyebrows furrowed for a heartbeat, before she noticed the same irregularity that had bothered Nyx, and they shot up so high that they almost disappeared in her curly hair.

"That little branch over there," Selene finally replied, voice drawling out the words a bit, "Why is it jutting out while the rest of the hedge is unnaturally tidy?"

"Exactly!" Nyx cried out, relieved she had at least not imagined it. "I've seen it before, at intervals. But I didn't really realize what it must mean until now. You know how you sometimes just see something, without really noticing it?"

Selene's eyes now darted between the conspicuous branch and Nyx' frantic expression, her dark eyebrows lowering to their natural position again. "Are you implying what I think you are?"

Nyx strode over to the tiny, unassuming branch, new purpose filling up her steps. "I think that this branch," she swung her arm up towards the little thing, "and the others point towards the exit."

"That must be the craziest theory you have spouted yet," Selene mumbled, "And that is saying something."

"Well," Nyx shot back immediately, "This whole labyrinth is pretty crazy, wouldn't you say? Disappearing entrances and such? It actually kind of suits me, if I start to think about it."

"Better to not think about it too much, then", her friend replied, but hope had started to sneak its way into their hearts again.

They walked in the middle of the path from then on out, dropping their original solution altogether, as it hadn't yielded them any results. Following the direction the branches pointed towards, they fell into their silence again, although it was a noticeably more comfortable one now.

Judging by the light of the sun, that beamed straight down through the rustling leaves overhead, it was already noon when they rounded a corner of the maze and the exit finally came into their sights. They started running at almost the exact same moment, driven by an unspoken fear that it might disappear again if they weren't quick enough to cross it. Nyx skidded to a stop right when the outer hedge of the maze was only barely visible through the thicket of the forest, with Selene doubling over beside her.

"That must've been the fastest I've run in a long, long while," she panted.

"I hate to say I told you so, but I've invited you to come run with me often enough," Nyx replied, not able to keep a smile from her face. Out of that deathtrap, everything just seemed funnier.

"I know, and I'll tell you now what I told you then: I'm not going to do laps around the village so every single person I know can watch me trundle after you."

"Well, there are no villagers around here... Let's have a little training session, shall we?"

"Nyx!", Selene shouted, sounding exasperated, but it was no use. Nyx had already sprinted away, her long muscular legs carrying her easily through the underbrush, and Selene had no choice but to start running after her friend.