Imperium - t.r.

Chapter Thirteen: Mazes and Mortality

Anastasia woke on the morning of November third, meeting Theseus and the others at five in the morning. It wasn't a particularly foggy morning, but the mistiness of the scene made it feel eerie. However, instead of staying on the Quidditch pitch, he led the five to another place on the grounds.

"What's this all about?" Jasper yawned.

"No idea," his brother replied, fighting his own fatigue.

"Do the Quidditch teams have practice today?" inquired Sadie.

"No, not Hufflepuff at least," Jeremy answered. "What about Slytherin?"

"I don't believe so," Anastasia responded. "Though Slytherin is the type to wake up before the crack of dawn just to get some practice in... or sabotage the other team's brooms."

"Keep up, you lot! Come on!" Theseus called to them. They trekked up the hill, Jeremy nearly collapsed from the hike, but Theseus hardly broke a sweat. When they had reached their destination, a new maze had been constructed. Instead of the stone, it was carved from the earth. Dirt walls climbed high, higher than the previous one. This one had arches and tunnels and was noticeably much harder to navigate.

"You've got to be joking," Angelo sighed.

"Now, as I'm sure you've all noticed," Theseus started. "This maze will be much harder. Because we have to condense all of your maze training into two days, there will be all kinds of terrain in the maze. Be warned, the traps are much more dangerous this time around and some of you may sustain serious damage if you take a full hit. The original objective still stands. The only difference this time is that if you make it out of the maze before eight, you'll get breakfast and the possibility of a bath if you eat fast enough. Now go!"

They all rushed in at the same time, the thought of food greatly motivating them. Anastasia ran through, dodging spikes, fire, and vines searching for something to ensnare. She stopped to catch her breath only to get hit in the face by a stone column. She fell to the ground, watching the stretch of maze ahead of her. Stone columns jumped out and were absorbed into the dirt at a lightning pace. Listening, she picked out a rhythm to the stones. Rubbing her aching cheek, she stood up a bit unsteadily. After finding her balance, she ran to the opposite side and leapt onto the first column. She jumped from stone to stone, leading her upwards like stairs to the top. She jumped onto the top and sighed heavily, not being able to see down below due to the fog. Per usual, she was launched up into the air by a jumping stone slab. 

Ahead of her, she caught sight of a frozen wasteland, a swampy bog, and nearest to the end, a desert. When she came down, she realized that she had been launched up higher than the last time. Grinning, she ran to the next jumping stone. Landing on it at an angle, she used it to launch herself forward onto the next one and the next one and so on and so forth until she had jumped across from the temperate climate to the frozen tundra. It took her all her might to keep on top of the wall. Running a bit, she slid and was greeted by a strong gust of winter wind. It threw her off a bit, but she managed to keep her balance. 

Nevertheless she kept on running and sliding, nose nearly frozen off by the cold gale. Jumping from the Arctic into a swamp land, she landed on muddy mulch. Grimacing, she kept on running, trying not to slip on the mud. As she raced towards the desert portion of the maze, the wall under her began to sink, taking her with it. The mud rose to her knees, drawing her wand, she muttered a spell under her breath. The mulch was blown away by a strong, but small cyclone that erupted from the tip of her wand. Before it could come up again and trap her more, she leapt up, latching her fingers onto the top of the dry stone ahead of her. 

Planting her feet on either side of the wall, she lifted herself on top of it. Running like the wind, she used the jumping stones to leap up into the air and evade all the windy sand attacks that Sadie was suffering from a few walls over. Eventually, she leapt from the wall and in front of Theseus who looked at his pocket watch with wide eyes.