“You will meet three sleeping giants,” the robed figure croaked, “They will present themselves before you, and you must awaken them. That is the only way to know if you are walking the path to the place you seek.”
“Paths?” Nico asked, “How will I know if I’m taking the right path? Where am I supposed to be going?”
But the robed figure was swallowed up by the mist without saying another word. It swirled all around Nico, completely erasing any sense of direction she had before. She could barely comprehend up from down, and only just by the ground she stood on.
Gradually, the swirling mass of fog dispersed, and the pathway with tall walls presented itself to her again. But instead of a door in front of her, the pathway came to an opening instead, just up ahead.
She walked her way down the tall, narrow, roofless corridor, her leg still causing her to limp. The walls became a shade darker and increasingly rougher every few steps. A small, haunting ambiance blossomed inside her, and it grew with the color of the stone until it looked like bedrock. She made it to the opening in a fraction of the time she thought it would take. And her heart nearly burst out of her chest.
Beyond the long pathway was a wide open space, the very same dark walls circumferencing it and four pathways ahead within those walls, just the same as the one she had come from. And there in the center, on a small elevated stone platform, sat Trust. Or what seemed like Trust.
His appearance was no longer of his monstrous mutation, but his normal, brown over coated, friendly self. He remained still, his hands folded together in front of him, resting his arms on his knees and his eyes pointed downward as if he hadn’t noticed her walk in yet. His body appeared transparent, like a ghost, and his figure emitted wisps from its edges, making his presence ethereal.
Nico wasn’t sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her but unlike previously, she decided to creep around him and run as fast as possible once she reached the closest pathway behind him.
“Nico? Is that you?”
She froze, and every hair on her body stood straight up.
“I can sense you…”
She continued to say nothing, hoping that he would second guess himself. Perhaps his eyesight was leaving him.
“We’re finally here, after all this time. It feels like a dream… but the Witch’s realm isn’t exactly conceivable to a mortal imagination in the first place.”
“Th… The Witch’s realm?” Nico stuttered without meaning to. Trust smiled, tilting his head to her direction.
“Yeah,” he replied, “This is Abdullah’s Maze. The one and only path to the Witch. And my creator.”
Nico shook, unsure of what to do. He seemed his normal self. But she knew that wasn’t how he really was underneath. Off in the far distance, a demonic roar echoed over the walls surrounding them, jolting Nico’s head in its direction, sending shivers down her spine. She slowly backed away from the pathway it emanated from.
Trust laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m far from where you’re at. This me right here isn’t really me. It’s just an effect of the maze. Something only I can do. That’s why I can’t see you.”
“Is that why you’re not trying to kill me…?”
Trust shrugged. “I don’t even know where you’re at. If I did I would.”
Nico clenched her teeth in anger, full to the brim with hateful things to say. But she knew he would just laugh them off.
“How did you find me? I don’t even know how I got here.”
YOU ARE READING
Decemberland
FantasyThe Elbionic race, also known as "elves," is all but extinct, forced to call a world dominated by humans home. Their culture dissipated, their ancestry only found in history books, and what's left of their magic is scattered across the globe inside...
