Chapter 12

Sitting atop of a large throne like chair, an elderly man sat watching over the maze, his brows furrowed but his lips were curled into the smallest of smiles that if you weren’t looking for it, you would mistake it for a grimace. His weather worn skin looked more like worn leather and as he leant forwards over the balustrade, he raised his left hand and then after nodding towards a section of the maze built into his arena so that the umpires, a variety of mythical beings around the edge of the maze, could see and he then gave a thumbs up. They all let of a mighty roar and the ground trembled beneath their feet or hooves until all that was left behind was a dust cloud. The old man returned his attention to the maze, his lips parting to utter three barely audible words.

“Good Luck children,”

Colton was oblivious to the eyes upon him and instead of fighting it like he had done for the first five minutes; he now let his feet guide him through the maze. He had been walking for nearly an hour, taking sudden sharp twists and turns through the maze but strangely enough he hadn’t encountered anyone or anything, not even the sound of chirping birds or the rusting of the grass beneath his feet as he lurched down the narrowing pathways. After taking yet another right turn while he idly wondered if he was going in circles, he was shocked when he finally someone. He gasped and as the person turned around he realised it was more of a something.

He was there but at the same time he was not. The light breeze that was blowing through the area made him shimmer and his form became non corporeal. It was almost as if he would get blown away if the wind was strong enough. The man raised his chin and puffed his chest out trying to look superior and then in a deep booming voice he addressed Colton.

“Welcome child,” the man stared down at Colton trying to act intimidating but he just let out huge guffaws and swiped at the air. “Welcome child, ahh to funny, you look about 5 years younger than me, you should have seen your face.”

Colton who had paled when he had initially been addressed by the man now allowed a small smile to appear on his lips, though he tried not to look too amused, biting his lips so that he wouldn’t have to face the man’s wrath.

 “Kiddo, welcome to the centre of the maze, I see you have your totem and look at that, you’re not even bloody or bruised, that’s a first let me tell you.” The man swept his arms out to the side and a round swirling disk appeared in mid-air.

Colton thought it looked like the same foggy disk that Xandria had used to show them the story of Merlin and Morgana but somehow he knew that this wasn’t the same thing. He also felt himself pale at the man’s words. Bloody and bruised? He bit his lip and looked over his shoulder back into the maze. Although his feet were glued to the ground he could feel himself wavering. I need to save my friends he thought as he struggled against the invisible bindings.

“Anyway, there’s the way back, you ready to go now or do you want to wait and see if any of your friends have survived?”

 Colton gaped at the man, he was so flippant about the fact that his friends could be dead that Colton couldn’t restrain himself and before he knew what he was doing his hand was flying through the air. It swung towards the man’s face and Colton had a glare set firmly on his face as he aimed, hoping for the satisfying thud as it made contact with his face but instead the man’s body turned incorporeal and Colton had nothing to stop his momentum so he went stumbling forwards almost falling through the body.

Scrambling back, Colton stared as the man’s body reformed and he let out another deep bellowing laugh.

“What were you trying to do?” he said through a laugh staring at Colton whose fists were gripping into the grass as he tried to stop himself from getting up and taking another swing at the man. “What did I ever do to you anyway?” he frowned at the red head on the floor before sighing and folding his arms. “Well, are you going to tell me what caused you to think that you could possibly take me on?”

Colton mumbled his reply under his breath as he pushed himself to his feet, his eyes taking in the man with hair as white as his skin, and eyes the colour of coal. It was unsettling but he kind of looked how a ghost or someone possessed should look.

“What was that? I didn’t quite catch what you said.” The man’s teasing tone did nothing to help Colton’s sour mood as he lifted his head and glared at the man.

“You were talking about my friends like they were dirt on your shoe, you’ve obviously never had any real friends otherwise you wouldn’t have talked about their death so flippantly.” He scowled at the air around him, no signs that his friends were approaching so he gave up and slumped back on to the floor. “And to answer your question, if you haven’t already guessed that is, I’m waiting. It’s all of us or none of us.”

The ghost man nodded and when Colton’s back he gave a small smile before shooting his hand out in Colton’s directions so that he screamed out in pain and with a tug of the man’s arm, he was sent sprawling backwards, his body falling through the swirling portal.

Shaking his head the ghost man swept his arm and closed the portal. “Damn teens, they always have to make things so bloody difficult.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the maze, four teens stood huddled together as howls and growls came from either side of them in the thick brush. Zach stood in front of the trio of cowering teens behind him, his arms outstretched to try and shield them from whatever was heading their way. He was already beyond mad because  Jasmine had dragged them all of path by letting go of Emily’s hand and going her own way, her logic being that she felt they were going the wrong way. He knew that she had seen the bloody leprechaun skipping along with its pot of gold but by the time he convinced them to turn back it was too late, the others were gone and they were lost.

“It’s all your fault Zach,” jasmine cried as she slapped him on the back of his head. He resisted the urge to should at the girl. He shook his head.

“I’m not the one who went running after a little green man.” He retorted as an eerie silence fell around them.

The four of them tensed, James turned so that his back was facing the others and he could face down the other direction. They all watched intently, their backs ramrod straight as they waited for whatever was coming. The silence fell away as rustling burst out at both ends of the long straight stretch of the maze. James gasped as a pile of jewels and gold appeared several feet away from him whilst Zach on the other side of their little protective circle of flesh stiffened as two figures approached. One was a shifty looking little man wearing abundant amounts of green and as Zach squinted to get a closer look her realised that the little guy was wearing 100 dollar bills sewn together. Beside him was a 7ft winged angel. Her paper thin wings stretched out from her back and every time they fluttered they sent her long purple hair swaying so that it was almost like those slow motion moments in films when the girl makes the slow entrance. 

Zach took a step closer to the duo, his intent only to protect his friends, what he didn’t notice was that his friends had backed away and were fast approaching the pile of treasure. The three of them were wide eyed and the two girls licked their lips in anticipation of all of that wealth just a few steps away. A few steps further and the ground rumbled and then with a shudder the grass split apart, a huge fissure opening in the ground so that Zach was left on his own and his friends were all safe on the  other side of the fissure.

They stopped running towards the treasure and glanced back at their friend, deserted on a small island of rock that was crumbling away on either side of them. Each of them looked between their friend and the pile of treasure that promised a life full of luxury, none of them wanting to choose between the two wants.

“You must choose children, your friend or your own weight in gold?” A silky seductive swept over all of them as the ground shook and the earth began falling away from under Zach feet until he was balancing on one foot. He glanced between the edge of the fissure where his friends were and then at the rapidly decreasing platform he was standing upon.

Another shudder reverberated under his feet and without giving it a second thought Zach leapt towards his friends only for his foot to slip. His stomach with in his throat as he fell, his exposed skin scratching against the jagged pieces of rock and dirt sticking out from the walls of the fissure, bits and pieces digging into his hand as he managed to grasp hold of the ledge before he fell into the darkness. The jolt yanked his whole body so that his arms throbbed and he was sure that something had pulled. Closing his eyes and biting his lip against the pain, he dug his fingers in earth as he brought his other arm up to try and get a more secure hold upon the ledge.

The ground shuddered and that voice called out to the trio who were stood frozen, watching as their friend grappled with the earth trying to win his life.

“Come on children choose, your friend or the gold? It is a simple choice.” Her tone was teasing and the little green man giggle beside her and rubbed his hands together as he eyed the four teens, taking abundant amounts of pleasure at the one barely clinging on to his life.

The ground shook and started opening up around the gold so that coins started to slip away.

“Come on children choose, the clock is ticking.”

James and Daisy looked between the gold and their friend and not even pausing to think about it they ran to their friend and grasped his hands just as his grip on the earth slipped and he dropped further down into the whole. Straining with all their might they struggled to pull him up but by anchoring their feet on the earth and leaning backwards with all of their body weight they were able to heave their friend back into safety.

They had been so caught up in trying to rescue Zach that they hadn’t noticed Jasmine running in the other direction, her eyes wide and she looked completely frantic as she ran towards the gold. The ground opened up further and further around the gold so that more and more of it fell down the fissure. With a  crazed look about her she ran full pelt and then took a run and jump towards the gold landing amidst the metal which disappeared as soon as it came in contact with her skin. She cried out a desperate scream of rage as she tried grabbing the coins only for them to disappear beneath her touch.

Because she was so busy trying to catch the gold before it all disappeared she didn’t notice that her skin had started to change colour. For every piece of gold she touched another inch of her skin turned into gold. It was only when her arms became stiff and she could no longer move them that she started to panic. She let out a strangled cry of surprise before her entire body became solid gold and her not solid gold body teetered on the edge for a moment before falling down into the fissure and disappearing from view.

The remaining three sat there in total shock. They had been too exhausted to move and when they finally turned to berate Jasmine for not helping they saw her turn to gold and topple into the crevice. Immediately the scrambled up and peered over the edge only to see the glint of gold before it disappeared into blackness.

“Congratulations children, you showed your true worth, choosing friendship over greed, it will prove most helpful in the trials to come. Here are your totems. Goodbye children.” Before they could even turn around the fairy winged woman was gone.

The leprechaun was another matter, he grinned at them and clapped his hands so that the fissure sealed itself and then skipped over to where they were, gave them a wave and then jumped down the hole after Jasmine, his maniacal grin floating up towards them.

James turned and caught sight of 3 shiny metallic objects glinting in the limited light. Approaching the spot he saw two rings and a necklace. He took the ring that was shaped like a phoenix and watched as it almost came alive as he slid it onto his finger. The bird’s metal wings flapping as the ring tightened around his finger and the metal turned warm.

He offered the two remaining totems to his friends, Zach instantly going for the ring whilst Daisy went for the flower shaped pendant that on closer inspection had little engravings on each petal.

“So what do we do now?” daisy questioned in a low voice, her eyes flicking back to the hole that golden Jasmine had disappeared down , tears forming in her eyes at the loss of friend but the stubborn set of her jaw showing that she wasn’t going to break down completely.

“We find our way home.” Zach murmured the reply and after wrapping an arm around her shoulder he started walking, no idea where he was going only that he knew he had to let his feet guide him.

Okies don't forget to let me know what you think. All comments and votes are much appreciated. Thank you all for the support so far...fingers crossed we make it to the next round, though that means I have to work my butt off writing the next chapter :D