“Look,” he says. Again, pointing towards the darkness. “There’s an opening over there.”
“Who cares! What we need to do is find Mr. Nobody and Star!”
He ignores me and walks forward, leaving me in the darkness because he takes our only source of light with him. So of course, I have to follow.
He stops, waving the lighter around, trying to see everything. “What’s all this?” he asks.
I squint and lean in to see what he’s pointing at. There are little markings all over the smooth gray stones that make up the wall. “Looks like symbols, or something.”
Aric whirls around, sniffing the air. “Oh. Fuck.”
I whirl too—unsure what I’m looking for. “Oh, fuck, what?”
“That smell... I know that smell.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, shit,” he says, walking forward again. “Oh, fuck.”
“Bru!” I say. “What is happening?”
He turns and his face has gone completely white. “I know where we are.”
I wait, but he doesn’t say anything. “Well? Where the fuck are we!”
He opens his mouth to answer, but instead of hearing words, I hear a sort of… snarling? Sniffing? Snorting?
Aric turns and then yells, “Ruuun!”
I’ve never claimed to be the smartest of men. I mean, look at me. When you’re blessed with this body and face—not to mention the hair—brains are really just an accessory. But when a demigod tells me to run in a voice that suggests this action will save my life, I’m all instinct.
Aric takes off and I’m done asking questions, I am right behind him.
But there’s something right behindme.
Hooves. It sounds like hooves. Not some happy clip-cloppy sound of a horse on a hack being ridden by one of those English girls who wear all those sexy horse-riding outfits, either. More like the sound of hooves when a monster is at your back and any moment now, it’s gonna grab you with a clawed hand and rip you to pieces.
“What the fuck!” I yell. “What the fuck is happening?” This is when I overtake Aric. I mean, I am the son of Hermes. The whole ‘wings on his feet’ might just be a metaphor, but the speed is real, not to mention genetic, so I’m quick as fuck.
But he’s got the lighter, so I can’t see where I’m going until a wall is nearly in my face. I almost smash into it, barely turning in time, only to find myself presented with another wall!
“This place is like a maze!” I yell.
“No shit,” Aric yells. “That’s because itisa maze! It’s the fuckin’ Labyrinth! And that thing chasing us is the Minotaur!”
None of these words makes sense. There’s no Labyrinth. There’s no Minotaur. That shit was taken care of a decade back. But just as these words are forming in my head, Aric says, “Watch out!”
Which makes me stumble, allowing him to pass me, and then a burning across my back, the likes of which I’ve never felt before, makes me fall forward onto my knees.
I quickly scramble, turning my body around to face the oncoming threat and when I look up, I’m staring straight into the glowing red eyes of a monster that shouldn’t exist!
