Page 31 of Death Match

Oh yeah, the end of the world.

After tugging my fingers through my hair, I climbed to my feet and brushed off my pants. The sting of the new cuts on my face and underneath my jeans—now ripped at the knees from my fall—had me clenching my jaw.

I needed to keep moving before this rock death trap threw anymore fatal changes my way. With my nerves still on high alert, I pressed on and followed the walls as they twisted and curved. That is, until I met another division in the road.

I examined both ways and paused, waiting for the tremors to tell me which way I had to go, like before.

I waited. And kept on waiting because the maze remained quiet and completely still.

Of course it wasn’t going to bethateasy. As if you could even call almost getting smashed between rocks “easy.” But at least it had told me which way I needed to go.

Not sure what else to do, I walked over to the left passage and something tingled up the nape of my neck. When I crossed over to the right side, the feeling went away.

As I backpedaled, getting closer to the left path again, the feeling returned.

Spidey-senses? Could be. Maybe angel-senses would be more accurate, as ridiculous as that sounded.

I had no other way to tell if either choice was the right one, so screw it. I had to go with my gut here, so the left path it was.

Cautiously, I continued down the new passage. Within the first couple of minutes here, I’d slipped on wet stone, which had resulted in a bruised behind and a residual headache, almost became flattened between to slabs of rock, and scraped up my knees and face. Who knew what else lay ahead. Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

As I came around another corner, a tall stone archway with the same eerie glowing smoke as the one I’d stepped through to get to the maze came into view.

That had to be my first Trial.

I’d made it.

The ground quaked under my boots again, and my stomach dropped. With my gaze whipping to the walls alongside of me, I searched for any signs of movement. As the shaking intensified, I realized a chunk of the ground was rising. Right in front of the arch.

The maze was trying to keep the arch from me.

Without another thought, I sprinted for it and hurdled over the rising rock like an Olympic track star, flying feet first through the swirling mist. The silky caress of magic raced over my skin as I passed through.

When I was spit out on the other side, my heels sank deep into thick, spongy moss. A dense, swampy heat pressed down on me, causing sweat to instantly cling to my forehead and upper lip.

Gray rock surrounded me, and a cloud-streaked sky stared down.

Wait a minute.

Realization smacked into me, followed by a whole lot of confusion.

I’d been here before… This was the center of the labyrinth. The arch had brought me right back to where I had started.

What the hell?

“Uh, Eli? Michael?” I called. “What’s going on? Wasn’t I supposed to be transported to my first Trial? Not back to the start.” Had I missed something?

“I’m not sure what’s happened…” It was Eli again. Like before, his voice echoed all around me, and I could hear the worry in his tone. It only heightened my own.

So, this wasn’t normal, then. I wasn’t supposed to be here.

Uh oh. This couldn’t be good.

“Michael? Help a girl out. Tell me what’s happening,” I shouted to the sky.

There was a moment of silence, as if he was considering his answer.

“It seems you’ve skipped over the first Trial,” Michael said after some time. “But why that is… Well, I don’t know exactly.”

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