Page 30 of Ruins of Magic
This side of the lake looked more like the remains of a burned forest. One path remained clear through it like a trail. They decided to follow it.
A short time later the trail ended at the entrance to a maze.
“What is this place?” Garron asked.
“It’s looks like a maze,” Arion said.
“Maybe this is the second trial,” Valaria said in a low voice because the place was creepy and felt like something was going to jump out at any second.
“The second?” Arion asked.
“Which was the first?” Garron asked. “The nearly dying in the desert with a thousand skeletons or him nearly dying in the lake? What exactly happened in the lake anyway?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Arion said. “He wasn’t ready to consider what had been real and what hadn’t. He had seen Valaria die in the lake, but yet she was here, alive. How much of what he’d seen was actually real? He had no proof or other reason to believe the king and Zallon had covered up the death of his mother like that. Could that have been fabricated too? It had all seemed so real that he was shaken to the core unable to discern it all.
“Well I think whatever happened, that was your first trial. The old druid man said you would face three. This must be the second,” Valaria said.
“What do you think I’m supposed to do?”
“Well enter the maze of course. It’s probably some sort of puzzle or something,” Garron said.
They hesitantly stepped forward. “Halt!” a deep voice said.
Garron screamed and jumped back being taken by surprise. “Who said that?”
“If you enter, you must beware. You have only five minutes to make it to the other side,” the voice said.
They all looked around and couldn’t find a person or being anywhere. Arion shrugged. “It must be magic.”
“Why only five minutes?” Valaria said. “What happens if we don’t make it through in time?”
The voice laughed evilly. “Then the walls collapse, and you will surely die.”
“Let’s just go around it,” Garron said.
They looked to the right and there was a wall of thorny vines stretching as far as they could see. They look to the left and found the same thing. The wall had to be at least ten feet high.
“There is no around. There is no over. Only through or turn around and leave,” the voice chastised them.
“I can’t go back now,” Arion insisted. “You guys wait here.”
“No way. We are not splitting up again,” Valaria insisted.
“Turn back, or all in?” Garron asked as he took a step away then jumped back towards the vine maze for added emphasis.
“What’s in the maze?” Arion asked.
Garron peeked his head around and shrugged. “More vines.”
“The choice has been made, you’ve crossed the line. Now hurry up, you’re wasting time,” the voice chanted as the vines grew, closing off the entrance.
Garron tried to get out, but a vine grabbed him from behind to stop him.
“Get back,” he warned his friends.
Arion grabbed Valaria’s hand and they rushed forward just as the entrance was closing.
“Why did you do that? The psycho voice only meant me. You could have saved yourselves.” Garron said.
