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The howling from behind us grew closer, and I could differentiate multiple pitches. More than one beast…
A wall of green vines appeared through the fog and we skidded to a halt. The maze allowed us to choose left or right, so I pivoted to the left without much thought, grabbing Emilie and pulling her alongside me.
I had to go with my gut.
Another hound-like sound erupted.
“What is that?” Emilie gasped.
“Don’t think about it. Just keep running.”
We stumbled upon multiple openings, and multiple dead ends, moving endlessly without knowing where we were going. Was there even an end to this maze? Were we moving in circles until our bodies gave out and the beasts overcame us?
I wiped the sweat from my brow as we stumbled on another dead end.
“Fuck!” I roared.
Emilie cursed and threw her hands into her hair. She was on the verge of tears.
I was about to head back the way we’d come when two beasts rounded the corner. Two identical hellhounds, their eyes beady and burning with a ravenous desire for our blood. They had to be at least seven feet tall, more if they stood on their hind legs. They probably weighed a few hundred pounds, too.
Emilie shifted until she was behind me, her hands trembling as she gripped the fabric of my shirt. I blocked her as the beasts moved closer, though I had no idea how I’d protect her.
They were going to pounce. It was only a matter of time. They prowled; the sound of their heavy paws was like a pounding war drum.
“Come on, you filthy mongrels,” I muttered under my breath. The anticipation, the uncertainty, was always the worst. “Just do it already.”
Behind me, Emilie was pulling me backwards, trying to put as much space between us and the hellhounds as possible, but there was only so far we could go. I reached behind me and grabbed her waist, keeping her close.
The beasts were drooling, their rancid dark silver saliva dripping to the ground. The one on the right was pawing at the dirt while the one on the left stood at attention. They were waiting for something.
“Ladon…” Emilie’s panicked tone disturbed me. The protector, the High Commander, in me was failing.
Suddenly, the sky lit up. A bolt of lightning shot across the sky, reflecting off the beasts’ slick fur, and illuminating the unending hedges. The hellhounds snarled before shooting forward, barking and snapping their teeth ferociously.
I felt frantically for a sword that I knew wasn’t there. Muscle memory took over and I held up my arm, but there was no shield to protect me from the teeth that tore through my flesh. A blinding pain coursed through my veins, but I fought off the urge to pass out.
Adrenaline kicked in and I pushed the beast off me. The second was darting around me, looking to attack Emilie. I side-stepped and threw a punch, which did very little aside from agitating the hound. It shook its head in surprise before lunging forward again.
Emilie screamed, and I turned to find the first hellhound ripping into her ankle. It tugged, and she fell to the ground, dragging behind the beast as it retreated backwards.
I tried to grab her hand, but as I scrambled to reach her, the other beast sprung forward and landed on my back. I crashed to the ground, landing face first and hitting my chin and scraping my palms.
Before I could scramble to my feet again, teeth clamped around my ankle and dragged me across the cold, hard dirt. I couldn’t see her, but I could hear Emilie still screaming as the two beasts carried us off to an unknown destination.
My heart thundered in my chest. I tried to grab something, anything, but there was nothing to save me. The flimsy leaves from the hedges ripped to shreds in my fingers. My nails bled as I clawed at the ground. Even if I had been able to grab ahold of something, the beast would’ve torn my limbs from my body.
This couldn’t be how it ended.
We flew through more than a dozen pathways, twisting and turning too quickly for me to memorize the way back. The hellhounds knew the way, as if they’d run the maze a million times.
It felt as if the skin around my ankle was being torn from my bone. I didn’t even want to know what it looked like. Of course, if they chose to eat us, I may never know how badly my body had been mangled.
Suddenly, my body was being dragged down a set of stairs. White marble, I discovered once I was able to focus enough. The bump as my face hit each and every step made my head spin.
We slowed and eventually came to a stop. Beside me, Emilie was whimpering. Her hair was even wilder now, tangled with leaves and twigs while scratches covered her face. Mine likely looked the same.
A bright white light flooded the area around us, and the two hellhounds relinquished their hold on us. Slowly and painfully, I pushed myself up and twisted to find the source of the light.
