The Amethyst Flame

Chapter 11 - Terror (Arthur)

“You need to cast Invisilabra!” I pleaded with Jethro. I knew we stood no chance against the minotaur and had to hide to avoid becoming another casualty in the maze. He didn’t argue with me for once.

“Aenum invisibilum aekum!” he chanted as loudly as he could. In an instant, our bodies faded. Our arms and hands were the first to disappear, followed by our heads and legs. In the span of a few seconds, we became completely invisible.

The minotaur stormed into our room and stopped in place. He began sniffing heavily and, at one point, looked directly at us. We dared not move or even breathe as we waited for the beast to leave. The monster forcefully dragged his ax across the stone floor in an attempt to lure us out. We remained perfectly still until it gave up and left the room. We hid for a solid minute after to ensure enough distance between us and the bull. A part of me wanted to stay right where we were until the end of time.

Jethro was the first to leave the spot, though not without hesitation. As I stood up, I heard him let out a painful gasp.

“Jethro, what’s wrong?!” I asked anxiously.

“I feel as if all the energy in my body has been drained. You know that feeling when you stand up too fast and feel like you’re going to pass out? That’s what it feels like,” he said hoarsely. Jethro looked like he hadn’t slept in three days and sweat ran down his forehead like a waterfall.

“Can you walk?” I asked concernedly.

“I should be able to,” he replied with a heavy sigh.

I propped him by the shoulder, and we continued walking down the maze. Every few minutes, we would hear an unusual wailing sound. It didn’t sound human, which was already a bad sign.

“I hate this maze,” I murmured.

“Believe me, this maze hates us just as much, if not more,” Jethro said with a pained laugh.

“I believe you,” I replied with a chuckle.

As we walked through the maze, the walls became narrower and narrower. They couldn’t have been over four feet wide where we were. To make matters worse, the wailing only got louder.

As we traversed the narrow pathway, the wailing changed into sinister whispering. The voice would keep repeating: “I know the way out. Come to me.” Even though we knew the being was malicious, it was beyond tempting to walk over to it. The maze was filling me with seething rage by that point. I wanted to destroy it once and for all.

That was when I noticed Jethro wasn’t by my side anymore. I only saw the outline of his shadow walking in the complete opposite direction.

He was walking towards certain death.