“We’ll rest here for a bit.” Scruffy said. Nico placed Mat against a wall and sat down. They’d been stuck in the maze for two days. So far, the plan was to go in a straight line. Logic would dictate that the maze has an end. Nico smiled to himself.

‘There is no reason or sense when it comes to the spell.’ He bent over and lifted some water to his mouth. The water was bitter and cold, but not salty. The kids broke off into groups and huddled around each other. Nico and Mat were left alone in their own corner of the area.

‘Water isn’t the problem, it’s food. And whatever else decided to come out.’ Nico listened to the hushed voices of the groups. Each one saying the same thing. Dead weight. Nico looked at Mat. His leg was swollen straight, and turning a horrible purple. The wound Eviphor gave him wasn’t showing any signs of worsening. Eventually Mat wouldn’t be able to walk due to lack of food.

A strange thought crossed Nico’s mind. Let him out of his suffering. He froze, thinking someone was talking to him, but knowing it had come from himself. Mercy killing.

Nico had seen it done in the slums. The old and sick that were suffering asked for it. His palms started to sweat even in the cold.

‘How would I even do that?’ Nico didn’t have anything on him. The only way he could perform a mercy kill would be smothering. He grimaced and stared at the wall. The alternative was to let him slowly die from his leg. His mouth was dry, and he swallowed. Nico turned to Mat and was surprised to see the boy looking back at him.

“What did you decide?” His voice was faint. He shifted to sit up straight.

“I was…” Nico stopped. The words never left his mouth.

“You’ve known me for what? Three days? And all that time you’ve been carrying me around.” Mat looked at the other groups of kids.

“You know I'm not going to make it.” He turned back to Nico. Nico didn’t meet his eyes and watched the water move. Slowly flowing past his ankle.

“I’ll let you decide. What do you want me to do?”

“I never liked the ocean. Surrounded by water that tried to kill you. Water that wouldn’t quench your thirst.” Mat said.

“But my family lived there, happy as can be. Yes the ocean could kill us, but it was also our livelihood.” He gave a lopsided smile. “There was always the promise of land. We’d anchor and I’d swim to the shore, beyond happy to feel the sand.”

Nico watched a drop hit the water.

“I want to see the shore again.”

“I promise you, I’ll get you there. In this life or another.” Nico felt a pit in his stomach as he said that. A small, indistinguishable feeling creeping into him. This boy wasn’t real, yet he felt like he was.

They continued to wander the maze. It was impossible to know the time, since there was no sun, but their bodies gave them a good guess.

They hit the third day. And that’s when They encountered the horrors this maze had to offer. It was the normal routine, walk, rest, walk rest. The kids groaned from hunger, but they were far from starvation.

“Look,” A kid pointed down the hall, and everyone looked. It was hard to see, but the white clothes matching theirs was easy to spot. The girl walked with a limp, her hair plastered to her neck and face. When she noticed us, her face lit up. She started to walk faster, her breaths becoming more ragged and hurried.

“Some lost?” Someone asked.

“We’re all lost in here.” Another said. They watched the girl get closer until she reached them. She stopped and heaved.

“Thank the gods.” Her relief turned to desperation. “We have to run. They will find us soon.” Scruffy pushed forward to the girl and held her up.

“Who’s ‘they’? He asked. She looked back before answering. “The others.” She produced a rusted knife and stabbed the boy in the shoulder. Scruffy lurched back and pushed the girl off of him.

The kids exploded into action running at the girl. She smiled and retreated down the hall, splattering the walls with reddened water. They soon caught up to her and pushed her to the ground. She swung the blade, getting them to step back, before she put her fingers in her mouth and whistled.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Several groups of kids ran out of the turns and attacked the chasing kids. An all out brawl ensued.

Nico watched in horror as the kids beat each other to the ground. The girl, the leader, went around slitting their throats, letting them drown in their own blood.

Nico lifted Mat up and shuffled with him around a corner. Nico yelped when he ran into a kid. The kid had fled no two seconds ago. Now he was back here.

‘It’s like the maze…wants this.’ Nico placed Mat down and peeked around the corner. Some kids were running at Scruffy with rapid looks. The boy got up and swung his arm, with a deafening crack, one of the kids hit the wall.

‘An awakened. That's why the kid was the leader.’ The other kid did a one eighty and tried to run, but Scruffy grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the wall next to the other.

‘Why would they fight?’ Nico wondered. They had no reason to. So far there weren't any dangers in the maze. With a sickening feeling, Nico got his answer.

‘Food.’ There were two things that were lacking. A way out and food. ‘They’re planning on eating each other.’ Nico ran through his mind, trying to think of a way out.

He summoned his runes and read them.

‘Curse you.’ The spell still held his aspect out of reach. Pasting ‘Redacted’ wherever there were words. Another twinge of feeling.

“Nico, lookout!” Mat shouted. Nico fell to the floor, almost instinctively and heard metal ring against the wall.

Nico turned over and kicked the girl. Her body slightly moved and she looked at him with pity. She swung the knife and Nico felt the rusted blade touch his neck. Nico only thought about what his brother would think about pathetically dying in the first nightmare.

The girl screamed and was thrown a dozen meters away. The Ape roared and pounded his chest. Another monster appeared, a three headed lizard. It clung to the flat wells and hissed, flinging its hairs all over. A moment of chaos. The monsters shuddered and disappeared, and Nico writhed on the ground. His body felt horrendous pain, and he squeezed out every last breath to dim it.

The pain subsided soon, and he coughed up water. Mat looked at him with a worried expression, and Nico gave him a thumbs up.

“What was that?” Mat asked. Nico looked around. The fight was over, ended by the appearance of those beasts.

‘Ape and…Vile.’ Names entered his mind. His neck dripped with warm liquid and he watched the blood in the water stream slowly, following a light current. Nico had a realization. Then a sense of deja vu.

“I know how to get out of here.”

Nico held Mat up and pulled the boy along. Images started playing through his head. Him, but different. Sometimes he was in a familiar body, the other times he was someone completely different.

He remembered. His first nightmare. He’d entered the cave alone.

‘This was the trial.’ Nico gritted his teeth and breathed hard. The maze brightened and he spotted a tall arch ahead.

Running fast Nico lugged Mat past the archway into a glorious throne room. The walls of marble shined with the rainbow, and a seat made from the ocean stood tall on a dias. Standing next to the throne was Eviphor.

Nico stopped dead in his tracks, looking at the smiling person.

“That was quicker than last time.” He said. Nico watched Eviphor move his hands and felt something slam into his back.

“Jude was waiting for someone to make it here.” Eviphor smiled. Nico looked up at the kid. He was holding a stick, raised to strike again.

“You will keep your promise?” Jude asked. Eviphor rolled his eyes, and waved his hand.

“Yes. Get on with it.” he stared at Nico, with his inhuman gray eyes, scrutinizing him. Jude grimly looked at Nico and mat and raised his stick. Nico just watched as a shell passed through Jude’s head, leaving a hole.

“I was hoping you’d kill him, like before.” Eviphor said, smiling sardonically. “It was always so entertaining to watch you kill him. Granted, you knew him better the other times. Surprisingly, it was Mat you bonded with this time.”

“This time?” Nico asked. Eviphor didn’t lose his smile.

“Yes. This is probably the six hundredth time We’ve spoken like this. With another sixty times you died before we even got a chance to meet.”

“I’ve done this six hundred times?” Eviphor sat on the edge of the dias.

“Honestly. You think this poor nightmare would be enough of a challenge for you? It’s only easy since you’ve done it a bunch of times.”

“How is that possible?”

“Nightmare creature, duh.” He leaned back on his arm and pointed at Nico.

“The first time we met, you entered as an outsider, and snuck your way here. You touched the throne before I could stop you and the nightmare ended.”

“Why was it the throne I needed to touch? Wouldn’t I have to kill you?” Eviphor sneered.

“Please, you can’t kill me. The reason you only had to touch the throne was because someone else was destined for the legacy.” Nico watched the bored boy. Mat was quietly listening to the two talk.

“How do you know we’ve met so many times? The nightmare is created by the spell, a projection of the real world.”

“Us priests are acutely aware anytime the spell uses us. Even in this qsuedo-nightmare.” He gazed coldly at Nico. “In fact, I recently heard you entered Rathaphor’s domain. She’s quite the pill when it comes to visitors. You know her by a different name, no?”

“Decay…”

“Yeah, the true name she earned. She’s quite fond of that.” Eviphor looked up and sighed.

“Alright, I should kill you now.” He stood up and Nico felt dozens of cold pellets pierce his skin.

‘I couldn’t even see what he did.’ Nico fell to the ground next to Mat and Jude, watching as Eviphor stepped forward.

“Don’t make promises you can't keep.” This time Nico saw what it was. A bullet of water shot off of his robe and froze while shooting through Mat.

“The ocean looks up at the sun and moon, but is not envious. For he guides the humans.” Eviphor smiled thinly and raised his hand. His figure flickered, and he looked confused for a moment. Something appeared on Nico’s body, black cloth.

‘Hunter’s mark…?’ Eviphor peered at the memory, awestruck, then he vanished. As did the rest of the world.