The Maze

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Suddenly, she opened her eyes, and Phoenix was there, right in front of her. Daylight shone onto her face.
          

Phoenix looked relieved, and Kura sat up. Sweat was dripping from her face, and she was no longer inside of the sleeping bag.
          

“You started to say something,” Phoenix said. “And you looked really sweaty, so I pulled you out of the sleeping bag. Then you started screaming…” he trailed off. He looked at her cautiously, as if she was about to jump up and slit his throat.
          

“I had this dream,” she started.
          

And suddenly, she was telling him all about her dream; the mountain, the Lkal, and the abyss. She told him everything except for what the Lkal was saying about Phoenix slowing her down and how he showed her Kura’s family.
          

Phoenix nodded after she had finished, still thinking. “So, he captures kids to see if they’ll die or not,” he said finally. Kura nodded.
          

“That guy is insane,” Phoenix declared.
          

The two of them packed up their gear after a nice breakfast of cornmeal and water. They decided to take the path to their left, although they still had no idea where it would take them.
          

As they walked, Phoenix tried to make conversation. “So… did your mother ever tell you about the farm mix-up in 2154?” he asked nervously, hoping that Kura would enjoy the subject.
          

She sighed. “No, I haven’t, Phoenix,” Kura said simply. “I didn’t grow up on a farm, so my parents wouldn’t know either, quite frankly.” A moment of awkward silence followed as they trudged down the narrow path. So far, there hadn’t been any other openings in the hedges, but the sun beat down on their skin and caused them to sweat more than usual. All they could see was a straight path forward.
          

“So Phoenix,” Kura said, trying to make better conversation. “Do you have any other siblings?” Phoenix showed her a sad smile, but the two of them kept walking.
          

“I used to have an older sister,” he said. “Her name was Linda. She died from food poisoning about three years ago. She was Dad’s favorite child.” Suddenly, Kura felt bad for asking. She flushed, and tried drastically to hide it from Phoenix. Thankfully, he didn’t seem to notice.
          

“I’m all Dad has left,” he said sadly.
          

“I’m sorry,” Kura replied awkwardly.
          

The both of them heard a stifled scream in the distance. For a second, they stopped walking and looked at each other with worried looks. In a silent agreement, they drew their weapons and ran toward the sound.
          

The shouts became louder, more painful. They were getting closer. Up ahead, there was a left turn in the hedges that Kura went through, followed by another left turn into a hedge-box, with the only opening being the one that they just entered. It must’ve been the size of half of a football field.
          

Phoenix’s head turned until he stifled a girly scream. Near the other side of the clearing, a large beast leaned over a bloody and lifeless corpse – it looked to be a maybe fourteen year-old boy.
          

All of a sudden, the beast turned to them. It was horrifying – its head was like a hound, with a mixture of blood and foam dripping from its mouth, and its eyes were red and full of anger and hunger. Its body was that of a dog, though the entire beast was about three times bigger than Phoenix.