Lost and Found

Chapter 8 - A Voice in the Dark

Thump. Thump. Thump. The drum like noise still sounded in the distance as Nya and Pat turned their first left of the maze. Nya could hardly see anything. Even though she was walking right next to him she couldn't make out Pat's expression or any of his features.

The corridors echoed, embellishing every little sound so it sounded like an orchestra. Their feet slapped the ground, shaky breathing, her hand grazing the wall and of course the drums making a steady beat.

Nya wondered if she would really find her mum in here, and why her mum hadn't told her about Lar. Whatever the story said, Nya was sure she and her mum had been here before. She gripped her lucky stick in the pocket of her jeans.

Could they even defeat a magic shadow army that had been around since the birth of this world? Nya wondered if they were on a suicide mission.

Suddenly, her feet slipped on the concrete-like floor, landing hard on her bottom. Pat yelled out.

"You okay? Nya? Are you still with me?" asked Pat, sounding like he thought she had been swallowed by the ground.

"I'm fine, just slipped." Nya put her hands out to push herself back up, but brought them back out immediately. The floor was wet. She got up, thinking that maybe there was some sort of underground reservoir leaking out.

She didn't say anything to Pat, it didn't seem too important. They continued along the corridor. Just as they were about to turn left again, a voice sounded.

Choices, it hissed, just above a whisper. So many choices....

Nya froze in her tracks. Pat stopped too.

"Did-did you hear it?," she whispered, too scared to speak normally.

"Ye-yeah. I-I heard it alright."

So naive, so innocent. So many paths your young souls could take. So many decisions, so many choices....

The voice seemed to swim around the corridor, first coming from the left, than above them, then right in Nya's ear.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Nya's voice echoed.

The voice cackled. It sounded monstrous in the cavern, almost seeming to shake the walls.

I am Hecatura, a shadow of which you cannot see. Humans, so vulnerable without sight. What I want, you ask? Maybe you should ask what you want, for it is you who must choose a path.

The voice cackled again. Nya and Pat looked at each other wide-eyed. Nya had no idea what to do, or even what the shadow was talking about. What other paths? The best plan they had was to go left.

Left?, whispered the voice, as if reading her mind, there are so many more choices than left. Right, backwards, up, down, staying where you are. Your little trick won't work here, young soul. Not where the shadows are.

Not work here? It was the only plan they had, and now it meant nothing. How were they supposed to find their way through? They were hopelessly lost now.

Yes, wallow in your pity. You are nothing here. When in the dark, human's have no knowledge of where left or right is. What you rely on the most will only hinder you. Yes, so vulnerable, so innocent, so naive. Good luck, young souls. You are in shadow territory now.

The voice cackled, than was gone. It felt like a weight had been lifted off the air and it was cleaner. 

"It's gone? And it didn't even try to kill us?" Pat said, surprised. "I thought we were walking into a death trap, not a talk show."

Nya thought about what Hecatura, the shadow, had said. About sight and the choices they had. How her trick wouldn't work here. Well, that made sense. It was never going to be that easy.

"So which way should we go?" Nya asked. There was no plan to go by now.

Pat sighed. "I've got no idea. We could always keep going left? Even if it doesn't help at least we're going somewhere."

That was true. Nya felt exposed, just standing in the corridor. She'd feel safer if they kept moving. They turned left and continued down that corridor, unbeknown to the fact that they were following the trail of water Nya had slipped on.

Suddenly, Pat slipped just like Nya had before. He got up, shaking the water off his hands.

"What the? Why would there be-" He was cut short by a roar that shook the maze walls. A shadow in a vaguely humanoid form rounded the corner in front of them. It was as tall as one of the pine trees back in the forest. Water dripped off it's body like it had just run 10km and  was sweating.

"Water," whispered Pat. The shadow lumbered towards them. Neither of them were able to take their eyes off it.

"Run," they said in unison, and sprinted off back the way they came. The monster thumped along behind them, it's feet in sync with the drums. Pat and Nya raced down the maze, but the drum beat got faster, and so did the shadow.

Water was everywhere on the ground and suddenly Nya's feet came out from under her. Pat stopped in a second and helped her up, but by that time the monster was on top of them.

It towered over Nya like the skyscrapers back home, brooding and blocking the horizon. It seemed to be made of a swirling darkness of shadows, which vaguely made the shape of human features and clothing.

But it's eyes was what caught Nya. They seemed blacker than the other shadows, darker than night itself. If Nya ever saw a black hole, she was sure it would look exactly like that.

The monster lowered it's arm in an attempt to grab them. Never mind black holes, she was never going to see anything again if they didn't move now. The monster took up the whole corridor. Except for one place. 

Nya grabbed Pat's arm and tore under the monster's legs, running like she'd never before. She heard the monster trampling after them to the beat of the drums. It was at one with this place.

They turned the corner from where the monster had come from, and ran straight into a wall. Dead end. No, no, no. Not here, not now, thought Nya. They'd never seen a dead end in the whole maze but there just had to be one here.

Nya put her hands against the wall, as if it would move from her very will. She turned around, maybe they could till turn back, out run the monster the other way. But it was too late. 

The drums thumped like the heartbeat of the monster, thump thump thump. The swirling creature of shadows blocked their only way out. It had made sure there was no room for escape this time.

Nya and Pat backed against the wall and drew their daggers. The monster advanced towards them and roared.