The Awakening

The Tin Woodman

Sophie's POV

I turned another corner, panting and with sweat dripping down my face. The monster was still freaking chasing me, and I had nothing to kill it with.

My teleportation attempt had been a huge fail, as the maze was at the bottom of the cliff. Waiting for me.

And, like an idiot, I fell for the trap. They knew that I was going to escape the second I was unrestrained, and that my only method of transportation was teleportation.

They were playing right into my great 'escape', feeding me false hopes of a miraculous return to my friends and family.

That's what Brant was warning me about; he was trying to tell me that resisting would only lead to me getting more hurt, just not in the physical way. My hopes had been shattered and resolve had been crushed.

I still didn't understand why Brant decided to bless me with the warning that was too little too late. It almost seemed like Brant had a heart.

The Tin Woodman came to my mind briefly, from Wizard of Oz, getting a 'heart' from the wizard.

Anyways, I had dropped down into this dreadful place instead of teleporting. It was apparently designed by the giants and titans that were the Neverseen's new allies.

I knew this because of the small plaque that I had landed in a heap in front of, one that stated the rules and details of the maze.

The only major rules were that I couldn't use my abilities or skills and I had to face every challenge. Failure to step up to a challenge resulted in death.

Very medieval if you asked me.

The maze was also designed after some sort of labyrinth from Greek mythology. I had no idea what that had to do with anything, but my photographic memory ate up the information anyway.

There were supposed to be ten different challenges to face, but what the plaque failed to tell me was that there would be monsters continually chasing me, even if I wasn't completing a challenge.

So, that's why I was currently running from a gorgon after passing the first challenge, which was the riddle of the Sphinx.

I had recalled, during my curious phase in the human world, researching Greek mythology. I was always interested in it, albeit I had no clue that it actually existed, or that I was connected to it in a way.

But, thanks to my photographic memory, I remembered Oedipus' answer to the riddle.

Which creature has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?

Thankfully, I had answered correctly. Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then uses a walking stick in old age.

If I hadn't answered, the legend said that the Sphinx would strangle and devour me. Now, I had no clue how that applied in the maze, but I didn't necessarily want to find out.

A low growl pulled me out of my thoughts and reminded me that I was starring in another near-death situation.

I slipped around another corner, failing to realize that I was walking straight into a dead end. Thankfully, I noticed it was upon further inspection, but by then, the gorgon was already cornering me.

Come on! I barely even got past the first challenge! I didn't even understand the purpose of this stupid maze!

I scoped the dark area around me; the floor was a strange tile substance that was wet to the touch and the walls were a dark green, with various scratches and indents.