I wanted to be a pebble someday. Pebbles had simple lives. They just had to sit at the bank of a river, soak up the sun, and that’s all to it. They didn’t have busy schedules like the average teenager had.

Idly, I looked at the purple and black watch I got for my birthday last year. I jumped up when I saw the time. I’ve been sitting in Greenburg’s Park for two hours! Mom was going to kill me for sure. She’s been constantly lecturing me for the past few days about how young women should not be tardy. She also says that I should start trying to get a social life instead of reading books all day. When you get older, she tells me just about every morning, you will need those friendships. Mom was like that a lot. She had grown up in high, proper family.

I grabbed my brown bag and rushed through the cluster of trees. There wasn’t a path to lead to the small stream that I liked to go to, and I was the only one who knew how to get there. It was the only place I could go to when I was frustrated. I’ve been tempted to throw my phone into the water every once in a while when my so-called friends wouldn’t stop texting me.

After running through the entire park, I was able to reach the quiet neighborhood that was only a few blocks from my house. But just as I was about to turn around the corner, everything around me disappeared for a moment.

I stumbled backwards in the black, and shut my eyes. When I slightly opened them, I saw green. I was stuck in a six feet gap between two bushes – like a path you’d find in a maze. The bushes seemed to go on forever in both directions. I slowly raised my head to look up at the sky, and gasped.

The hedges that were surrounding me were impossibly tall. They seemed to reach up to the sky. If I didn’t know better, I would say that they reached the clouds.

Then the situation fully hit me. Where was I? What – how did all of these hedges appear out of nowhere?  I reached for my bag, but it wasn’t anywhere nearby. I went on knees and started searching in the shrubbery, but thorns kept me from finding my bag. In the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a folded piece of paper in the middle of the path.

Ignoring the small scratches on my arms that had hurt when I bent down to reach for the piece of paper and opened it, I stared at the small, but elegant, writing.

Congratulations!
Welcome to the Maze of Alactraca!
The Maze of Alactraca is an easy game to play – you must find your way out of the maze in two weeks. You have no possessions, but you can find food, water, and maybe a few weapons in places of the Maze. Of course, if you don’t have any food, you can kill someone. Then we’ll give you two days’ worth of food. There are many challenges you must overcome, but I’m sure it will be easy. We have specifically selected each and one of you to fit our standards, and trust me, we have high standards.
The rules of the game are on the other side of the paper.
There’s no way to get out of the maze except to find the exit. Good luck!

Sincerely,
Wiolle Gonsier

I crumpled the piece of paper in my fist and threw it to the ground. I didn’t care for some stupid rules. I just wanted to get back home, and live my peaceful, quiet life with my books. I didn’t want to be part of someone else’s game. No way was I going to deal with this.

I took the paper from where I had thrown it and tried to smooth it out. I sat on the grass, taking great care not to lean against the prickly hedges, and I flipped the paper over. I took a deep breath and then started to read the rules.

Except there weren’t any rules written down.

I almost screamed in anger. Did that dumb William or whatever-his-name-is forget to write down a simple list of rules? These people were unfair! Why was I even here? What’s the point to this absurd game?

But if I had to play, I wouldn’t lose. I, Leia May Jordan, was not a loser!

Driven with new determination, I picked myself off the ground. I turned my head from left to right, trying to see any differences. Sighing, I decided to go left.

I tried to listen for any other signs of life. There should be birds, insects, and other small creatures in a garden – well, garden seemed like a suitable word – this big. But there wasn’t a single sound, not even the sounds of my footsteps. The grass was to be thanked for that.

Wait a moment.

If I can’t hear my own footsteps, that that means I can’t hear anyone else’s footsteps. I whipped around, expecting someone to be behind me. Just green and green going on forever. I sighed with relief, and continued walking until I found an intersection.

Left, right, or forward? Maybe if I went left, I could leave a trail so I could come back. Or maybe it would be better to just rest. Just when I was about to sit down on the ground, I saw a flash of dark brown. Jumping back up, I ran towards where I thought I saw it.

As I ran, I saw the other person – it was another living being in this huge maze! – they started to run away.

“Wait! Stop!” I called out, becoming tired. I had no stamina whatsoever, and I haven’t drank any water since… how long ago was it?

 Thankfully, the other person stopped. When he completely turned around, I could see he was a boy. He started to walk towards me, and as his features grew clearer, I gasped.

2: Not Exactly the Best Pairing

"Who are you? What are you?" I asked in a panicked voice, not able to take my eyes off the boy's – that is, if he is a human, which I completely doubt – pointed ears.

I wasn't one to believe in fairy tales or mythical creatures. I was the person you can find laughing at a storybook. There was no way, absolutely no way, that any of this could be real.

"Rzech," he stated in a hard voice, barely looking at me as if I'm unimportant. He paused, as if waiting for me to do something, like kiss his hand. As if! "I'm one of the cinalese."

"I'm Leia May Turner. And there's no such thing as the...how do you pronounce it?" I hesitated, trying to say the foreign word. Rzech's tipped his head to the side, and laughed. I couldn't help but stare at his dark, curly hair that barely hid his pointed ears. "Anyways, that either means that I'm dreaming and you're not real, or you're just wearing a costume."

Rzech had stopped laughing, and coldly glared at me, "What if I told you that you aren't real, either?"

"What?! I'm a human. Humans are real," I crossed my arms defiantly, "But you are not real."

"Humans have been extinct in my world for a long time now," he told me, "To me, you are something that belongs in a myth."

"In my world, you aren't even in our fairytales! I have never heard of the cinalese until you told me that you were one of them."

He laughed. I pulled my crossed arms closer to my chest. When he stopped laughing, we stood there in silence. Finally, I asked, "So, do you have any progress in finding the way out of here?"

Rzech shook his head, "I can't find a way out of here. For some reason, all of my useful magic abilities are gone. But I've found some water and food while wandering around."

"Do you want to team up?" I didn't want to be comrades with this…creature, but I couldn't stay alone. I didn't want to stay alone in such a familiar place. And by the tone of the letter, this game seems like life or death. I would probably go crazy if I were alone.

Rzech eyed me suspiciously. I bit my lip, preparing for the worst. Finally, he said, "Fine. You can come along if you want."

"'Come along'?" Was he going to treat me as if I were a lost kid or something?

"You only want to be with me so you can gain something. Try to prove yourself worthy of my company."

"I'm the 'extinct' human here. Maybe I should get a little respect," I muttered to myself.

"And I'm the mythical creature who never existed. Let's go," he strode ahead, walking with a sense of purpose. I hurried to catch up with him.

"Hey, um, do you have any idea how we got here?" I asked self-consciously.

"If I did, then I could've avoided coming here in the first place."

"Oh."

We kept on walking forwards, and before either of us knew it, it was dark. We chose a spot in the middle of a long, narrow path. It was only three feet wide, but it was obscure, and the entrance was hard to find.

"Are you sure that no one would be able to find us?" Though I wouldn't ever tell Rzech, I was nervous that I might get killed. Then again, since there's a lack of food and water (I admit, I might have had drank a bit too much of the water. There was only one bottle left, but Rzech wouldn't let me drink any of it). But I never had liked to exercise – maybe getting killed by another person would be better than starving to death. Or maybe we could kill the other person, and get food and water, but… that would be sick. Mortifying. Disgusting.

I silently continued a list of reasons why I wouldn't want to kill someone. As I lied down on the soft grass, I slowly drifted into the world of sleep. The last thing I saw before falling sound asleep was Rzech, staring at me…

xXx

My stomach grumbled as we dragged on. From what I knew, Rzech was hungry too, or he wouldn't be so crabby.

Earlier today, we both might've overslept a bit. I had woken up with my left arm in my middle of a prickly bush, and my arm had been bleeding slightly. Rzech had simply looked at the arm with a "sorry" look on his face. It had seemed as if he was about to say something before he started to act all unsympathetic again.

Stupid plants… I glared at the green plant life around me. If I had to stay in such small rails with hedges that almost block the sun, then I might get claustrophobia soon.

Dinnertime has long come and gone, and every part of my body was aching. Back at home, my family would be having a luscious dinner right now. I wondered if they even knew that I was gone. Sometimes, I would unexpectedly have a sleepover at Ruby's – my old best friend, but we're not as close as we used to be – house. I didn't like my family – certainly not my strict, prideful mother. I didn't like that many people, really.

Rzech and I walked on silently. As the sky grew dark and shadows grew longer, I stared at my feet to make sure I didn't stumble instead of where I'm going. Even I knew that I couldn't stumble on the grass and flat soil, it was better than continuing to see the green and Rzech –

"Hey!" Rzech had stopped suddenly. I looked up from my thoughts and saw that it was almost completely dark.

"It's almost dark. We should rest here for the ni –," Rzech started to say, but I interrupted him.

"Rzech! Can you hear it?" I exclaimed, jittery from my discovery.

"Hear what?" he regarded me with confusion.

"Water! Come on!" I turned away from him and started to walk back a bit, and turned right into one of the many paths we've ignored. I could hear Rzech following me, so there's no need to worry about him not knowing where I was.

Turning around one more bend, I saw a small clearing. With just one, large willow tree, flowers, and a pond with clear-blue water in the center in the center, it was beautiful. I stood there, my breath taken away. I glanced to the left, where Rzech was standing. He turned to me, "How did you know that this was here?"

"Exceptional hearing," I told him.

"Humans don't have that type of power," he stated matter-of-factly.

I sighed, getting fed up with his personality, "Well, I found us a place to drink. Is it okay to go to sleep now?"

"It's your choice whether or not to sleep. It's not like I can keep you from doing it."

I turned from him and sat right next to the willow tree, leaning against its wide trunk. The long, drooping – and hopefully safe – boughs swayed in the soft wind, taking my stressed thoughts away as my heavy eyelids closed. Feeling safe for the first time since I entered the Maze, I was able to fall asleep.

That is, until I woke up to the crack of a branch. My resistant limbs ached as I stood up, and faced wherever the sound came from. From the dim light of the crescent moon, I could see a faint silhouette. It couldn't be Rzech, because he was still lying down near the pond, which meant – which meant –

Rzech and I had finally found another person of the Maze.

3: Sarianne

The person stepped into the moonlight, and if I weren’t condemned to always be a slug after I wake up, I would’ve been stunned by the woman’s beauty. Instead, I only blinked slowly, doing my best to keep myself from falling asleep right then and there.

“Well, hello there. I wasn’t suspecting to find anyone in this part of the woods,” the lady said, as if she were only going on a stroll and not in a life-or-death game. Continuing, she introduced herself, “I am Sarianne Dufelgon. “

“Um, I’m—,”

“Did I ask for your name, you foolish mortal?” Sarianne snapped.

I blinked multiple times, and pushed myself up to my feet, then staggered a bit. I took one step back to gain my balance. Sarianne smirked, as if I stumbled because I was intimidated of her.

I’m not intimidated by this proud…person, I sniffed, somewhat insulted, but I knew that it was only because of my tired state that I was acting like this. If I were completely awake, then I would have some sense, and I would do something.

“What are you doing here?” I questioned her.

She shifted her weight to her right leg, and she haughtily tilted her head slightly higher, “I’m here for the same reason you are,” she coldly stared at me in the eye, not once dropping her gaze, “I’m here to win.”

That startled me. I didn’t – I couldn’t believe that someone actually wanted to win this game. I mean, I would try to win just so I can get out here, but…

“And how do you intend to do that?” I asked, hoping that my fear wasn’t showing in my voice.

“In any possible way,” slyly said Sarianne. I knew what she was going to do, and I was able to dodge her attack the moment she lunged forward with a knife that had seemed to appear out of nowhere.

“Rzech!” I ran over to where Rzech was still sleeping. Great blob of use he is now, I thought to myself as I shook him awake, “We’re being attacked!”

He murmured something to himself in his sleep, and I spared an anxious glance at Sarianne, who was standing in the same place, an amused look on her face as she flipped her knife over in her hands. Almost panicking, I did what I thought was the most sensible thing to at the moment. Rzech sat up, an expression of agitation on his face as he rubbed the cheek that I had slapped. I saw his eyes widen as he saw Sarianne.

“Who is she?!” he asked in a quiet, awed tone.

“She’s Sarianne and she’s planning to kill us, so let’s get out of here!” I said in a rush, barely pausing

Thankfully, Rzech responded to my plea for escape of this small pond by grabbing my hand and started running towards the exit, and I followed him as quickly as I could. I looked at Sarianne – and I saw that she wasn’t surprised at all. In a speed that I thought she was possible, she was suddenly seized my other hand and pulled me towards her before pressing her super sharp knife on my throat.

I would’ve gone into hysterics at that moment if, well, if I weren’t presently a tribute in a stupid game, in front of a magical creature, and had a knife at my throat at this moment.

Wait, that’s exactly why I’d probably go into hysterics. It is strange how things work, isn’t it?

Rzech glanced at me for a moment, and I knew that he probably knew that I was freaking out right now. He clenched and unclenched his fists, which were at his sides. He said something under his breath – a curse, I presume – that I couldn’t hear. But when he continued to talk quietly, his voice slowly getting louder and louder, I was baffled. I couldn’t comprehend a single word that he was saying, and it was getting on my nerves that he was doing nothing that could actually help me. I looked up at the sky, praying for a miracle.

Wait! A miracle! Rzech had said he was a creature from another world – which didn’t necessarily mean magical creature, but I’ve seen a lot in the past few days – enough to make me willing to place my hopes on magic.

Just then, there was a loud boom!  I felt Sarianne’s hands release me as she fell to the ground. In my surprise, I almost fell on top of her, but Rzech reached for me and pulled me towards him. My head bumped into his chest, and I could hear – and feel – his labored breath. A furious blush rose to my cheeks. I’ve never hugged a boy – I barely hug at all. I pushed a bit on Rzech, trying to get him to understand that hugs usually don’t last for a while, from what I know, but he had a death grip on me.

“You know, with that loud boom you made, you would’ve thought that something extravagant would’ve happened. But no, instead someone just falls over,” I told him, stressing those last two words. When a minute passed and he still didn’t respond, I grew only more frustrated and nervous – nervous because I didn’t know for sure if Sarianne was dead.

As if he knew what I was thinking, he swiftly unwrapped his arms off me.  I settled my hands on my hips and glared at him, awfully aware of the tint of red on my cheeks.

“Is she dead?” I asked in a neutral tone.

“She isn’t. I don’t have the strength to do that. I’m still in training,” Rzech averted his eyes from me and instead looked at Sarianne’s limp body behind me. “We should start heading out.”

I nodded, and before I could say anything, Rzech went back to the willow tree to get the canisters that were once again filled with water, and to try to make it not as obvious that people have been there. I stared at Sarianne’s body for a few seconds before asking, “What should we do about her?”

“Just leave her. Hopefully, when she wakes back up, we’ll be far away,” Rzech said, walking towards the way out of the small clearing without another word. I jogged to catch up with him, and glanced back at the mesmerizing pond before my view was blocked with never-ending green.

4: Memories

The day I found the creek was the beginning of my journey to find myself. Seven years ago, there was a beautiful day; with the sun up high in a cloudless sky, the morning dew lingering on everything green – but I didn’t see any of it. My vision was blurred from the countless tears I’ve shed. I could still hear, though. I heard a family having a picnic - a little girl’s laugh chiming through the air, and a mother’s soft voice, and the father’s deep, rough one. In that moment, I envied all the other children in the world. I haven’t talked to my father for so long – he’s been so busy with his business trips that lasted for months – and my mother would never sit on grass and dirt. My brother – my sweet, innocent brother – would be too busy learning things he couldn’t understand.

So I was alone once again.

I couldn’t stand to look at that small, happy family. Without thinking, I ran into the nearby woods  and didn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to get as far away as possible. But I had to stop when I reached the creek.

The creek. It was the most serene place that I’ve ever seen in my nine years of life. The water reflected the color of the sky – the sky that was covered from view by the trees but you can still see because of the brook. When I had cupped my hands and lifted water to my mouth to drink, the water was completely clear, and I could see my distorted reflection in it. In that moment, I had felt peace for the first time that month…

xXx

“Leia? Are you okay?” Rzech stared at me, furrowing his brow. I hadn’t realized that I had stopped walking and that I was leaning slightly. I widened my eyes, trying to push all the tiredness out of my system.

“I’m just a bit tired… after all, I did wake up for unexplainable reasons,” I glared at him as if it were his fault.

“Would you like to rest?” he asked with a tad bit of enthusiasm. When I nodded, he sat down and pulled me to the ground, and I fell on my bottom. My mouth twisted in a grimace.

“So, what’s going on? You seem distressed.”

“Do I?” I blinked. Distressed seemed like a good word for the way I’m feeling right now. It felt as if someone was tugging at my thoughts – the same way Rzech pulled me to the ground – and they wanted me to remember. To see something in those memories I haven’t seen before.

That’s when it hit me.

I saw someone in the woods that old day, but I had been too consumed in staring at the nature around me. The man – I believe it was a man – had been wearing camouflaged clothing, but still, now that I think of it, he was in plain sight. But when I had looked back, he was gone. He must’ve –

“Leia!” Rzech yelled, his voice pulling me back into reality. He was in front of me now, his hands on my shoulders, and he was looking straight into my eyes, as if he could see my soul. It felt as if he was searching for something, too.

I turned my head to the side, just to break the connection. My thoughts were too cluttered for me to understand anything but the fact that Rzech was only a few inches from me.

As if only realizing that he was right next to me, he stumbled off me, but he didn’t take his eyes off me.

In a much quieter voice, he asked, “Are you okay? You weren’t responding to me.”

“I’m just… disconcerted, and like you said, distressed,” I told him truthfully.

“Do you know why?” he asked gently.

“Probably because I didn’t get enough sleep,” I grimaced at him again.

To my surprise, he laughs. “It’s not my fault that someone had attacked us in the middle of the night.”

“Us?” I snorted. “I was the one who was awake and who talked to Sarianne. You’re the one who was sleeping so deeply that I had to slap you.”

“So her name was Sarianne? I thought so.” Said Rzech, and he turned his face up to the sky.

I opened my mouth to voice my confusing when he hushed me, “Shh. Look at the stars.”

I took my eyes off him and looked to the sky. The stars were there, as anyone would expect. “So?” I asked.

“Aren’t they stunning?” I could see him look at me for a moment in the corner of my eye, but then he observed at the sky again.

After a few moments of staring at the sky and silence, I declared, “I’ve seen something much more beautiful.”

“‘Something’? Pray tell, what was that something?”

I glanced at him with wary eyes, wondering if I should share my secret with a stranger. For he is a stranger because I knew him only for few days. But…

“It’s a place from back home. My… special place. A brook in the middle of the woods that is near a park.”

Rzech made a humming sound so I knew he was listening, and I could feel him mulling over my words. “What are you thinking?” I questioned before I could stop myself – and before I would explode from a weird feeling that was rolling around in my chest. It felt as if there was a sandstorm in me.

“My father was a traveler through worlds. He once told me about a beautiful, untouched creek in a forest. One day, though, he told me that someone had intruded, so he never went there again.”

My whole body froze, and I was back into the land of memories. When I gained my senses a few seconds later, I stood up. My hands were shaking. I twisted around to face Rzech, “We better keep moving before I fall asleep again.” I offered him a smile.

He frowned. I opened my mouth to give a better reason for why we should keep moving, but he walked up to me and picked me up, cradling me in his arms as if I were a baby.

“I can walk by myself, you know!” My cheeks were flushed with red. I sincerely hoped I didn’t look like an apple. My mother had called me one plenty of times, particularly on her bad days.

“Nonsense. If I carry you, then we can keep moving and you can rest. It’s simple,” said Rzech, his mouth in a thin line, giving away his discomfort.

“But this isn’t how it’s supposed to go!” I protested.

“How do you suppose things go?” he asked, amusement flowing through his voice.

“You put me down, and I walk,” I tried to cross my arms, but I couldn’t. Not in this position, anyways. “It’s simple.” I said in the same way he said the sentence.

He responded with a chuckle, but didn’t say another word. I glared at him, unaware that the black sky was finally turning into red, then slowly, into a beautiful blue…

5: Trouble

“You need to wake up now,” Rzech shook my shoulder softly.

“I don’t want to get up now… it’s still dark…”

Rzech chuckled, “No, it is midday. I’ve been carrying you for a while now. Could you please get off?”

I realized that I was on my feet, but I was still leaning heavily on Rzech and my arms were wrapped around his neck. Immediately after realizing that fact, I pushed myself off him only to fall down in a wave of dizziness.

“I didn’t say fall down, you moron. You’re so clumsy,” Rzech laughed, and I scowled at him.

“I am not clumsy!” I protested, trying to stand up but only managing to fall again.

He stopped laughing, but couldn’t manage to get off the smirk on his face. I turned around, ignoring his outstretched hand, and was about to start walking when I saw where we were.

If I had even thought that the space with the small pond was a clearing, this was certainly one. I could hardly see the green hedges – they looked so miniscule from so far away. We were in a flat meadow, with such long grass. As I slowly turned around, I could see that this meadow was a complete circle, with the hedges always in sight. We were in the middle.

Then a thought struck me.                                                      

We were in the middle.

“Rzech, do you know if there’s any other exit other than the way we came?” I could hear a desperate tone in my voice.

He blinked, startled at my question, “Probably, but –”

“Rzech, we’re in the open.”

Finally understanding what I was trying to say, he grabbed my hands and started briskly walking in the direction that I guess we came from. After a few minutes of fast walking, we were near the hedge. That was when I heard the two voices.  Rzech and I froze, and my skin grew cold even though there was a soft, warm breeze coming from the east.

Rzech bent down slowly, as if moving fast would make the two other people realize that we were here, and put his lips near my ear as he whispered.

“Run.”

I didn’t need to be told twice. I swiftly turned around to my right and started running. I kept glancing at the hedges – those hedges that I thought protected me but were really a trap, looking for an exit. I skidded to a stop, and Rzech almost passed me.

There was a bush that was smaller than the rest, as if it were planted after all the others. The leaves weren’t as thick and full of thorns, and I could see a few barely-visible branches. I risked one glance backwards, at the two people when I saw something I didn’t want to see.

A bow.

That boy who had just noticed us had a bow, and even though he was still startled, he would…

No, I told myself in my head, that won’t happen!

Immediately, I grab one of the bush’s thick limbs and pulled myself up. I reached up with my other arm and continued to climb. The leaves that were on the hedge were bristly and poked at my skin. I was sure that my bare arms were bleeding in some places.

I could hear Rzech panting heavily behind me. It never occurred to me that he didn’t have enough energy – he did carry me, after all. I should be more considerate…

At the top. I was at the top of the tree-like plant, and there was nothing I could do but push myself up by my hands and pull up my knees. Swallowing back a cry of pain, I turned around and offered my hand to Rzech, who was only two feet below me.

“Thanks,” he said, even though he wasn’t all the way up yet.

“No prob—”

Was it strange that that was the moment I decided to look at the two boys. One of them was sprinting towards us, but the other one… The other one had just sent his arrow flying to…

I was on my knees, looking for the arrow. I hoped desperately that it didn’t reach us – after all, that boy was still far away. Without thinking, I slightly leaned backwards, putting too much weight on the branches of the other side of the bush.

And I fell.

xXx

“She’s so retarded – and imbecile at the age of nine. If only she was as proper and civil as you, mistress. Then she wouldn’t have climbed that filthy tree and fell.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Sally. We should probably give her lessons…”

A look of pain flashed on my face, but as if I were cleaning that smudge on the window I was looking at, it was wiped away. Trying to tune out my mother and her personal maid like I knew she expected me to do, I stared out the window, watching men cut down my tree that held my tree house.

I wouldn’t cry. I couldn’t cry. If my mother knew that I was crying for a tree, she would practically disown me. She didn’t believe that plants had souls. She didn’t believe in being good or having morals.

No, she was just a puppet. She wasn’t one of those sweet little puppets that everyone loved – no, she was a wooden, ugly, mechanical doll. She did the same thing day after day, and her words had no emotion.

I hated her.

I hated her for trying to contain me. Trying to make me into something that I know that I will never be. I want to disappoint her. Nothing would please me more, because I know that sooner or later, she will lose her hopes for me. She won’t keep chasing after something if it keeps being snatched from her.

That is the one similarity we have.

“I’m going to go on a walk, Mama,” I said, calling her what she said was the “proper, French way”. I knew that she only wanted me to call her that so it seemed like I loved her.

“You can’t. Your foot is swollen,” said Mama, but the tone in her voice practically told me “you’re free to go, I don’t care about you”. I looked down at my feet, my left ankle only red, nothing else wrong about it.

I clenched my fists and started walking around on my foot. Sally looked at me with discomfort and worry – discomfort because she would get punished if she said something that infuriated my mother, and worry because I shouldn’t be walking around.

Ignoring her, I walked to the closet to get my shoes and jacket before I walked to the front door. It was then that my mother was right in front of me, and she slapped my cheek hard.

“Did you not hear me? You aren’t going on a walk!” she yelled.

I winced. I could practically see this scene in my head, my cheeks red. Not from embarrassment, not from pain, but because of rage.

Red described rage easily.

“I’m not hurt! I just fell! On my bottom I might add, so I’m not hurt anywhere. I just happened to bump one of my feet into the trunk of the tree! That’s all that happened! So I don’t want to be trapped here anymore! I want to – I need to leave!” I screamed right back at Mama, earning me another slap in the exact same place where the other slap was, leaving my cheek tingling.

xXx

“Rzech! You need to get down from there! Be faster!” I called to him, on the other side of the hedge. My foot hurt – badly. But I couldn’t tell Rzech that, or he’d probably just carry me again.

“I’m not going to fall like you did,” said Rzech. I wasn’t sure if it were just me, or if I truly did hear something I could only call darkness in his voice.

I could hear words that were etched with anger from the other side of the bush. This plant was less thick than the others, but you couldn’t shoot an arrow through it. Apparently, the other two people had too many supplies to climb over. I wanted to laugh because of the absurdity of it all.

I was in a maze. I was allies – no, more like friends – with a magical creature. We were continuously being prey to other people.

My mother would be in a fit right now if she knew what was happening.

It was at that thought that I started laughing. I couldn’t help myself. Rzech gave me a puzzled look, and there were a few precious moments of silence from the other side of the huge plant. Rzech managed to get down, and he checked to see if he had lost anything.

“Which way should we go?” I asked him.

“Left seems like a safe way to go.”

I sighed. I was hoping to be able to stay in the meadow… it was a beautiful, peaceful place. No, I reminded myself, nothing is peaceful around here. Even now, I was terrified, but I was trying not to show it.

There wasn’t a single sound from the meadow – which I couldn’t see anymore, which I couldn’t decide was good or not – so I assumed that the two boys went somewhere else instead of going through the trouble of going up.

“Leia? You coming?” Rzech was a few feet away, waiting for me to follow. I nodded my head quickly, and walking quickly to catch up with him.

“I certainly hope you don’t need to be carried again,” Rzech said, amusement showing through his voice.

“Hey, you shouldn’t doubt a strong young lass like me,” I said in a teasing voice.

“Then why were you crying in your sleep?”

My body froze; my eyelashes were blinking, creating the only movement other than my heart, which was beating fast. But I recovered quickly, and said in a cheerful voice, “Me? Crying? Psssh.”

I quickly walked ahead, counting my steps to get my head clear of what Rzech had told me. I heard him come up to me, and he placed a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around and look at him.

“You’re so easy to read, but it’s so hard to see what you’re really thinking,” Rzech chuckled, before his tone grew serious, “You can always tell me, you know. What you’re going through… doesn’t seem to be something you should go through alone.” He flashed me a smile.

“Oh… um… sure. Yeah.”

“Yeah as in you’ll tell me, or yeah as in I’m not really listening?” teased Rzech.

“Neither, you imbecile.” I smacked him on the head and spun around to continue walking.

But after taking a few steps, I realized I couldn’t hear him walking. I whipped around, but couldn’t see him. Where was he? There was only a straight narrow path, so he couldn’t have just jumped over a hedge in a matter of seconds, nor could he run until he was out of my sight in such short time.

“Leia?! What are you searching for?”

I jumped back. The voice – Rzech’s voice – came from right next to me. But he wasn’t there.

“Where are you?” I called out softly, terrified.

“What’s that? I can’t hear a single word you’re saying,” said Rzech’s voice. Then, in a gentler tone, it asked, “Why are so afraid?”

“Where are you?!” I yelled, “This isn’t a nice game of yours!”

“What?”

“Stupid magical creatures…” I muttered darkly to myself. I headed off in the direction we were supposed to be going. He’s going to follow me… that is, I hope he is. Even my thoughts sounded desperate in my head.

I looked up at the slowly darkening sky. Days sure do go by really fast here… Taking a deep breath, I turned around, but I knew that Rzech wasn’t there. He couldn’t be there, because I didn’t hear his footsteps nor his breathing.

“Why did you stop?” Rzech’s voice said. I bit my tongue to keep in a shriek. I was scared. Terrified. I hated not knowing what was going on, and I was afraid that something had happened to Rzech.

“Look, I honestly couldn’t hear a word you said earlier. Were you trying to tell me that you’re scared? I don’t know what’s strange about you that makes me wonder, so I need to know what’s going on.”

The source of his voice had moved to right in front of me. It was right in front of my face, to be exact. And then, the moment Rzech touched my shoulder, he was right in front of me, only inches away from my face.

I couldn’t really keep my scream from not coming, could I?