The Beached Whale

The Aquarium Maze

I burst through the doors and was taken aback. Before me was no ordinary hallway. The walls were thick glass filled to the ceiling with water. The tanks of water were filled with various multicolored rocks and exotic aquatic plants. In the two tanks on either side of me, the fish were plentiful. Their scales shimmered in the light as they swam.

I continued walking down the hall but was met by a fork. And down each fork, paths that diverged. This was a maze. I listened as hard as my ears could, hoping to pick up the desperate lord's footsteps. I heard no indication as to which path he took. But I did hear him. He was using some manner of spell. I couldn't tell where his voice was coming from, I simply heard his whispers in my head.

"What have you done, my little whale? You've been very naughty."

I could sense the mother and the boy. I couldn't place them, but they were in this maze with us. I would not let Umber hurt them. I had to make haste. I didn't have the luxury of sleuthing the correct way. Time was of the essence. I headed left.

"I was the first you know? Back before man had even discovered fire I was hiding in caves, waiting for the embrace of night. You think your brief stint in the water was a long time? I have seen the empires of men crumble to dust. I have rebuilt the ashes and seen them crumble again. You won't be the end of me, little whale. I am the Alpha and Omega. I am him who eats time."

"Shut up!" I yelled. Damn this bastard and his monologuing. I doubted he'd hear me. Not surrounded with all this water.

I ran through the halls, but each path led to more forks, more ways back to where I came. This damn labyrinth of glass and sea creatures! I ran fast as the wind but realized I was going in circles. I recognized the same shimmering fish.

I ran even faster. I had to save the mother and the boy. I had to kill the lord.

The bastard kept monologuing.

"Do you like my collection? So many species, most are the last of their kind. I have always found the aquatic to be the pinnacle of this wretched earth. To me it seems everything should live in the water. I have been doing some experiments on my little pets. Tell me if you can see what I've done to them."

I stopped and looked at the closest tank. There was a squishy looking creature with eight legs. It was sickly pale, unlike the many colored fish I'd seen. It had a sentient look to its eyes. It looked angry, resentful.

It bared its underside to me and stuck to the glass. As if it noticed me. As if it was trying to attack me. I saw two fangs sticking out of what must be its mouth.

No.

He's discovered a way to make beasts into vampires? What perversion! He had spread this curse beyond its limits! If beasts could spread this undead spell then the whole world could be consumed by it!

"A fine specimen. An octopus. The last of its kind. I had to preserve it. Make sure it didn't go extinct. I have many like that one. I think when I'm done with you, I'll find a little tank for you. I think you'd feel right at home."

I looked at the tanks behind me, and then the octopus.

I got it! The lord had made a mistake!

As you went deeper in his aquarium maze, the sea creatures got bigger and bigger. This was how I would find the end.

Now at every fork and turn, I looked down to see. The bigger fish always revealed the correct path.

I was at full speed now. First I saw salmon and cod. Then dolphins and porpoises.

Yes. I could smell the mother and the boy. I was close.

I entered the end of the aquarium maze. There was a gigantic tank. This one wasn't see-through, but made of thick walls the same material as all the towers outside.