Book 1. The long dark nights. RE-EDITING

10. Artos: Maze Runner. EDITED

Artos looked at the maze. It was huge! He analyzed his options. There were five different ways to go at the moment. He put his nose to the ground and sniffed. His trainers scent went down to the path to the far right. As he started walking to that path, that path, and two others, closed up. Artos looked back at the door. Next to the door was a large window. "What the heckin hell?!" He yelled. Everyone was in their human form, watching him. Hinto answered over a loud speaker. "This maze shifts around. Find your way through." Artos looked back. There was two original paths opened. He went into the one closest to the path his trainer went down. He kept his nose out for the scent. After several turns, he found his scent! He ran over to it, not looking at what was before him.

There was a trip wire. He didn't know this of course so he accidentally set it was off. When he got to it, a big bucket of water washed all over him... And the tracks! 'What the hell!' He thought. Now it would take forever to find his trail... Or would it? There was no other way but straight, so he ran before the water and picked up the trail. He now knew he had to be careful about those... Uh... Things.

He was making good time. That is, till the maze shifted again. His way was all blocked off. He went around, trying to find the scent. First a left, then a right. After a minute, he realised that he wasn't gonna be able to find the same spot. So, he decided to run the maze without the scent. He knew that, so far, he was headed in the right direction. He kept walking. He was going in a swervy pattern. Then it shifted again. This was getting him a little nervous. He couldn't find the way out. All he was doing was wandering aimlessly through this thing. "Are you alright?" A voice came over the intercom. It echoed throughout the maze. "Yeah." He answered "I'm alright." It wasn't Hinto's voice. It sounded a bit like Dasker.

"Well, I think you just need a little motivation. Here's the deal. You get caught, your dead. Or you have to return to the beginning." What? What was he talking about?

Then he heard a howl from the beginning of the maze. "We're coming for ya." The voice said. Then it whispered "Run!"

So thats what he did. He ran through the maze. He criss crossed some of his tracks to make it harder for them to find him. Rinty taught him about covering his scent. But in here, it wouldn't work, so he did another thing Rinty taught him in regards to losing someone when you are being followed. Confuse the ones that are after you. He ran and ran. Something inside him was guiding him through the maze. Every turn he made was not his own. It was like someone else had the reigns. He let this go for a bit. Then, without warning, he stopped. He was now fully in control. He looked around. There were three options now. Three doors. One led to the end. He sniffed around all the doors. Only one had his trainers scent. He barged into the door. It opened. And his trainer was on the other side.

"I see you made it." He said

"Yeah. But how? It was like I wasn't even in control."

"Thats the soul of the Chosen. You were in control because it was your soul."

Artos sat down. He was tired from running the maze. He was gonna take a quick rest, but his trainer pushed him back up. "There ain't no rest for the wicke.. er.. weary. Get up and lets begin your training."

The old wolf walked over to a large metal box that had a lot of different things on it. He pushed one of the things on it, then spoke into a thing that was standing on the side of it. "He completed the maze. The Chosen spirit inside was successfully awakened. Whenever you are ready, we can start the scorch trials."

The what?! Artos didn't know what to do. He didn't like the sound of scorch. He walked with the old wolf over to another set of doors. "What are the scorch trials?" He asked.

The old wolf let out a little creepy laugh and said "Oh, don't worry. It's painless... For some."

Artos swallowed hard. "But what is it?"

"You'll find out when the others get here." The old wolf said sitting down in front of the doors. Artos did likewise. They waited for the rest of the chosen to get there. When they did get there, he turned to look at them, and when he did, he noticed that the maze was gone.

"Where did the maze go?" he asked. Hinto let a creepy grin engulf his snout.

"Its not a normal maze, as you well know. It has the ability to shift. But it can also retract into the ground to give us more space to train in that room."

"Ohhh. Okay." Artos said. They turned their attention to the set of doors.

Hinto walked over to Artos. "Now its time for the scorch trials."

Artos just sat there. 'I can do it. I can do it. I can do it.' He said over and over in his mind. Then the doors opened, and he sank back. 'Holy hand grenade of Antioch!' He thought. 'I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.' he told himself. What was before him was just indescribable. It was... The Scorch Trials.

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Thomas would be proud of Artos. :')

Another Edited Chapter