THE APPRENTICE II

11

The thing that woke Hazel up was the scorching heat of the sun that bore on her skin. She stretched out with sighs and packed up her things to proceed onto the maze.

"Come take my hand, I won't let you go! I'll be your friend, I will love you so deeply..." she guessed the lyrics of the song and entertained herself with her and Stephen's playlist. "I'll be your baby, say you'll never let me go, say you'll never-...oh hell no."

She stopped her singing when a low growl sounded from behind the walls of the labyrinth. Her fear dialed up to its maximum when a lion-like creature sniffed around the maze predatorily. She slowly backed away from the location in an effort to avoid it.

"Shit shit shit shit shit!" She whispered to herself as she took quick and light steps to get as far away as possible. The growls and deep rumbles got nearer and nearer, so she went on a full sprint. She looked at her hands and deduced that it could track her blood, so she made pathetic attempts to dry it out by blowing on it hysterically.

She continued to walk down her path while blowing on them. Her body hit a furry, softer surface, making her heart stop.

A lion, larger than earth ones with wings on it back met eyes with her. Making eye contact with the beast was like staring death in the face. All common sense and logical thinking left her body and froze her limbs.

"Uh...good lion?" She whimpered with a shaky and dry voice. The lion's eyes widened and its intimidating stare softened into surprise. It stepped back a few inches, making her blink harshly with disbelief. "Wait, what? Shit, that worked,"

"Human?" It investigated with head tilts, circling around her and sniffed her. "You...are a human, are you not?,"

"Yes, yes...not food, don't eat the human!" She let out a nervous chuckle and made a stopping motion. "You're...a hybrid? A hybrid creature from...from Egnaar?,"

"How did you know?,"

"It's kind of my job. You're part of the domesticated generation, aren't you? After the war?" She assumed and it only nodded in response. A look of delight flashed in her eyes.

"Human, you've made me happier than you can imagine!,"

"Me too!" She got giddy and jumpy, then bit her lip. "You might be an angel and I might be dead! Gosh, you're a blessing, I was starting to go crazy!,"

"So was I," it stated with a nod and began to walk alongside her. "There have been the most irritating sounds of poetry that have been circulating since yesterday,"

"Oh." Her face fell flat in realization and her cheeks flushed. She heavily debated on confessing to it and laughed lightly. "That's...yeah, that's me,"

"What?," it turned her head to her and scanned its eyes all over her body, clearly criticizing her. "You have been making those awful sounds, human?,"

"Okay, awful's a little bit dramatic but...yes. At least they were good songs, though- Queen, Beyoncé," she shrugged and it emitted a loud groan. "Look- I did it to stay sane, okay? I needed to occupy myself somehow. It's psychologically proven, you know? That keeping yourself occupied and acquainted can lessen the chances of going insane,"

"At the cost of my own sanity," it continued "I nearly tried to end it all,"

"You're exaggerating! It can't be that bad, people don't think I'm that bad, they can tolerate me!,"

"Do they love you? Were they used to you?," the beast challenged and she squinted her eyes. "Then that is why. Your sounds are dreadful,"

"It's called singing," she rolled her eyes. Is this how everyone in the monastery felt around her? "and if you don't like it, then leave,"

"I'm trying to." It almost growled and observed her actions. It found itself doing all actions of confusion "Human, are you trying to bait me or any beasts that could be residing in this trap?,"

"No, no, it's to mark my progress." She explained and winced at the impact of some sharp surfaces. "I put my blood along walls so I don't have to go the same direction again and again,"

"That's...actually quite clever,"

"Well, don't act so surprised." She scowled and frowned. "I think it's a circle, a spiral. The edges of the labyrinth are curved and you can't go too far around before it blocks you; that means there's one continuous way to get to the end of it, which is the center,"

"You're quite impressive, human," it smiled. Pictures of the two exiting the dreaded labyrinth started to shy into its head. "We may get out of this maze,"

"Yes, but it would be a hell of a lot easier if you could just fly us there," she referred to its wings "but there's something wrong, isn't there?,"

"My body is too weak to fly, I need meat,"

"Sad there's no meat." She concluded with nervousness and stepped away from it subconsciously. "Uh...I have some bread and fruits, do you want some?"

She handed it an apple and it devoured it instantly with satisfaction in its eyes. The image of it made her smile in amusement. "How long have you been in this maze?,"

"3 days,"

"3 days?! This is like, my second day, I think. You've been starving and malnourished for 3 days?!," she almost shrieked. "Do you want another apple?,"

"It's yours,"

"It's fine, I've got 5 slices of bread left and 4 apples left, so I can have enough for two days for the both of us,"

"Including the sustenance from the sky, maybe four days,"

"Not for me, I can't eat that,"

"Neither can I. That must be the source of my weakness." It whimpered and have a sigh that made its hair's flow. "I wouldn't be able to hunt if I had something to prey on,"

Hazel's heart softened at its words and she placed her hand on its back comfortingly. "You don't have to anymore. The dark dimension's probably getting to you too, isn't it?,"

"The dark dimension?,"

"We're in a place that feeds off of energy from dark and evil sources; that's going to affect us anytime soon." She bit her lip and turned to the beast. If she didn't get out of there soon, who knows what it'll end up doing to her, or what she could do to it? "This is going to be a wild ride for you and me."