THE APPRENTICE II

13

A bony, lanky hand gripped on her leg and pierced her skin with its sharp claws- a mindless one had its hold on her. Hazel gasped and tried to hold onto a wall, but her injury prevented her from doing so. More and more hands came pulling her down into a dark pit that swirled tirelessly, nauseating her. Screeching noises filled her ears and their sharp nails gripped on her hair, her cheeks, arms, legs- any trace of flesh in her body. Her entirety was on fire- piercing.

Hazel's eyes shot open and she frantically took breaths of air. The sorcerer shut her eyes for second intervals to ground herself and observed her surroundings.

When she woke up for her third day in the maze, Icarus was nowhere to be found. The only thing she saw was the concrete walls that were an inch away from driving her mad. The hair splitting sight just made her want to kick it down, band her head against it- anything to see or feel something else.

Her dreams were filled with horrible visions and memories that haunted her. It surprised her to think she'd rather be awake than asleep.

She gazed  at her hands longingly and shut her eyes in order to at least try to self heal, but no presence of divine energy was sensed. She could use the dark dimension and nobody would know. It was for the greater good, anyways: if she dies in this labyrinth, there would be less sorcerers to protect the world.

She was interrupted when deep growling sounds echoed from behind her. The sorcerer took wobbly steps up in delight, but her smile soon faded when her eyes landed on Icarus.

"What's wrong?" Hazel asked him, his eyes were predatory, teeth snarled and his body down to the ground as if he were on the hunt. He only took slow and low steps towards her, making her back away. "Icarus."

He ignored her stern tone and she slowly picked up her bag of supplies. Little by little, she was getting farther and farther away from him. The smell of Hazel's hands only tempted him even more.

"I think you've been staying here for too long." She said to him under her breath. "The energy from the dark dimension is taking its toll on you, isn't it?"

She didn't wait for a response and dashed away from him. She could almost feel his presence catching up to her, it wasn't hard to. Her legs were weak, her head was light, and her breaths were short and quick.

"Icarus, stop it!" She cried and her air was running thin. "Icarus!" Her pace was slowing down and a familiar churning noise was sounding from above- the first water supply.

A huge splash of water fell down from the sky. She opened her mouth and took big gulps, the water soaking the two of them completely. The beast stopped its running and the water lubricated its paws, causing it to collide into a wall. It seemed to do the trick for Icarus, because he was shaking his mane and letting out small groans.

"Uh...Icarus?" She checked and bent her legs in case she needed to run again. There was no response from the lion, only pained whimpers.

There was a large gash on his head that oozed red into the concrete. She sat down beside him in exhaustion.

"At least we don't have to use my blood anymore." She joked and chuckled, and he only forced a fake laugh.

"I apologize for my actions." He laid down on the floor and breathed with struggle. His eyes glued to the floor with shame. "I don't know what came over me,"

"I do: it was the dark dimension, the creatures on this planet draw energy from it, explains why they're so evil." she explained to him with a her lip curled, but soft eyes. "It brings out evil things in you, may be responsible for any nightmares- if you have any,"

"It was me, I felt that it came from my desires,"

"It's what it does to you,"

"And what does it do to you?" He questioned with a brow raise and she simply shrugged.

"I don't know." She lied and started to take a bite out of her last apple. It took all her might not to tell him that it made her want to use its magic, maybe even destroy the planet. It wasn't that difficult, anyways. Kamar-Taj never forbade any kind of knowledge, including ones of spells from the said dimension. If not that, then it made her want to throw herself into the nearest wall and end it all. "Here's your apple,"

"I'm not hungry, I'll eat it later," he denied and lifted his chin stubbornly. "If it does nothing to you, then why won't you use its magic?,"

"I know, right?" She sighed and leaned her back on a wall. The hands were a given, so she only cursed at them mentally. "I can't, if I open it up, then Dormammu's gonna discover that the time stone's gone and he's gonna go after my planet. All the times Stephen died, it'll be for nothing."

The two went silent and she sucked in a sharp breath. "You know, if you tried hard enough, you could fly us out of here,"

"But I can't,"

"Yes you can, if you focus enough,"

"I can't do it, I'm too weak! How do you expect me to walk?!" his voice grew angry and their conversation grew heated.

"Didn't you say you had the strongest wings?!" She reminded and placed her apple down. "If you tried hard enough and stopped feeling so sorry for yourself, maybe you could have gotten out!,"

"I have just as much hope with my wings as you do with your hands!,"

"That's different! Mine are physically injured, you just lack the spine to do it!,"

"Then perhaps I deserve this!" He concluded and the girl went quiet. The lion growled from the pit of his belly and sighed. "Is that what you wanted to hear?,"

"No, obviously not. You don't deserve it, of course you don't. No one who's ever died in here did,"

"Maybe." He breathed and tension started to brew in between them again. "Do you not get tired of eating only those two things?,"

"Of course I do, I miss normal food." She rested her head on a wall and her stomach grumbled. "if we get out of here, I'm getting food. I miss pizza and pasta, I want a salad or maybe a wrap,"

"What are those animals?,"

"No, no, they're not animals." She lightly sniggered and corrected him. "Pizza's basically bread but with...with more flavors. Food on earth is flavorful and so diverse,"

"It sounds glorious,"

"It is." She nodded in agreement. "And if we do get out of here, I'm gonna get some for you and for me. It'll change your life, I swear,"

"Then you have officially been invited to Egnaar." He chirped with a more enthusiastic tone. "Tell me, Human, you've mentioned that you were partially responsible for...for the resurrection of half the universe?,"

"Yes,"

"But you're a child." He critiqued and tilted his head with confusion. It sure was getting tiring to hear those words from different creatures. "You say your physical form is 16, which means that...you must have been 11, when this happened?,"

"No, no. I froze my body with a simple freezing spell,"

"But why? Where I come from, the older you are, the stronger your body is. That is favorable, you see- for hunting,"

"I just didn't wanna miss out on being a teenager- really being a teenager. I didn't have much of a childhood, back then."

Icarus hummed with a hue of dissatisfaction and had his eyes roll up, clearly assessing the situation.

"It seems to me, that you're simply insecure and afraid to be independent without this "Stephen", and you have developed into a state of dependency and denial,"

"Icarus?,"

"Yes?,"

"Sometimes, it's better to just...not talk."