Trial and Error: Demon's Nightmares

Chapter 1: Kyūbinokitsune of the Maze

Moonlight shined upon a hedge maze, a maze that stretched far and long. A thick cloud of fog blanketed it like a bed sheet.
A large mansion faced the end, standing tall and proud in the dark of the night. At the entrance was a young man, dressed in a casual outfit consisting of: a dark hoodie, sneakers, dark blue jeans, a leather belt, and a pair of glasses. A sign laid against the wall of the outside wall next to the rusty gate that kept outsiders away from the maze.

"Wellington Hedge." The man read. "For those who dare enter, be prepared to lose your mind in this seemingly endless maze. If you do get lost, a staff member will come to retrieve you shortly."

The sign was rusty and the paint had begun chipping away, making it barely legible. "A maze, huh? What fresh hell awaits me in this?" He asked himself. The man's voice was soft, making him sound like he was in his late teens to early 20's. Suddenly, two torches that sat at the entrance were lit with a light blue fire. The loud, screech of the rusty gates moving open screamed through the night sky, alerting to everything inside that fresh meat had entered. The young male stepped forward and inside the maze. He's fully entered the fox's den.

The gates slammed shut behind him and locked, making this exit impossible to pass through. "Damn!" He shouted. His head looked down three separate paths that laid before him. One to his left, one to his right, and one right in front of him. The path in front of him revealed a fountain with an odd statue, a statue that seemed to resemble some kind of angel made out of quartz. After a long hard decision, the man took the path to his right, believing it was a simple path of just running straight with a few turns. The first step he took had caused every pedestal that were against the hedge walls to ignite with a similar flame as the torches by the entrance. "At least I can see to some degree in this fog..." He commented.

He walked quite far, making many left and right turns, coming across many dead ends, but he encountered three other fountains. Each fountain had the same material for their statutes but not the same design. While still angelic, they resembled different ones. From ones to a rose to a sword, large wings with armour to short wings and a robe. None of the four were exactly like the other. He continued his walking, still in the search of an exit to this foggy, dark maze. He had accidentally knocked over one of the pedestals that aligned the walls, sending it crashing and shattering. The blue light was now extinguished, leaving nothing, not even smoke. "Hope no one heard that. At least, no bad company." He scanned the paths both ahead of him and behind him in an attempt to see if anyone was coming after him.

Instead of seeing someone appear, the other flames began to disappear, vanishing entirely. All that was left were the pedestals, but again, no smoke or evidence the flames were ever there. "This isn't how fire is supposed to work. It should burn the candle at best, not leave it like nothing was-" His open thought was interrupted by a low growling coming from the wall next to him on the other side. It sounded like a fox's growl. "What the hell..." He whispered, trying to not alert the new creature to his presence.

He stayed quiet for a few minutes, listening to the growling of this assumed large animal that was trapped inside this foggy deathtrap with him.  The growling slowly grew distant but no footsteps could be heard, not even the screeching of talons or claws. What kind of animal only growls? Either this thing is an incredible hunter or just really soft paws.  He continued onward, following the path ahead of him while still trying to find the other end.  With the lack of light, it was near impossible to find his way around unlike earlier.  The moonlight assisted with some light, but the maze was still casted in fog and darkness caused by the night. 

The man's journey through this green hedge was coming close to an end with the large mansion slowly getting closer and closer.  As he took a turn, nearly at the gate to the mansion, something was shifting in the fog.  This thing was a bright blue blur in the fog, just like the fire that burned on both the pedestals and torches. "What is-" He quickly dashed behind a hedge wall when it seemed like the thing's head turned in his direction.  His heart was racing with fear and anxiety, praying that whatever he just saw didn't see him.  When he checked for the creature; the only thing that were visible was this multitude of blue flailing objects in the fog that vanished behind a hedge wall.