The New Demigods

Chapter 21: Hide and Seek

"You left her!?" Piper fumed with so much anger, she looked scarier than the Minotaur.

"I tried to call her back, but everything happened so fast, and we couldn't see each other because of the dust and the smoke." Horace looked genuinely sorry about what happened.

"We have to go back for her." Piper rushed to the campfire, ready to gather the flame to head back into the cave.

"And what happens when we find her? You saw that thing, it ran right through your fire like it was nothing. We should wait here and she'll find her way to us." Horace sat on the ground and took off his helmet.

"Fine, you stay here, we'll go back without you." Piper began to conjure the fire in her hands, but only seconds into holding it, she collapsed to her knees.

"You can't go, Piper, you can barely stand." I helped her into a sitting position, realizing what I needed to do. "I'm going alone."

"Are you sure?" Her expression filled with concern.

"Yes, I'll be fine, probably better to go alone, it seemed like the monster found us because of all the noise we made talking." The only confidence I could muster came from knowing Shadow would be able to help me, as long as I could keep my focus.

"None of us should be going back in there, just wait for her." Horace pleaded.

"You saw what a maze it was in there, there's no way she kept track of her turns while running for her life. I'm going."

I turned to go back to the cave, before I lost my nerve.

"Gemini, you're bleeding." Piper pointed to the open wound on my shoulder from our battle with the skeletons. The running, combined with Piper's weight leaning on me in the maze had opened the wound wider.

"It's fine."

I entered the cave and immediately missed Piper and the glow of her flames - without them, it felt like I was walking into an abyss. I took slow hesitant steps forward, worried I was about to walk face first into a wall I wouldn't be able to see.

After a few minutes I could see the familiar torchlight glow at the end of the corridor. I walked until I was only a few feet from the crossroad and then paused.

'Shadow, can you hear me?' I focused as hard as I could to try and channel him.

Yes.

'We need to find Scarlet.'

Slay the Minotaur.

'No, Scarlet is the priority.'

I could feel Shadow's dissatisfaction, but at least he'd help me if we ran into the Minotaur.

The maze was back to being eerily quiet, but I took it as a good sign that the Minotaur was not running around anywhere nearby. I walked faster, now able to see, but was careful to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible.

At the first turn, there was only an option to turn left. I took a mental note of the path I would have to take in order to make it back to the exit. Right, left, exit. Each time I reached another crossroad, I added it to the list, chanting it in my head as I walked.

Left, right, straight, straight, right, left, straight, right, right, left, exit.

Hopeless.

'And you have a better idea?'

Yell.

'We're not hunting the Minotaur.'

Her name.