The Maze The Lost Labyrinth - By Jason Brannon Page 0,16

quickly turned to survival when I heard the faintest whisper of rock or bone sliding across stone.

I said a silent prayer to God asking Him to deliver me, and closed my eyes. I heard the scraping sound again. This time it was closer. Beads of sweat slid down my face and back; my hands trembled and my stomach tied itself in knots. The scraping sound grew louder. It was only a matter of seconds before I felt a faint blossom of air bloom on my cheek. That flower smelled like war and disease, sulfur and dried blood. It was the breath of the creature that was stalking me.

Although I refused to open my eyes, I knew the beast was standing right in front of me, blowing its putrid breath in my face. It was all I could do not to cry out and faint. Somehow, I managed not to make any noise although I was sure it heard my trip hammering heart.

It stood there before me, making some sort of erratic clicking sound. I did my best not to move, not to tremble, not to do anything that might reveal me. The clicking grew louder and faster, making me think of crabs or lobsters snapping their claws. I was afraid if I opened my eyes, I would see some sort of monstrosity with chitinous scales, mandibles, and a proboscis that might be used to suck the life out of me, leaving me as little more than a husk, drained of all my fluids.

Even without the aid of sight, I could feel the thing moving closer to me, inching forward curiously, tasting the air, sniffing it. The beast’s breath stank of cancer wards and crematoriums, and I held my breath until it passed on by. Miraculously, it hadn’t found me. It hadn’t even realized I was there.

I waited until I was certain the creature was gone before collapsing into a gelatinous heap on the floor. My legs trembled from exhaustion, and my lips were quivering with relief. Tears streamed down my face, and I wiped them quickly away.

I had no idea if the beast that had passed before me was the minotaur or another creature. It didn’t matter. I didn’t want another face-to-face opportunity to make a positive identification. All I wanted was to get out of this place.

If only I could figure out where the doors were---

Chapter 11

Although I couldn’t be certain that the six hallways didn’t connect at some point, I knew for sure that I wasn’t going to venture any deeper into the one I had hidden inside. That was the direction the beast had gone, and I had no desire for a second encounter.

After some deliberation, I took the path that veered furthest to the left, reasoning that the outermost corridors might lead away from the center of the maze. Nothing could have been further from the truth. The passage made several abrupt ninety-degree turns, and soon, I had lost all sense of direction. For all I knew, I had made enough right angle turns to put me back at square one. Even some of the writing on the walls looked repetitious, like some futuristic graffiti artist had used these walls to practice his craft.

Eventually I reached a hallway that was lit by torches, offsetting the faint blue characters on the wall with a brilliant orange glare. Thankful for the flames, I grabbed one of the torches out of its sconce and ventured on. After walking for what seemed like miles, I reached another fork in the road and decided to turn right this time instead of left, hoping I would happen upon a door that might lead me back to the outside world.

I had no idea how long I’d been wandering around. I was beginning to have some understanding of how the Israelites felt in the wilderness. The atmosphere inside the labyrinth had gone from a damp mossy smell to dry and stale, like air trapped inside a mausoleum for hundreds of years.

As I reached the next ninety-degree turn, I noted the faintest hint of motion and caught a whiff of something that smelled like it had baked on a slab of desert highway for a week or two. I stopped, holding my torch tightly, willing the fire to keep burning. It was the closest thing to a weapon I had.

Listening and peering intently into the darkness, I waited for a couple of seconds, wondering if the motion I had seen was nothing more than shadows