The Maze of Magic

Meeting Her

Running through the maze, which was as close to an exact replica of part of the labyrinth as we could get, I noticed my best friend, Octavia Terbron, running straight towards the same intersection as me. She was one of two females in the academy and with her golden blonde hair and forest green eyes, she was gorgeous and a force to be reckoned with. When we were about to crash into each other we both stopped dead in our tracks, panting.

We were trying to be the first ones to reach the center of the maze. This was all a part of the Cadmar training program. This program was the harshest in the city and it produced the toughest warriors the world has ever seen. Nobody ever crossed us for fear we would kill them.

Let's get back on track here, we were trying to reach the center of the maze for a day away from the academy. The first person to reach the center was rewarded with a day away from the academy. And, this was a good prize because once you joined the academy, you didn't leave for any reason besides a patrol here and there or for a reward like this. So far, Octavia or I had been the only ones to win these challenges, and it looked like this one was going to be no different.

  "Hi, J," Octavia greeted me with a warm smile, as if we weren't in a competition.

"Hello?" I responded in a confused tone. "Ya know, Tave, I think I'm just gonna go this way, " I said, pointing at the path directly across from Octavia and jogging that way.

"Ooo, me too," she said and ran to catch up with me then paced herself to match me.

At the next crossroad, she turned left with a 'good luck' shouted back at me while I turned right.

After about 20 more turns, I made it to the middle and rang the bell hanging above the grass plot loudly. 30 seconds later Octavia trotted in looking defeated.

"Looks like no free day for me. Here he is, J, the smartest and quickest trainee" she said with a pout on her lips.

  "Should've been quicker, Tave," I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

We both started laughing after that. We didn't stop laughing until the rest of the trainees started trickling in slowly.

"I can't believe we'll be full fledged Cadmars in a week," Octavia said, awed.

"Yeah," I replied, shuddering. 'Also a week until our freedom's gone for good,' I thought.

Not a minute after the last trainee jogged through the entrance, the emergency alarm sounded and the drummers beat out, "Powerful magess on loose, height: 4ft 3in, gender: Female, hair: long & Black, eyes: dark blue, age: 16, last seen entering labyrinth near the castle. Need all available troops searching immediately. Bring her to the castle if found. Gold reward for finding the magess. Good luck and be safe."

My jaw dropped and before I knew it, the maze walls were torn down and all us trainees were heading towards the city with Octavia and me in the lead.

My first thought when reaching the city was to go to the place where the girl, Anahura, was last seen. As all the trainees reached the city behind Octavia and me and spread out to all the various labyrinth entrances, scattered throughout the city, I headed towards the entrance that Anahura was last reported as being seen entering the underground maze.

When I was about halfway there, I noticed a pair of footsteps following me and turned around to discover Octavia.

"Why are you following me?" I questioned her.

"Well, if I remember correctly, we are searching for a powerful magess, and you don't possess any magic. I figured I'd follow along to make sure you didn't get yourself hurt. Ya know, you being my best friend and all," she responded. I noticed a small blush and an almost imperceptible frown alight her face while she was saying the last sentence.

"Alright, whatever," I responded, "but you might think  about trying to get better at hiding your feelings for people." After I said this, I turned back around and continued walking in the direction of the maze entrance.

Octavia caught up to me and punched me, playfully, in the arm. "What are you suggesting?" she asked me.

"I am suggesting that you have a crush on me and that you are not doing a very good job of hiding it."

"Wow," Octavia said, "I try to be nice and you accuse me of having a petty 'crush' on you." She threw her hands in the air and added, "Thanks a lot, James," with a tone bleeding of sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Alright, you can continue to fool yourself, but I am going to do my job."

I continued to walk, speeding up, trying to be the first person to reach the maze entrance.

I heard Octavia jump into a jog behind me to catch up with me and my long stride.

She jogged up to my side and slowed to match my pace. We walked in silence the rest of the way to the maze.

It took us 10 minutes to cross the rest of the city, at our brisk pace, and reach the labyrinth entrance.

When I turned the corner to where I could see the labyrinth entrance, I saw a petite figure walk through the opening to the underground.

I noticed it was a short girl with long, flowing, black hair. She looked at me and, with a start, I realized two things; one, she had to be the girl, Anahura, we were looking for, and, two, she looked exactly like someone I used to know. Someone I knew to be dead because I had buried her cold, dead, body with my own hands.

I just stood there, eyes locked with the navy blue eyes of the girl in front of me until I felt a finger poke in the space between my ribs. I snapped out of the trance I was in and turned to see Octavia glaring daggers at me.

"You're proving my point with that look," I said, turning around and walking towards Anahura.

I heard Octavia groan behind me, then break into a slow jog to catch up to me.

I walked up to about 3 meters away from Anahura and held out my hand to pause Octavia, a step behind me.

I turned to Octavia and whispered to her, in a voice I hoped Anahura wouldn't hear, "I'm going to talk to her, you go around that building and sneak up behind her." I dug a needle and syringe full of a sedative out of my pocket, "Inject this into her neck, as close the the vein as possible."

Octavia took the syringe from me, careful not to poke herself on the sharp needle. "Why the heck do you have a syringe full of anesthetic in your pocket?"

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." I smiled a joking, familiar smile at Octavia and turned towards Anahura, my smile turning more comforting and friendly.

I got about 2 feet away from Anahura and stopped walking, my smile still frozen on my face. I heard Octavia start jogging off to take care of the task I assigned her.

"Where is she going?" Anahura asked me.

"She is not your concern right now," I informed the girl in front of me. "Are you Anahura Lincoln?"

"Yes, who's asking?" her voice was more confident than I would have expected from such a young girl in her place. She stood up straighter and looked me in the eye.

"My name is James Wileson," I said, jutting my hand out in front of me for her to shake.

She just stood there, not taking my hand and said, "Ok, hi James, what do you want with me?"

"I am a Cadmar, recruited by the divine creatures that live in the labyrinth to defend it and the city. My most recent task from The Divine Ones was to find you and take you to their appointed queen for some reason or another."

I saw Anahura's eyes wide with surprise and she took a step back from me.

I hadn't noticed Octavia sneaking up behind Anahura until the petite girl back into the warrior woman behind her. Anahura turned around, her eyes growing even wider when she saw Octavia.

"Hurry up with the needle Tave," I said, calmly to Octavia, " you need to get it into her system before she can use magic."

Octavia pulled the needle out and, with a lightning quick hand, moved it to Anahura's neck and injected the contents directly into the vein on Anahura's neck.