Hours had passed as they walked the maze floor, which dripped with dark liquid. The only noise in the horrid place was the constant tapping rhythm. The bones were long behind them, and so was the gateway to the abyss, at least one of them. Who knew how many puddles like that led to that dark, cold, unforgiving place? Now, they had walked for what felt like an eternity in this dreadful place. Though the first few hours had been far more eventful, these felt like a loop turning back to the same spot over and over. Yet the moose did not waver, guiding the path without hesitation, as if it knew the way. But who knew how many more horrors they would encounter in this dark, gloomy place where moss grew along the walls?
"Hey, I don't need to eat or drink anymore, but what about you, Tobi? You doing okay? You seem sluggish," Amias asked honestly.
"I am, but it's only been around two days. Soon, we'll find something weak, and then I'll eat it," Tobi replied simply. The signs of his weariness were evident, even beneath the mask: his slouched posture, his dim, fading eyes. But the real root of his exhaustion had begun around a day ago, after he fought the abyss.
They continued walking along the stone path, while up above, the inverted sea rippled slowly then wildly, as something massive raced through the waters. it was normal but it came so close they could feel the rumble until it stopped. its silhouette froze right above them and since it had stopped, it was looking at...
"Run," Tobi muttered, and they all obeyed. He leapt onto the moose, and Amias followed. The moose bolted forward, its glowing body the only light guiding their path. Amias glanced up at the silhouette above. It was strange, like looking at a creature whose shadow was incomplete, its form fractured and kind of incomplete. The only clear feature in the murky water was a pair of white eyes with green slits, locked viciously onto his own predatory and ravenous.
The creature was fast but not faster than the moose. Still, as the moose raced forward, it came to a sudden halt.
Ahead, something appeared in the distance, lit faintly by what seemed to be a lamp. A tunnel of teeth, each sharper than the last, awaited them. Two voidlike black eyes stared through the gloom, and a hideous black mass began to reveal its mottled, slick skin and bloated form.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," Amias whispered, horrified and annoyed.
Then the creature from above came crashing down, its head dipping close to the surface of the water. It was translucent, everything except its organs and its gaping mouth. Those eyes were magical, glowing white with green slits, and so wondrously bright. Rows of glasslike teeth gleamed, and it had no tongue, not that it had needed one. That mouth looked capable of swallowing an entire city, a gaping maw that seemed to stretch into infinity. It was colossal. There was no way it could fit inside the maze unless it decided to try and eat whatever was in its path, but it waited, watching.
"I've seen something like that in a game. I used to play it as a kid on my tablet. Those things gave a ton of health but were annoying since they could eat you too," Amias mumbled. "It was called a Gulper or somein like that."
But Tobi wasn't listening. He was zoned out completely.
He stepped off the moose and began walking toward the Gulper.
"Hey, Tobi, what are you doing?" Amias asked seriously, but Tobi didn't respond. He kept moving toward the thing.
The moose bit into his cloak, yanking him back, refusing to let him go any closer. The Gulper, meanwhile, waited, and then it began. Amias could feel the world spinning as a current surged toward them, pulling them slowly toward the creature. The moose stood firm and glowed, its antlers emitting a beautiful blue and negating the Gulper, and pushed Amias toward the angler beast, which was now raging, rushing them.
Amias had fought a massive spider before, one that was terrifying in its own right, but this? This was a whole different level.
And now they had lost Tobi.
He was hexed.
Tobi was just a regular human now. He didn't have the god within him anymore, and it seemed a being like the Gulper, something with higher powers, could hex him because of that. Amias could only guess now that Tobi had divine blood.
It was the complete opposite for him.
Ironic, really.
Tobi had saved him from getting mind-controlled by that tree, and now, today, Amias was the one saving Tobi from being mind-controlled by the Gulper or really, he'd be saving him from the angler and moosey would protect him from the Gulper.
Meanwhile, Amais faced the Angler, unsure of what to do as he heard it and saw it getting closer. The maze trembled as the beast dragged itself forward with those hook-like claws on its skinny, unnatural arms, tearing across the stone at an alarming speed. Amais stared at it, gritting his teeth. He was terrified. But he had no choice. He had to fight this monster.
Every time it lunged forward with that gaping, hungry maw, Amais hesitated. should he punch, kick, or dodge? Jumping over it wasn't an option; if he did, it would go straight for Tobi and Moosey. He couldn't risk that.
So he ran not away, but towards it, or at least close enough to lure it from the others. His heart pumped instinctively, even if it didn't need to anymore, as the giant hook came flying toward him.
Amais dodged and grabbed onto it, digging in his heels as the Angler tried to yank him toward its mouth. That mouth. God, that mouth was a nightmare. But he held on. Somehow, he held on.
Too bad it had a second hook.
The second claw pierced straight through his stomach.
Amais let out a groan of pure agony but didn't let go. The blow would've ripped a normal person in half but his body had already started to regenerate. The pain was beyond comprehension, but he was still conscious, still fighting. He clung to both of the Angler's claws, refusing to give either any leverage. As long as he held on, the creature couldn't move forward. But neither could he.
"I'm still alive, you stupid angler," he muttered and spit some blood.
They were locked. And he was bleeding out, painfully skewered but alive.
He glanced back toward Moosey for just a second.
That was his mistake.
The rod protruding from the Angler's head, a grotesque lure, swung down and smashed into him, sending him flying backward. Before he could even register what happened, he heard the scraping again.
The claws had found purchase.
I don't really want to look up right now, he thought even as he did.
The Angler lunged forward at last, and now Amais was right in front of that nightmare mouth, a tunnel of jagged, uneven teeth, each one sharp enough to shred bone. He didn't even have time to react.
He was unlucky enough to be the one caught in its maw as it closed shut, having finally found its meal.