It's true!
Well, okay, Leslie says I was more a boring girl than a good one, but that's beside the point, and anyway, that part of my life is all behind me now.
Halyna is only for Halyna now, and so up goes my chin as I enter the labyrinth and deliberately do something "bad" for the very first time.
The grass underneath my feet is unexpectedly soft and dewy, wisps of green that fold easily and silently under the wheels of my luggage. The thickness of the walls is also unexpected, albeit in a not-so-pleasant way. I'm guessing it's about three feet thick, give or take a few inches, and the sight of it has my imagination nose-diving into creepy territory. What if this labyrinth...is no ordinary labyrinth? What if this is just as elaborate and deadly as the one that houses the Minotaur, and this labyrinth is merely meant to lure foolish mortals like me and turn us into the monster's next meal?
I almost turn my back then and there, but since acting like a wimp won't help Halyna look after Halyna—-
Stop being silly, and just move!
Deeper and deeper I go, and a shiver slithers down my spine when I realize how the air has turned icy cold in the past few minutes. Pre-3rd, people only used to have to worry about weather patterns. Now, you feel a sudden breeze or a dip in temp, and you start to wonder if you've accidentally pissed off a wind god.
Which I haven't.
So I should be safe.
Or at least it's what I tell myself as I reach another fork in the path.
Eeny, meeny, miney, moe...
I take the path to the right, and then another right, and my nose starts to itch. The scent of roses is so much more potent here, and I find myself curiously looking around—-
Shit, I knew it, I knew it, I knew it!
A shadow emerges from the other end of the path, and I can feel color draining from my face as the shadow grows larger until—-
Shit.
A beast slowly reveals itself: leonine in appearance but monstrous in size, and with the kind of presence that instantly makes me feel like I'm standing at Death's door. I desperately want to think it's as harmless as a green-chomping brachiosaur, but I just know it's not. The beast has 'not-to-be-messed-with carnivore' written all over it, and while its white-as-snow fur should've struck me as cute and fluffy, all I can think of is how the blood of its victims would look so much more vivid...when splattered across the creature's gleaming white coat.
My stomach starts to churn as the beast's gaze bores into mine. Its eyes are heterochromatic; one gold, one blue, and right now the creature is staring at me in a way that makes my heart threaten to leap out of my chest.
Old World beasts are known to wander into modern-day Earth when they accidentally pass through portals. I'm 90% sure that's the case here, but the 10% can't help but worry it's something worse...like a god that has shapeshifted into a beast.
Pre-3rd, humans still believed in werewolves, were-bears, and what-nots. Post-3rd, however, the gods have laid all of those myths to rest. Only those with divine blood are able to shift into another form, and so if this beast isn't just a beast, but something else...
I can't let it - him? her? - know I'm afraid.
No matter how badly I want to flee, I also know that if I want to live, I need to stay. Gods in general are an unpredictable bunch, but one thing you can count on is how much they love anything that's new and interesting, so...
"Hello." It's a struggle to keep my voice from wavering, and it's an even bigger struggle when the beast-slash-god snarls in response, and I have to grit my teeth to keep myself from jumping back.
"I didn't mean to intrude," I force myself to go on, "and I beg your forgiveness for that."
The beast doesn't answer this time, but since it has yet to eat me, I'd like to think I'm doing good. The way I figure it, gods are used to humans cowering before them, so me standing my ground should pass as a novelty.
Right?
...
Wrong.
Because the beast suddenly leaps into the air, and when I see it rise high, high above the air - high enough that I can't even count how many feet it's above ground - I don't even have to think about what I should do next.
I'm already down on my knees in the next second, my eyes squeezed shut, and my head bowed in a plain bid for mercy.
My generation grew up knowing we were no longer on top of the food chain, and on our very first day of school, we were all taught to recognize moments like this. It's that moment when you know shit has hit the fan, and all you can do is wave the white flag and hope for the best.