The Maze

Within the dungeon there was darkness; darkness and the maze.

There were no chains to bind, no doors to lock, and no guards to police the prisoners. In fact, those held within its walls were free to leave the dungeon, if they were to ever find their way out of the maze. None ever had.

Uclin felt his way along the rough stones of the maze's wall as he stumble through the seemingly endless passages that led to dead-ends, spiked pits, and deadly booby-traps. Though mostly, each corridor only led to another extensive corridor.

Wandering maze's passageways for what seemed like days; he had woken up in the midst of a pile of rotting old bones with no knowledge of how he had gotten there and started out abruptly in the direction away from the horrid noises coming from one of the doorways that he had been faced with in the circular room.

Though now it seemed that the strange, inhuman shrieks and shouts were always in the corridor just behind him. Edging him onward through exhaustion, for fear that they would overtake him.

The fear of what was chasing him in the dark was greater than that of what awaited him around the next corner so he pushed on, fatigued and famished, fighting to stay awake; fighting to stay alive long enough to find out why he had been trapped in this nightmare.

For a moment the screeching had lulled behind him and he paused to lean against the cold, damp stone wall and closed his eyes to rest despite the terror behind him. He tried to recall where had been before the maze, yet try as he might; his mind could only show him the eternal darkness of the labyrinth's walls.

A terrifying roar close behind him jolted him out of his respite and he dashed haphazardly forward, his weak legs threatening to give out from under him at any moment.

His bare foot struck against a fallen stone on the ground and he stumbled to his knees, scraping them as he fell hard on the dirty pathway. Rolling over quickly to look see the creature that was chasing him, Uclin only saw the darkness of the corridor he had come from.

Breathing heavily, he relaxed and chuckled to himself for being so frightened; jumping at shadows.  Then a huge, monstrous shape lunged out of the doorway and bore down on him.

In the dimness, his panicked mind made momentary sense of the beast's shape and Uclin only had a moment of recognition before the giant ant was upon him; before it was too late.

The acid-slobbering ant tore his frail body to shreds as his screams of pain gurgled into silence.

Only taking a few moments, the ant's rampage left Uclin's mutilated body in a heap on the ground as it scuttled on down the corridor; another victim in dark of the dungeon.

Another victim of the maze.