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Myth. L.A. Mango
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As I tried to pick out a couple of spikes, something made a sudden clanging sound as it slid across the floor: a dagger. I looked up, trying to find the source, but whoever it was, was nowhere in sight.
I picked it up and examined it. There was nothing unusual about it. In fact, it might actually help me complete my obstacle course. I breathed in and stood up slowly, still near the edge of the wall. The sound of the wind whooshing from the spinning plant seemed to halt. I held onto my dagger tightly. I quickly turned the corner and charged at the creature, feeling a little braver than I did a minute ago.
Before the plant could react to my sudden confidence, I jumped and stabbed its spherical head. I had forgotten about the sharp leaves, which were the creature’s second weapon. It fretted and scratched my face with them. I let go of my dagger -which was in the creature’s face now- and fell on my back. Who knew you could stab a metal sphere so easily? I raised my hand and touched my face. I could feel three scratches across my cheek, but thankfully I was not bleeding a lot. I backed away as I watched the creature wilt onto the floor and melt into nothing, leaving my dagger behind.
I picked up my dagger and glared at where the creature was,
“Serves you right for trying to bite my finger off…” I cleaned the dagger on my shirt. If my mom saw me wiping a dagger on my shirt, a dagger, she would kill me. My mother really hated us handling sharp objects.
I moved on along the passage, I looked at my watch (thankfully, the guards didn’t seem to mind that I had one). Twenty minutes left. I needed to move faster. I ran along the hallway, taking some routes to the right and others to the left. I needed to have a strategy, before I ran into-
I suddenly slammed into someone – or something – and stumbled back. I touched my mouth and saw blood, nothing too serious. A girl in front of me looked alarmed and ready; she was holding a dagger like mine. I recognized the girl. Ember Mayze. I looked at her, confused.
“Ember?”
She looked at me and rubbed her neck. I noticed a patch of burnt skin on the back of her neck. It must’ve been her obstacle that did this.
“Iris?” she said. “I was being chased by a bunch of goblins and now I bump into you?” Her eyes suddenly turned wide. She looked at me carefully. “You’re not a siren are you?” She poked my shoulder, but I swatted it away.
“Nope. I’m the real deal,” I said, as I picked my dagger up from the ground. I froze as I bent down to reach for it.
“What?” Ember said, worry crossing her face.
“Didn’t you just say that there were a pack of goblins chasing you?” I asked her as I straightened up.
“Yeah, why?” she asked, a little skeptical.
“Because that means that there are a pack of goblins still coming this way at this very moment,” I said, looking down the hallway where Ember came through.
Ember looked at me a little scared, “But I thought I lost them.”
I shook my head, “One tip: In order to pass an obstacle you need to face and defeat it.” Ember looked at me with a raised eyebrow.
“So, you’re telling me that I need to go back there so they can stop following me?” she said, hoping that I might say no.
I nodded, “They’ll keep following you until you kill them. Trust me; the school and my mother taught me this.”
Ember looked apprehensively down the hallway she had just run through. She hesitated and then nodded at me. “Good luck, Iris.”
“Good luck to you, too,” I said hopefully. “See you on the other side.”
Ember smiled. She ran back towards the sound of angry goblins. I turned around to face the corridor in front of me and ran. I took several sharp turns on my way. I sometimes ran into dead ends and had to turn back and take others.
No obstacles until now. Better not get my hopes up. I kept running until I eventually had to stop. I was panting heavily; I had been running for so long. The Unknown seemed endless. The sweat stung my wound. I swiped the back of my hand along my forehead. I got a little bit of blood on my hand, but it didn’t matter. Nothing seemed to matter when you were most likely going to face your death any minute. This place had no boundaries.
Not wanting to rest for long, I started to walk, but as I did I saw an object, more like an animal, down the passageway. I heard a neigh, like a horse, but I wasn’t sure, not in a place like this. I walked slowly towards the source of the sound and I was right; it was a horse.
It was a white stallion and probably the most beautiful horse I have ever seen. The horse seemed scared when it saw me; it kicked its front legs up.
“Whoa there, boy; it’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you,” I told it gently as I raised my hands up in front of me just in case if it kicked my face. The horse calmed down, I started to examine it and saw a sword swinging from its neck.
I felt that it was safe to ride this horse since it looked very calm. It stood still, like it was waiting for me to respond. I climbed up on its back and I sat on it as I tried to remember where I was supposed to hold on since I never had any interest in horses.
“How do I ride it?” I thought. My mother read these kinds of books about horses. I knew about the gear and all but didn’t know how to hold on if I didn’t have any of it. The animal jerked backwards a bit. I started to fall down so I grabbed the horse’s mane. I knew where to hold on to it.
No wasting time. I quickly pulled the horse’s mane. The horse galloped lightly along the hallway. I tried not to lose balance and focused on the way ahead. I saw a turn on the right. I unconsciously pulled the horse’s mane to the right; it jerked to where I wanted it to go, and I smiled. I didn’t realize that a horse could be slow if I wanted it to be. I saw a turn to the left, and I jerked the horse’s mane to the left but this time it didn’t respond so I ignored the turn. I saw a route to the right; I did the same thing, but still no response.
I suddenly panicked; the horse started to gallop at an incredible speed. Fear took over my mind and all I wanted now was for the horse to stop.
“Wait! Stop!” But it still wouldn’t stop no matter how much I pulled.
But then the horse did suddenly stop on its own will; it neighed and kicked its front legs up in the air. I gasped in surprise and tried to hold on to something, but I fell off the horse and landed on the back of my head.
I rubbed my head. I felt a huge bump and I knew that it would cause a serious bruise. I didn’t think about it for long though because I saw something unusual happening. The horse slowly turned black, like a bottle of ink being spilled on paper. This didn’t seem like a good a sign. The horse started to kick the ground; dust started to fly around the horse, which was about to charge at me!
The horse galloped towards me. I dodged to the right. I have to kill it, but with what? I checked for the dagger I had put in my pocket after my last battle, but I couldn’t seem to find it. I remembered the sword hanging from the horse’s neck. I needed to get to the sword.
The horse turned facing me three yards away from where I stood. I stared at the sword hanging from its neck. I charged, and so did the horse. When there was no space between us, I grabbed the belt holding the sword and stabbed the horse in its neck. The horse started to kick itself off the ground with its hind and front legs. I slowly approached it and removed the sword. When I ripped out the sword, the horse immediately slumped onto the ground motionless.
I cleaned the sword, and kept moving, leaving a pool of blood behind me. I strode along the hallway, and glanced at my watch. Ten minutes left. I sighed, and started running. When was this going to end?
As I ran straight ahead, I heard someone running in another direction. I stopped, waiting for whatever approached. As the sound got closer, I heard someone panting; it was a human.