Maze

Walking through the damp maze, lined with statues in the dark, Solan made sure to always keep a solid step on the ground. 

The maze floor was covered with vines and roots, the ground constantly unstable and shifting under his boots. 

The quiet snapping he heard from underneath him sent jolts of panic through his system. 

"Damn that bastard, is this that damn test he was talking about?" Solan knew that the answer could have been far more grim however. 

The anger he had felt from the headmaster was not something easily faked. Had he really been sent here to die? 

'Whatever, screw them both if the gods can't kill me neither can they!' 

Stepping through the maze, step by step, each rustle of leaves or drop of water more frightening than the last, Solans eyes picked up on a slight shimmer between the leaves. 

Behind every hedge was a light blue shimmer, every time Solan reached out to touch it, it was like pressing against a solid object. 

"Its… the old guy's magic?" Something had changed, when he was hit with the magic it was as if an invisible force under his fingers, now clearly visible. 

"This is just like back then…" Solan tried to recall the foggy memories that clouded his mind, his village, the specks. 

No one else seemed to see it, why could no one else see it… 

Suddenly somewhere ahead in the dark maze Solan heard a low rumbling. 

Turning towards the rumbling, expecting to see something in the distance. 

A face appeared in front of him. 

So close their noses almost touched. So close Solan felt his own breath reflecting of its seemingly marble skin. 

Its eyes were shimmering blue, its skin littered with small cracks and fractures. 

Under its arm a long split trailing down its torso, the blue tint clearly visible now. 

The creature stared at him blankly, its emotionless face staring at him blankly, not moving. 

Solans body however, moved on instinct. 

Before he himself had realised it his hand was swinging upwards, his fist aiming for its jaw. 

The creature didn't move, it didn't block, didn't dodge, didn't so much as flinch. 

His instinct had been wrong. 

His fist slammed into its marble jaw, solans body pushing all its effort into making any space between the two. 

Then a loud crack, resonated through the maze, the creature's skin was unchanging. 

Solans hand, however. Wasn't. 

"Agh, Shit!" Solan cursed as his fist crushed under his own body's power. 

But even then, the statue didn't move. 

Solan took the chance, jumping back, his eyes widening as he saw himself, as if reflected in front of him. 

The seemingly marble creature was just that, a marble statue. A statue replica of him. 

The statues eyes and inside its cracked, coloured with a light blue tint. 

'This is the old guy's magic…' 

Suddenly the same low rumbling echoed from in front of him. 

'Shit!' 

Again, the creature seemed to dash unbelievably fast, almost instantly appearing in front of solan, pausing for a second, its arm pulled back, aiming for his stomach. 

If the statue was fast, its punches were faster. 

A force, far larger than even the punch from the headmaster, slammed into him, this time he had actually felt a couple of his organs rearranging and his bones snapping. 

The stone fist slammed into his lower chest, colliding with his ribs and narrowly missing his liver. 

Solan didn't even have the time to experience his own pain before the statue pulled back its other arm. 

Solan dropped to his knees, the flying fist narrowly skimming past his head, before falling on his knees in a coughing heap. 

'I don't have time for this!' Solan screamed at himself, at his body to move. 

The statue slowly turned its head down, watching solan coughing on his knees before raising its leg. 

Quickly Solan took one clenching arm away from his broken chest, using it to grab onto a root nearby, practically pulling himself out of the way. 

Then Solan just ran. His breathing was ragged, he could feel blood pooling in his mouth. 

His mind was in a haze with his leg's barley listening to him. The only thought in his mind was 

'Run, run you bastard!' 

Before again, a low rumbling resonated through the maze. 

But Solan kept running, his legs felt like they would give out on him, feeling like they would disconnect from his mind. 

But even unconscious at this point he was keep running. 

Behind him after the rumbling stopped, he felt a wave of wind wash over him, before abruptly stopping, slowing down, then a smaller, far faster gush of wind hit his back. 

Solan kept running, listening and feeling out the environment while behind him. 

Rumble, wind, stop, wind. Rumble, wind, stop, wind. Rumble, wind, stop, wind. 

Solan had just realised something crucial, this was going to be the only chance he would have to beat this thing. 

… 

Solans body was running without the presence of his mind at this point. 

He was on a knifes edge of passing out, the pain, his organs, the movement of his very bones inside him. 

One stumble and his conciseness would be snuffed like a candle flame. 

Once he had realised that the rumbling intervals had stopped, he collapsed in a small dead end. 

It wasn't a very safe place, but at least he couldn't get snuck up on, at least he hoped not. 

Pushing his back against a pedestal holding a gods statue he slowly felt his eyelids getting heavier. 

'No, wake up, check yourself first.' The sliver of his mind still holding on shouted commands at his exhausted body. 

Slowly his hands reached up his scrappy shirt, pulling it over his head. 

Looking down at himself… he had regrated taking off his shirt in the first place. 

His body was black and red all over, his skin warped in unnatural ways, his chest sank and stuck out where it shouldn't have. 

Solan wasn't new to beatings, but this was a different level. Everything was wrong. 

But it was all internal, there was no bleeding from the brute blunt force, slowly he ran his hand down his ribs, lightly pushing against them. 

His top rips stood firm, pain still shot through at the slightest contact, but lower, first the pain, then his hand just sunk. 

'Four…' four ribs either sent searing hot pain through him when touched or were just in the complete wrong place. 

Tears started rolling from his eyes, he wanted to scream, his was just barley stopping his teeth from clenching to hard they would shatter. 

Quickly he found a thick stick, putting it between his teeth to muffle any sound he might make, as well as give him any relief. 

He continued running his hands over himself, not daring to look any closer. 

It was all so wrong. He didn't know much about the human body, but there were parts of him that should not have been as soft as they were. 

'Shit alright, think… first me, then the statue.' Solan struggled to gather his thoughts in the sea of pain he was in. 

He felt a bone sticking weirdly out of his side, a rib was far further than it should have been. 

Incredibly slowly he pushed on it, slowly fighting the fire of his mind begging for relief before tightening his shirt around himself. 

That was the last straw though, eventually a mix of pain and exhaustion took control as his eyes shut, hoping that they would open again.