With each step, it felt like Chance would fall over. I have to shake this. We can do this. He inhaled as he took the next few steps. They haven't been walking long, and the progress has been slow. It was clear to Chance that everyone was uncomfortable.

"Keep your eyes forward," Mark said as he tightened his grip on his wand. As they progressed, the walls only seemed to get higher. They could see various enemies inside the maze: Mostly zombies and some skeletons. As they passed these areas, everyone stayed as quiet as possible.

-

"We are almost there," Sage mumbled to herself as she looked off into the distance. As her eyes focused on the center of the maze, she saw something moving in the distance. Before she could warn her party, the moving object became clear. Its wings rose over its head. It had a sharp blue beak and razor-sharp talons. Most of its body was naked, but its legs and wings were completely feathered.

"We are about to get attacked!" Sage snapped as she drew her sword from her inventory. She knew she would have a hard time fighting a flying creature with her weapon of choice, but she didn't have many other options.

Chance got his spear ready. "If you feel like you're going to fall, announce it first!" Chance snapped as the creature came barreling towards them. Mark waved his wand and shot a bolt of lightning off at the beast. The lightning traveled through the creature's body and stunned it for just a second.

"Move!" Fate said as she sped up and moved quickly on the wall. It was too late for them to go back, so she tried to push forward as much as possible. "Do you have any mana left?!" Sage shouted to Mark. "I do!" Mark replied as the creature came upward again. "Stun it again!" Chance yelled. He didn't want to start swinging until he absolutely had to.

Mark put his teeth together and shot another bolt of lightning at the beast: He decided to hold the spell until the creature fell from the air. "I can't keep doing that; we have to move faster!" Mark said to the party. As everyone began moving faster, they could see yet another flying creature in the distance.

"We need to get off of the wall!" Fate said as she moved her legs as fast as possible. She began to feel like she would fall over at any moment.

"If we drop now, we won't be able to climb back up!" Sage said as Mark shot lightning at the second creature. The blue stream of lightning began to flicker. "I can't keep doing this!" Mark said as he stumbled forward. Chance glanced back at him before asking, "How close are we to the center?"

"Fifteen minutes if we run!" Fate announced to the group.

"So we run!" Chance demanded. He made sure to watch Mark as the party began to sprint forward. As they sped up, they could see the first flying creature rising from the darkness beneath the maze.

-

"This is such a bad idea!" Sage shouted as she moved as fast as she could. It was like she was on autopilot, and with the beasts getting closer, all she wanted to do was jump back into the maze and take her chances: However, she knew this would take longer and they would likely die inside. I can do this! Sage charged forward.

Chance spun his spear around as one of the beasts reached the party. The spear smacked the creature but didn't cause enough damage to be successful. "We have to jump!" Chance snapped as he grabbed Mark and dropped from the wall without thinking. "Chance!" Mark snapped as they fell. Chance hit the ground first with a loud thud. Mark came crashing down on top of him. "Are you insane!" Mark snapped as he watched Sage hit the ground.

Fate took a few swings at the creature before jumping down. She managed to roll as she hit the ground and looked up at the beasts circling above them. "They're not coming down." Fate mumbled to the group as Mark slowly got up: His hand was throbbing. He knew he broke a couple of fingers, at least.

"They were probably only up there to ensure we got down," Sage said as she rubbed her shoulder. She turned to Chance and scoffed, "That was extremely foolish. Why did you switch our plan like that?"

"We were not going to be able to kill one of those things! Mark was running low on mana, and there was no way I was getting in a good shot with my spear." Chance explained as calmly as he could. "Don't change the plan like that again!" Sage snapped. Her heart was racing. Once again, she could hear it in her ears.

"What matters now is that we are alive." Fate offered. She was already tired of hearing the bickering. "We should make camp here and let their mana recharge for the night." She said, Fate knew they would have to take it slow now. She passed out what she had left for water, and everyone gathered around to rest.

-

"I think my fingers are broken," Mark mumbled as he watched Sage fall asleep. "And you know what? You stressed her out back there." He said to Chance, who was currently watching the hallway.

"I am doing the best I can, okay?" Chance said as he stood up and placed his hand on Mark. "This is the last of my healing, so try not to hurt yourself between now and us getting some rest." Chance mumbled as he fixed Mark's fingers.

Mark scoffed and glanced at Fate. She was asleep with her weapon in one hand and her shield by her feet. "We need to get better at communication if we are going to make this work," Mark said as Chance sat back down.

"You don't think I know that?" Chance grumbled as he poked the wall with his spear.

"I think you like to make decisions in the moment that will affect the whole group. I also think that's dangerous." Mark leaned on the wall behind him. Chance was getting irritated. Who did this guy think he was?

"You don't know anything about me." Chance said as he crossed his arms and laid on the floor. "You can keep watch. I am going to sleep." He said as he closed his eyes.

-

In the night Chance dreamed of two small children and a blue house. As he entered the home with each child holding his hands, he could smell fresh coffee. Music was playing in the background, and he could hear a dog barking in the distance.

The scene was inviting and warm, and the house felt so familiar. As he entered the kitchen, he could hear soft humming and want sounded like honking from outside. The sounds were overwhelming at first. It was like getting an overload of noise. Eventually, his mind began to settle. Before seeing who the woman was, he was woken up.

-

"We need to keep moving," Sage said as Chance sat up. "Already?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted, he slowly stood up and gave the group a happy nod. "Alright! I am ready." Chance declared.

"While you were asleep, we decided to walk inside the maze for the rest of the way. We think this is the last of the dead ends before we reach the middle." Sage told Chance as Mark got his wand ready. "I will try and save as much mana as possible," Mark told the group.

Fate turned around and smiled at Chance. "Does that sound good to you?" Chance couldn't tell if she was teasing him or not. "Yes! It sounds good to me. Same formation as before?" He asked the group.

"Yes," Mark said as he watched Sage and Fate turn the corner.

"Watch out!" Sage said as a metallic object came at Fate. Out of instinct, Sage swung her sword in retaliation, and the floating metal eyeball hit the ground before dissolving into smoke. "What the hell?" Fate blinked.

"Are you guys okay?" Mark asked as he turned the corner with Chance.

Sage began to laugh loudly. "Oh my god, you should've seen your face!" She snickered at Fate, who was blushing deeply. "Shut up." Fate mumbled as she walked forward. Sage watched as her ears slowly got redder. "Come on!" Fate called as she pushed forward.

-

As they continued forward, the ground beneath them began to shake. Slowly the maze shifted positions until a long hallway opened up in front of them. They could barely make out a yellow glow at the very end of the hallway.

"Did the maze move in our favor?" Chance asked as his hands tightened around his spear.

"We have to see." Fate said as she slowly made her way down the corridor. Once she reached the end, a smile crept across her face. "The chest!" Sage announced. She was able to take two steps forward before a boulder flew over her head and crashed against the wall behind her. The whole party froze, and Fate nearly dropped her sword.

They were looking at a giant beast with a bull's head, the body of a man, and a tail that resembled a house cat. The beast had massive hooves for feet and giant meaty hands. The wooden club on its back could easily smush Chance and Mark together with room to spare.

"What is that!?" Chance asked as he got ready for the fight.

"Scatter!" Fate snapped as the creature ran towards the party. Each member darted around the sand-covered room. "We have to kill this thing to get the chest!" Mark snapped as he got ready to cast a spell.

"So be it!" Fate screamed as she charged the running creature.

-

Sage watched in horror as the creature turned its attention to Fate. Before Fate and the beast could collide, they could all feel the maze moving again faster. The movement made everything in the arena stumble, and the group could see the floor moving upward.

Once the floor was done moving, the party was looking at stands of people. They were cheering!

"Ladies and gentlemen! I want to introduce you to our main event!" A man called over the cheering of the crowd. The group recognized his voice. This was the man who was talking to them earlier.

The crowd was going crazy. The cheers were disorienting to Sage. She was having a hard time processing the scene around her. "You are so dead!" Chance screamed at the announcer. The announcer opened his arms to the crowd and yelled, "Let's get ready to rumble!"