Chapter 13:Merciless Maze
I woke up on a velvet chair.He tried getting out but cursed chains stopped him.A bright burning fire was on the left of the room.Beside was a window,stopping rain from getting in.On the right of the room,was the exit to leave but it seemed like it had a key.And in front of Irai was Kraven.
"Let's play some chess."A chess board was on the table separating Kraven and Irai.He noticed his sword was gone,which Kraven took.
"I put those cursed chains on you so you don't activate light manipulation."He moved a pawn 2 squares forward.
"How do you know I have light manipulation?"Irai moved a pawn 1 square.
"I used my chromo visualling to sense it,but it seems you haven't mastered that ability yet."Kraven chuckled before moving his horse to the left side of the board.
"Horses are my favourite piece in chess,what about you?"Irai frowned,he moved a rook 4 squares.
"King."Kraven shook his head in agreement.
"You know how to play chess,right?"
"I do,my Father taught me."Kraven moved a bishop 3 squares diagonally.Irai tried moving one of his horses but he came to a halt.
"Stop Irai,that's not how a horse moves.Horses in chess move in the shape of an L.Only the shape of an L."
"Where's my friends?"
"In other areas…of the maze."Irai looked at the floor and saw that it had patterns like a chess board.
He then looked at the board itself and saw doors on the sides.It was a map.The chess board was a map of where Irai was.But he stayed silent,keeping this precious information from Kraven.
"You know,I wasn't always rich."He began to speak,tilting his head towards Irai who was still focused on the chess game.
"I was born in Russia and my parents were my only friends.Sure we grew up poor but that didn't stop me from being a kind boy."Irai raised an eyebrow.
"You kidnap me then tell me your life story?"
"Pretty much so."
"Sick crow,you are Kraven.A sick crow.
"All crows are sick.That's what the humans said to us. In their eyes,we were another plague for a rat's catching.We avoided them and they avoided us.But one day,my village burned brighter than I've ever seen."
"What are you trying to say Kraven?"
"They burnt my village down."
"Who?"Kraven took one of Irai's pawns and placed it by the side.
"The humans.And in doing so,my parents were engulfed in the mesmerizing flames.I shall never forget what they did to me."
"Is that what caused you to go mental?"Irai leaned back hoping that his response wasn't too risky.
"Mental isn't the correct term.I started to go strange.Everybody started avoiding me because I just loved being by myself.But isolating yourself for too long leads to insanity.And nobody wants to be friends with someone who's insane,right?"
"You're insane."Irai glanced up at Kraven.The crow smirked and shook his head slightly.Irai was so busy talking that Kraven scored a checkmate in minutes.
"H-how did you?"
"You weren't focused.Focus on 2 things or multiple things at once,but try to balance them out.Don't focus on only 1 thing,because everything else will just fall that way,won't it?"
"Where's the moonstone and the book?"
"In a safe place, Irai.Don't worry."
"I should worry because you took my most prized possessions from me,along with my sword AND you locked my friends all around this chess themed maze of yours."
"I'll make things easier for you.Escape this maze with all of your friends in the next hour and I'll give the items back.But on one condition."
"What?"
"My son,I want him back."
"Fine."
"Shake on it?"Irai nodded and firmly shook Kraven's hand.
"I'll let you go from this room,but the chains will still be on."
"Just let me go already."
Kraven grabbed a special key from his pocket to unlock the hole of where the chains were.Despite being free from the room,Irai was still in the chains so that he couldn't use light manipulation.
"Time starts now."Kraven exited the room,leaving the door open for Irai to walk through.It seemed suspicious at first,but after some temptation,Irai walked through.Yellow walls were painted with chess pieces.After going straight for some time,he came towards 2 pathways.
A left and a right.Which way should he take?
Kraven must have said something important during the chess match,something that could help Irai escape.
Horses.
Horses are Kraven's favourite piece.And horses move in a shape of an L.That's when Irai realised he had to go left.And he was right.Ironic.
The other pathway exploded in the distance.Infront of Irai was a door.He busted it open to see Emma and Karasu wondering around the room.
"YES!I FINALLY FOUND YOU GUYS!"
"Irai!Where were you?"
"Locked up.But Kraven let me go to find you guys in 1 hour."
"Why would he let you go?"
"He said we need to escape the maze within 1 hour and give Karasu back to get the book and the moonstone."
"Or else what?"Irai stayed silent,looking at the patterned floor,puzzled.
"He didn't tell me,but I don't think it's going to be good,now let's find the others."Emma nodded and the 3 ventured off through the merciless maze.
Torches illuminated the sides of the walls.So now they could see without needing any form of manipulation.Paintings of previous cursed rulers were scattered all around the maze,with Kraven being the newest one.
And the oldest ruler,Charlotte Crow ruled from 3445 BCE to 3397 BCE before passing away from an unknown sickness.Her daughter,Paulina carried on the empire when she turned 19 years old in 3396 BCE.The early ages of rulers allowed the generations to carry on similar manipulations,most having dark manipulation.Irai walked along the isle of paintings.And in total,there were 36 rulers.17 female,19 male.
Yet all crows were mistreated,said to be filthy,cursed.Which is what they turned out to be centuries later.
But when these creatures first appeared on the face of the earth,they were pure hearted.Nothing could have despised them at the time,right?Wrong.Humans were the problem.And humans are still a problem to planet earth.Yes,they may have built homes,weapons,clothes and even made food.But that doesn't stop them from being terrible beings.They've come up with way to torture other humans and other animals.Some know how to love,some know how t0 hate.It's crazy,Irai thought to himself.Imagine,being a crow one day,living a normal life.When suddenly,a pesky ape comes to your home and starts harassing you for what you are.How do they not feel guilt,how do they not feel ashamed for what they did?If humans can hate,why can't they love?
I mean humans weren't made to hate,they were made to love and be caring.But some were too stubborn.
Which lead to the outcome of today.
That meant the reason Kraven and these crows were so cursed was because of the hate.
No species likes humans,some don't like themselves or others.But the point is,every single species would team up just to kill humans.Why don't they do it?Because humans are the 'heart' of the world and if anything that's not human harms a human,it won't end well for them.
The group moved on from the timeline and walked through a door which had no floor.
They fell into the abyss of what seemed to be a pit.Their cries were not heard,a burden was placed onto their hearts,and fear in their eyes they shall prevail with fear.Because the maze of Kraven was no joke,but he was a villain and not a monster.All 3 victims fell onto a dirty mattress,stained with blood and urine.Karasu backed up,trying to control his breath.
"This place smells rancid!Who the hell would want to live down here?"Emma exclaimed,clutching onto her nose to avoid the smell."
"Wait a minute…"Irai got off the mattress and leaned his head into a dark space in front of him.There were children,shaking in fear.
"Hey,no need to be afraid,I won't hurt you."The children called down and slowly crept out of the darkness.
"Emily,my little sister."The boy pointed towards the girl beside him.
"My name is David."
"Nice to meet you.I'm Irai."
"Are you visitors?"
"No,me and my friends here got trapped in a maze owned by a filthy crow called Kraven,you heard of him?"
"I think he has the scary mask-"
"Yes,that's him.But we can also save you.Where are your parents."
"In rooms."
"What rooms?"
"Well,the guards split all of us into 3 different rooms.One for the men,one for the women and one for the children.This room is the children's room."
Irai thought to himself,at least Kraven had the decency to split people up so they wouldn't have to live weirdly together.David looked to my right shoulder,glancing at Karasu with his pupils slowly dilating.
"Why did…you bring a crow?"
"Don't worry."Emma began to speak.
"He's not the bad type of crow."David looked slightly less worried,but he didn't let his guard down.Out of nowhere,footsteps marched towards the door with men whispering.Emily gasped,going back into the shadows.
"Quick!"David exclaimed.
"Into these baskets!"David ran towards empty food baskets,opening them to let the others in.
"Trust me,they won't know you're in there."
Irai nodded and ran towards the basket,climbing in as David shut the door,doing the same for Karasu and Emma.
A key went into the hole and opened the door.3 guards of Kraven walked in,holding buckets presumably filled with water.Irai peaked through the basket hole to see guards talking to David and Emily,along with a few other children.He couldn't quite hear what they were saying but it seemed the guards were offering water,which the children obviously said yes to.Each of them walked out through the door,slamming it shut.Irai sighed in relief before opening the basket and climbing out.
"We need to escape the maze,now and with the slaves."Irai discussed with Emma about a plan for 15 minutes before both of them agreed on a solution.
Emma,Irai,Karasu and the kids sharpened some rocks they found and dug a small tunnel which lead to the other rooms.
They got into the women's room first then got into the men's before making another tunnel to escape.This whole plan took 35 minutes but 15 minutes passed originally after Kraven left Irai's door open.Which meant there was only 10 minutes to escape.Every single slave managed to get to the end point after Emma took 5 minutes to navigate through the maze.5 minutes left.Everybody walked through a large gate.On one side of the room was a text painted in red,
YOU DID IT
Irai knew Kraven wrote that,it had to be.A loud rumble came from the opposite side of the room.It was a boulder.Bolting towards them.People started to panic but Irai and Emma led the way.They took a right turn,running from the boulder.Dodging,swiftly turning,doing as much as they could to survive this boulder.200 of those slaves were crushed by the boulder.100 died from exhaustion but 100 remained to the end.The survivors saw light at the end of the tunnel,filled with joy and happiness,they had freedom.After years of being trapped,the cage was opened.Those 100 slaves ran as fast as they could to get out of Kraven's castle.But there,Kraven stood enraged.
"You broke the rules of the deal."
"WHAT?"Irai shouted.
"I never said you could free my slaves…"Kraven's eyes turned violet.
"Karasu come here."
"NO!IM NOT STAYING WITH A RUTHLESS CROW LIKE YOU-"And in that moment,Karasu messed up,big time.One decision cost his life because right after he said this,Kraven shot a bullet of dark manipulation,piercing Karasu's head in a blitz.
"This will be fun."Kraven commanded the curse chains to fall off so that Irai and Emma could regain their powers.
"Where's our weapons?"Kraven then commanded a flock of birds to drop their items from the sky.
"Now the fight's fair."Kraven grabbed something from his coat.Which appeared to be the moonstone.Irai gasped with his eyes widening.He picked up his sword which became infused in light manipulation.Emma's daggers turned to flames,signaling vengeance.
Kraven held onto the moonstone firmly.It turned purple in an instant.A glowing aura sparkled around Kraven's body.He grew larger and larger until it finally stopped.
The moonstone was in Kraven and Kraven was in the moonstone.His body shifted into a massive crow,glaring at Irai and Emma.She began shaking her head,stepping back slowly.
"We-we can't fight him Irai.He's too powerful with the moonstone.We're just pawns and he's a king.So let's retreat."
"What about Hunter and Maku?"
"We'll get them later but right now,we need to go."Irai nodded and followed Emma onto their horses.The animals galloped at a fast pace,evading Kraven by a slight distance.But he was gaining on them and he was fast.They managed to travel through the oasis,resting in a small cave.Panting for breath,Irai coughed.
"I have a dry mouth…you got any water Emma?"She shook her head in despair,looking down at the sand.
"Let's try look for some."The pair got up and wandered in the desert.They looked everywhere.
In bushes,in other caves,even in 'animal' territory.But nothing was found.
Not a pint of water.Emma's mouth began to drool as she looked in front of her.
There seemed to be luxurious water but it was a mirage,a dessert illusion caused by the heat.Irai sighed,wiping the sweat off his forehead.There was no hope.
"I think we should head back Emma."
"No,there HAS to be water somewhere."Emma was peaking through a bush and she stepped on a crack.At first,she hesitated.But it was shallow,really shallow.She got on her knees and looked through the crack.Water was flowing.
"IRAI!THERE'S WATER UNDERNEATH!"Emma exclaimed.
"Take a step back Emma."
"Why?"
"I'm gonna blow this crack up."She got away from the crack and Irai powered up his light manipulation.Going from the center of his hands,towards his finger tips.
"Divine beam."He shouted.The energy was released from his hands and exploded the crack.
Rocks flew into the air,just missing Emma and Irai.But there was no water gushing,just the sound of it flowing.Irai raised his eyebrow in confusion.
No water comes out of the hole,but the sound of water was still there?Irai took a few steps forward to look into the hole,but as he took his final step,Irai fell into the hole screaming.
Emma bolted towards the hole before falling in aswell.It turns out that there was a slippery part of the hole which was supposed to have rock on it but it didn't.2 loud splashes echoed,bouncing between the rocky walls…