Chapter 11: Trap

"We've been walking for ages. Is nothing gonna happen? This is so much more boring than it sounded like it was gonna be?" Karl had been complaining for the last hour and a half about how nothing was happening.

"Maybe something would happen if you complained more? Because that seems to be all that you've been doing since we got here!" Darren was at the edge of his rope. "If something doesn't shut him up soon, I'll do it." Mill was walking in front of the group while looking around for...something he doesn't know. He was just the one at the front of the group so he felt like he should be looking around for danger or traps or treasure just something.

"Hmm?" Mill stopped moving when he noticed something at the corner up ahead. It looked like a shining golden light calling out to him from around the corner. "Does anyone else see the bright light?" Mill turned towards his party as he asked.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT UP, MAN!"

"Why are you yelling?!"

"You keep complaining and it's getting so fucking annoying that I can't take it anymore!"

"It's not my fault that nothing's happening."

"I'm in a group full of idiots."

"I guess not." Mill turned away from whatever it was that was happening behind him and moved towards the light all by himself. When he peeked around the corner to see what could be emanating such a bright and alluring light, he saw a chest. The chest was glowing abnormally brightly, especially seeing as the chest was made of wood and completely closed without showing any treasures inside. "Hey, guys this is really weird I really think you should get over here."

"Look man I'm sorry if I was getting on you nerves it's just that normally I'm alone when I get bored, so I tend to vent outwardly."

"And that's cool bro. I'm sorry for releasing all of my aggression onto you like that. My mother always told my never to show your weaknesses so hearing you complain was bringing up memories of when I was weak, and I would complain."

"I didn't know that I was bringing up such bad memories. I'm sorry man."

"It's fine, dude. And I'm sorry too."

"They really are idiots."

"No, its fine. I'll go inspect the strange chest that is most likely a mimic all by myself. I'll call for you all if something bad happens." Mill let out an annoyed sigh and walked up to the chest. "Alright little creepy chest. Let's see what you've got." Mill slowly set his hands on the chest that was in front of him and began to open it. He took a deep breath and opened the chest ready for whatever may come out of it. Mill had taken a step away from the chest and waited. He waited for a few seconds, but nothing was happening.

"Maybe I was just paranoid, and the chest isn't actually a mimic. This is most likely a beginner maze so they might not have such intense and beings such as mimics. Mill to a gaze into the chest and saw a strange golden key sitting at the bottom of it. The key was the only thing that was in the chest causing Mill to feel disappointed that this was all he was going to get. He let out a sigh and reached for the key. "I hope this key is for something important or this whole experience was just a waste." Mill grabbed the key out of the chest and turned around to see Lua staring at him.

"What were you doing over there?" Lua had grown tired of the events with Karl and Darren when she had noticed that Mill had left. Now all she saw was him walking away from a chest with nothing but a key.

"Oh, look who finally decided to pay attention to their surrounds. Thanks for the help by the way. Luckily nothing bad ha-" Mill started to walk towards Lua when he felt something.

Click.

Mill looked lifted his where he saw what he thought was a rock being a hidden button. "Of course." Suddenly Mill fell through the floor as Lua watched as Mill vanished into thin air. She looked around but could see no remaining traces of the boy. She ran up to where he had just been standing but saw nothing unusual. She remembered that she heard a click before he disappeared but couldn't find anything that would function as some sort of secret button. Lua sighed, "And you told me to be more aware of my surroundings." Lua got off of the floor and returned to Darren and Karl who were now holding each other in a brotherly embrace.

"You're the best, bro."

"No, you're the best, dude." Lua shook her head at the sight. "I really hate the idiots in my party. Hey! If you're done falling in love with each other then get over here. Mill's disappeared." Darren and Karl stopped speaking and looked towards Lua. They then looked at each other and quickly left the embrace.

"Ahem, what did you say?" Darren asked as he moved further away from Karl. "What do you mean that Mill disappeared? Like he left?"

"No, like I saw him standing around the corner one second and the next second he was gone. I think he activate a one-time trap because I can't seem to follow him." Darren and Karl look at each other and then round the corner and can see that Mill has seemed to vanish into thin air.

"Seems like he got careless. Why didn't he wait for us to be there with him?" Karl was the one to ask this. He turned to see Lua and Darren looking at him like he was an idiot causing Karl to remember what was just taking place. "He went alone because we weren't paying attention, didn't he?" Lua and Darren slowly nodded their heads as the remaining three felt guilt rising up from within. Before they had the chance to ponder on that guilt, however, Karl's ears began to twitch as he faced the opposite direction of the chest. Lua and Darren were surprised by his sudden alertness causing them to turn around just in time to see the wall behind them dropping to reveal a group of ogres standing ready to attack.

"Look at that, Karl. We get to fight now." Lua said as she readied her weapon and purple lightning crackled around the bow that she now had drawn ready to fire at the enemies. Karl's hands turned into a pair of black wolf claws and Darren summoned a giant astral blade into his hands.

"Let's deal with this quickly so that we can go find the only sensible person in this party other than me." As Lua said that she released the arrow that she had prepped at the leading ogre eye penetrating it and sending a paralyzing and contagious bolt of lightning magic into the whole group. Darren and Karl charged forward and attacked the two on the left and right of the front running ogre knocking them down and then ensuring that they killed them so that they could continue the fight.

…

Mill was suddenly standing a pitch-black room. He felt around himself for any sort of wall and eventually found one. Once his hand touched the wall, he realized that this wall felt differently than the walls that he was just surrounded by. These ones felt smooth and cold compared to the warm and rough walls within the maze. "So, I guess I'm not in the maze anymore."

"No, you are not." A deep, gravelly voice called out and almost like some sort of signal the room immediately illuminated with several crystals. Mill looked around the now dimly lit room for the source of the voice and it didn't take long for him to notice the figure standing in the center of the room. It was a humanoid figure with golden armor on and an Indigo cape. The figure was staring directly at Mill...or at least Mill thinks that it is seeing as the figure is wearing a helmet.

"I'm not?"

"You are not standing in a maze. You are currently standing in my master's domain and thus you are trespassing. Prepare to suffer the fate of 1,000 deaths." The figure reached out its hand and a spear made of some sort of blue metal appeared in it. The figure pointed the spear at Mill and readied itself for battle. Mill stared at the weapon for a bit before letting out a chuckle as flames kicked up behind him.

"You know what? This isn't too bad of a situation." Mill cracked his neck twice and pulled out his two daggers and also got into a battle stance.

"I needed something to wake me up."