Trials of Death

“I’m sure you will,” the vampire smiled apologetically. “I had to say it anyway — tradition.”

The four guards gathered up the stretcher and left. They were all wearing extra soft shoes, so their footsteps made no noise.

Small candles were set in glass bulbs in the roof of the maze, so I’d have plenty of light to see by, even when the water rose high.

My nerves gnawed at me while I was waiting for the water to gush. A cowardly voice inside my head niggled at me to make an early beginning. Nobody would ever know. Better to live with a little shame than die because of stupid pride.

I ignored the voice — I’d never be able to look Mr Crepsley, Gavner or the others in the eye if I cheated.

Finally there was a gurgling sound and water bubbled up out of a nearby pipe. Breathing a sigh of relief, I hurried for the end of the corridor, dragging my rock behind me, shaking the rope at regular intervals, as Vanez had taught me.

I made good time to start with. The water barely hindered me and there were plenty of striking stones to identify the different corridors by. I didn’t panic when I came to a dead end or worked my way back to a corridor I’d already visited, just stuck my head down and kept walking, taking a new route.

The going got tough after five or six minutes. The water was up above my knees. Each step was an endeavour. The rock now felt like it weighed a tonne. I was having trouble breathing and my muscles ached, especially those in my legs and back.

Still I didn’t panic. Vanez had prepared me for this. I had to accept the water, not fight it. I let my pace drop. The mistake many vampires made was to try walking quickly — they exhausted themselves early and never got anywhere near the end.

Another couple of minutes passed. I was growing anxious. There was no way to tell how close or far from the finish I was. I could be a single turn away from an exit door without knowing it — or nowhere near one. At least I’d recognize an exit if I saw it — a huge white X was painted on all four doors and a large black button was at the centre of the X. All I had to do was press that button and the door would open, the water would flood out, and I’d be safe.

The trouble was finding it. The water was up to my chest by this stage and the rock was getting heavier all the time. I’d stopped shaking the rope – it was too much of an effort – and could feel it drifting along behind me, threatening to stick between my legs. That happened sometimes — vampires got knotted up in the rope and came to a standstill, drowning where they stood.

I was turning a corner when the rock snagged on something. I gave the rope a pull, trying to free it — to no avail. Taking a deep breath, I dived down to see what was wrong. I found the rock had jammed against a large crack in a wall. It only took a few seconds to prise it loose, but when I sprang up, I suddenly realized that my mind was a blank. Had I been in this tunnel before? I looked for a familiar sign but couldn’t spot any. There was a yellow stone high up in one of the walls, and I thought I’d passed it earlier, but I didn’t know for sure.

I was lost!

I lurched to the end of the corridor, then up another, desperately trying to establish my position. Panic flooded my system. I kept thinking, “I’m going to drown! I’m going to drown!” I could have passed a dozen markers and not recognized any of them, I was so stressed out.

The water was up to my chin. It splashed into my mouth. Sputtering, I slapped at the water, as though that would make it go away. I stumbled and fell. Came up spitting water and gasping. Terrified, I started to scream…

…and that stopped me. The sound of my roars snapped me back to my senses. I remembered Vanez’s advice, stood perfectly still, shut my eyes and refused to budge until I had the panic under control. I concentrated on the thought of the feast that awaited me. Fresh meat, wild roots and fruit. A bottle of human blood to perk me up. Dessert — mountain berries, hot and juicy.

I opened my eyes. My heart had stopped beating like a drum and the worst of the panic attack had passed. I waded slowly down the corridor, searching for a marker. If I could find one, I was sure I’d recall the rest of my mental map. I reached the end of the corridor — no markers. The next corridor was new to me as well. And the one after that. And the next.

I could feel the panic bubbling up again when I spotted a candle holder set in a pale grey circular stone — one of my markers! I stared at the candle and waited for my map to reform. For several long seconds my mind remained as terrifyingly blank as it had been — then the map fell back into place. It came to me in sections first, a piece at a time, then in a rush. I stood where I was for a few more seconds, making sure I had it clear in my head, before continuing.

The water was up to my lower lip now. The going was almost impossible. I had to proceed in sluggish jumps, lurching forward to keep my head above water, being extra careful not to bash it on the ceiling. How long before I ran out of air? Three minutes? Four? It couldn’t be much more than that. I had to find the way out — and quick!

Concentrating on the map inside my head, I tried figuring out how far away I was from the spot where I’d started. By my reckoning, I should be near one of the border walls. If I was, and the exit door was close by, I stood a chance. Otherwise the Trial was as good as over.

Turning a corner, I ran into my first stretch of border wall. I knew it immediately, because the stones were darker and rougher than the rest of the maze. There was no X printed on it, but my heart gave a joyous leap all the same. Backtracking, I banished the map from my thoughts — it was no use to me any longer — and hurried along to the next turning, searching for that elusive X.

I found four different sections of border wall, none of which contained the exit. The water was almost up to the ceiling now. I was swimming more than walking, pressing my lips to the roof to draw in air. I’d have been OK if not for the wretched rock — it dragged behind me worse than ever when I tried to swim, slowing me down to a crawl.

As I paused to draw breath, I realized it was time to make a critical decision. Vanez had discussed this with me in the practice maze. He’d hoped things wouldn’t reach this stage, but if they did, it was vital that I chose correctly.

If I continued as I was, I’d perish. I was making very little progress and in a minute or two the water would cover my face completely and I’d drown. The time had come to gamble. One last roll of the dice. If the luck of the vampires was with me, it would mean survival. If not…

I took several deep breaths, filling my lungs, then ducked under the water and dived to the floor. Picking up the rock, I turned over, so I was floating on my back, and placed the rock on my belly. Then I swam. It was awkward – streams of water forced themselves up my nose – but this was the only way to stop the rock from dragging on me.

Vampires can hold their breath longer than humans – five or six minutes, easily – but because I was on my back, I had to keep blowing air out through my nose, to stop the water going up it, so I’d have two, three minutes at most before I ran out of oxygen and drowned.

Swimming around another corner, I stared down a long corridor. I could spot the shape of what must be border wall at the end, but I was too far away to see if there was an X on it or not. I thought there might be, but that could be my mind playing tricks — Vanez had warned me about underwater mirages.

I swam up the corridor. About half-way, I realized there was no X – a long crack in the stones had fooled me – so I turned and quickly headed back the way I’d come. The weight of the rock was forcing me down. I stopped, put my feet on the floor and used them to push myself up, then straightened out and resumed swimming.

I searched in vain for another glimpse of border wall but the next two turnings both led to other corridors, not the wall. My oxygen was running out. It was getting harder and harder to move my arms and legs.

The next turn didn’t lead to border wall either, but I had no time to swim ahead and look for another turning. Summoning all of my energy, I swam down the short corridor and took the right turn at the end. That led to another short corridor. As I started down it, the rock slipped off my belly, scratching me as it fell. I yelped without thinking. Water rushed in and air rushed out.

Coughing, I struck for the ceiling to draw more air, but when I reached it, I found the water had beaten me to the punch — there was no more air to be had!

I trod water, silently cursing the fates and vampire gods. This was the end. I’d given it my best shot but it wasn’t to be. The best thing now would be to open my mouth, gulp in water and make as quick a finish of it as I could. I would have, too, except this corridor wasn’t well lit, and I didn’t like the idea of dying in darkness. So, painfully, I dived again to the floor, gathered the rock, turned over on to my back, placed the rock on my belly, and swam ahead to find somewhere brighter to die.

As I made the left turn at the end of corridor, I spotted the dark stone of border wall. I smiled weakly, remembering how excited that would have made me a few minutes ago. I rolled over on to my belly, so that I could die on my feet — then stopped.

There was an X on the wall!

I stared at it stupidly while precious air bubbles popped out of my mouth. Was this another trick of my mind? Another false crack? It must be. There was no way I could be this lucky. I should ignore it and…

No! It was an X!

I was out of air and strength, but the sight of that X gave me a new lease of life. Making use of resources I hadn’t known I had, I kicked hard with my legs and shot towards the wall like a bullet. I bumped my head against it, recoiled, then rolled over and studied the large, rough X.

I was so delighted to find the X, I almost didn’t think to push the button at its centre. What a farce that would have been — to come so far and fail at the very end! But, thankfully, I was spared that indignity. Of its own accord, my left hand crept out, ran its fingers over the button set in the X, then pressed it. The button slid inwards and the X vanished as the stone slid back into the wall.

With a huge slushing roar, water gushed out through the gap. I was carried along with it, coming to a jolt just beyond the door when my rock caught on something. My eyes and mouth were shut, and for a while it seemed like I was still submerged in the maze, as water flooded out over my head. Gradually, though, the level diminished, and I realized I could breathe.

Following the deepest single breath of my life, I opened my eyes and blinked. The cavern seemed a lot brighter than it had less than half an hour ago, when I’d been led down to it by Vanez Blane. I felt like I was sitting on a beach on a warm summer’s day.

Cheers and hollers reached my ears. Staring around like a fish on dry land, I noticed delighted vampires streaming towards me, splashing through pools of water, whooping with excitement. I was too tired to identify their faces, but I recognized the orange crop of hair on the vampire leading the way — Mr Crepsley.

As the water subsided, I struggled to my feet and stood outside the door of the Aquatic Maze, smiling foolishly, rubbing the bump on my head where I’d connected with the wall. “You did it, Darren!” Mr Crepsley roared, reaching my side and throwing his arms around me in a rare display of affection.

Another vampire embraced me and yelled, “I thought you’d had it! So much time had passed, I was sure you’d failed!”

Blinking water from my eyes, I made out the features of Kurda and Gavner. And, close behind, Vanez and Arra. “Mr Crepsley? Kurda? Vanez? What are you doing on a beach in the middle of the day?” I asked. “You’ll sizzle in the sunlight if you don’t watch out.”

“He’s delirious!” someone laughed.

“Who would not be?” Mr Crepsley replied, hugging me proudly.

“Think I’ll sit down a while,” I muttered. “Call me when it’s time to build sand castles.” And, collapsing on my bottom, I stared up at the roof, convinced it was the wide open sky, and hummed merrily to myself while the vampires fussed around me.

CHAPTER FIVE

I WAS shivering like a bedraggled rat when I woke late the next day. I’d been asleep for fifteen hours or more! Vanez was there to bid me good morning. He handed me a small mug full of a dark liquid and told me to drink.

“What is it?” I asked.