Hilda - The Challenge (32 page)

William looked at Hilda. Her face was serious
and looked like stone. He feared that she was prone to the throwing
up bit, since she mentioned it so explicitly. Moving his broom a
bit closer to hers, he put a hand on her arm for a few moment.
"We're here together. We'll be fine, okay?"

"Yes. We will." She smiled, but William
missed even the slightest of blue sparkles in her eyes.

The look of the land beneath them became more
and more dismal, grey, repelling and cold. Hilda felt a shiver run
down her spine as they progressed. William understood more and more
that the reputation of this place was founded on fact. The
uninviting views, the total absence of green and flowers and
animals was blatant.

"Here it comes," Hilda said.

It was clear to William that she was
referring to 'the feeling'. The moment they would enter the inner
circle of the labyrinth. The feeling came like a thunderstrike. It
did not build up, it was acute and strong, making him feel as if
his gut was ripped out of him, leaving him with a hole inside him
and a nauseating feeling. Yes, the feeling of wanting to throw up,
he thought, was the only way to describe this.

Hilda's face, not the most tanned already,
turned even paler as they hit the strong magical wards of the
labyrinth. She had held a magical protection around herself for
this moment, otherwise she was afraid she'd pass out. It had almost
happened once, and she was not certain if William was able to hold
both of them in the air as he was also going through this.

As suddenly as the feeling had jumped them,
it left again. The effect of the entry into the circle had perhaps
only lasted mere seconds, but they both felt as if they had been
through a wringer for quite a while.

"Okay, that was no fun," said William. His
stomach was more or less back where he expected it.

"There is more coming," Hilda said, her face
expressionless.

In front of them lay the labyrinth of
Gurthreyn.

The ground ahead was grey. William would not
have deemed it possible, but there was soil, and it was grey. It
lay in what looked like layers, lighter shades of grey on top,
darker shades of grey further down. It had to be a trick of the
light, or an illusion, because despite the impression of layers,
the surface was flat, dull and uninviting.

Only a few hundred yards further, there were
walls. High walls, like they had already seen in the mirror. Now
however, that they were approaching the actual place, it became
evident how high and thick the walls were. Several yards thick, at
least twenty yards high and in places even higher.

The two people on broomstick came to a halt
to observe the immense area that made up the labyrinth of
Gurthreyn. The grey rough walls seemed to go on forever, in each
direction.

"Holy Bejeebus... how big is that thing?"

"No one knows. They tried to measure it, but
it defies measurement. It changes itself, modifies itself." Hilda
stared at the colossus. "Last time I was here, this wall was wider,
and the left part was higher."

"Can we get closer?", William asked.

"Yes. We can go in there also. It is not
charged for a challenge, so it is relatively safe."

"Uhm, 'relatively' safe?" William did not
like the background sound in that one word.

"Yes. The labyrinth is considered a living
entity and sometimes it has a temper. It doesn't happen often that
someone dies in there, or gets wounded though. Not when it is at
peace like this." Hilda, for some strange reason, felt less worried
and scared as she was explaining this to William. It diverted her
mind from her emotions and that helped in making the place less
eerie.

Taking on the role of tour-guide, Hilda
started moving forward.

William was right there with her. He
remembered how she had tried to drink herself into a stupor when
they had first discussed this place, so his admiration for her grew
in leaps, seeing how she was doing now.

As they moved around the outer wall, they
passed by the odd petrified tree they had also seen in the mirror,
in the safety of Hilda's living room. It was much larger than
William had thought. He directed his broom to fly over the tree,
and estimated the top to be about seventy yards high. The grey
branches and the immense grey trunk of the tree seemed to depict
death if ever he had seen an image for it. It felt depressing, and
suddenly he had an enormous desire to leave this place and speed
back to the lush and gentle environments in the kingdom of king
Walt. He joined Hilda again, instead.

"Spooky, isn't it?" She had picked up his
urge to run away.

"Eerie is not even coming close, sweetheart,"
William said, avoiding to look back to the immense tree.

At a quicker pace they circumvented the
gigantic place. Then Hilda led them to a specific place. From a
distance they saw what looked like a small gate that would allow
entrance to the labyrinth. They touched down close to it, and from
that viewpoint the small gate was an impressive double-door
gateway, twenty yards high, twenty yards wide. The doors were made
of a dark metal. There was large grey symbols on them, William
recognised them as magical symbols. He had seen them in some of
Hilda's books. Their meaning had escaped him.

"Well... welcome to Gurthreyn, William."
Hilda's voice was flat. She too would rather pack up and leave, but
they were here to inspect the place. They had not flown for so
long, crossing many kingdoms and a queendom, to return home without
doing what they had come for.

They put their brooms against the wall. Hilda
explained: "We can't take them in here. Won't get through the
doors. Which stinks. But that's how it is."

They stared at the huge doors for a while
longer. Then Hilda took her wand and touched one of the massive
metal contraptions. In utter silence the door swung open. Had it
made noise, creaking and screaming, it would not have been so bad.
The silence in which it happened made the feeling of ultimate
discomfort only larger, more severe.

William and Hilda stepped through the
opening. There was a feeling around as if the air had gotten
thicker, as if it had taken on the quality of lead in how easy it
was to walk through it.

"Use magic to get through it," Hilda warned
William. Using magic helped. Once they had entered the main
corridor along the outer wall, William faced a tremendous fright.
He looked up at the wall and that did not want to acknowledge to
his brain that it ended somewhere. The rough grey structure seemed
to go on forever, even stab through the grey clouds in the sky.

Then he looked at Hilda. "I am sorry if ever
I gave you the idea that this is not so bad, Hilda. This -is- bad.
We've been in here just a minute or so and it already scares the
jeebus out of me."

"Don't worry about that, William. Just keep
yourself together." Hilda had sensed how he was feeling inside, and
that worried her more than his doubting her. He had not known, and
that was understandable. Nothing than being in this place would
prepare someone for the feeling. She took his hand, as much for his
peace of mind as her own. Being together and physically feeling
that made the labyrinth less threatening.

"Do you want to walk in here for a while?"
Hilda squeezed his hand. "Nothing can happen now, please remember
that."

He gently squeezed back. "I know. Because you
are with me."

"No. Because you are with me," Hilda
countered.

William turned to the witch. "No way. You are
here, you have been here before, and that makes it better for
me."

She stared at him. "Come on, don't make
jokes, okay?"

"I am not making jokes, Hilda."

"Hmmf. Don't count on me being the hero,
okay? I am just as scared here as you are."

William looked at her again and then pulled
her into a hug. "I guess we're both not too thrilled about this
place then."

Hilda nodded inside his hug, slipping her
arms around him. "I'm glad you can hold me, William."

They just stood there for a while, but
somehow it made a world of difference. Once they let go, they
locked hands and fingers and walked along the endless wall. For
some reason they both knew deep inside, the environment was less
frightening.

The couple reached an opening in the wall to
their left. The outer wall, on their right side, was as rough and
grey as ever. They looked into the corridor that lay on the left
side. It seemed to end after a mere thirty yards, but as they were
watching, the back of the corridor came towards them. This did not
happen in silence. A loud grinding and croaking sound accompanied
the huge mass of stone and rock on its journey forward. The wall
stopped just three yards from them.

The sound of the wall moving was still
ringing in their ears as Hilda and William walked on. William had
the feeling that he now understood how an ant would feel in a
shoebox. Or perhaps in a box of a more impressive size.

As they walked on again, William noticed that
the floor under his shoes was not straight and even, even if it
looked like it. It felt as if he was walking on pebbles. When he
mentioned that to Hilda, she frowned.

"The floor is flat and stable, William. Is
there something wrong with your shoes?"

They checked, but his shoes were in perfect
condition. And yet, walking felt to him as if he was moving over
something that was next door to a slippery surface. Hilda didn't
understand it, and even when she tried to adjust the feeling for
him by adding to his magic, it did not make a difference.

"Maybe you are affected in a different way
because you are not from here, William. We could go back and fetch
the brooms. Perhaps that is easier."

"Uhm, you know, when we go back then it is to
go away from here, Hilda. This place is getting under my skin in
entirely the wrong way. As long as we're on the move, I'm fine,
but...phew..." He let out a sigh that told the rest.

Hilda nodded. "That's okay. I think we're
doing well, though. It was a good idea to come here. Maybe...", she
swallowed hard and made sure she was willing to say what she was
about to say, "maybe we should come back here a few more times
before the challenge."

William nodded. "Yes. Perhaps that helps to
make the place feel less daunting. That would be a good thing, and
really, I am sure that Lamador does that also. If he can go in here
and not feel affected just like that, then he is really someone to
be extremely scared of."

Hilda wrapped her arm around his and held
herself close to William. "He is anyway, William."

"But we have the scrolls about the magician
who designed this place," he smiled, showing more confidence than
was inside him. Hilda knew that also, but said nothing.

They had been standing still. They did not
know if that was the reason, but suddenly they both felt that it
was time to leave. Not really in a hurry but definitely motivated
to get out of the looming corridor, they made their way back to the
giant double doors. Without waiting or stopping they grabbed their
brooms, mounted them and lifted off. As they sped up, they did not
look back. Without anyone seeing it, the large door slowly and in
silence closed itself.

The moment they saw that the colours of the
landscape were changing, they both felt less pressured. Even as
there were only dull brown and yellow streaks in the grey, it was a
sign they were leaving the oppressive area of the labyrinth. They
passed through the magical barrier, which again left them with a
sickening feeling, but that was no more a problem. Things could
only get better again from there on, and once they had reached the
point where they felt safe and able to really breathe deeply, Hilda
suggested they'd land and eat the food they had brought along.

The packs from their brooms also held simple
fold-up chairs and table that William had conjured up before they
left, these to Hilda's surprise.

The spot they were in was quite the desert,
but the air was clear and not pregnant with daunting magic. The
chairs and the little table came in handy, the food and water
(which was quickly transformed into tea) tasted fantastic.

Hilda had even magicked up a little fire. "I
know it looks a bit silly, but I like to have a fire going
already," she had grinned as William was wondering why on Earth she
would do that. "Also, in the desert, I know that, it gets cold very
quickly."

"Well, that is something we share then, in my
old world that is the same thing. But only when the sun is
setting."

Hilda nodded. "Same here."

It was only then that William looked around
and noticed that the sun was already well on its way to the rim of
the Earth. Only an hour at best before it would disappear.
"HolyBejeebus," he muttered. "Where did time go?"

Hilda, tossing some more wood on the fire,
said: "When you're inside the labyrinth you never know what happens
outside. Today time decided to make a run for it. We can't possibly
fly all the way back home now."

"Okay... so we are sleeping here. In the
desert." William bit his sandwich and looked at the surroundings.
There was a lot of nothing.

"Yes. Isn't that cute?" Hilda poured them
some more tea, and then whipped up her wand. "Now, let's see..."
She made some moves with her wand that were too fast for William to
trace. It reminded him of a Zorro movie he had once seen. The
difference was that Zorro just left a rough Z in clothing and
Hilda's action made a funny little tent appear. There were no lines
to hold it up, no visible sticks or poles that held up the canvas
of the tent, but hey, who needs those things when you pack
magic?

"Now that is convenient," William said. "Not
sure if it is large enough for two people, though."

Hilda grinned, blue sparkles in her eyes. "I
am sure we can work something out, sweet man."