Part 1

The sun kissed the horizon, ready to go into a deep, sound sleep as dusk awoke from its slumber, ready to terrify.  Rahul lowered his gaze. The three friends stared open-mouthed at the ghastly and intimidating structure in front of them.  Rahul felt a shiver run down his spine as he started to tremble just by taking a glimpse at this menace. Ahead stood the most frightening haunted house he had ever witnessed in his twenty-three years of life - a tilted structure with shattered windows, blood stained walls and voraciously scratched doors.  Just past the tall gates lay a vast expanse of graves, inviting them to step foot into the graveyard. Hardik and Arjun jumped as Rahul broke the awkward silence.

“Guys, we volunteered for this,” he whispered.  “This is our job. And I don’t think any of us believe in ghosts, do we?  That's the main reason our boss sent the three of us here to investigate this unsolved mystery.”

“Rahul’s right,” Arjun agreed.

Arjun and Rahul gaped at the towering gates looming above them.  Every time Rahul squinted at them, he could feel them scowling back at him.  With a gulp, he pushed the doors inward, and with every jolt he gave, the hinges produced creaks with intensifying volume, as though refusing to open and crying for help.  He mustered all his strength and as a drop of sweat splattered onto the uneven and rocky road for the umpteenth time, he pushed the gates leaving a massive open entrance in front of him.

“Phew!” he sighed.  “That felt like I was pushing an aircraft!  Come on, let's step in.”

Arjun and Rahul walked side-by-side as Hardik reluctantly followed.  Rahul’s heart started to thump faster than the speed of light as fear started to envelope itself around him like a cocoon.  The graveyard was peppered with endless rows and columns of graves, but left a single, narrow path leading straight into the tilted castle.  The three of them were barely meters away from stepping foot into the haunted house when suddenly, a devastating earthquake shook the ground with such great force that Rahul thought a meteor had crash landed on Earth.  To his surprise, humongous walls rose from the barren ground, grapevines surrounding their metal frames. A wall materialized in front of him, blocking their entrance to the castle.

“Guys, let’s get out of here,” Hardik whimpered.  The three of them turned back and sprinted towards the rusted gates.  Just as escape seemed easy, a wall rose upwards, completing trapping them inside an almost unsolvable maze.

Part 2

Rahul wished he could turn back the clock and bring the wheels of time to a stop.  He wished he could run away even before entering this dilapidated castle.

“I told you!” Hardik screamed.  “We never should have co—”

“We all joined the Federal Agency of Mysteries knowing that we would encounter extremely unpleasant situations,” Arjun shot back.  “We came here for a job, and we cannot leave without finishing it. This ‘haunted house’ has made people disappear, for God’s sake!  We have to solve this mystery. It’s our job.”

“You don’t unders—” Hardik started, but Rahul cut him off.

“Guys, shut it!” he shouted.  “We have to get to that haunted house.  It may have some clues of getting out of here.”

“You’re right,” Arjun agreed.  “But how do we find its location in this labyrinth?”

Rahul squinted up at the vast grapevines slithering along the walls like vipers.  “I’ve got an idea.”

Hardik gripped the grapevines, took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut.  He was going to climb up this 100 foot tall wall using the grapevines and scout for any haunted houses or buildings in the maze.  I can do this, he murmured to himself.  He gripped the grapevines tighter as anger flowed through him like a river.  His face was glowing red, his teeth gritted, yet somehow he managed to keep his calm.  We never should have come here, he muttered under his breath.  Hardik placed his right foot on a vine and pushed upwards.  He imagined himself coursing through a rope ladder, and kept climbing towards his destination.  Beads of sweat now covered his palms, making him slip slightly now and then as he gathered his guts and tried to launch himself upwards like a rocket.  Suddenly, a vine holding his right leg snapped, and his eyes opened wide with fear. His whole body swung like a swing, with his left arm acting as his only support.  I cannot fail.  He swung forward, grasping a thick vine with his right palm.  With a final upwards thrust, Hardik pulled himself to the top of the 100 foot wall and gaped at the maze around him with utmost astonishment.

“Oh my god.”

Rahul flicked a glance upwards at Hardik and realized that he was completely petrified, his mouth wide open and his eyes flashing with horror.

“W-What’s wrong, H-Hardik?” Rahul stammered, my legs trembling.

“This is an unsolvable labyrinth,” Hardik replied in a robotic voice.  He then started to descend slowly, and reached the ground after five minutes.

“Tell us,” Arjun asked Hardik. “What did you see besides the complicated maze?”

Petrification had ebbed away from Hardik’s face.  “I-I saw a massive building not far from here,” Hardik replied in a hoarse voice.  “We must take the right on this T-junction, then the second left, and finally the first right.  That will lead us to the structure.”

“Hmm,” Arjun seemed to be in deep thought.  “Great job Hardik. Come on, guys. Let’s get going.”

In front of them was a T-junction, and they took the first right as Hardik had instructed.  As they ran, Rahul noticed many blood marks splattered on the walls and bullet holes that had pierced through the walls’ thick hides.  Suddenly, Arjun broke Rahul’s train of thought.

“Guys, we’re here.”

Part 3

In front of them was a massive gold-plated castle spread out over a sprawling area of at least ten acres.  Completely surrounding the palace was a huge moat at least a hundred feet wide, and leading straight into the castle’s entrance was a lowered drawbridge made of 10-inch thick steel.  Humongous bronze doors blocked their entrance into the palace.

“Guys, let’s get going,” Arjun said, pursing his lips as he strolled through the drawbridge.

Just as his foot touched the cool steel, the bronze doors in front of them automatically opened, leaving a massive entrance.  Arjun stopped dead on his tracks as he glared at the gargantuan doors. He then started to storm towards the castle’s entrance as Rahul followed at a brisk pace with Hardik right on his heels.  They stepped off the drawbridge, took a deep breath and walked right into the palace.

The castle looked larger from inside compared to how it looked from outside.  The three of them stood on a perfectly circular yet enormous atrium with tall flower vases placed along the side wall.  King sized sofas sat majestically on the marble floor with a long, twelve seater dining table situated to their left. A large chandelier dangled from the dome shaped ceiling, lighting up half of the chamber on its own.  Right in front of them was a curved staircase covered with a red carpet, leading up to the first floor. Before they could continue to explore the palace, a voice resonated from across the chamber through invisible loudspeakers.

“Welcome, lionhearts!” the voice rumbled.  “Your task is to work as a team to find and bring back three relics spread out in this maze.  You must do so in three hours, otherwise you will be stuck in this maze forever. Each relic will be guarded by different technologies which possess different powers.  To escape from this maze, you must return alive within the time limit with all the three relics with you. In front of you lie various weapons from which you may choose one.  Good luck, brave warriors! Your time starts now.”

Hardik bellowed in rage.  “What the h—”

“So,” Rahul interrupted.  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to split up as we will be more vulnerable to the dangers that lie ahead of us.  Secondly, three pairs of eyes are better for spotting relics compared to one. I will be taking spears as my weapon.  Hardik, you pick a bow and a bunch of arrows. Arjun, you take the sword and the shield.”

Rahul’s friends did as he instructed, and in seconds, they had raced out of the castle.  They sprinted as fast as their legs could carry them as their eyes constantly scanned the environment around them like hawks.  They kept taking random turns, and after half an hour of continuous running, they came to halt, panting like never before.

Suddenly, the corner of Rahul’s right eye caught a shimmering green object in the distance.  He stood up straight, and hope seemed to have finally found its way to them. “The first relic.”

Arjun and Hardik turned to look in the direction of the glowing object.  Just as Hardik was about to run towards the relic, Arjun caught his shoulder.  “Don’t rush. There might be traps.” He turned out to be correct. Immediately, a massive cloud of white smoke appeared, breaking their line of sight and forcing them to cough.  When the cloud finally dissipated, the relic was gone. And so was Hardik.

Part 4

Hardik’s eyes were glued onto the ugly monster escaping with their precious relic.  He had faintly noticed this devil snatching the relic just when the cloud had started to form.  As he ran, he noticed a red spot on one of the the monster’s hind legs. That must be its weak spot, he analysed.  Without wasting any more time, he nocked an arrow onto his bowstring, took aim, and fired.  Just as the monster was about to escape, the arrow hit its mark and the monster disintegrated into dust.  Hardik ran towards the relic, grabbed it, and turned to return back to his friends.

Arjun sat on the ground, placed his palm over his eyes and burst into tears.  “Oh my God! What has Hardik gotten himself into?”

Rahul tried his best to soothe him, but it seemed to have no effect.  “He could be alive, you know?”

Then, out of nowhere, a deep voice resonated not far from them.  “You’re right. I’m totally alive.”

Arjun’s head shot upwards as he stared, dumbfounded at the muscular figure in front of him.  Arjun rushed towards Hardik and gave him a bone-crushing bear hug.

“Ouch!” Hardik winced.

Arjun sighed, “Oh, thank the lords you’re fi—”

Without a second’s notice, a huge creature with the face and fangs of a snake, body of a lion, legs of a tiger and a sting of a scorpion landed straight on top of Hardik, burying its fangs in his neck.  Hardik screamed, and then vanished.

“What the—” Arjun started, but within moments, at least a dozen such creatures landed in front of Rahul and Arjun, their long, forked tongues pointing out now and then as they hissed.  In front of the two friends was a straight road forking into two separate paths.

“Split!” Arjun cried, then ran for his life.

As Arjun had guessed, half of the creatures followed him while the other half chased Rahul.  Arjun knew he couldn't outrun the monsters, and kept hearing hisses that sent chills down his spine.  Arjun glimpsed ahead and gasped. He was entering a dead end. Then, an idea formulated in his head.

Arjun sprinted with all the energy he had left, then, launched himself forward like a spring.  He banged into the thicket of grapevines about five meters above the ground, then started to climb.  By the time the monsters reached the wall, Arjun was well above the reach of their stingers. He climbed all the way to the top and then screamed out loud in absolute rage.

“How dare you take the life of my friend!” he bellowed.  After two longs minutes of screaming and shouting, Arjun glanced at his watch.

They had only an hour and a half left to go.  

Though Arjun found it pretty hard to balance on the top of the wall, he took the risk and ran on top of it.  He didn’t care; he was a war general ready for a bloodbath. As he cruised through, his eyes caught a red shimmering object below.  Without a second thought, he climbed down and just as his hands were about to touch the relic, six large monsters jumped down from the walls above and started to encircle him.  He was trapped.

Part 5

Rahul had climbed halfway up a wall and had personally killed all the six monsters chasing him using his mighty spears after realising that they had a vulnerable point in their hind legs.  As he jogged through the maze, his ears caught hisses in the distance. Creases etched themselves onto Rahul’s forehead as rage boiled inside him. He ran towards the noise. When he reached the place, a gulp ran down his throat.  Six large monsters encircled Arjun, who kept slashing his sword to keep the monsters at bay. The volcano inside Rahul erupted as an ear-splitting war cry escaped his throat. All the monsters turned to face him.

This was Arjun’s chance.  Rahul had very intelligently distracted the monsters, and at that very moment, Arjun brought down his weapon in an arc, cutting through one of the monster’s hind legs as it disintegrated into dust.  The creatures fell like rain as spears penetrated their weak points, and within moments, where the monsters lay were now piles of dust. Arjun picked up the relic and shoved it into his deep pant pocket.  Before Arjun could express his feelings of relief, Rahul ran towards him and gave him a huge hug as tears poured down Rahul’s face.

“I knew you were alive,” Rahul sobbed.  

“We don’t have time,” Arjun replied.

“You’re right.  Just one hour to go,” Rahul agreed as he shot a glance at his watch.  With that, the two of them returned to navigating the endless maze.

Arjun and Rahul had barely been running for fifteen minutes and their lungs refused to work anymore.  They came to a sudden halt and took huge breaths as though they were gulping water. Their throats were parched, their bodies about to break.  They were about to take a right turn, when their ears captured the noise of creaking machines. The place stank of machine oil as well.

“Shhh,” Rahul placed a finger over his lips and slowly, without producing a sound, stuck to the wall and peeped towards his right.  What he noticed was an astonishing yet terrifying sight. Eight robots, each at least six feet tall, patrolled the area with large machine guns acting as their arms.  Spikes protruded from their back like swords, waiting to taste sweet blood. In the middle of their chest was a red spot, probably a weak point. Entangled on one of the grapevines was a large relic shining blue.  Rahul told his friend what he saw, and Arjun sank into deep thought. Finally, Arjun broke the awkward silence.

“First, you climb up the vines all the way to the top of the wall.  Then, with your signal, I will go and stand right in front of the robots, and use my shield to deflect their bullets.  In the meantime, you throw spears at them from the top, killing them one by one.”

Rahul nodded in agreement, and started his ascent with the help of the thick vines.  Within moments, he was standing majestically like the king of the jungle atop the wall.  He gave the signal, then many things happened at once.

Part 6

Arjun screamed something like “DIE!” and sat down on the floor as his shield deflected the incoming flurry of bullets.  Without wasting any more time, Rahul discharged his elongated, sharp weapon right at one of the robot’s chest. It hit its mark, and the robot turned into dust.  Then, three robots turned to fire at him, when suddenly an arrow pierced through the air and jammed itself into a robot’s chest. Rahul took advantage of this. He threw another spear, and at the same time, another arrow flew and destroyed a robot.  The robots seemed to be confused on where to strike. Within seconds, the robots had been slaughtered. Rahul then squinted, straining his eyes to find out the identification of the archer. Upon realisation, he gasped.

Hardik quickly descended from the top of the wall and soon, Arjun, Hardik, and Rahul hugged each other as tightly as they could.  

“How in the bloody world are you still alive?” Arjun questioned Hardik.

“Honestly, I thought I was dead.  When the monster pierced me, I felt intense pain, and then suddenly, I was reformed somewhere else in the maze.  Then after like an hour, I found you guys and the robots. And by the way, I have also scanned from above the way to return back,” Hardik replied with a grin.

“You are an absolute genius,” Arjun grinned.

Arjun and Rahul followed Hardik as they took several turns.  Within minutes, they reached the gold-plated castle. The three of them stormed inside, and found three slots for the three relics they had collected.  They carefully placed the relics into their respective slots, and after a few seconds, the huge maze around them collapsed back into the ground with another ear-splitting earthquake.  In front of them was an open entrance leading to the large black gates. They sprinted towards the gates, pushed them open, and ran for dear life as dawn awoke.