Liam

I walked deeper into the Maze. I was staring at a wooden door. The numbers of kids that had come into this challenge. 77, 580

And the number that had come out alive. 74, 252.

Over a thousand kids hadn't made it out of this challenge alive. The thought made me shiver.
Alexis's brother appeared before me. I jumped slightly.

"Don't you have bells?" I asked irritated.

Thomas frowned at me confused "No..." he said.

I grumbled "You should warn someone before reappear like that"

Thomas said hesitantly "I can't control where I go, I-"

Then he cuts himself of quickly. I looked suspiciously at him. What was he going to say?

Thomas said "You're challenge is called the Deathly Waters, please do try not to drown"

I opened my mouth to reply but Thomas vanished before I could say anything. His trying to distance himself from me I relised with a sickining feeling. So he doesn't get attached. So if I die it won't hurt his feelings to much. The possibility I could die and that others had died before me made me feel ill.

I took a deep breath in and ignoring my negative thoughts, I pushed the door open and saw...
Water. Water everywhere. I stood on some muddy ground. The ground was only the size for my two feet. Water surrounded me. It was like a never ending lake. All I could see was water were ever I looked. It was at this point I wished my father was Poseidon. Why did I have to have the challenge with the water? What do I do now?

I only realised I'd shouted this when Thomas appeared before me, he was hovering over the water.

Thomas said "You have to survive"

Then he vanished before I could react. Survive? Survive from what? Then I heard it. A beautiful melody came from, the water? A soothing female soft voice made me relax. It was amazing.
How could anyone sound this brilliant?

I heard...

"Watch us little demigod. Beneath the waves. Watch us little demigod. Listen to us and see who it saves."

I looked down to see three of the most prettiest women I've ever seen. They were all similer with blonde hair and stunning green eyes. They were under the water? Watching me and smiling warmly. One of them waved at me through the water. I giddily waved back.

"Watch us little Demigod. Come with us. Watch us dance little Demigod. Don't make a fuss. Let's us put you under our trance"

The song came from the water, I was suprised I could still hear them. One of them reached out to me, her smooth gentle hand, beckoning. She smiled at me, she was so pretty, I felt like I wanted to do anything she said. Suddenly I heard something then my eyes widened as a wooden boat drifted slowly towards me.

Their song started up again.

"Come with us little Demigod. Hear our song. Come with us little Demigod"

The boat drew closer

"We will show you were you belong. Come with us little Demigod"

The boat stopped right next to me and the women in the water waited for me to get in the boat

"Listen to us sing. Come with us little Demigod. For your own destiny you will bring"

I moved towards the boat and climbed in, the all the girls underwater surrounded my boat smiling at me. The boat mysteriously started to move forwards with nothing to start it. The girls started to sing again and do impressive dance moves underwater that I couldn't take my eyes of.

"Watch us little Demigod. See us spin. Watch us little Demigod. For our beauty can be dangerous as sin"

I frowned, those lyrics didn't seem right somehow but my mind felt to tired to figure it out. The girls formed a tighter circle around my boat.

"Watch us little Demigod. But it is best to let us be. Watch us little Demigod. For we may be the last things you see"

It was sending warning bells ringing inside my head.

I frowned, my Demigod senses were making me slightly more aware of what was going on...
Somthing was warning me.

I felt slightly fearful, like I was in danger, but what danger could I be possibly in? The girls voices made me feel safe. One of the girls grabbed hold of my boat and smiled at me lovingly then suddenly her smile turned wickid and her eyes turned red, her fingers that were gentle turned scaly and webbed.

I stifled a scream then I blinked and the image of the monster had been relpaced my a pretty girl. What the hell? Had I just imagined that?

The song started up again and the boat seemed to be picking up speed and this time I could hear the song clearly and knew exactly what was wrong with it....

"Watch us little Demigod. Beneath the wave. Watch us little Demigod. We will send you to your grave"

My eyes widened and I looked at the girls suddenly relising they were pushing the boat towards a small dark tunnel, I could hear water crashing into rocks...rapids or a waterfall?

The girls image seemed to be flickering right before my eyes, one moment they were pretty girls singing to me the next they were scaly webbed, red eyes monsters with teeth as sharp as knifes with my death in their minds.

My mind cleared and I felt like banging my head against a wall, how could I of been so stupid?
My mind went back to Alexis's last word to me "Sirens"

"Let me go!!" I yelled at them, desperate.

They started to sing again but it wasn't trying to me entrancing any longer and their voices were gravelly and had a darker more dangerous and mocking tone.

"Let you go little hero? Where would the fun be in that? No. Though we'd love to have a chat Your death is overdue!"

"Are you going to drown me?" I asked, my voice trembling.

They didn't respond at first then one Siren to my left said is a creepily poetic way "We drop you down below. Where you go. We don't know"

I blinked startled "Wait! Drop me? Drop me where?"

They didn't reply but as we went deeper into the dark tunnel, I heard a loud rushing of water, I've only heard something like that once before and I dreaded the sound.

I gulped "You...uh wouldn't be dropping me down a waterfall by any chance?"

A siren pulling my boat from the front said mimicking the same tone as the other Siren who'd answered me "Left, middle or right? Where abouts should we drop you? Soon you will go out of sight. You will have fun to"

Another Siren said "Drop him from the left of the waterfall Sister. His not that entertaining. His not a trickster and his got no training. To the rocks I say, that will make him pay"

I stared at them then my brain suddenly kicked into gear... finally. Wait, they were complaing? Because I hadn't got any training and I wasn't a trickster? They wanted a challenge and they were going to through me down a waterfall where it had rocks?

Suddenly it made horrible sence, if they wanted to kill me and through me down a certain way then does that mean I had a chance of surviving the fall if I was thrown down a different way?
To survive I needed to convince them to through me down a different way...now how was I going to do that?

I suddenly had a idea but even in my win head it was feeble, made up by my last piece of logic that was still trying to get me out of this situation. I spoke up quickly before I could get myself to back down with the stupid idea that came into my head "So you want challenging? H-how about this? If you through me down the middle of the waterfall and I s-survive with cuts then I won't continue on with my quest and you can have as much (fun) as you want with m-me, if I survive then I get to ask you a couple of questions and you let me go free without any h-hassle?"

The boat slowed as the Sirens looked at me suspisiously, thinking my suggestion through....
Please say yes! I pleaded in my head as the boat drifted nearer and nearer to the sound of the deadly waterfall.

One of them asked "Without a cut?"

I nodded.

Anouther one replied "There is no way he'll do it, if he does I'll eat my gut"

A Siren near the back of the boat said "He has wit, it may be possible"
Another one said "Though it'll be a big obstacle"

They discussed this in slight rhyming words while the boat drew closer and closer to the sound.
I squinted through the darkness, I could see it now! The water was flowing smoothly then nothing, just air and the loud crashing sounds of the waves at the botten which sounded far away, I gulped. I begged the water monsters "Time to make up your minds please!"

At first they didn't respond then one of them smirked at me baring its sharp brittle teeth then I almost fell over boured as the boat moved to the right, I was in the middle of the river.

They stopped pushing the boat and waved mockingly at me "Bye Little Demigod" They called.

As I was staring at them I wasn't looking forward and the boat tipped, my stomach lurched as the boat was suddenly suspended in mid air then. It fell, along its fragile cargo, me.

Notes