Liam

The water made me choke and cough, the Sirens had left me after their little riddle and now I was stranded on a rock with no idea what I was doing. The water demon was floating near me, refusing to leave me alone, after what seemed like hours the water demon spoke "Shouldn't you get moving Sir?"

"Yeah" I muttered "But where to?"

All I could see was the river and rocks surrounding me.

"Its quite simple, follow the river" The creature told me.

"How" I asked, I was no way swimming!

The water demon said "If you don't want to swim Sir just grab on to my back"

It was like it read my mind. I cast the creature a wary look before I slowly crouched down and put my hand on its back, it felt slimy and extremely slippery, I pulled a face of disgust as I slid into the water, holding on to its back. Ugh, I hate water...

As soon as I slipped into the water and holding on to the water demons back, it started moving through the water fluidly. I almost fell of then but I grabbed on tight, just in time. The water was freezing cold but I managed to hold, also to make sure my head didn't go under and managed to stop my teeth from chattering. As we moved along the water I thought about what the Sirens had shown me...

The Romans had taken the Creators Horn from Hades.

Now some how, maybe the Romans had hidden the Creators Horn here? Or maybe they fell while trying to complete the maze's tests and the Creators Horn was left here? No matter how it happened, The maze had the Creators Horn and we had to find it but from what the Sirens said it seemed like someone else who had to find it? One of my friends? And one of them was going to blow into the Horn, creating maybe the next Great War...Oh great..
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As the water demon swam along, I noticed as the water started to turn darker and darker colour, It was actually giving me the creeps.

"Um, is the water supposed to be doing that?" I asked the water demon.

It said quietly "Hush. We are entering her domain now sir"

I felt a trickle of fear run through me as I gulped "Her? Who's her?"

The creature said softly "Her name is Skylla"

I frowned. That name sounded so familiar...? I voiced this as we went along and it told me quietly "Maybe you have heard of her before? She is quite famous Sir, she was killed by the famous hero Odysseus but still she always haunts these waters"

I couldn't help but shudder and we went on the rest of our journey in silence in till I asked, trying to stop the creepy silence from getting to me "So do you have a family?"

The water demon looked shocked that I had asked then said slowly "I do, I expect I will be joining them extremely soon"

I put on a forced smile as I said "That's good"

The water demon said, maybe a little sadly "Yes...It is good..."

As we entered deeper into Skylla territory, my hair raised up on my arms and I had goosebumps. A strange feeling came over me, like someone was watching me.

"How are we going to avoid her?" I asked, lowering my voice.

"We can't" The water demon said simply.

I stared at it as I hissed, suddenly feeling the need to be quite "What do you mean we can't?"

The creature said slowly "She requires a sacrifes to get through sir"

I was about to argue when a strange popping noise echoes around the ground and I felt like I could hear the Sirens song inside my head. "Though take it slow, you never know what stirs from underneath. Or what will grab you with its teeth"

I shuddered then I looked at where the popping noise was and my eyes widened as I saw bubbles rise to the surface and a black shape from underneath the water get bigger and bigger, like something was rising from the depths.

The Water Demon whispered fearfully "She is here Sir"

"What do we do?" I panicked.

Can you blame me? There's a giant fish that's going to eat me alive!

The creature said "It is you to decide what sacrifice she gets"

I blinked at it, confused.

The water demon said "It is quite simply a test, to get past her she needs a sacrifice, you have to choose if its you or me?"

"I don't understand-"

"You either sacrifice yourself to her then she'll leave me alone or you have to sacrifice me to her for her to leave you alone, so? What will it be Hero?"

Confusion filled my mind.

"Wait, you want me to what?!" I almost shouted.

"I believe you heard me Sir" The Water demon said perfectly carmly, like we were not talking about my or its death.

"Hurry Sir, if you don't decide soon then she'll eat us both" The creature told me.

The logical side of me told me, to let the water demon sacrife itself, it was my quest, my friends were depending on me.

"Hurry Sir"

But, but how could I let her die. She's the first monster I met that hadn't wanted to kill me, I couldn't just let her die.

"Sir!"

Could I?

The shape in the water grew and grew, a strange scaly nose poked its way up from the water making me freeze in terror. It rose out of the water and soon, two big red eyes were looking straight at me. I had to choose and I had to choose now!

"Sir Hurry" The water demon cried.

The water monster bagan to slowly swim closer and closer towards us. I noticed tenticles reaching towards us from the water underneath us.

"Sir-!"

"Okay! Okay!" I took a deep breath and blurted "Sacrife me, you can go and see your family again"

The water demons eyes widened at what I said then it said almost sadly but was smiling? "Very good Sir"

Suddenly before I could move it pushed me backwards into the water then she moved towards the tencles and they grabbed her and pulled the water demon under. I couldn't understand what was happening! I said I was the sacrife! Not the water demon that helped me! Suddenly everything was silent, she was gone and so was my friend. Friend? Since when had the water demon become my friend?

We'd only been with each other for a couple of minutes, she was a stranger, really, a stranger who had sacrificed itself for me.

"Who knew the kindness of strangers?"

I let out a gasp as a voice filled with pure power echoed inside my head, was I going mad?

"Not any madder than you already are, young Demigod" The voice laced with light amusment.

"Who are you?" I whispered, trying not to choke on water.

"I have many names but they will mean nothing to you in the present son of the earth"

"I'm not the son of earth" I said.

"Yet is it not where your metal that sons of Hespestus love to build amazing projects, from the earth? Godling?"

"I-I guess so" I said, surprised at the georgrapy lesson.

I frowned, thinking of the water demon, why-

"It was her fate and part of these deadly, unfair tests. It was testing how self sacrifing you were, most hero's in the past were brave and noble but that is all, they would sacrife anything for their friends but strangers? No, Never, you would have to have something special to sacrife yourself for a stranger, as you have just done"

I muttered "She saved me, could I have saved her? It had a family-"

"I believe that young demigod was a lie, Her family are all dead"

My eyes widened in horror and sick realisation "So when her said he would see them soon-?"

"Yes, when she first saw you she knew you were the hero who would get through the maze's tests, she knew that from then on it would die"

I said shaking my head "I don't understand"

"I hope this will help you, the test was really the opposite from what happened. If you told her that it should sacrifice itself then she would have to give you as a sacrife to the monster from the deep but if you said you sacrificed yourself then then she would be in your place, only the self sacrifing godlings that are so pure and kind at heart, that they would give their lives for a stranger, survive this part of the test"

It slowly sank in. I shuddered in the cold water, my eyes watered for the creature that had saved my life, then I suddenly realised how weak my arms and legs were going, while trying to stay afloat. That as I reregistered more of the beings words, I spluttard "Wait? This part of the test? There's more?!"

"Unfortunately but fortunately for you, you will not be partaking in it. Two of your friends need your help, one trapped down under, another falling into the maddness of his own mind. You can come with me to save only one of them or I can transport you to the end of the maze and you can wait for your friends there, if they survive that is, the choice, is yours..."

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