Chapter 312 - Third Stage Of The Competition (17)

When Lile walked out of the portal, she found herself in a dense jungle. The sweet fragrance was overpowering. She moved between the dense vegetation cutting a pathway as she walked ahead. She was using a wand as the machete in her right and was catching branches that were in front of her with her left hand. Even though the winters in the wizard kingdom had set in a way that the homes in the second level were covered with snow, the forest that she entered was very warm. The thick humidity made her sweat profusely. The sweat ran down her skin in her drenched clothes, which added to the dehydration. 

As she walked through the jungle, she could see that the rains had lashed through vegetation not long back. There were pools of water everywhere, on the pathway she was treading, the leaves had caught water and even the tree branches were dipping with water. From every direction she could hear insects and birds or the call of the mammals. Although she was sure that there were more poisonous creatures in the jungle, it was that human that she was scared of, the one who had creative ways of killing people – Adrianna. 

As she walked in her heavy boots that she had used her magic to create, she found that it wasn't easy walking there without protecting her ankles from the snakes and scorpions. 

Suddenly, she saw a large wolf with golden yellow fur was running swiftly between the jungles. "Adrianna!" She smiled. She understood that this terrain was easy for Adrianna. She didn't have to work her way through it. 

The wolf stopped and turned back to look at her. Adrianna snarled baring her jaw. The snarl was so loud that almost every noise that she could hear was quiet now. There was pin drop silence. Lile smiled and pointed her wand. "What a stupid girl? Without her wand, does she think she can compete?" Lile started laughing at Adrianna's folly. She had to fry that wolf. The wand emitted a thick ray of yellow light, the one akin to the light she had used in the desert, and within seconds came towards Adrianna. However, suddenly there was a huge wall of dense vegetation that came in front of her and the light hit that instead. 

Lile was shocked. Where did the wall come from? She started running towards the wall, throwing more spells at it for it to burn down but every time the light was thrown on it although it was burnt, new vegetation appeared. Lile saw that thick-hedged walls started making their way towards her. Every wall was uniformly cut with a square top. She ran through those to find a way out, but she soon realized that Adrianna had trapped her in a maze. 

"Adrianna!" Lile shouted. 

Outside the maze, Adrianna went a little far to recover from the wounds that were inflicted upon her when the rocks around her had shattered in the desert. Out of dehydration, he lips had cracked. She felt as if her whole body was burning inside like a volcano. She found a small lake in the forest and jumped inside that. 

The audience above could see what Adrianna had done. The competition was getting tougher. They saw her shape shift and jump in water, while they could also see Lile running through the maze. They admired Adrianna's quick thinking. Dmitri was relaxed when he saw that Adrianna had jumped in the water. She had to recover from the heat. The audience waited for Adrianna to emerge out of the water but she was not coming out. Some of them panicked that fish inside ate her. Her fans had started weeping also. Dmitri kept his hands behind his head, as he knew that Adrianna was actually recuperating. 

It was after half an hour, when the audience saw that Adrianna emerged out of water. They saw the wolf entering and a girl coming out of the water. Adrianna emerged out of the lake as she swept her hair back with her hands. The wet clothes were sticking to her body accentuating all her curves. Her white face, drop-dead gorgeous looks and her contours, everything made the young wizards drool over her. And to Dmitri's anger, many of them started whistling and flying banners. 

It was already evening and the sun was setting. Lile had spent hours running around the maze. She had even used a spell to be air borne and fly out of the maze, but to her surprise that spell didn't work. The light in the maze started fading fast. It was like the end of the day in a tropical forest. It started becoming colder and the smell of stagnant water was dominating her senses. Lile had tried to burn the maze, but new vegetation appeared. She tried to cut it but it didn't work. Soon her feet became sore. Her body's heat going down and she began shaking. So Adrianna had given her a clear choice – either keep walking through the maze for the entire night or slip into hypothermia. 

When she could walk no longer, she created a small fire and sat by it. The night was getting colder. She felt like a prisoner who would keep searching and never find a way. She wanted to race her mind through all her options but her body fatigue reached her mind. She wanted to sleep. She had plucked a lot of leaves and made a small spread for herself. She didn't know as to when did she dozed off. Suddenly, she woke up to a loud growl. She opened her eyes wide and looked around. There was nothing. 

The growl was louder this time. Beasts! Before she could even get up and react, she saw a large panther like beast that had leapt in front of her. It was banging its long furry tail on the ground as though asking her to fight with her or become its food. 

Quietly, Lile held her wand and waited for it to come near. It growled again and this time it was a low growl. The next moment it leapt in the air towards her. Lile pointed her wand at it and said, "Vrakhas Azadea!" 

To her surprise the beast was burnt down immediately. She started laughing loudly. "Adrianna, is that it? I will get out of the maze now!" Lile got up with renovated energy. She left that place and walked forward. She must have walked not even fifty yards when she heard someone laughing. She turned to look at the source, "Adrianna, is that you?" she shouted. But the laughing stopped and she heard taunting voices of her parents. She could hear them how unworthy of an opponent she was. "No, I am not!" she shouted back. 

She heard more voices that forced her to betray her parents. What was happening? Her mind was not able to comprehend. She was getting tortured mentally. The voices kept reminding her how she had betrayed her friends one by one, how she had lusted for power that never belonged to her and how she had failed miserably. 

The maze was built in a way that she was facing down her own demons. It was hell. 

On the outside, Adrianna had made a small tree house and asked the fireflies to surround it in order to light it. She lied in for the night to recuperate fully. 

The audience outside could see a beautiful tree house surrounded by small blinking lights as Adrianna slept inside. Lile was seen walking through the maze. They wondered if Lile would even make it out of the maze…