289 Skollwood Adventures Part 11: Never Easy

Hearing the announcer's voice, Vy fluttered open her eyes. She was back in the maze with a tear in her eye. In her palm, was the fourth and final black coloured gem piece. She gripped it tightly before placing it into her pocket for safekeeping. 

She was finally on the final leg of the scavenger hunt, the end was near, she could feel it! Much to her surprise, the sun had already begun to set, giving the maze a more haunted vibe. However, this had also lowered the visibility significantly which delayed the participants in the maze. 

This worked in Vy's advantage as this meant no one had reached the centre of the maze just yet. She still had a shot at winning! Vy quickly dashed down the step and rushed headfirst back into the maze. 

Unfortunately for her, while she tried to get from place to place previously, she still had not found any route that led to the centre. The lowered visibility also made it more difficult for Vy to see potential incoming obstacles. 

"As the night sets in, the ghosts are out to give a fright! That's right participants of the scavenger hunt! If you see a fright ghost, you're out of the game for good so be on your toes!"

Just as the announcer finished, a loud scream could be heard just metres away from Vy then followed by another. 

"Ah looks like our first few unlucky participants have already met their ghostly friends and are out of the game! As luck would have it, that includes two of our finalists, how sad is that folks!"

The challenge just got tougher but Vy was not about to give up. Not after how far she had come! Since seeing the ghost would cause her to be disqualified, she knew she could not rely too much on her sight either. 

But without it, how was she going to be able to get to the centre of the maze? Just then, Vy could feel a cold shudder down her spine, followed by a soft glow of light coming closer towards her. Trusting her gut, she quickly took a right turn and slowed down her breathing. 

She kept her eyes on the ground, careful not to look up. The soft glow of light grew brighter and brighter. After a while, it became dimmer as it moved off into the distance.

Now that the coast was clear, Vy continued to make her way through. She employed this tactic as she made her way through the corn maze.

After some time, she stumbled upon a space that no longer had pathways. Gathering the courage, she looked up to see a white marble pedestal in the centre of a clearing. Her face lit up as soon as she realised what this was. 

It lit up the entire corn maze. Overhead, fireworks began to burst forth throughout the sky. Almost every colour of the rainbow was represented in bursts of flares. In the Spectator Arena, everyone cheered as the winner was announced. 

"Looks like we have a winner this year! Congratulations to Vyrena Blackfire. You're the first to complete our scavenger hunt!"

The announcement rang throughout the maze and the Spectator Arena. The other participants who did not make it to the centre sigh in disappointment while others clapped for the hard work everyone had put in. 

Vy was surprised by her win but it also filled her with an immense amount of joy. All the spotlight was on her now. In a puff of purple smoke, a witch appeared before her. Unlike most of the others they had seen, she had a gold sash around her pointed tip hat. Her dress had matching gold hem and embroidery all around. 

The witch had painted dark purple lips and a wicked killer smile. 

"My name is Asther Catwink! I am the High Priestess of Skollwood Island. As promised, we will grant you your one wish!" the witch announced as she placed her hand over her chest. 

High Priestess Asther grabbed hold of her wand and waved it up in the sky. Vy never had a chance to speak. The wand glowed with purple light. A spell circle formed beneath their feet, glowing brightly in the darkness of the night. 

" On this bright full moon night, I call upon the spirits and guardians of worlds unknown."

The moon was high above them amongst the twinkling stars as the moonlight shone down upon their spell circle. Vy could feel the power of the moon flowing through her veins. A gust of wind swirled around them, causing the High Priestess's dark purple curls to fly in one direction. 

"I summon the one whom she desires to see the most!" 

As soon as the spell was complete, a strong beam of moonlight shot down from above, enveloping the entire spell circle with blinding light. Vy shielded her eyes. It was too glaring for her to see anything. 

When the light finally dissipated, she looked up and all around. But Vy could not see anything or anyone. Did the spell not work? Just as she was about to say something, she felt a sudden drop in temperature around her. 

Vy lowered her gaze and gasped in shock. 

In the spell circle before her was a blanket of snow and frost. Despite the warm temperatures of the island, the snow had not even begun to melt. It maintained its form and its jaw-dropping temperature. 

In the middle of it all sat a familiar figure. 

His black cloak. 

His staff. 

His deer skull-like head. 

He had his back facing her, shivering in the ice and snow. 

"Dygo?"