There they were, two strangers in a world not of their own.
One man wore a mask with two hollow eyes and a smile, dressed in an ancient black robe that resembled Death itself. Beside him stood another as pale as a ghost in a shirt, jacket, and jeans. The two of them stood in a foreign, unknown place, the environment unfamiliar and dark.
Amias looked around frantically. Where the hell was the portal? He was confused. Tobi was confused.
Then another portal appeared, a blinding light cutting through the darkness. Something magnificent stepped through, glowing an ethereal blue. Runes shimmered under its silver hide, and its antlers sprawled like the branches of an ancient tree.
It was the moose.
"..."
A moose?
"Oh, Moosey's here! And bright, too," Amias grinned happily, stepping forward and hugging the creature. The moose let him. Its glowing runes lit up the gloom as it gazed around curiously, taking in the unfamiliar world.
"My favourite pal," Amias said, still hugging it.
Tobi, meanwhile, watched them with a curious expression. He studied the moose, who looked equally confused by the strange surroundings. Eventually, Tobi nodded, coming to a conclusion.
"The portal must've brought us off course."
The moose nodded solemnly.
"Well, why's that?"
"It's Fate," Tobi replied honestly as Amais was simply confused.
How annoying.
The three of them walked forward. The labyrinth around them was made entirely of stone. It looked smooth, though it showed its age with cracks visible and moss creeping into the edges and crevices. Puddles of murky black water littered the floor, fed by droplets falling from the inverted sea above. That water, suspended impossibly overhead, was pitch-black and almost unreadable; every now and then something would shift within it, but never clearly enough to be identified.
Each droplet that hit the ground was a chilling reminder: that ocean could fall at any moment, crushing whoever was beneath it.
The air was cold and damp. The whole place felt like a silent threat.
And strangest of all, there was no portal here. No one waiting on the other side. That meant it must've changed locations. Why? They had no idea.
The moose wandered ahead of them, glowing gently, its fur lit with veins of blue as it guided them through the twisting maze. Then, it stopped by a puddle and began to drink.
"Is the water drinkable? Also, is it even water?" Amias asked, crouching beside it.
Tobi knelt, inspecting it. "Looks like it… The moose is fine. I'm not thirsty, though."
They kept walking, trudging through the dark, stone maze. Then, a slow scraping sound echoed through the halls. It was followed by a wet, sucking breath, heavy and unsettling.
In the light ahead, a claw slowly dragged itself into view.
A hideous form followed, inching forward, slime and filth clinging to its mass as it moved across the floor. All three of them froze, watching as the massive, angler-like nightmare slowly slithered off to the right side of the path.
In sync, they turned and continued left, following the moose quietly.
"How long do you think we'll be stuck here?" Amias asked with a casual drawl.
"I don't know," Tobi replied bluntly. He noticed Amias's disappointed expression and made an effort to respond again.
"The moose seems to know the way you needn't worry," Tobi said honestly
They were aware of their surroundings as they walked through the murky place, uncertain of what other creatures might be lurking in the shadows. After an hour of walking silently in the dark tunnels of this damp, dark place, finally a noise fell like whispers. Soft, layered, countless. The walls murmured in voices not quite human. Amias froze. So did Tobi. Even the moose tilted its head, antlers pulsing faintly with unease. A thousand voices pleaded for salvation from something they called the Abyss.
"It's kind of creepy. And where the hell is it coming from? And the Abyss, is that where we are?" Amais asked, genuinely confused.
The moose lifted its head, casting a brighter light from its antlers. The glow revealed clumps of dark bluish barnacles with white insides that were dotting the walls, the whispering growing louder.
"It seems they speak," Tobi said, his voice even as always.
"Aren't those barnacles? Aren't they, like, some kind of fungus or plant? Or, uh… coral?" Amais asked, still staring at the walls.
Tobi shook his head. "They're crustaceans. Closely related to lobsters, actually."
"Really? Huh, okay then…" Amais mumbled, clearly not expecting that answer. "So, um… do you think the Abyss is where we are now?"
"I'm guessing we're already in it, Or it's ahead… and they're warning us." Tobi said frankly.
"Then maybe we should head the other direction," Amais said quickly, glancing nervously at the barnacles. "I mean, they are warning us, right?"
Tobi paused, considering. The moose, however, continued forward without hesitation. Tobi shrugged.
"We follow the moose."
Amais gave a small nod. That logic… made sense. Moosey was his pal, the only nice creature in the last maze he'd been in. But wasn't this the direction towards the Abyss?
"We're sure though, Moosey? You're sure?" he asked. The moose gave a firm nod in return.
Still, a chill crept up Amais's spine. Something felt off like someone, or something, was watching them. He tried to shake it off. Tried to anyway but...
He stopped. "Something's wrong, Tobi," he said honestly.
Tobi looked at him, reading his expression. Then he nodded. "Do you want to head back?"
Amais nodded. So they turned around, but the whispers abruptly ceased.
They froze.
The moose looked back, worry in its glowing eyes. It grunted and huffed, stomping the ground, clearly distressed. Then, without warning, it lowered itself and shrieked a sharp cry just as the barnacles began to screech a horrible, deafening sound that drilled into their ears. Tobi and Amais flinched, hands covering their heads.
Then the moose bit Amais's arm.
"What the?!"
It didn't wait. It yanked him forward, dragging him as a monstrous shape tore through the darkness behind them, two wicked claws slicing through the stone floor. Then a massive black shape surged from the dark, its spiral of inward-folding teeth revealed in the glow from the lamp that hung over its head. it was like a grotesque vacuum, devouring everything in its path.
Amais reached back. Tobi caught his hand.
The noise rattled their skulls. Amais's ears rang as he stumbled, the moose dragging him fast. Tobi's cloak protected him from the harsh stone, and Amais, held higher, let his legs scrape, not that it mattered. He'd regenerate. What did matter was the demonic anglerfish hurtling after them, its gaping maw a tunnel of horrors. Dozens, no, hundreds of jagged teeth glinted in the faint light from a fishhook-like bone jutting from its head.
Its hollow, bottomless eyes locked onto them.
The barnacles were consumed in an instant.
And they would've been next if not for the moose.
It galloped without sound, antlers aglow, swifter than the monster behind them. Relentless. Unfazed and eventually the lamp ahead faded and they were left in the dark.
"Oh god, I was wrong. I'll never doubt you again, Moosey," Amais panted, his knees burning before they quickly healed.
Meanwhile, Tobi rose slowly, brushing off whatever injury he'd taken just like always. He looked ahead at the vast expanse before them and let out a quiet chuckle.
"W-What is it?" Amais asked, still catching his breath.
"It seems you were right, Amais," Tobi said simply.
Before them lay the remains of thousands of felled men, now nothing but skeletons. The rocky maze floor was littered with bones so far and deep into the passage that the end couldn't be seen. Piles of them were crammed into corners, their bodies torn apart with such savagery it was hard to imagine anything left of them alive. Walking across the floor would be like walking on broken glass, the shattered remains of those who came before, destroyed by something unknown.
"Was this from the angler?" Amais asked, deeply unsettled.
Tobi glanced down, then shook his head.
"The angler devours whatever in its way, bones included, I'd assume. Besides, it's just one creature. These men would've overwhelmed it," he replied.
"So what the hell did this?" Amais asked, uneasy.
"That's a good question," Tobi said. "Let's try not to find out."
Just then, the moose raised a hoof and pointed forward, letting out a low, urgent grunt.
"Well... it seems we don't have a choice. The moose has spoken," Amais said grimly.
"It seems so," Tobi agreed, his tone as flat as ever.