| There is some language or violence that may not be appropriate for people under thirteen years of age. |
Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney are lost in a labyrinth of a forest and only the combined forces of the three can get them out. Trust is essential. The tension between Duncan and Courtney will rise. People will be betrayed. Relationships will be tested. And no one is sure to make it out. Gwen, Duncan, and Courtney are... lost.
Chapter One: "Our Goal: Escape."[]
Gwen was the first to awaken. She stood up and looked sadly at what she saw. Trees surrounded her on three sides. On the fourth side was a menacingly beautiful hill that rose several feet off the ground. Duncan and Courtney were out cold on the soft, light green grass. She took some time to think about what had gotten them there in the first place.
The night before, Duncan had led her and Courtney on a hike through a dangerously immense forest. Unfortunately, the trio soon became completely lost due to Duncan's limited knowledge of the forest. Thinking that it would lead them out of the forest, Duncan led them up the hill that Gwen was staring sadly at. Unfortunately, the climb down was ten times harder than the climb up. Courtney had lost her footing and toppled into Duncan and Gwen, sending all three of them crashing down the hill and landing unconsious at a clearing.
It suddenly occured to Gwen that Duncan and Courtney may no longer be alive. She got down on her knees and violently shook Duncan, trying to make sure he was still with us.
Courtney opened one eye and saw what Gwen was doing. "Leave him here." Courtney ordered. "Idiot deserves it."
Gwen frowned and shook Duncan harder.
Duncan finally woke up. "Enough with the shaky-shake, pasty." Duncan said groggily but playfully.
"Real cute." Courtney assured sarcastically. "I should leave you two lovebirds here to rot."
Gwen frowned guiltily. Duncan had led them off-course. Courtney had made them fall off the hill. In matters of the hike, Gwen was the only innocent one. Of course, to Courtney, Gwen was anything but innocent. She had not forgiven what Gwen and Duncan had done in London, and everything that had happened after.
Courtney took out her PDA and quickly dialed 911.
An operator came on. "Sorry, the number you are trying to reach is not available." She said.
Courtney grunted and threw her PDA against a tree, shattering it into several tiny fragments.
"Well, since my stupid PDA won't work, I suppose..." Courtney turned around to see that Duncan and Gwen had left. "There are trees all over! How did they get out?!"
Duncan and Gwen were weaving their way around tall trees. There was little space between the trees. They barely fit one at a time, let alone together.
"Are you sure we should've left Courtney behind?" Gwen asked.
Duncan laughed as if the question were ridiculous.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Real mature." Her expression softened into a small smile.
Courtney was banging her fists against a tree and grumbling to herself. "Duncan. Gwen. Abondoning me." She slammed her fist into the hill. The bottom of it crumbled, forming a cave.
Courtney laughed triumphantly and went into the cave.
Duncan and Gwen came to another clearing in the forest.
"Another clearing?" Duncan questioned.
Rustling was heard in nearby bushes.
A man came out of the bushes. He had warrior paint and a mohawk. He called something in his native language. Several more men came out of the bushes. They chanted something and cornered Gwen and Duncan. Most of them went up to Gwen, bowing down.
"What the heck?" Duncan demanded.
"I thought they were going to kill us or something." Gwen confessed.
An elderly man came out of the bushes and said something in his native language. He then switched to English. "Allow me to translate. After all, English is the preferred language of the moon goddess."
"Moon goddess?" Duncan exclaimed.
The elder looked confused. "Yes, boy." He confirmed. "I can only assume you are one of her servants."
"Servant?!" Duncan yelled. "I'm her..."
"Servant!" Gwen interrupted. "He's my servant."
Duncan glared angrily at Gwen.
The men cheered.
Courtney was walking through the cave. She stepped on a pile of leaves, causing sound in the quiet cave. "Woah!" She exclaimed.
In a flash, Courtney was hit with a poison dart. She fell to the ground, unconsious.
A man popped up from behind a rock. He was one of the men who had found Gwen and Duncan.
The elder came out, as well.
The man growled happily.
"Yes, my friend," The elder told. "She will be food. But not until she is properly slayed... by the moon goddess."
Now, Courtney must fight for her life against Gwen, who will be forced to fight her. Duncan will have to act like a servant to Gwen. And the tribe will not be satisfied until Courtney is dead.
Chapter Two: "Raiders Of The Random Temple"[]
"Seriously?" Duncan asked, annoyed.
Him, Gwen, and the elder were in a large wooden library. They had arrived at the village a few hours earlier. The elder had taken them to a library and showed a prophecy that the moon goddess had to complete.
"The moon goddess will uncover the moon temple that has alluted us for so long." The elder had explained. "Only the moon goddess can unlock it."
Gwen face-palmed wearily.
"You expect us to find a temple in this stupid jungle?!" Duncan exclaimed.
"Yes." The elder confirmed. "After we eat dinner properly slayed by the moon goddess."
Gwen stared at him, wide-eyed.
Courtney was in a dark cave filled with animal and human skeletons. She had just woken up from when the tribal men had shot her with a tranquilizer dart.
When she woke up, she was purely horrified. All she remembered was walking through the cave, feeling a sharp pain in her neck, and everything going black.
Before she could remember anything else, two natives picked her up and dragged her to the center of the village.
Gwen and Duncan stepped out of the library to see Courtney hidden in a sack.
"So am I actually supposed to kill something?" Gwen asked.
She looked at the thin, pale, sickly, starving natives.
Gwen sighed. "Let's do this."
The elder handed her a spear.
Two men let Courtney out.
"Courtney?!" Gwen yelled.
"Oh, man, I'm gonna enjoy this." Duncan beamed.
Gwen took another look at the natives.
"You won't live to forgive me, Courtney." She threatened.
Courtney looked at Gwen, stunned.
"Gwen, I know I haven't been to nice to you in the past, but do you really think you should kill me?!" Courtney pleaded.
Gwen struck just after Courtney rolled out of the way.
This went on for a while. Gwen struck. Courtney dodged. Gwen struck. Courtney dodged.
Finally, Courtney dodged and Gwen struck a podium.
As soon as the spear and podium made contact, the earth began to shake.
Several natives screamed and ran as cracks opened.
A crack opened near Courtney. She nearly fell in, but was able to grab onto the edge.
Gwen and Duncan looked on, holding on to the spear stuck in the podium.
A red, shiny ruby was sticking out of a small ledge in the crack Courtney was in.
Courtney snickered. "If you think I'm going to remain at your mercy, you've got another thing coming!" She reached for the ruby.
The elder ran up to her. "Stop, you fool! You can't die! We have to eat you! You'll never reach it!"
Courtney continued to reach for the ruby. She nearly had it when her hand slipped off the edge and she fell into the crack.
Duncan smiled sadistically while Gwen frowned guiltily.
The ruby fell, following Courtney.
On her way down, Courtney caught the ruby, let out a sob, and continued to fall.
The elder grabbed on to the spear with Gwen and Duncan.
A large temple with a moon symbol above the door came out of the ground.
The earth stopped shaking.
Gwen, Duncan, the elder, and the remaining natives looked on in amazement.
The door to the temple slipped open.
"The sacrifice we made. It opened the temple." The elder explained. "The only way out of the forest."
Gwen and Duncan pushed the elder aside and ran into the temple.
Gwen and Duncan have found the way out of the temple. Meanwhile, Courtney is dead. And what will the natives do without Gwen?
Chapter Three: "The Final Chapter."[]
Duncan and Gwen ran into the temple, the weeps and gasps of the tribe behind them. Ahead of them lay a complex and dangerous temple.
Gwen sighed. "I can't believe we had to abondon those people after all they did for us."
Duncan shrugged. "They wanted to help us, and they did by letting us go."
The couple came to a golden plaque. There was writing on it, but it was in the tribe's native language. The elder ran in.
"Moon goddess!" He called.
Duncan rolled at his eyes at the elder. "Just you? No warriors, or anything?"
"It's part of the prophecy!" The elder explained. "Only the elder can accompany the moon goddess on her journey."
Gwen gave a half smile. "Can you read this plaque?"
The elder walked up to the plaque and began to read.
"First of trials, means death by spears.
Second trial, worst of fears.
Prior to losing one of your men,
The heartbroken corpse will awaken."
Gwen and Duncan's eyes widened.
"Well, if this doesn't kill us, I don't know what will." Gwen declared.
She, Duncan, and the elder each grabbed a torch and headed for their first trial.
The first trial looked harmless at first sight. It looked like a simple empty hallway.
Duncan picked up a rock and threw it into the hallway. A spear immediately hit it and knocked it through the ground.
Gwen rolled her eyes as she began digging a hole.
Duncan and the elder shrugged and began digging along with her.
After several hours, the trio had a tunnel to the other side of the hallway.
They silently moved toward the second trial.
The three gasped as they saw the trial. A coffin, Celine Dion music store standee, and giant spider sat in the room.
"Oh my gosh." Gwen gasped. She sighed. "Bury me three feet under."
Duncan and the elder sadly buried Gwen alive.
Duncan looked at the standee angrily and kicked it apart.
The elder was woven into a web by the giant spider.
Just then, Duncan dug up Gwen and split the glass coffin into billions of tiny pieces. One of them fell into the spider's throat and choked it to death, allowing the elder to escape.
The three came to the final trial.
Duncan thought about the plaque. "'The heartbroken corpse will awaken.' What's that supposed to mean?"
Courtney's fallen corpse levitated up into the air. Its eyes began to glow green and it breathed green smoke as it talked. "Duncan. Gwen. Elder." Courtney looked at the elder with distaste and shot a laser out of her hands. It hit the elder directly and he fell to the ground. "Ugh... tell the moon goddess I love her." Duncan punched the elder in the throat. The elder fell to the ground, dead.
Gwen and Duncan were astonished with the scene. Courtney cackled as she faced Duncan and Gwen.
"Courtney!" Gwen shouted. "Don't do this! We weren't responsible for your death!"
"You would've killed me anyway!" Courtney shouted.
Duncan scoffed. "You just can't get over me dumping you! It's not my fault Gwen is ten times as hot as you! Your obcessive desire for revenge was your downfall! Alejandro played you hard!"
Courtney frowned and looked away sadly.
While she was distracted, Gwen took her torch and set Courtney's clothes on fire. It spread to her skin and she was soon flaming. For a second time, Courtney died.
A door swung open and revealed a path back to civilization. Duncan and Gwen smiled as they walked to freedom.