The tunnel was so dark that Wonder Woman could not see anything. Her hands and feet were invisible to her. The goddess Artemis had given Wonder Woman keen sight, but that did not help her here. She had to trust her other senses and keep moving forward.

Wonder Woman reached out on both sides and touched the rock. The walls were very close. They were also very slimy. She slid her hands up the walls until she could feel the low ceiling.

“This tunnel is a tight squeeze!” she said.

There was a weird smell, too. Wonder Woman sniffed the air but could not decide what it was — at least it was not the smell of trolls. Still, it was strangely familiar.

Something smells awful, she thought. Like rotten eggs.

Wonder Woman listened very carefully. She heard little chirps and squeaks. They were all over the place. The sounds moved when Wonder Woman did.

“Rats!” she said. “Or worse.”

Wonder Woman walked cautiously through the dark. The rock was slippery, and the sounds and smells followed her. Suddenly, the tunnel branched off in two new directions. Right away, Wonder Woman knew what she faced.

“This is a maze,” she said. “I could get lost and never find my way out.”

Wonder Woman knew there was only one person in history who had beaten this kind of trap. She remembered the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. Theseus used a ball of string to trace his way through the maze and then followed it back out. Wonder Woman did not have any string, but she did have her Golden Lasso of Truth.

Wonder Woman tied one end of the lasso to a rock and entered the maze.

It was hard to know which way to go. She turned left, then right, and then left again. There were a lot of dead ends. She had to turn back and retrace her steps many times. All the twists and turns were enough to make a normal person dizzy.

The dark tunnel, the slick rock, and the invisible creatures were not the only dangers in the maze. Wonder Woman heard the sound of insect legs scratching on the rock. Very large insect legs!

“You may not pass!” a voice suddenly said.

Wonder Woman was surprised. Insects did not speak — unless they were magic insects.

“Who are you?” she asked the darkness.

“I am the guardian of Merlin’s Maze,” the voice replied.

“I do not want to fight you,” Wonder Woman said.

“Then turn back,” the voice told her.

Wonder Woman knew that could not happen. Morgaine Le Fey was holding hostages. There was no easy way out of this situation.

“I’m coming through,” Wonder Woman told the unseen insect.

“Then prepare to meet your doom!” the voice boomed.

Something went over Wonder Woman’s head. She felt a rush of air pass by her.

Wonder Woman quickly dodged the object. She hit the rock wall in the narrow tunnel, and that was when she realized something. A big creature wouldn’t be able to fit in the small tunnel. So the creature was not big at all. Her fear came from being in the dark.

Wonder Woman knew how to get a look at the creature. She clapped her Amazon bracelets together. Sparks flew. Now she saw what was in front of her!

It was not the Minotaur from the myth, but it was close. The Minotaur was half human and half bull. This creature was half human and half scorpion. Its human eyes did not like the light.

Wonder Woman hit her bracelets again and made more sparks. The beast scurried into the dark.

At last Wonder Woman saw a gleam of light up ahead.

“That must be the light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. She held onto her Lasso of Truth and started to run toward it.

Wonder Woman burst out of the maze.

She found herself in a cave that was as bright as day.

“Who dares to enter here?” a voice boomed. It did not sound happy.

Wonder Woman looked up — and up, and up! She had reached the dragon’s lair.