Merlin and the Land of Mists: Book Two: The Minotaur

by P. J. Cormack

  “No,” Kraak told the shaking Grim, “It is too small for the Minotaur.”

  All three of them watched the figure as it drew ever closer to them, as Kraak had said it was not the Minotaur. It was indeed the mercenary known as Archer who had once tried to kill Merlin and who had been given one final chance by the boy enchanter.

  Merlin watched the man as he quickly approached, he noticed that Archer had his bow unslung but even so the boy enchanter, like Kraak, still did not fully trust the man.

  Archer made an overly ostentatious bow to Merlin, “Greetings to you, Raven Boy.”

  Merlin nodded his reply, “Greetings Archer. This is not the place for you,” he grimly told the mercenary.

  Archer gave the boy his best ‘devil-may-care’ smile, “Perhaps not,” he replied, “But it is where I choose to be.”

  Merlin looked hard at the mercenary, “There will be only death here,” he said grimly.

  “I have seen many deaths,” Archer replied, “I am not scared of Death and I would fight for you, Raven Boy.”

  Merlin was only too aware of the black shadow that hung over the mercenary even as he knew that none other could see it.

  “You do not owe me that,” he said.

  “You could have slain me that first time at Manta Gore,” the bowman reminded the boy, “But you let me live and anyway I do not think that this is my day to die.”

  “Even so,” Merlin told him still well aware of the black shadow that hung over Archer, “There will be death here today, you should not stay here. This is not a good place for you.”

  Any further conversation was interrupted by a series of large thuds that seemed to shake the very ground of Avalon.

  “Listen,” Kraak ordered, for the raven had the sharpest hearing of the four of them.

  Grim’s eyes were as large as soup plates, “Grim hears them too,” the ghoul confirmed.

  Merlin knew exactly what the sounds meant and his heart seemed to drop into the pit of his stomach at the realisation.

  “It’s Ergotaur,” he told them quietly, “It’s the Minotaur, and it’s coming here.”

  “Then let us be ready for it,” Archer said as he strung his bow and loosened the arrows in his quiver.

  It was indeed the Minotaur and they watched almost in horror as the huge bull-like creature approached the Great Stones. The Minotaur was big, far larger than any of them had thought it would be. It ran upright like a man and had arms and hands but that was where any similarity to humans ended for it was most definitely half bull. Its head was massive and it had enormous horns that stuck out horizontally. It wore a loincloth and in its hand was a huge spiked club that looked as if it was made out of stone. It was quite simply the most terrifying sight that any of them had ever seen. The earth shook under the Minotaur’s cloven feet as it thudded into the Circle of the Great Stones and stood facing Merlin. It towered over the boy and Merlin guessed that it was at least twice the height of a normal man. Even so the boy enchanter was determined not to show any fear to this servant of the Dark Lord. If he was to die here this day then he would die in a way that would make his father proud of him.

  Merlin pulled himself up to his full height which was only as high as the Minotaur’s waist.

  “What seek you here, Minotaur, Creature of the Abyss and servant of the Dark Lord?” The boy asked the creature in an almost old style of speech which was in fact similar to the Old Magic.

  The Minotaur put back its head and bellowed loudly before fixing the boy with its deep sunken eyes.

  “Your death,” it replied, the creature’s voice was deep and rumbled in its chest. The sound was not unlike the sound of approaching thunder.

  Merlin spoke a lot more bravely than he felt, “Do you think that my father would allow you to kill me, Bull-Head? Your brains must be in your biceps because they’re certainly not in your head.”

  Once more the bull-like creature put back its head and bellowed its anger at the boy enchanter.

  “I do not know who your father is and nor do I care,” the Minotaur told him.

  “You would do well to heed me, Bull-Head,” Merlin told it with as much scorn as he could, “For he is the Slayer of Bulls.”

  The Minotaur either had no concept of Mithras Invictus or it thought that it was immune from such threats.

  “I do not fear any cattle herder,” it roared, “I am the Minotaur and I fear no man or beast.”

  Merlin’s voice took on a quieter more dangerous tone, “I do not wish to kill you, Minotaur,” the boy told the Creature of Darkness, “Leave now and return to the Abyss. Leave now while you still can.” Merlin’s last words carried such a finality that no sensible being would have ignored them.

  If it was capable of it the Minotaur would have laughed at Merlin’s threats. “You are small, mortal, very small,” it said its warning voice rumbling deep in its throat, “You carry no threat to me. A raven, a half-grown, a played-out mortal and a ghoul, is this the best that can defend Avalon? Where is your king, where are your knights or are they too afeared to face the Minotaur? You are cowards – all of you.”

  The Minotaur hefted its huge club from hand to hand as it spoke and Merlin knew with absolute certainly that soon this huge Creature from the Abyss would attack him and there was no doubt that only one of them would survive that fight.

  Even so the boy tried one more time, “This is you final chance, Ergotaur, yes I know your name” he told the huge bull-like creature, “Leave now or die here – it is your choice!”

  Then a strange thing seemed to be happening to the boy enchanter for his fear of the huge creature was rapidly flowing away from him and was being replaced by a huge almost god-like anger. He was tired of being threatened by the creatures of the Dark Lord and he was angry at these constant threats by the Dark Magic against Avalon. Merlin was taking on the aura of Mithras the Unconquered himself and was insulted, as his father would have been, by the insolence of the Minotaur in seeking to kill him.

  A wiser creature would have fled at the sight of Merlin’s face where he now so vividly looked like his great father but the Minotaur was not wise and its brains were, as Merlin had told it, in its biceps. The Minotaur crushed and killed all that stood in front of it. In its limited world it did not need to think.

  It was as if the creature had not heard one word of what Merlin had said to it for it just glared at him with its small, almost pig-like, eyes.

  “Your magic cannot harm me, enchanter,” it roared at Merlin, “I am a Creature of the Abyss.”

  That got Archer’s full attention, “It can’t be killed by magic,” the mercenary whispered to the boy, “You didn’t tell me that.”

  “You didn’t ask,” Merlin grimly replied.

  The Minotaur attacked without warning and for a creature of its size it moved with an incredible speed but even so Archer had pulled back his bow and sent three arrows hurtling at the Minotaur in less than the time it takes to tell it. The arrows were fired at close range but barely grazed the Minotaur’s tough hide. Angered by the sting of the mercenary’s attack Ergotaur swung his club at Archer but missed by some distance. Then it gathered itself and stepped forward to do what it had been sent to do and that was to kill the Raven Boy.

  The Minotaur ran at the boy enchanter its hooves thudding like a drum beat into the hard ground of the Great Stones. Merlin watched the Minotaur’s rush towards him as if hypnotised by this huge half man half bull Abomination. Ergotaur swung the great club at the boy’s head and it was only at the very last second that Merlin seemed to come awake and throw himself sideways. The club missed by only a few inches and the boy enchanter rolled to his feet. He knew that if he stayed on the ground the Minotaur would trample him to death with its large, hard cloven hooves.

  As he came to his feet Merlin hurled a huge spinning fireball at the Minotaur. It exploded on Ergotaur’s massive chest sending flames running down the creature’s body. It was the largest and most destructive fireball that Merlin had ever creat
ed and no mortal being could possibly have withstood it. But Ergotaur was not mortal, the Minotaur was a Creature from the depths of Hell and, as Mithras Invictus had correctly told his son, it could not be killed by magic.

  Even so such was the force of the fireball that it stopped the Minotaur in its tracks and it put back its head and once more bellowed its bestial bull-like challenge. Grim had been hovering around behind Archer but Ergotaur’s battle cry was too much for the ghoul and he ran away to hide behind one of the Great Stones. He had tried his best but even when he had been alive the ghoul had never been a fighter.

  Archer had decided that the only way to pierce the Minotaur’s thick hide was to shoot the arrows from as close as possible. The assassin had never been a coward and he stepped forward just out of the creature’s hitting range and pulling his bow back to almost breaking point he shot an arrow straight into the Minotaur’s chest. This time the arrow did penetrate and for a moment the mercenary thought that he might have killed the monster. The Minotaur stopped and looked stupidly at the arrow sticking out from its chest as if not understanding what had happened. Then it grabbed the arrow’s shaft and with a roar pulled the arrow, barb and all, out of its chest. Archer just had time to notice that the Minotaur’s blood was jet black before he was ducking for his life as Ergotaur threw the dark stained arrow back at him.

  All this time Kraak had been hovering around the Minotaur’s head trying desperately to distract the beast from its attack on Merlin. As Ergotaur turned once more to renew its attack on the boy enchanter the huge raven thought he saw an opening and made a dive at the Minotaur’s head. The King of the Raven Kind knew that if he could blind the Minotaur then Merlin would be able to, one way or another, kill it. Kraak was only inches from the Minotaur’s head when it seemed to realise the danger and threw up a thick muscular arm to protect itself. Kraak saw the arm a moment too late and despite his desperate attempt to swerve away the Minotaur’s fist sent him spinning in a cloud of feathers to lie very still at the foot of the Great Stone that Grim was hiding behind.

  Merlin had seen everything that Kraak had tried to do to help him and the shock that hit him at the sight of the raven’s apparently lifeless body that lay motionless on the ground was like a blow to his stomach.

  “Kraak, no…...” the cry came out of the boy enchanter’s very soul and the sound of his grief rang around the Great Stones and the Dragons’ Teeth.

  Suddenly the Minotaur was wreathed in fire, the flames burnt and twisted so much so that the creature looked like some huge fire-burning entity, Merlin had never projected so much fire and this had leapt from him, almost instinctively as he had seen Kraak’s body crash to the ground. The fire sought to find an opening in the Minotaur’s thick hide and burnt with an intensity that was so bright that it could have been a sun.

  Gradually the flames died down and Merlin could see that the strongest Fire-Spell that he had ever cast had had no effect whatsoever on the Minotaur.

  Ergotaur turned once more to face Merlin but before the boy enchanter could stop him Archer was stood between the boy and the Dark Lord’s Creature from the Abyss.

  Archer stood with his legs braced as if to protect the boy enchanter, the mercenary looked up at the Minotaur’s head noticing once more the small pig like eyes.

  “Face me, Minotaur if you dare,” the assassin shouted at the Minotaur.

  Archer had only four arrows left and he fired them fast and at point blank range into the Minotaur’s belly, the last arrow he shot at its throat.

  With a blinding speed that seemed impossible for such a large, lumbering creature the Minotaur actually caught the last arrow as it was only inches from its throat. With a roar of defiance the creature hurled the arrow at Archer and Merlin was horrified to see the arrow bury itself deep into the assassin’s chest. Then with a triumphant roar the Minotaur swung its massive club so that it hit Archer with such force that the mercenary was lifted into the air and sent crashing against one of the Great Stones. Archer slid down the granite rock leaving a trail of his blood behind him then the one-time assassin fell on his side and lay still.

  The Minotaur turned to face the boy enchanter knowing that there were none left to come to the boy’s aid. It pulled the arrows out of its body and threw them contemptuously on the ground. Putting back its head it uttered a triumphant battle cry that was so loud that it reverberated to Camelot itself.

  Taking a firm grip on the huge spiked club Ergotaur rushed with frightening speed at Merlin. For a moment the boy stood transfixed, it was almost as if the injuries to his two friends had shocked him so much that he was rooted to the spot. At the very last moment Merlin threw himself sideways, evading the Minotaur’s club once more by mere inches. As he rolled to his feet Merlin threw a whirling purple fireball at the Creature from Hell. Like the others it seemed to have very little effect and the realisation now struck Merlin that he had no way of defending himself from the Minotaur let alone kill it. His father had told him that the only way to kill a Minotaur was to cut off its head but Merlin didn’t have a sword or an axe and even if he did there was no way that he could have reached the Minotaur’s head, the creature was just too tall.

  Once more Ergotaur charged at the boy enchanter swinging the huge club in an attempt to crush his adversary and again Merlin managed to roll away from the monster’s rush. The boy had decided not to use any more fireballs unless it was absolutely necessary, they had little or no effect on the Minotaur and they sapped the boy enchanter’s resources of energy. Just now he needed all the strength that he had just to stay alive. The fight continued with the Minotaur lunging and seeking to grasp and crush Merlin. Each time Merlin managed to just stay out of harm’s way but he knew that he was tiring. The boy’s thick black hair was matted with sweat and his arms and legs were grazed and bloody from rolling across the hard, flinty ground that was at the centre of the Great Stones of Avalon. The Minotaur seemed tireless and it sensed that Merlin was weakening.

  Ergotaur shifted his grip on his club and looked derisively at Merlin, “You are quick, half grown,” the Minotaur told the boy triumphantly, “But you tire and soon you will die.”

  Merlin looked with hatred at the huge Creature of Darkness that stood towering over him, “Not yet, Bull-Head,” he told it and with a huge effort hurled another fireball at it. Merlin had known that it would have no effect on the Minotaur but if he was going to die then he wanted to die fighting.

  The fireball seemed to just bounce off the Minotaur once more and Merlin knew that either the Creature was becoming more immune to his fireballs or that he was weakening so much that his fireballs did not have the power that they usually had. He guessed it was the latter.

  As the fire fell away from the Minotaur it put back its head and gave another of his huge bestial roars and this time it had an edge of triumph about it for it knew that it was wining this battle and soon the boy would die.

  The creature stared hard at the boy enchanter and its eyes were gleaming with the scent of victory.

  “I grow tired of this,” the Minotaur spat at Merlin.

  “Me too,” the boy told the Creature of the Abyss.

  Merlin had spoken a lot more confidently than he felt for now his breath was coming in huge gasps and his body felt battered and bruised from its constant rolling away from the Minotaur’s ferocious charges. He was fast reaching his breaking point and he was only too aware what would happen then – the Minotaur would kill him.

  Once again the two protagonists circled one another but the Minotaur had learnt how the boy was evading its swinging blows and uncontrolled rushes. Now Ergotaur was more calculating, more devious for it could see that the boy was rapidly reaching exhaustion point and all it had to do was to keep him moving and wait for an opening.

  Merlin was well aware of the change in the Minotaur’s tactics but he was too tired to do much about it. With hardly any warning Ergotaur once more charged at Merlin, its club swinging viciously at the boy’s head. Merlin managed to ro
ll away from the crushing blow but as he was getting to his feet he saw the Minotaur thundering down on him once more and he desperately hurled himself sideways as the club crashed down in an effort to smash the boy’s skull.

  The Minotaur’s assault had carried it across the Great Stones and Merlin caught a brief glance of Kraak’s prone body and Archer lying against one of the Great Stones where the ground was thick with the mercenary’s blood, there was no sign of Grim. Merlin climbed shakily to his feet and saw that the Minotaur was once more thundering towards him and he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to avoid the Creature’s assaults for very much longer as he was just too exhausted.

  The Minotaur hurled itself forward and once again Merlin managed to throw himself sideways as the huge club crashed down at him. The boy knew that he now had no reserves left and so he backed away from the triumphant Minotaur hoping that he could lure the Creature into charging at full rate into one of the Great Stones. Vaguely Merlin could sense Archer’s prostrate body behind him and he thought that it would be fitting if the Minotaur was killed by the same Great Stone that the mercenary lay against. The half bull half man creature charged at Merlin its club raised high above its head so that, to the boy, it seemed to even blot out the sun. Merlin was poised to hurl himself sideways but at that moment his foot slipped on a pool of Archer’s blood. The boy enchanter never wore shores and the ground in the centre of the Great Stones of Avalon was hard and flinty. The boy might just as well have trodden on ice for the moment that his foot made contact with the bloody grass his feet skidded viciously sideways and Merlin crashed heavily to the ground with his head only inches away from a boulder that would have split it open like an over ripe apple.

  With a huge bellow of triumph Ergotaur halted and stood over the boy enchanter, the Minotaur let out another loud roar that echoed like the first around the Great Stones. The Creature from the Abyss took its club in both hands and raised it high above its head. It intended to smash the life out of the boy that lay so helplessly before it.