“I know. It just scared me a bit,” I said nervously.
“Cara? What do you want to do first?” Mom asked.
“I guess whatever you want to,” I mumbled.
“What do you boys’ think?” Dad asked.
“Gortyn is awesome,” Adrian said.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“It’s where King Minos supposedly had the Labyrinth.”
“The Labyrinth? With the minotaur?”
“One and the same,” Adronis said.
“That would be very interesting!” Mom said excitedly.
“How far is it?”
“It’s a bit south. We can take a taxi to the ruins,” Adronis said, standing on the corner waving down two taxis.
I climbed in next to Adrian with Adronis following. Mom and Dad climbed into the second cab. Adrian said something to the cabbie in Greek and we were off zooming through the streets. I sat back against the leather seat and stared out the front window. We were quickly leaving the small port town behind us and approaching the labyrinth.
“Why are we going there?” I asked.
“It’s interesting,” Adrian said, staring out the window.
“Oh.”
“There’s lots of history,” Adronis mumbled, staring out the other window.
“Uh huh.” I sat back as the cab bounced along the road.
The sun climbed the horizon, shining brightly behind the ruins of Knossos palace. I leaned over the seat to get a better look. The cabbie glanced at me with a disapproving glare. I smiled and kept on looking. The sight was beautiful.
“Myth has it that King Minos lived here. After she refused to sacrifice a bull to the gods Poseidon punished him by making his wife fall in love with a bull. The fearsome Minotaur was born from the union. King Minos had the labyrinth built and hid the beast there. Years later his son was killed by the Athenians, King Minos made them send seven young girls and boys to Crete every year to be sacrificed to the Minotaur. During one of these times the famous and mythical hero Theseus, son of the king of Athens, left Athens with the young Athenians and with the help of Ariadne, the daughter of King Minos, supposedly killed the Minotaur and found his way out of the labyrinth.”
“Wow,” I said quietly as the cab came to a stop.
Adronis slid out and I scooted behind him. I looked up at the crumbled palace in awe. Adrian grabbed my hand and led us up the path. At the top people milled about. Some paused in front of chipped painted walls while others stood at the edge of the palatial courtyard and took photos.
“There is a great relief I want to show you,” Adrian said, walking in the opposite direction.
“I’m going over there, Dad,” I yelled.
He waved as he walked away. Mom gushed over the beauty of Knossos. I followed the twins as they walked to a far wall. It looked like a large blocked off room. Stone columns lined the front. I stepped out of the sunlight and approached the wall. A faded painting surrounded enormous stone doors.
“Do they open?” I asked.
“Probably not. Those doors haven’t been opened in a few thousand years,” Adronis told me.
“What’s inside?”
“Nobody knows,” Adrian said.
I placed my hand on the cold stone tracing my fingers along the elaborately carved designs. It was remarkable. As I felt along the door I noticed a small crevice. Tentatively I stuck my hand in. Closing my eyes, I held my breath and hoped there was nothing in there that would bite me. I felt around in the narrow slit until my hand smacked a long lever. I pulled out my hand and looked at the twins.
“What’s wrong?” Adronis asked.
“Well, um, there is a lever in there,” I said.
“A lever?”
I nodded.
Adrian reached past me and stuck his hand in. He furrowed his brow as he reached around.
“I feel it,” he said.
“Pull it,” Adronis said.
“No! You don’t know what will happen. What if nobody has pulled that thing since the palace was built! Obviously someone didn’t want what was put in there to come out,” I whispered, looking around us suspiciously.
“Cara, I’m sure whatever was in there thousands of years ago would be dead by now,” Adronis groaned, rolling his eyes.
“You don’t know that.”
“Just pull it, Adrian.”
He took a deep breath, sighed, and pulled. A loud clunk resounded through the room and dust flew from the cracks of the door. It slowly slid open revealing a dark chamber inside. My eyes bulged as I stared into the tomb-like structure. I looked from twin to twin waiting for them to speak up and tell me what was going on. Neither of them said a word. They looked as shocked as I did.
Chapter Ten
“So this is unexpected,” I said.
“What do we do?” Adrian asked, looking around to see if anyone noticed.
“Go in?” Adronis shrugged.
“Go in there? I don’t think so,” I said.
“It could be fun.”
“Fun? It has been sealed off for thousands of years. There has to be something in there,” I said.
“If something was put in there thousands of years ago it would have to be dead by now,” Adronis stated.
“I guess,” I said nervously.
“Alright, come on,” Adrian said.
“Seriously? After what happened on the ferry?”
They looked at each other and continued on.
“Guys? Come on!” I yelled after them as they walked into the darkness.
I groaned and followed.
This is a bad idea.
“Is there a light somewhere?” Adronis asked.
“Sure, Adronis. I bet there is a light switch on a wall over there,” Adrian said sarcastically.
“I was talking about a torch, smartass,” Adronis mumbled.
“How about my cell phone's flashlight?” I asked.
“Oh you came!”
“Yeah, I wasn’t going to just stand in front of some ancient, opened door. How would I explain that to someone?”
“Easily just say…” he got quiet as the sound of stone scrapping stone resounded through the chamber.
We turned around in time to see the door sliding shut. Adronis and Adrian ran to it as it slammed shut.
“That didn’t just happen,” I said with a hint of panic in my voice.
The men stood there staring at the shut door. The only thing giving us light was my tiny cell phone camera.
“Yeah it did,” Adronis said.
“What do we do?” I asked.
“Look for another way out,” Adrian said.
I walked a few steps forward and nearly fell down a flight of stairs. I pursed my lips and walked down a few. A narrow doorway at the bottom led to even more darkness. Adrian and Adronis had found torches and lit them; neither of them paid much attention to me. Hoping the dark led to some light, I went down the rest of the stairs. Shining the light into the room, my eyes bugged out.
“Oh. My. God,” I said lightly. It was a massive room that turned into a huge maze. “Guys, I found the labyrinth.”
“What?” Adronis asked, coming in behind me.
“This is amazing,” Adrian said, standing next to me.
“Amazing isn’t exactly what I was thinking,” I mumbled.
Adronis took a few steps toward the entrance of the maze. Large stone walls reached almost to the ceiling. I was hesitant to walk away from the door for fear it would close as well, but swallowing the lump in my throat, I followed. No sooner did I walk away a large stone object slid down in front of the entryway.
“Are you kidding me?” I yelled, running to the door. I pounded on it even though I knew it was futile. Nobody could hear me pounding on a stone door below ground.
As we stood staring at the wall behind us, a loud terrifying roar came from somewhere within the labyrinth.
“Please tell me that was someone’s stomach,” I said, closing my eyes.
“I am going to go out on a limb and say that is the minotaur,” Adrian said, turning around slowly.
“It’s been thousands of years. You two assured me that nothing could live that long!”
“I guess we were wrong,” Adronis said’ staring into the dark maze.
“You guess? You guess! What the hell are we going to do? We’re trapped below some stone room that nobody even knows exists!”
“We go through the maze?” Adrian asked.
“Go through it? Oh my God!” I screamed at the two.
“Keep it down,” Adronis said.
“Keep it down? I doubt it matters how loud I am! The minotaur knows we’re here. It has some fresh nineteen-year-old meat to eat now! I did not come to Greece to sacrifice myself to some mutated bull!”
“Cara, this is no time to freak out.”
“I think this is the perfect time to freak out, Adronis.”
Another roar bellowed from the darkened maze followed by the sound of hooves on stone.
“Unbelievable,” I muttered, walking into the stone structure.
“What are you doing?” Adrian asked.
“Getting out of here. That’s what I’m doing. I refuse to die in some dank, stone death chamber.”
“You don’t even know where the Minotaur is,” Adronis said.
“If we don’t move it’s going to be out here eating us. I don’t want to be eaten. I’m not dying a virgin. Thanks.”
The boys looked at each other then at me.
“Don’t even think about it,” I snapped.
We walked in a few feet and the path split off three ways. We stood next to each other looking around. The echoing of hooves resounded off the walls and ceiling; there was no way to tell where it came from.
“Which way?” Adrian asked.
“Should we split up?” Adronis asked next.
“No,” I said.
“Just pick a way,” Adrian told me.
“Okay,” I stood there looking around. I had no idea which way to go.
I walked straight forward. As I stepped into the darkest part beyond the entrance things got quiet. I turned around and was met with a wall.
What the…I held up my phone and shone the little light around me. I was surrounded on three sides by a wall and I was alone.
“Hello? Adrian? Adronis?” I called out quietly.
The only response was the angry bellow of the Minotaur.
Shit.
I was trapped. There was only one way to go and there was only one way to know if it was the right way. I took another deep breath and walked forward hoping Adrian and Adronis would find their way through the impossible maze without being eaten. I came to a fork in the road a short distance later and opted to go left. Once making my decision I turned to go back. I couldn’t. Another wall blocked my path.
“Well they were rather final with their decisions weren’t they,” I muttered. “No way but forward I guess.”
I kept going, the sound of hooves on stone getting louder the further I went. I knew I had made the wrong decision. I was heading right to the minotaur. He was going to eat me and I was going to die a virgin.
That really sucked.
Chapter Eleven
Rounding another corner, I nearly pissed myself. I was face to face with the beast.
I sighed heavily. “Of course.”
It snorted at me and roared. It had a huge sword in one hand and wore a dirty toga that looked to be stained with blood. I hoped it wasn’t fresh blood. It was covered in a dark, coarse brown fur. A main of black hair hung down its back in a single braid. He stood on hind legs like a human, but his head and legs were that of a bull. A really tall, muscular bull. The horns curved upward and had a nice point at the end.
“Human,” it bellowed.
“Beast,” I said with a shaky voice.
It took a few steps toward me sniffing. “Not human.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“I smell the blood of an old,” it said in a deep baritone voice.
“Um, where?” I asked looking around us for someone else.
“A god who does not know!” it laughed. “No matter, I have not had food in millennia. I shall enjoy your flesh.”
“How about you don’t eat me? I’m sure I taste awful.”
“You don’t eat and see if the next thing that walks into your home doesn’t taste wonderful,” he said.
“I’m telling you I would not taste good. I’m so scrawny. See?” I lifted my shirt and pinched at my stomach. “Not good for eating. You need to find something else. Like a chicken. Chicken is good.”
“I can settle for silly god.”
“What god? I know you’re not talking about me. I’m just a girl on vacation,” I said, pressing my back against a wall and trying to walk past him.
“Enough talking,” he yelled, swinging the sword at me.
“I’m not going to be your dinner,” I shouted , ducking and running past the lumbering beast.
As I ran I looked over my shoulder and saw the minotaur chasing after me. The maze path split in two. Biting my lip, I had only seconds to decide. Going left was a horrible decision last time, so I went right. Unfortunately a wall didn’t appear behind me. Just the man eating minotaur.
“Oh come on! Really!” I yelled as I ran.
The beast was catching up to me. I could almost feel its hot breath on my neck. It swung the huge sword at me. I dove to the ground, it narrowly missed taking off my head. I scrambled backup and kept running. At another split I went right again. The Minotaur stayed right behind me. My chest felt tight and my legs ached. I wanted to stop.
“It’s no use! You cannot outrun me! Nobody can outrun me.”
“If Theseus can do it, I can do it!” I shouted back at him.
“Theseus? That ridiculous Athenian had help. You have nobody. You are alone.”
“Whatever,” I grumbled.
I glanced back once more and nearly ran into a wall.
Shit! I spun with my back pressed up against the wall. I looked around wildly for some sort of weapon but only saw a pile of bones.
“You see. I told you. Now you shall join that poor soul next to you.”
I smiled meekly, still looking around. The Minotaur stopped right in front of me. His hot and heavy breath blasted me in the face. I dropped to my knees sobbing. I was going to die. I was going to die and nobody knew where I was. I turned my head so that I wouldn’t see the final blow. The beast lifted the large sword above its head. As I looked I saw a gleam of something under the bones. I dove to the left and pushed the body to the side. An old, rusting sword lay on the ground. With a sigh of relief I grabbed it and spun so that I was lying on my back. I thrust upward and felt it go into the Minotaur. Warm liquid flowed down the blade and covered my hands. I looked up as the beast fell forward. Letting go of the sword, I rolled to the side. I lay next to the dead monster for a few minutes. I lived. I didn’t die.
But what did he mean when he said he smelled a god?
I climbed to my feet and looked at the dead body one last time before heading back down the narrow path. Where I had made a right I went left instead. I wandered aimlessly until I reached another door. Going through I was thrown into darkness again. I turned and saw that a door had shut me in.
****
We began the long walk up to the peak of the acropolis. The dark storm clouds remained above us. Once I could see the Parthenon I heard a low growling start behind me. I turned around and saw a large black dog hiding behind the ruins of one of the columns. I gasped and grabbed onto Adrian’s arm.
“Adronis,” he said flatly.
His twin turned and looked at the dog, “Do you think it’s time? She’s the right one?”
“That’s what I was thinking,” Adrian said.
“What are you talking about, Adrian?” I asked.
“Don’t worry about it, Cara,” Adronis said.
“There’s a strange black dog growling, and you’re not scared of it
. How am I not supposed to worry? I want to know what’s going on around here.”
Sighing heavily, Adronis fell into step with Adrian and me. “I’ll tell you in the temple, alright. We just can’t be near your parents.”
“Why?”
“They don’t need to be involved,” he said.
“They don’t need to be involved? Involved in what?”
“Don’t worry right now,” he snapped.
“Don’t worry? How can you tell me not to worry? Storm clouds hover only over the acropolis, and a strange black dog over there. I want to know why. I believe I am owed at least that.”
“I’ll tell you in a minute. Just be quiet for right now, and don’t draw attention to yourself. Okay?”
I nodded. My parents walked ahead of us. Mom turned her head. and smiled at me. Her long black hair bounced down her back and her green eyes lit up as my smile widened. The identical men on either side of me grabbed onto each of my arms and steered me toward the massive temple sitting at the top of the acropolis once she turned back around to take in the breathtaking view.
“Hey, Mom, I’m going to the Parthenon. I’ll meet you back here. I love you guys!” I managed to pull my arm free of Adrian’s grip and waved to my parents.
“Be careful, honey!” she waved back.
Walking up the granite stairs, I recognized everything. It was the same as my daydreams.
“I know this…”
“Yes, we know. It’s the same as your dreams.” Adronis tightened his grip on my elbow.
“Ow, Adronis, that's a bit tight.”
He said nothing, just squeezed harder. I heard the clicking of nails on stone, turning my head just enough, I saw the same black dog following at a slight distance. He wasn’t growling anymore. Adronis and Adrian led me through the massive Parthenon, ignoring the dog, to a smaller chamber at the back. I stared at the metopes, which depicted the Gigantomachy on the east side, the Amazonomachy on the west, the Centauromachy on the south, and scenes from the Trojan War on the north. The relief frieze depicted the Procession of the Panathenaea, the most formal religious festival of ancient Athens. The scene ran along all four sides of the building and showed the figures of gods, beasts, and of a ton of humans. The two pediments of the temple were decorated with mythological scenes: the east, above the building's main entrance, showed the birth of Athena, and the west, the fight between Athena and Poseidon for the name of the city of Athens. I tried soaking it all in as we rushed through the building. I envied the tourists who were able to wander around and enjoy themselves.
Goddess of War Page 5