by Wolfe Locke
Something was wrong. Every instinct in John’s body told him that it should not be this easy. He had been adventuring for a while and he had learned through trial and error that the obvious solution, wasn’t always as simple as it appeared to be.
As if reading his mind, John felt another jolt of that strange energy as it shot through the area around him, and through him. It filled the place with ambient magic and made his skin crawl.
I grant you a quest. Find the key to the locked door and descend again to darker realms. But beware those who also roam for this is their Kingdom.
Chapter 4: The Spawning of the Three
* * *
The air around him grew tense and heavy. All of the sudden, every instinct that John had was screaming at him to be prepared, to fight, to run. Though the energy had passed and disbursed, something else remained in the dark beyond his reach. John could sense the difference, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint where the sensation was coming from. It wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling. He was sure that he had felt it more times than he could count, the feeling of eyes upon him. Eyes in the dark. An enemy. But what is it?
John’s question was answered as from down the hall, in one of the branched off rooms that he had passed, he heard a shuffling. No, not a shuffling. It was clopping. Like hooves on stone.
He recognized the sound at once. I had it wrong. That wasn’t the feeling of being watched. That was the feeling of something being summoned into the same space as me. A monster just spawned in this place.
John Younger knew he was no longer alone.
You will find that is not the only thing that has changed. The very way you perceive things will have well. You’ll see soon enough.
Cautiously, he crouched down and drew his axes from his belt. He kept them at the ready, prepared to attack at a moment’s notice.
How considerate that my captors decided to drop me in here with my axes as one of the choices. Although John had remembered taking his simple leather armor off to go to sleep earlier in the inn. Somehow, I managed to retain my gear. The only thing that prevented a shiver from going down his spine was his present situation. John couldn’t afford to be distracted. He was in an unknown area and now an unknown presence had joined him.
As John listened intently, another set of heavy footsteps joined the first, and then another. Three different monsters. I need to be careful.
If his senses were correct, which they normally were, the monsters had spawned near the library area.
John already had an idea of what he might be up against. The clopping of hooves, and the fact that he had only heard a pair of them at first all but confirmed it. Not many monsters that fit that description.
Any doubts that John had about his assumptions were dashed away when one of the creatures let out a bellowing yell. It was like the grunting of a bull, except deeper and much more bestial.
John had heard that same sound before on his travels. Although he had never been unfortunate enough to encounter one of the beasts face to face. At least I’m not alone. Now, he was trapped in an area with no escape. In a place that contained not one, but three of the furious creatures.
I need to figure out what my next move is. I can’t just stay here, they’ll find me. One of the creatures darkened the doorway to the library and then clopped out into the torch-lit hallway.
The monster was nearly eight feet tall. The wicked and sharp horns on its head adding even more to its already substantial height. Its arms were layered in thick corded muscle that was covered by the coarse black hair that spanned across its body. It wore nothing but a loincloth. Thick legs trailed down to a set of cloven hooves. But the monster’s face was the worst of all. It was that of a bull, with flaring nostrils and wild eyes. To complete the effect, a metal ring hung from its nostrils.
The three who roam hold the secret to the key to unlock the door that has been sealed. Find it and be on your way.
That’s a minotaur. The three who roam are minotaurs. John cursed. That would be just my luck. The huge beast was staring right at him and the monster was angry.
The massive behemoth gave out a battle cry. A cry that was echoed by its still unseen compatriots. With a deep roar, it leaned forward and charged down the hall, horns gleaming in the torch light, aimed directly at John, fully intending to eviscerate him.
John would have loved to say that in the face of the oncoming goliath, he stood strong. He was unafraid and he met the beast head on, confident in his ability to take it down. Discretion and valor as they say.
But more than telling a good story, John preferred to live and did the much more sensible thing. He turned and ran for his life. I can always lie about this later and say the monster was bigger..
Confidence only went so far before turning on the unwary. A cocky adventurer, outside of brothels and taverns was a dead adventurer, and John had every intention of living to see the surface again. And all the surface has to offer.
The beast was almost upon him. Time for an evasive maneuver then. John sprinted at the beast just long enough to dive to his left. Straight into the larder.
The weight of the minotaur sent small tremors through the floor as it stormed past the doorway that John had dove through and kept going. Small rocks on the stone floor became dislodged as it passed through.
It took a lot of power to move that much weight in mass and muscle, but when they got going it was terribly difficult to stop.
John listened as the minotaur crashed into the locked wooden door. He expected to hear the sound of wood splintering.
For a second, he allowed himself to hope that the minotaur was out of commission. Carefully, John peeked out and down the hall, but the door stood strong. The minotaur sat dazed on the ground before it, slowly regaining its senses and clambered to its feet. It was too much to hope it had killed itself. There was no way that a simple wooden door should have been able to stop a charging minotaur. That door must be enchanted.
That fleeting moment of hope was a distraction. A brief lapse of situational awareness. He almost didn’t sense the second minotaur until it was too late. At the last second, John ducked down, and he felt the air whoosh by as the fist of the second minotaur sailed through the air where his head had been just moments before and crashed into the stone archway of the door. The strength of the beast sent cracks up the stone. John said a silent prayer that his reflexes had kicked in.
With a spryness that only came from years of training, John ran and slid on the floor, passing underneath the monster's legs and came out on the other side. He slashed with one of his twin axes, and though the blade cut, it cut barely. That’s going to be a problem.
Though minotaurs had notoriously thick hides, John had hoped his attack would do a little more damage and at least leave it partially crippled. Regardless, he’d take any opening he could make for himself.
The minotaur roared. A scream born of both shock and rage, but before it could bring one of its cloven hooves down on John’s comparatively fragile body, the adventurer managed to slip away.
John ran through the archway that connected the larder to the kitchen. Carefully checking for the last minotaur.
He had not spotted anything useful here before, but that had been only a cursory observation. Quickly he pulled and riffled through each of the drawers in an almost panicked state, hoping he could find something to help him, hoping to find the key.
In the third drawer that he opened he came across a butcher’s knife. One could never have too many weapons, especially in a situation like this, so he added the knife to his belt.
Just then, the second minotaur darkened the archway from the larder. Trailing behind it was a small amount of dark red blood that flowed freely from the minor wound that John had inflicted.
He was about to run out of the doorway into the hallway when the third minotaur appeared and blocked his path. Although it could be the first, they look complete
ly the same, minus the one I cut. They were completely and utterly enraged.
John didn’t know if the creatures were capable of any other emotions. All of the stories he had heard had been of them leveling entire villages in a frenzy of fury. It often took entire villages to band together to slay the monsters, and that was not without severe loss of life. And now John faced down three of them by himself.
It would not do to dwell on what the creatures were capable of. John was a survivor, and the odds had been stacked against him before. Maybe not this much against him, but he would do what he had to do.
Now, John was truly trapped. Both paths from this room were blocked by creatures that could rip him apart with their bare hands.
There was no way out, but John wasn’t about to go down so easy. There was no way that he could face even one of them head-on. When you can’t work harder, work smarter.
John straightened his back and placed one of his axes under the opposite arm. With his now free hand, he beckoned to the two minotaurs, hoping to goad them into attacking him. A grin was plastered on his face, showing a confidence that he most certainly did not feel inside.
If John had thought they were angry before, he was sorely mistaken. He watched as the beast’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets and the veins on their furry necks jutted out.
With twin howls of fury, they charged at John together, intending to gore and rend him.
The opening was small, but John timed it perfectly. The beasts were like two points of a triangle who were charging at John who was the third. At the last moment, before they could converge on him, John rolled forward through the narrow gap that they created and came up on his feet.
The two minotaurs crashed into each other. All that could be heard was the sickening sound of slapping flesh following the falling of bodies. The minotaurs crashed to the floor. That worked better than I thought it would.
John grinned like a madman, actually feeling for a moment that he was going to make it out ok and in one piece as he turned to run away. The grin was short lived. The third minotaur revealed itself. Its massive arms smacking him with crippling force straight into the next room. Quite literally.
Chapter 5: A Blessing In The Dark
* * *
Show more restraint. Only a fool counts his victories and blessings before the bloodletting is over.
Good point. John thought as he picked himself up off the ground as pain wracked his body. He just barely managed to look up in time to see the minotaur preparing to follow up the first attack with a second. The beast's massively muscular forearm crashed into John like a battering ram, and he went sailing through the archway, back into the larder, and against the far wall.
As soon as he hit, John heard something snap and his side exploded in pain. I should have seen that coming.
To his credit, John didn’t let the blow stop him for long. He was up and moving almost immediately, adrenaline moving through his veins like quicksilver. Forcing his body and his muscles to surpass their limits.
John knew a minotaur would be hot on his trail and would quickly be followed by the others. I need to think of a plan on the fly. I can’t take many hits like that.
He called out for the serrated butcher knife and it appeared in his hand. John threw it underhand into the chapel as he passed by and instead of heading back down to the end of the hall. Minotaur’s aren’t particularly smart. With any luck, they’ll hear the clatter of the knife and assume I’ve dropped it while running through the chapel and chase in the wrong direction.
Once he reached the end of the hall, John was forced to make a quick choice. Down the left hallway to the dark room, or down the right to the illuminated room with the sounds of water.
In that moment, John preferred the idea of being able to see any incoming threats rather than waiting in the dark in a blind spot like a sitting duck. He staggered down the hallway towards the sound of water. The pain in his side finally started to register as the adrenaline wore off.
Inside the room was a beautiful stone fountain. It was inlaid with filigree and bore the image of cherubs blowing water downward into the pool. The light had a calming effect on him.
Immediately, John felt more at ease. The water in the fountain before him was clear, but a faint green mist permeated in the air above it. He had seen such fountains before, and he knew what they were used for.
He said a silent prayer to whatever gods governed this place, and another to whatever gods were in control of his fate. Then, he hobbled up to the rim of the fountain, dipped his hands in, and drank.
This is my place. I am Sionna. Lachesis and the others have no power here. Though my power is limited out there in the halls away from my sacred waters. This is a fountain I have blessed. You will find it will heal your wounds and your weariness. I have left other such locations throughout this dungeon for you. Though you may not find them all.
A new voice? What is going on here? John thought overtaken by confusion for a moment.
Instantly a warm feeling began to spread through John’s body. He felt the aches and pains that remained from his encounter with the goblins melt away. Eventually, the pain in his side began to dull as well, and he felt the uncomfortable snick of his rib snapping back into place.
John felt restored. He was full of energy. It was as if he had gotten a full night’s sleep and woken ready and refreshed. He hoped that there would not be too many occasions where he found himself back at this fountain, but he counted his blessings that it was here at all.
As John straightened himself up, the green aura around the fountain faded slightly. I can’t use it indefinitely, either it needs time to recharge, or it only has a few uses period. He would have to be careful.
Still, there was every chance that he would find himself hurt again. Perhaps even too injured to make it back here at all. But, now that John felt strong again, a new determination came over him. He was an adventurer. A survivor. So far, he had never run from something that was too tough or too difficult. If there’s a will, there’s a way. John took a deep breath, checked his twin axes, and left the fountain behind. I need to find that key, and if I have to fight the minotaurs so be it.
When he rounded the corner, one of the minotaurs was snuffling around the hallway. If their senses had been any better, they would have sniffed him out long ago and he would have been cornered in the fountain room.
John let out a piercing whistle that alerted the minotaur to his presence, and with a roar, it charged at him down the hallway. Looks like I’ll need to do this the hard way.
John ran directly toward it, but before the two could clash, he threw one of his axes in an overhand throw that was aimed at the oncoming creature's face. His aim was true and the twin axe connected right in the center of its forehead where the horns met. The weapon bit into the thick skin and stuck fast, but it went no further. That was not what I was hoping for.
However, that was enough. The minotaur staggered in shock, and that was all the opportunity John needed. He didn’t break his stride and as he approached the beast, he slid under its legs and sprung up behind it. This time, when John slashed at the legs, he aimed for the joint where the skin was less thick.
John buried his other twin axe into the back of the minotaur’s knee and the creature cried out in pain. It tried to gain its footing but the leg that John had sliced gave out. It went crashing backward onto the floor.
Wasting no time, and sure that the other two would soon come to its aid, John mounted the downed minotaur and drove his foot heel first into the axe that was buried into its brow. It took a couple of hard kicks but finally the twin axe bit into the creature's skull. A few more stomps and it managed to slide further in, penetrating the brain. The minotaur moved no more.
Even though they were not there, the two other minotaur’s roared in primal fury once their kinsmen had gone limp under John. That’s no good. They can sense each other.
Before they could appear, John retrieved his twin axes and ducked into the massive library. He left the dead hulk of the minotaur in the hallway behind him and a glowing orb that dropped upon the minotaur’s death that was quickly absorbed into his inventory.
Harrumph. You are lucky that Sionna helped you. It is not often she gets involved. You’ve managed to kill a minotaur, and here is the minotaur’s essence. With time and opportunity, it may be traded, crafted, or used to enhance yourself. Do not squander it.
Got it. John thought grimly. But in the meantime. One down and two to go.
Chapter 6: Silence in The Library
* * *
In spite of the grimness of his situation, John was pleased with himself. He had fought a minotaur and lived. That in itself was a triumph that under any other circumstances he would have celebrated, except in the retelling, the minotaur would have been twice as big.
You have done well, but do not rest on these laurels alone. Two of the roamers remain and they will be seeking to avenge their fallen brother.
Then I need to be going. Carefully, John crept away and found himself alone at least for a few. It was clear to him the two remaining minotaurs had previously gone through the library.
They must have passed through here after I threw the knife into the chapel and then rampaged when they didn’t find me.