Amazing. For the first time since my very first day in the new world, I felt true admiration for my master. I would have clapped my furry paws if I could. Until now, the Beast Catcher had relied more on reckless courage, good survivability and a penchant for making impressions on beautiful women of any race. This was something else entirely. I never expected a game this subtle from that dull lug. This was more what I’d expect from an experienced diplomat. The Minotaur thoughtfully scratched his head with a huge hand. He seemed caught off guard too, and didn’t know what to say to such an unusual offer.
“Matters like this aren’t settled on the spur of the moment, I think,” Max Dubovitsky said, catching on to the leader’s strategy and putting away his gun. “Please, sit by our fire, mighty Minotaur. I don’t know what minotaurs eat, but we have meat and roasted fish, fruit and even a little wine.
The huge dread beast turned to him and… obeyed! He stuck his poleaxe behind his belt, bent his hairy hoofed legs and sat down cross-legged by the fire with a grunt. I immediately activated Soothe to lower our visitor’s aggression and lift his mood.
“You are strange people…” the horned beast muttered thoughtfully, taking the skewer of meat Sergeant offered. “Humans, a sherkh and a veyer in the same group. Get a veich and you’ll be fully multicultural. A full house.”
I noticed that word ‘multicultural,’ not one in wide use here in this world. That was good evidence in favor of Sergeant’s suggestion that the horned guest was from our world. Not only that, but I also saw my master touching the minotaur a couple of times as if by accident, both when giving him the skewer and then when passing him the large gourd full of wine. He must have been using Calming Touch. The horned monster drained the half-full gourd in two gulps and placed it by his hooves. In the meantime, the Beast Catcher continued.
“We do have a veich, or at least we did. A girl by the name of Shelly. She’s waiting for us out beyond the barrier. If she’s still alive, with that terrible Luck of hers…” Sergeant sighed sadly and reached for the wine, found the bottle empty and flung it into the darkness.
Edward shifted, crouched down nearby. “You said ‘full house.’ You used to play poker? I wasted so much money at the poker tables in my day that my dad nearly killed me. But I still sometimes feel the urge to play. I can’t control it, it’s like an addiction. If only we had a deck of cards…”
“We can make a deck, there’s plenty of paper in the castle,” the beast said, pointing a huge hand at the ruins behind his back. Then, once done with his meat, he looked up. “I know the Pharaoh well,” he said. “Long ago, we tried to conquer this new world together. A despicable man, not to be trusted under any circumstances. In many regards, he’s the reason I ran away from humans and became a minotaur. My name is actually Zachary… or was. And my surname was Horn. The bullies at school called me Horny, but my friends called me Bull Man. That was a long time ago…”
Soothe skill increased to level thirty-one!
It seemed our strategy was bearing fruit, and the now slightly tipsy Minotaur had changed his mind about attacking entirely. He sank into reminiscing over his old life. I thought I could see a tear begin to form in the corner of one huge black eye. The huge beast sighed heavily, then seemed to come to a decision:
“Alright. Have it your way. There’s work enough for everyone. Even for you and your cat, Beast Catcher. But I have no way to pay you. There’s no gold in the castle, nor valuable artifacts. There are old books, but they’re in a strange language. I can’t read a word. I use them to light the hearth. If they’re of interest, take them all, if you like. I don’t need them.”
“Agreed!” Sergeant declared, then leveled up to twenty-six right before my eyes. One of the Beast Catcher’s skills must have been working on all cylinders while he spoke to the Minotaur, but I couldn’t figure out which exactly. Taming, maybe? Or Beast Master?
The Minotaur stood, frowned at the constant rain.
“First I need to disable the defenses, or you won’t reach the castle alive. When the green light above the towers goes out, pass through the central gate with all your things. The castle is damp and full of heaps of garbage, but anywhere under a roof is better than spending the night on the naked plains in the rain. We’ll discuss the work in the morning.”
As soon as the monster disappeared in the veil of rain, and the sound of his steps faded, Varya shared her fears with the rest of us:
“Are we about to walk right into this man-eating monster’s trap? If the Minotaur reactivates the defenses, we won’t be able to leave the castle!”
“I can hear you, and that ‘man-eating monster’ part was most rude!” the voice of the castle’s master drifted back through the dark. “Trust me or don’t. The choice is yours. But if I wanted to kill you, I could have done so long ago.”
That was true enough. Although I still saw a trick in the Minotaur’s words. Yes, he could have killed us, but then his uninvited guests would have revived who knows where. But if the nearest respawn point would now be within the walls of the ancient castle, then these easily-led simpletons would be unable to escape due to the active magical defenses. Then monster would spend the next few days chasing his victims through his labyrinth of corridors and halls, where the castle’s master found his way far more easily than his tasty guests.
* * *
My fears were groundless, at least for the time being. The magic defenses (or whatever they were) that burned Health Points were switched off by the castle’s owner and didn’t come back. Inside, the castle was dilapidated. It contained a huge number of narrow corridors, with cracks in the walls and breaks where the huge horned beast wouldn’t have squeezed through, unlike the humans and certainly the cat. It looked like it would be far easier for a small creature to hide here than for the huge Minotaur to catch them.
The members of the League of Losers left their animals under a canopy in the inner courtyard and went to make themselves at home in the rooms of the well-preserved north wing. It was cold and damp in the rooms, but after the windy encampment out in the fields, the conditions seemed almost royal. There was even firewood for lighting the hearths, which the humans used right away. The Minotaur told them they could go wherever they wished in his castle, then staggered off to the central hall. Where, judging by the loud snore like someone sawing wood, he fell asleep. It seemed the dread man-eater was sated, drunk and happy with life, so he had no plans to attack the castle’s guests this night.
But just in case, Sergeant still arranged a watch rota. It even included the imprisoned sherkh. Tamir Vai Ugashi agreed without the slightest objection. Since giving his oath, the sherkh had behaved with incredible calm and obedience. But no watch was needed. The night passed peacefully. Nothing even disturbed the party’s sleep.
The many large and ferocious saber-toothed rats stalking the corridors were the only danger, although even they were more an annoyance than a threat. They feared humans and didn’t approach our rooms. But they did try to hunt me and Snowflake a couple of times, when I took the rock lizard off to explore the castle in the middle of the night. Fire magic worked great against them, and the least careful rats went to feed my scaly companion. The other rats learned from their brother’s sad end and got more careful, no longer attacking, just watching us from afar. And then Darkness joined our explorations of the castle, and the situation changed drastically. The Chimeric Cougar started catching the pesky rodents with great enthusiasm and agility, like a real cat. She brought me between five and seven furry corpses at a time. I, of course, refused my ‘mother’s’ treats, and the Chimeric Cougar ate them herself. By morning, she was so full she could she barely move.
The castle contained none of the heaps of human bones, cages of prisoners or torture chambers that might be expected of a terrible man-eating minotaur’s lair, at least not as far as I saw, and I explored all the surviving rooms, and even went down into the deep catacombs beneath the castle. The big room in which the Minotaur fell asleep looked like it
had once been some kind of feast hall. There were still tables and benches, and the room was strewn with broken plates and glasses. The castle’s owner slumbered, wrapped up in the scaly skin of some giant lizard or enormous snake. I didn’t know what creature it had belonged to, but I definitely didn’t want to meet it.
Although I hadn’t found any human remains or other signs of antisocial behavior on the part of the Minotaur, nonetheless I still had my doubts. I was in no hurry to declare the castle’s master indisputably innocent of any man-eating for now, because I also hadn’t found whatever device must switch the fortress’s defenses on and off. That meant there were secret rooms in these ruins that I hadn’t found, so it was too soon to relax.
* * *
First thing in the morning, Sergeant climbed one of the castle’s tall towers and looked around. Then, back down with the other members of the group, he said he could see the great river to the southwest, and he finally knew where he was. The Northern Amazon, as the people of the New Pharaohs called our familiar river, flowed just a mile or so from this old castle. So the Beast Catcher suggested we send someone upstream to meet the Philosopher on the raft. And then, with their combined efforts, they could bring our Dreadnought downstream and moor up by the castle. Once the work was done here in the castle and Edward and Margarita reached level twenty-five, we would weigh anchor and finally set sail for the world outside.
“I’ll go!” Varya offered at once. “I’ll try to be careful and not get in any trouble with the New Pharaohs or the sherkhs. I’ll reach Hundred Skull City and meet the Philosopher by nightfall on Irosaurus Regina; she’s fast enough. Expect us on the Dreadnought within a day!”
Sergeant just shook his head doubtfully.
“Tick-Tock and Katy won’t obey you. And Regina is too big to travel on the raft. You’ll have to ride back, and the Philosopher can’t crew the raft alone. I’m going to have to go. But first I need to to talk to the Minotaur and discuss the work he wants doing here.”
“Send me, brother!” the little veterinarian blurted out suddenly. “Edward made a saddle and harness for Laika the raptorhound! We’ll get there in a flash! I’ll talk to the creeping crocodiles and hitch them up so they can pull the raft. Anyway, there’s no special work for a Veterinarian here in the castle, and I won’t be much help with cleaning up or repairs.”
The leader took some time to answer this time. He was quiet for some time, racking his brains.
“I can’t let you go alone, sister. It’s too far, too dangerous. Thirty miles across forests and swamps full of creepy predators. That weak little raptorhound would struggle even in peace time. It’s worse now, with the war. Armed units roam the countryside. I’ll go crazy worrying about you. Sorry. No!”
Julie frowned, hurt. She lowered her voice to a whisper:
“I don’t like it here. It’s scary. All these rats. I can’t stand them. They’re afraid of you grown-ups, but they look at me like they’re hungry. I feel their eyes on me right now, looking out of all the cracks. I might be a Veterinarian, but that doesn’t stop these rats. And also…” the girl lowered her voice still further, “I don’t like how easy it was to befriend the Minotaur. I don’t trust him. I think the master of this castle has some plan for us. But as soon as he no longer needs us, he’ll eat us all!”
Julie wasn’t the only one who thought that way. I was worried too, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something wrong about this castle, and the League of Losers had fallen into a deadly trap. But Sergeant didn’t see it that way.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth! The Minotaur has treated us pretty well so far. We don’t know his story yet, but maybe he has his reasons to hate those uninvited guests constantly invading his castle. But if you’re not comfortable here…” The Beast Catcher surveyed his squad, his gaze stopping on the winged Thief. “Then it’s settled; you can go to Hundred Skull City with Varya. But take the veyer with you. He’ll scout the path from above. And take Whiskers too! Our furry little Shadow Hexxer can protect you all if necessary.”
Chapter 31 [Sergeant]
Working for the Minotaur
WE DIDN’T WASTE any time, just got straight down to clearing out the old rooms. We pulled out fifty stretchers of broken bricks, old plasterwork, mud and the remnants of furniture good only for kindling. Then we cleared the main corridor leading from the north wing to the central tower, patched up the spiral staircase leading up to the second floor. We were all exhausted. Even me, despite the huge difference in Stamina Points between me and the rest of the group. On the other hand, the work had its bonuses — I leveled up Item Crafting to level eighteen, and Edward and Margarita reached level twenty-three almost in synchrony.
The castle’s master awoke only toward midday, until then shaking the old walls with his mighty snore. When he saw us, the Minotaur seemed confused at first. It took him a minute to remember who we were and that he’d invited us to work in his castle. He was also upset to find that the Marsh Mistress had covered half the courtyard with webbing to make herself a lair. And that several humans had left the castle without his knowledge. That caused serious indignation. It was a good thing lunch was ready, and the smell was so good that the horned monster agreed to join the feast. After that, the Minotaur’s mood improved right away.
“Well done!” the castle’s owner praised us for our efforts. “This is starting to look like a decent home. But first of all, I want to fix the front gates. They’ve long since broken and fallen off. They’ve been lying in the courtyard for as long as I can remember. And we need to hammer together a bed for me. To be honest, I’m getting sick of sleeping on a cold floor. A strong bed, big. At least thirteen feet by twenty-two…”
The Minotaur seemed about to add something, but he turned his face up to the gloomy sky and stopped sharply mid-word. What was it that interested him so much in the heavy, low stormclouds? And that strange size he wanted, thirteen feet by twenty-two. I looked at the huge Minotaur sceptically. He was definitely at least thirteen feet tall. But then why twenty-two feet..? Did he expect to grow? Or… was it to do with what I’d seen in the central hall, where the Minotaur spent most of his time? That giant scaly skin shed by some colossal reptile. That thing was around seven yards long. Could there be something else living in the castle? Something the Minotaur didn’t want us to know about?
I didn’t voice my questions aloud, nor ask anything about the castle gates. We’d already seen the gates lying under heaps of garbage, torn from their hinges. It looked like the castle had been taken by storm some time long ago, and the gates smashed down with a powerful battering ram. But judging by the rust on the metal reinforcements and the state of the wood, it must have happened four hundred years ago. Long before the birth of our contemporary Zachary Horn, who had become a minotaur for some reason. I just confirmed that we’d do all the work he wanted, but the gates first of all. I even added that this was in our interests too. After all, since the war began between the humans and sherkhs, they’ve been chasing each other all over the countryside. I didn’t want a band of armed thugs to wander into the castle.
“That’s for sure!” the Minotaur agreed. “The defenses are down. We could get uninvited guests any time. Not that I’m afraid of them, but they’re so much bother…”
Eagle Eye skill increased to level twenty-seven!
Tracking skill increased to level twenty!
Diplomacy skill increased to level six!
Diplomacy skill increased to level seven!
Your character is now level twenty-seven!
Reward: three skill points (total available: fifteen) and one mutation point (total available: fourteen).
For what must have been the thousandth time in the last day, I thanked fate for the fact that I’d taken the Diplomacy skill after all. I was sure that was the only thing that got us out of the frying pan when the Minotaur first turned up. And afterwards, the Diplomacy skill leveled up rapidly while I talked to the Minotaur. Now I’d gotten two whol
e levels in a row!
The Minotaur’s foul mood was gone, and now the noticeably happier Minotaur crashed back to his chambers. We mere mortals got started on the gates. It was no easy job. We had to take off the reinforcing metal strips, scrub off the rust, pull out the old wrought-iron nails, take measurements, cut logs, replace the rotten gate beams… It was a good thing we had tools and an Engineer and Mechanic who knew what to do and did it with great professionalism. Margarita and I basically ended up just helping them.
The work was going at full swing when our sherkh atop the wall raised the alarm, shouting and pointing at the overcast sky. Soon, all the others heard the beating of massive wings, saw a huge winged shadow. Less than a minute later, a mighty rock dragon alighted right in the castle courtyard. Black, with a bright scarlet mane, it cast a suspicious glance around the yard, ready to char anyone it found dangerous.
I ordered the Marsh Mistress to climb deeper into her webbed lair and not come out again — the dragon was reacting a little nervously to the spideress. Flame flickered behind its clenched teeth. I also calmed down Tamir and Margarita, who seemed ready about to flee at any second. I told them that I’d seen this tamed dragon before, and I knew its rider too. The Cartographer climbed down the rope ladder on the dragon’s side and looked around with interest.
“Sergeant?! You’re the last person I expected to see here!” the traveling merchant said, walking over to me and stretching out a hand in greeting. “I flew over the river island, but the whole place is in ruins. I assumed Pan decided not to get entangled with the Pharaoh’s people and took his settlers through the barrier. Especially since I saw that furry girl from the river island only this morning. What was her name again..?”
In Service of the Pharaoh (League of Losers Book #2) Page 29