“A thirty-something black woman, a little plump - with dreadlocks, and wearing a mauve cardigan and blouse, and dark slacks,” you try to whisper back in your minotaur voice.
“Oh, it’s Yvonne!” Sam rushes to the door, and opens it to hug her friend. You invite Yvonne in.
“Nice place you have here, Miles.” Yvonne shakes your hand. She looks at Sam.
“I’ve told him about Dirk and Delilah,” Sam explains. “Miles is looking after me. And he’s got, um, something to show you about your theory on places of magical power. But you have to keep it a secret. Understood?”
Yvonne looks intently at Sam’s earnest face, then turns back to you. “Wow - it must be something serious.”
“Somewhat,” you mutter as you start to recover the medallion from your neck. “Umm… You should sit down first, Yvonne.”
“Why? Pardon me for saying so - but you look like a skinny little thing, Miles. You’ll need to be quick and strong if that god awful Dirk ever meets up with you, heaven forbid… HOLY COW!” The forthright Yvonne falls back into the chair behind her, as you remove the medallion, revealing your minotaur form, as the illusion cloaking you shimmers out of existence.
Sam lays a hand on her friend to keep her from jumping up and running away. “It’s alright. He saved my life. He won’t hurt you - so don’t be rude to him,” she says to Yvonne.
After some coaxing, the black woman manages to stir from her rigid, fetal position. “Um… Sorry - bad choice of words back there! But what…?”
You tell your story, explaining how you were transformed into a minotaur. Sam takes up the tale from when you got her out of her wrecked car, to when you got home and…
There is a sudden ‘puff’ of green smoke, and the minotaur of the maze reappears in your lounge, baring his axe. Yvonne screams, and curls up in her chair again.
“Calm down, Yvonne!” Sam urges her, then freezes. You all see the minotaur bleeding from cuts from his temple to his bare feet. “Oh…”
“I need your help, brother of mine,” the minotaur gasps.
“Hold on - you were searching for help for my benefit, remember?” you retort. “Er… Are you in need of medical assistance…?”
“No. The wounds will heal quickly, when I return to the labyrinth. We minotaurs are magically-blessed in that regard. But I need you to fight alongside me! In my wanderings to contact associates to solve your dilemma, I have left the maze’s main portal unguarded too long. Now it has been breached by hostiles, who attacked me upon my return. If these creatures find their way out of the labyrinth, they will spread terror and death across your world!”
Your heart sinks, but your minotaur-enhanced desire to safeguard the earth kicks in, and you quickly fetch your axe. “I am ready to do my duty, my brother!” you snort. “Wait! You said that the portal would only accept one guardian. If we both go there - won’t one of us be rejected by the maze, like you said?”
“Correct - except that I managed to destroy the magical force that created that rule, as I fled from the hostiles that I failed to kill,” the minotaur replies. “Now the labyrinth can hold more than one guardian. Maybe… Maybe it is just as well. I have lived too long without companionship.” The beast lowers his broad head sadly for a moment - then he notices the quaking Yvonne. “Hmm? Another human knows of us, now? How many more will there be, brother of mine?”
“No more - hopefully,” you reassure him. “And call me Miles. Er… Do you have a name?”
The guardian pauses, then answers. “I call myself Thaddeus. Now come…Miles. The danger is growing.”
“What about us?” Sam perks up, indicating herself and Yvonne.
“You humans should stay here. It is dangerous where we are bound,” Thaddeus warns her.
Standing next to your kin, you turn to Sam. “I’m sorry - I have to go. But I will rejoin you later. To watch over you,” you reassure her.
Sam bites her lip, then nods. “Take care, Miles. And you too, Thaddeus.”
Thaddeus grunts in reply, then closes his eyes and concentrates. Your lounge disappears in a swirl of green mist - to be replaced by the rough stone walls and brazier-lit corridors of the labyrinth. In the distance, an inhuman screeching can be heard. You sniff the air - your nose and ears warn you of numerous enemies approaching. Meanwhile, the magic of the labyrinth floods into Thaddeus and yourself. You see your kindred’s cuts and bruises heal before your very eyes - whilst your arm and leg muscles ripple with strength underneath your fur. Your mind is filled with the confidence that, although untrained, you know how to handle your weapons. You are a minotaur, a guardian of the maze. And you will not allow your world to become overrun by the unholy things that you can sense close by. Together, you and Thaddeus will deliver death to the intruders…
Your companion passes you a spare throwing axe from his belt. “This way.” With his own axe at the ready, Thaddeus leads you through a chamber that contains a garden and water fountain, lit by an unknown source of light. Heading through the exit on the other side, you and the other minotaur emerge into a wide stone chamber, where over a dozen, crimson-coloured, gargoyle-type monstrosities are hovering in the air, beating their bat-like wings. They seem to be hissing to each other.
“What…? What are they?” you rasp to your companion.
Thaddeus shrugs. “I just call them the Red Devils. They are a type of demon from an ungodly dimension. Now, we need to take them out - before they kill us both!”