A Lone Minotaur.

Minotaur Warrior by bradlyvancamp

A Minotaur.

You froze when Nathraena told you the bad news of what you and her has to fight against. She can smell the presence lingering around the increasingly obstructing path that you and her travel.

You are faced with two possibilities. The minotaur is intelligent and able to speak allowing you and the drow the privilege of not fighting such a dangerous creature; however, the more likely possibility is that the minotaur lost all sense of intelligence and is reduced to his or her animalistic instinct.

Considering the nature of Madness, you are to believe the latter.

"It will no doubt try to attack us. The best method is to split and distract as much as possible. We should use our environment as best as we can. Do you know any magic?" the drow asks.

You curl your lips as you thought. "Being a ranger, I do have some magic such as Blinding and Smoke. Primarily, I only know some enhancements that help me maintain focus and increase my adrenaline. It is going to be difficult for me to move around in the dark, though."

She smirks. "I expected nothing less. I will try to light up the area we fight as best as I can. A Minotaur can smell extremely well, so I suspect that whether we are in the dark or not, it does not matter, so we might as well fight in the light. Since I am not as equipped as I used to be, I'll mainly try to distract him with some magic and flee. You will have to be swift to cut the beast's throat. Use any distraction to hide your own presence if it detects you, understand?"

You nod, feeling your heart thump faster. It is kill or be killed, so you hold your breath and whisper some incantation as you breathe out, increasing your heart rate and lightening yourself so you can move as fast as you can. Why didn't you recite these enhancements when the drow attack? You honestly did not have time and foolishly thought that the drow would not be able to detect your position. You aren't going to make the same mistake here.

A strange magic flows through the caverns causing the rocks and water that drips from above to glow purple. Nathraena stops using her illuminate spell as it is wasteful seeing how the caverns plan to light themselves anyway. It would appear that you would not require any artificial lighting of the area when you face the minotaur.

Something didn't feel right. The fact that the caverns illuminate and glow by itself means that powerful magic is involved. It could be magic that was established centuries ago which further means that the mountain was purposely carved by a powerful being or multiple beings over the course of the mountain's history. Somehow, that isn't surprising as something like Madness cannot exist from the world itself.

Looking at Nathraena's focused expression as she stares ahead, you cannot help but admire the drow's beauty. Because of the purple, her skin looks more contrasted and her hair whiter than before. You have to wonder once more why drows were banished in the first place.

You couldn't linger on that thought as Nathraena stops, her eyes widen as she stares before her. You furrow your eyebrows and widen your own eyes in parallel as you see a minotaur stand no more than ten meters away from you with stalactites and other rocky structures surrounding you. What is surprising is that the scent is normally supposed to grow stronger as one gets closer to the enemy, but the scent of this minotaur remained consistent throughout the journey.

The minotaur stares, his glowing red eyes observing you and the drow. It is apparent that the beast is a male. His frame is at least eight feet, the muscles in his limbs bigger than a human's head and strong enough to crush any smaller creature's skull...including yours and Nathraena's head.

Oddly enough, the minotaur does not attack with the large axe that rests in his hand. He only stares calmly despite the rough exterior and intimidating presence. Amongst his large chest lies scars and a lot of wounds that have healed and each tell a different story.

"Once more, creatures come for **** in this miserable mountain" the beast speaks, his voice deep and booming, but most surprisingly of all, anguish.

"So you can speak..." Nathraena muses, her voice low.

The minotaur snorts and even smiles!

"I get that a lot from those who come. I assure you that I do not want to fight you, but I am bound to this mountain and specifically one of the seven mistresses who lie to rest beyond. If you wish to cross, you have to kill me." he warns, his eyes glowing and his breath visible through his mouth.

Nathraena composes herself and her eyes narrow. "I'm afraid I cannot do that. We are both looking to save our loved ones and we have to pass."

The minotaur snorts again. "So has many others. I have lost many of my family and even wish to pass on. The mountain will not let me do so..."

The drow looks surprised. "You...just how old are you?"

The minotaur closes his eyes and sighs. "Who knows? Maybe I am at least 400 years old, but time has passed for me. I have been cursed to never see the end until someone kills me. It would be a blessing if someone could. I have scars that tell attempts, but in the end, none of them are strong enough. I would rather not fight you unless I know that you can kill me."

Nathraena clicks her tongue and you can tell she is cursing mentally. She turns to face you, ignoring the minotaur who doesn't move from his place and only appears ready to attack if you and the drow step closer.

"This is annoying. I would have preferred if this were a mindless beast," she complains, her eyes twitching slightly. It appears that in this case where a minotaur willingly does not allow room for negotiation is worse than a minotaur that is mindless.

The fact is that this minotaur as fought and killed many others. He is wise and experienced to know the tactics of other warriors.

You notice something, though. There didn't appear to be a single body laying around the minotaur. Surely if he fought, the corpses or bones of others should lie around him?

"If you have fought many other people, where are their corpses and bones lying around?" you ask.

The minotaur shrug, a surprisingly humanistic gesture. "The mountain shifts as you probably have seen. I am moved wherever the mountain requires me to be...and I wait"

Well, that makes sense.

The drow frowns before she makes up her mind. "We can't fight this beast, Daeel."

You furrow your eyebrows. "So what else do you suggest?"

She hums as she thinks out loud to herself. "The mountain shifts, huh?"

She turns back to the minotaur who awaits patiently. He seems willing enough to talk at least if we keep your distance.

"Tell me minotaur, are there others like you? Maybe like a dragon?"

The minotaur seems surprised to hear that the drow has met the dragon already. "So you already know, elf..."

Nathraena frowns. "I am a drow, minotaur."

The minotaur chuckles, echoing his laugh throughout the caverns. "As far as I know, your people were living together as one race before you split, so I only call you elf. Interesting, is that what you call your race, now? It appears times have changed dramatically..."

The drow furrows her eyebrows. "Do not change the subject, minotaur. Is the dragon like you? A guardian of sorts by these so called...mistresses?"

The minotaur nods. "Yes, there are seven guardians who protect the seven mistresses' lairs. You have already met the dragon, Azgoth. A fearsome foe, indeed."

The drow seems surprised by this new information.

"So this mountain is more organized that we are led to believe," you observe, raising your eyebrows as you cross your arms.

"Then what is your name, minotaur?" the Drow asks.

The minotaur remains silent for a moment before chuckling. "You are the first to ask of my name. I will give it to you...it is Djarrus Bane."