Cheers arose from the maidens again, but without the jubilance of moments before. I saw the shadows of their personal nightmares cross their eyes. There was rage in their voices. These women would protect anyone who needed protection. They would destroy what could not be reasoned with.
We drove it hard, taking control of the hunt. We finally hurt it badly enough to prevent it from escaping and healing at the last ambush. It came around an outcropping and ran into a wall of maidens. Arrows flew, and I got under it, slicing a chunk of its leg off before it leaped from the rock wall, but it seemed to disappear again.
As it steps into the light, I am unsurprised to see an automaton of the fabled Minotaur.
I pulled her closer to me, this time being the one to initiate the contact. My heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest as she fell against me, wrapping her arms around me like she was holding on for dear life.
I was a bit surprised. Minotaurs were rarely seen in the mortal world anymore. There were small groups in various mountainous regions, but I hadn’t heard reports of them being in Greece in several centuries. Had Alastor recruited some help in his imagined fight with me?
I decided to return home to the Underworld. I figured I could take some time away; it had been millennia since I had taken a break from the mortal world.
