BOOKS BY JOHN CORWIN
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CHRONICLES OF CAIN
To Kill a Unicorn
Enter Oblivion
Throne of Lies
At The Forest of Madness
The Dead Never Die
Shadow of Cthulhu
THE OVERWORLD CHRONICLES
Sweet Blood of Mine
Dark Light of Mine
Fallen Angel of Mine
Dread Nemesis of Mine
Twisted Sister of Mine
Dearest Mother of Mine
Infernal Father of Mine
Sinister Seraphim of Mine
Wicked War of Mine
Dire Destiny of Ours
Aetherial Annihilation
Baleful Betrayal
Ominous Odyssey
Insidious Insurrection
Utopia Undone
Overworld Apocalypse
Apocryphan Rising
Soul Storm
Devil's Due
Overworld Ascension
Assignment Zero (An Elyssa Short Story)
OVERWORLD UNDERGROUND
Soul Seer
Demonicus
Infernal Blade
OVERWORLD ARCANUM
Conrad Edison and the Living Curse
Conrad Edison and the Anchored World
Conrad Edison and the Broken Relic
Conrad Edison and the Infernal Design
Conrad Edison and the First Power
STAND ALONE NOVELS
Mars Rising
No Darker Fate
The Next Thing I Knew
Outsourced
It's the unexpected things that kick you in the ass.
The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, but it was already too late. Something hard met my backside and sent me flying. I tucked and rolled across the torn earth. A tall stone wall stopped my forward momentum. I gained my feet quickly, but it seemed my attacker was in no hurry to finish me off.
He was huge—ten feet tall and bulging with muscles. He wore a ridiculously short loincloth that barely covered his junk. His height and hairy balls weren't the most notable thing about him, however. His bull head and the large, curving horns really drew my attention. The minotaur pawed the dusty earth with a hoof and glowered at me. Then again, he could've been smiling. I wouldn't have known the difference.
"That was but a kick, human. The next blow comes from my horns if I'm not satisfied with your explanation as to why you are here in our lands."
I blinked. "So, your policy is donkey kick first and ask questions later?"
"Do not compare me to a lowly donkey, human." He bared his unnaturally sharp teeth, and the ring in his nose clinked against them. "Your kind brings death and misery wherever you go. That is why we have a labyrinth to dissuade visitors."
I'd been all over Feary during my days with the Oblivion Guard but had rarely visited this part of the world. The cities in this area resembled those of ancient Greece in all their glory but were primarily populated by creatures lost to legend and myth. It was no coincidence that it was geographically relative to Greece on Gaia.
I held up my hands. "I'm not looking for trouble. I'm traveling to Prometheus's Rock."
He pawed the ground again. "There are other ways to reach that place, human."
"Yeah, but that would mean going around your labyrinth and over goblin-infested mountains." I pointed straight ahead. "This is the shortest and safest route."
"How safe is it if it costs you your life?" He stepped closer. "Go back whence you came or die."
I blew out a breath. "Maybe if you just escorted me through your city, I'd be out of your hair in a few hours, and you wouldn't have to resort to murder."
"Humans are not allowed in Minos!"
I hated name-dropping to the point of loathing, especially when the name was mine. But it seemed like if there was ever a good time to do it, it was now. "I'm Cain Sthyldor."
His eyes flared, and his chest heaved with a bellow of rage. "How dare you show your face here, criminal!" The minotaur reached over his shoulder and drew a great, iron war hammer. By great, I mean the thing was seven feet long with a hammerhead big enough to turn me to paste in a single blow.
"That's not the reaction I was expecting." I backed up a few feet and glanced at the ground to my right where I'd left sigils that would lead me back out of the maze.
"Cain, what's that noise?" Hannah's voice echoed through the stone corridors. "Did you find a minotaur?"
I'd left her and Aura in one of the many gardens inside the maze while I scouted ahead and marked out the route. It seemed I'd have to beat a hasty retreat to them if I wanted to remain in one piece.
The minotaur's gaze darted toward her voice. "How many of you are there, evil one?"
I backed up a few more steps. "I don't know which Cain Sthyldor you're thinking of, but I'm the one who freed minotaurs from slavery in the Beast War."
He stomped toward me, eyes glowing with bloodlust, war hammer swinging easily in one of his hands. "You freed minotaurs?" He bellowed. "You murdered my people, griffins, and other beasts, trading their lives for riches. The fae tried to stop you and finally banished you from Feary!" His teeth clacked together. "You are a war criminal!"
My thoughts turned to the orc historian Raghat and the warning he'd imparted last time we'd spoken. The fae had ordered him to alter the historical record of our little adventure in the Dead Forest, and it seemed they'd also spread heavily doctored versions of the Beast War. They were trying to make me public enemy number one in Feary.
I probably deserved to be called a war criminal, but only because of deeds I'd performed under orders for the Oblivion Guard.
I cupped my hands and shouted, "Hannah, stay where you are."
She shouted back, but her words were drowned out by the furious roar of the charging minotaur. I summoned my staff, and the brightblade hummed to life. The sight of it didn't slow the minotaur in the slightest.
Even though I hadn't worn Death's cloak in a month, I still felt naked without its protection. My brief time serving as the Grim Reaper had made me grow accustomed to the supernatural strength and reflexes it had given me. Having the abilities of a powerful deity, no matter how briefly, had spoiled me.
Now, I was just normal ol’ me—completely reliant on magical tattoos that gave me a little extra boost when the odds were stacked against me. I still couldn't believe this beast had gotten close enough to donkey kick me in the ass. Then again, the labyrinth was enchanted in ways that were supposed to make a trespasser's head spin. Disorient them so they'd become trapped forever, living out their days among the food-filled gardens. The disorientation aura was playing havoc with even my well-tuned senses.
The fact that a minotaur had confronted me meant that I was somewhere close to the city entrance. Unfortunately, I might not have long to celebrate my success.
I powered the invisible tattoos along my body and dodged to the side just as the charging beast lowered his head and swung the hammer. I swung the brightblade at his heel, thinking a mild nick might be enough to bring him down. His size should have hindered him, but he was deceptively quick on his hooves, spinning away from my blow. His shoulder rammed the wall. If it had been ordinary stone, it would've cracked, but the enchantment prevented it from suffering even a scratch.
The minotaur gripped the war hammer in both hands and swung it back over his head. At first, I thought he meant to throw it, but instead, he slammed it to the ground. A shockwave of earth and air crashed into me. I tumbled backward in a storm of dirt and debris. Somehow, I planted my brightblade in the ground and anchored myself to keep from plowing into the wall behind me.
The minotaur was already charging again.
I threw out small shields about ankle and shin height. He shattered the first and second one, stumbled against the third, and slowed his roll considerably when he struck the fourth, roaring in pain. The shields couldn't stop him, but the delay was enough for me to take a deep breath, wish I hadn't gotten out of bed that morning, and climb to my feet.
If I'd learned anything during my brief encounter with this minotaur, it was that he had zero finesse, relying instead on brute force and rolling over his opponents. His size and strength gave him that luxury. But as a battle tactic, it was stupid. If it weren't for his catlike reflexes, I would have already crippled him.
I readied my blade, knees bent, shoulder angled toward the oncoming threat. The minotaur lowered his head the moment he entered striking distance and swung the war hammer in an overhead arc with his left hand while his right arm swung out as a counterbalance. I remained perfectly still, waiting for the right moment to act.
The beast's accuracy was spot-on. If I'd been a stake, he would've pounded me into the ground in one blow. Just as the hammer was about to land, I saw the opening I needed. I deactivated the brightblade, ghostwalked forward, thrust the staff up, and tapped the beast in his great, big, hairy balls. I probably could have neutered him on the spot with the brightblade, but I wasn't looking to permanently ruin his sex life.
The war hammer dropped. The beast bellowed and grabbed his privates as he dropped to his knees and rolled over onto his back.
Before he had a chance to recover, I put a foot on his chest, and the brightblade sizzled to life, hovering just over his neck. "Yield."
Eyes watering in pain, he glared at me. "I am no coward. Kill me, or I will rise and smash you into oblivion."
I lowered the brightblade to his crotch. "How about I slice and dice your nethers and let you live."
"No!" Sweat beaded between his horns. "This is why the fae call you the Butcher. You have no mercy."
"I don't know what stories the fae peddled about me, but I assure you that I did not slaughter minotaurs, griffins, or any other beasts." I kept my eyes locked on his. "I'm the one who started the uprising. Granted, I did it for my own selfish purposes, but everything worked out."
"Why should I believe you?" the minotaur growled. I wished I had a plausible answer, but I didn't. I could kill this guy, skip the bullshit, and possibly sneak my way around the perimeter of the city, perhaps hugging the wall and using a camouflage blind. The only problem with that tactic was my knowledge about Minos was close to zero. The entire city might be a maze, or it might have a nice, convenient way to sneak around the perimeter without being seen.
The minotaur thought I was a war criminal. Not killing him wouldn't prove much. In fact, he'd probably think I was trying to deceive him by playing nice. The best course of action was to knock him out and try my luck inside the maze.
I banished my staff and backed well away from the minotaur. "What is your name?"
His nostrils flared, but confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. "My name?" One hand cupping his jewels, he rose slowly to his feet, but didn't reach for his hammer. "I am Taurin, human. I am the guardian of the maze, defender of Minos."
"That's your day job?" I frowned and made a show of looking around at the colorful foliage. "How many invaders do you get through here in a week?"
He stared blankly at me.
"In a month?" I folded my arms over my chest. "How about a year?"
He mumbled something under his breath.
I cupped a hand over my ear. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
"One," he growled.
I put a hand to my chest. "Little ol’ me?"
He nodded. "You are the first in many years."
I frowned. "Um, so what do you do with all your free time?"
His nostrils flared. "I tend to the gardens."
During our journey through the labyrinth, Hannah, Aura, and I had found ten large gardens, each one flawlessly maintained. In addition to flowers and shrubs, there were fruit trees and rows of vegetables, presumably planted to feed any who became trapped within these walls.
"Well, they're lovely. My companions and I were very impressed, especially with the tomatoes. I've never seen them so large and red."
His chest puffed out with pride. "I make a very special fertilizer with my own manure."
That was a bit of information I could have done without. Note to self: Don't eat the tomatoes.
Taurin's bullish eyebrows pinched. "Where are your companions?"
As if on cue, Hannah and Aura stumbled around the corner, eyes wide.
"Holy shit, Cain, it's a minotaur!" Hannah leaped in front of me, spreading her hands as if to shield me. "Don't worry, I'll keep you safe!"
"You have a child and an elf with you?" Taurin flinched as if the conflicting information assaulting him right now was more than he could handle. "And why does the child act as a protector?"
Hannah raised a fist. "Just try and attack Cain. I dare you!"
I put a hand on her shoulder. "Hannah, we're just talking about gardening."
She blinked, mouth falling open. "Huh? Then what was all the pounding and bellowing about?"
Taurin seemed to regain his purpose, reaching for the war hammer. "No humans are allowed in Minos, but especially not the war criminal, Cain Sthyldor."
Aura snorted in disbelief. "Cain is a lot of things, but a war criminal?"
"Well, he did murder all those women and children," Hannah said. "That's basically a war crime."
"Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that." Aura hissed a breath between her teeth. "Okay, so you got us there, but he hasn't killed any kids in a long time."
Hannah winced. "He killed Sigma."
Aura frowned. "Yeah, but Sigma was trying to kill you."
"He was still a kid, so technically—"
I held up a hand. "Can you two stop digging my hole deeper?"
"He murdered many humans?" Taurin lowered the hammer. "How many?"
"Oh, countless humans," Hannah said. "God, all those mechanists he slaughtered probably numbered in the hundreds."
The minotaur pawed a hoof in the dust. "And yet he also slaughtered beasts."
"Beasts?" Aura shook her head. "Do you mean sentient beasts?"
"Yes." He stomped the ground. "He slaughtered many in the Beast War."
"No, Cain saved the beasts. The fae just spread false rumors about him because they hated him for inciting the beast uprising."
Hannah nodded as if suddenly sure I wasn't a mass murderer. "Cain might have killed a lot of people, but he totally helped free griffins, cecrops, and a bunch of other intelligent creatures."
Taurin looked at Aura uncertainly. "Elves are known for their honesty. Even to this day, we trade with elves because they have always helped my people. What say you of Cain?"
Aura winced, because she sure as hell wasn't an ordinary elf. She'd betrayed me and Hannah, then did a one-eighty and started helping us. "Cain is not exactly a good person, but many griffins call him Liberator because he started the rebellion that led to the Beast War and forced the fae to emancipate all sentient creatures."
"Cain is the one known as Liberator?" Taurin shook his head. "I thought that was Torvin Rayne, the Great Drow."
Hannah groaned. "That dude was pure evil."
Aura nodded in agreement. "Torvin hated Cain, and he'd never do anything to help anyone except himself."
Taurin stared blankly at the maze wall with the look of someone deeply conflicted.
"We are on a quest to save an elf," Aura said. "She was taken by the gods and bound to Prometheus's Rock."
The minotaur clenched his teeth. "The gods are cruel. What they give with one hand, they take with another Poseidon, in his anger, caused Pasiphae to fall in love with a white bull that should have been his sacrifice. Though the stories only mention the original minotaur, they do not tell the tale of his twin sister or how Pasiphae secretly sent her away."
Hannah gasped. "Wait, this woman fucked a bull and got pregnant? Pretty sure my high school biology teacher would say that's impossible."
This was a can of worms I didn't want to dive into, so I waved a hand. "Taurin, you've been lied to by the fae. The question is, will you help us pass through Minos so we can rescue our elf friend?"
He straightened and turned to Aura. "Lady elf, I accept your word and will gladly aid you."
Aura blinked several times before answering. "Um, great! Can we go now?"
Taurin lifted his hammer and sheathed it over his back. "Yes. Follow me."
He turned, and we headed forward into minotaur central.
Aura had, of course, lied to Taurin about our quest. We weren't going to Prometheus's Rock to save an elf but to track down Aura's evil doppelganger, Aura Beta, who'd laid waste to Gaia in Dimension Beta before coming to Prime and killing Athena right at the end of an otherwise very successful venture. She'd slain the goddess with the sword Soultaker, trapping her soul with the undead army inside even though her body remained alive. Mars had then killed Layla with Soultaker and healed her body to give me a reason to find a way to free Athena's soul. I'd taken on the mantle of Death, stopped a zombie uprising, prevented three of the four horsemen from starting the apocalypse, and found Thanatos, Greek god of death who'd enchanted Soultaker.
Freeing souls from the sword required the blood of the killer. Hermes had gone to retrieve blood from Aura Beta, but she was no longer chained to Prometheus's Rock. I'd gone to my Aura and used her blood. Thankfully, it had worked to revive Athena, but the goddess had attacked Mars the instant her soul was reunited with her body. It made me think that even though the blood of Aura Prime and Aura Beta was mostly identical, something might have been off. But that was water under the bridge. Aura Beta was a complete psychopath who was free to wreak havoc again. She'd been driven mad from using Panoptes, a ring that let her see many places at once and travel to any of them. One of those places had been a
warehouse filled with apocalypse weapons from Hephaestus's lost armory on Oblivion Beta. She'd used those weapons to lay waste to Gaia Beta and then set out to murder the goddess who'd cursed her bloodline.
So long as she was free, she was a menace to all the other dimensions. I possessed Panoptes, which was the only way I knew of to access the warehouse with the apocalypse weapons, but for all I knew, Aura Beta had a backup stash. It was imperative that we find her and put her somewhere she could no longer be a threat to Prime. Someone who'd lured the gods out of the divine realm and murdered Athena was too dangerous to be free.
I wasn't usually one to give up my life of sipping mangoritas just to go on a quest, but securing the insane elf had become my top priority, so I didn't have to worry about being stabbed in the back.
So, here we were in Feary, traveling to Aura Beta's last known location. I'd wanted Layla to come as well, but she'd disappeared after her resurrection, and I hadn't seen her since.
"Tell me more of this elf friend." Taurin glanced back at us. "Why would the gods punish her as they did Prometheus?"
"She insulted Athena," Hannah said.
The minotaur snorted. "The gods are unforgiving and cruel." He led us unerringly through twists and turns in the labyrinth, to another of his well-tended gardens where plump, red tomatoes hung low on the vines. Taurin plucked three and handed them to us. "Taste the fruits of my labor."
I imagined his labors, i.e., taking horse-sized shits and spreading them over the soil around his tomato plants. I took a bite of the tomato anyway. Sweet, tangy juices burst across my tongue. I sighed in appreciation. It was one of the best tomatoes I'd ever tasted. "I'll bet these sell well in Minos."
"Unfortunately, no." His huge shoulders slumped. "Centaurs and minotaurs are primarily carnivorous. I would have to hide my face in shame if they knew I also enjoy salads. Only cervitaurs are primarily herbivores."
Hannah giggle snorted. "That's the silliest thing I've ever heard. I love salads."
"Does anyone else know about your gardens?" I asked.
Taurin nodded. "My mate. But he thinks salads are disgusting."
Aura inspected a row of huge cucumbers, then turned and waved a hand at a row of lettuce. "Such a shame to have all these veggies go to waste."
Hannah snapped her fingers. "Dude, you could make so much money if you sold these. Organic food is huge on Earth."
His forehead pinched and his bull ears twitched. "How could I possibly sell anything in the old world? The nearest mushroom portal is far outside the labyrinth."
"It's super easy." Hannah smelled the tomato and sighed. "I used to live with foster parents who had a farm. They showed us how everything worked from picking the produce to transporting it to the farmers market."
Taurin scratched behind his left horn, a perplexed look on his face. "What use would I have for old world money?"
Hannah reached up—way up—and patted him on his huge forearm. "It's not about the money. It's about doing something you enjoy." She patted her tomato. "It's obvious that this is your passion."
He puffed out his chest. "I do very much love this! My mate complains that I spend all my time in the labyrinth."
Hannah frowned. "What else is there to do for fun in Minos?"
Taurin's gaze grew distant. "Well, gladiator tournaments with battles to the death are very popular. There are the those who go into the mountains and hunt dangerous game. And my people are always training and preparing for war in case the mountain goblins or trolls attack."
Aura blinked. "War?"
"In case the orcs or goblins ever decide to enslave our people again." He raised a huge fist. "Minotaurs, centaurs, and cervitaurs formed an alliance to keep our foals and calves safe from such threats."
I wasn't surprised. Centaurs and minotaurs had been used as soldiers, gladiators, and guards by the slaver races for centuries. They had been bred for battle and brainwashed, which had made it quite a challenge during the Beast War since orcs, goblins, and drow
had used their slaves to protect them. Minotaurs and centaurs had died protecting their masters. Some had died at my hands, but it hadn't been by choice.
That, however, would remain my dirty little secret since I wanted to make it through Minos alive. I nodded in what I thought was the direction of the city. "Can we keep going? I'd like to get to Prometheus's Rock by nightfall."
Taurin looked away from Hannah who was explaining logistics and intermodal transportation to him. "It is best that we do not venture into the city. I cannot guarantee the safety of any humans once inside, as they are strictly prohibited. Instead, we will use the underground labyrinth to traverse it."
"Underground labyrinth?" Aura looked uncertain. "Um, is it safe?"
"Safe enough with me as your guide." He approached the statue of a cervitaur buck in the center of the garden, reached between its legs, and pulled something. Stone grated against stone as the statue slid aside.
Hannah peered at the statue. "Is that a deer centaur?"
"They're called cervitaurs," I said.
She kept talking. "Taurin, did you just pull on its junk?"
Taurin released the generously proportioned penis on the statue. "Junk?"
"Its huge honking dong." Hannah walked over and touched the stone phallus. "Why is it so ginormous?"
The minotaur stared at her blankly. "That is quite small." He reached down toward his loincloth as if to prove the point with a size comparison.
"Hold up." I threw up a hand and avoided looking at his crotch. "We need to get moving."
Taurin seemed disappointed even though his skimpy outfit left little to the imagination. "Very well." He motioned toward the spiral stars leading down into the ground. "Proceed."
I led the way into the darkness below. The brightblade hummed to life in the pitch black, revealing a chamber hewn into the gray stone. Connecting corridors led in five directions. The tunnels were
tall and wide enough to accommodate minotaurs and centaurs standing three abreast.
Small crystals embedded in the ceiling flickered on, negating the need for the brightblade. I snuffed the humming energy and banished the staff as I strode toward one of the nearby tunnels. The crystals flickered on, revealing a fork ahead. The labyrinth below was markedly different than the one above.
Taurin clopped down the stairs after the others, tugging on a chain on the wall. The cervitaur statue grated back into place. He headed toward the northeast corridor without hesitation, following its downward slope further into the ground. The unsettling effect of the disorientation enchantments from the aboveground labyrinth faded away, leaving my senses clear for the first time in hours.
Even though I could have memorized the path, I didn't want to take any chances and did my due diligence by tracing the floor with sigils every so often. Simply marking walls with chalk might have been an option down here, but in the labyrinth above, the walls couldn't be marked due to the protective enchantments.
Walls in the garden labyrinth also randomly shifted positions, rearranging the maze and making it more difficult to retrace my steps if I hit a dead end. The sigils tracked any alterations in the layout by recording the changes and allowing me to puzzle out which way the new corridor led.
Taurin stepped wide around an area. "Follow me exactly lest you trigger a trap."
Hannah looked at the section of floor which looked no different than the surrounding area. "What happens if you step there?"
"A pit," Taurin replied without looking back.
I summoned my staff and examined the area through the true sight scope. A faintly glowing outline revealed the triggers. Like the garden labyrinth, this one relied on magic instead of mechanical devices to activate traps.
Keeping the true sight scope to my eye, I scouted the path beyond Taurin. Maybe he planned to guide us safely through, or maybe he didn't. I'd tried to give him a reason to trust me by not killing him, but mercy didn't always work against a determined
enemy. I didn't count him as an enemy, per se, but he'd certainly considered me a threat after learning my name.
I hadn't stayed alive for so long by blindly trusting people who'd tried to murder me only moments ago. Taurin, however, had very little to gain by killing us, so the odds were in our favor that we'd soon see the other side of the labyrinth and hopefully be that much closer to Prometheus's Rock.
I hadn't expected the trip through Minos to be such a hassle. I'd severely underestimated how difficult it would be to traverse the labyrinth and hadn't realized humans were persona non grata in these parts.
I wasn't normally one to take mushroom portals, especially on Feary where pixies would report my presence to the high fae, but I'd seriously considered using one this trip since Prometheus's Rock was so far from civilization.
Then, I'd discovered that not only were there no portals within hundreds of miles of the rock, but that portal travel to the area was restricted. I'd contacted Pyroeis about flying over Minos or through the mountains, but he'd informed me that the labyrinth enchantments prevented air travel over Minos. Any griffins who tried to fly over would become so disoriented that they risked crashing into the mountains or plummeting to their deaths.
To make matters even more difficult, the mountains were infested with goblins and orcs who could easily shoot down griffins with ballistas or arrows. Despite the dangers, Pyroeis had still offered his services. I'd refused, thinking I could simply slip through Minos unnoticed using my vaunted Oblivion Guard training. That had been a foolish assumption on my part.
So, here we were on foot in an underground maze with a minotaur tour guide. If he led us safely to the other side, then getting donkey kicked in the ass was a small price to pay.
Time dragged on as we followed him through twists and turns. Time and time again, he led us safely around trap triggers that were only visible through my scope. We crossed a long stone bridge over a raging underground river. It gave me unpleasant flashbacks to
crossing the glass bridge spanning the screaming river into Hel even though this river was tame by comparison.
Giant stone aqueducts spiraled up from the river and into the chamber's ceiling about fifty feet above. Water rushed up the halfpipes, defying gravity and presumably delivering water to the city.
Hannah stopped to marvel at the constructs. "Wow, how do those work?"
Taurin stood next to her "Magic, of course. The aqueducts deliver water to canals that run throughout the city. They were gifts from the elves centuries ago, before our city was sacked and our people were taken as slaves."
She grimaced. "That got dark real fast."
Taurin glanced around furtively. "Let's not waste time. There are those who—"
"What is the meaning of this?" A voice echoed from the other side of the river.
I located the source an instant later. A centaur with thick horns curving up from his forehead glared at us. "Are those humans?"
I didn't know how good the centaur's eyesight was and hoped he couldn't see us clearly. "Aura, buy us some time," I hissed.
She frowned. "How?"
"You're a fucking elf!" I motioned toward him. "Go talk to him."
"Oh, yeah." She slipped around Taurin and strode toward the centaur. "We're elves, sir."
"Elves?" The centaur clopped toward the bridge. "They don't look like—" He peered around her and paused. "Oh, I guess they are."
I'd quickly traced sigils on Hannah and myself, casting illusions that made our ears look pointy. Granted, there were other things that differentiated elves from humans, like supernatural strength and speed, but this would probably get us past a nosy centaur
Taurin put himself between us and the newcomer. "Balfeus, is it not early for the afternoon inspections?"
"Someone found a hydra egg in the eastern canal this morning." The centaur peered suspiciously at us. "We nearly had a disaster on our hands the last time that happened."
"Another hydra egg?" Taurin peered down at the river. "That is the third one in as many months. But the river flows too fast to be a suitable habitat for a hydra."
"We suspect the mother is somewhere near the mouth of the river." Balfeus tapped his fingers on the bridge railing. "We are mounting an expedition to find and destroy the creature before the nuisance turns into an infestation."
"How in the world could an egg survive a trip downriver?" Aura said. "Wouldn't it be smashed on the rocks?"
"Hydra eggs are hard as stone, Lady elf." He tilted his head. "Your accent is quite strange for an elf."
"I—we're not from these parts." Aura cleared her throat. "We're from Faevalorn."
Balfeus pursed his lips and nodded. "We do not receive many visitors from afar. What drew you to our remote city?"
"We're traveling to Prometheus's Rock and thought it would be interesting to traverse the labyrinth along the way." Aura shrugged. "Taurin offered us a tour of the underground, so here we are."
Balfeus grunted. "Would you not rather see the actual city instead of this boring underground?"
"We will eventually make our way there, but this is pleasant for now." Aura turned to Taurin. "Can we continue on? We would like to make it to the rock by sundown."
"Of course." Taurin turned to Balfeus. "I hope you discover the source of the eggs."
"Oh, we shall." The centaur touched the haft of a giant battle-ax on his back. "Fighting a hydra will be glorious." He spun toward me. "But first, I will see these humans drowned!"
I summoned my brightblade a heartbeat before he lunged at me. I threw up a shield and blocked him, then leaped back to give myself some space. "We're elves, not humans!"
Balfeus bared his teeth. "Do you think I am not trained to recognize illusions when I see them? Your ears are flickering!"
Aura jumped between us. "I am most certainly an elf, and these people are under my protection!"
"Then you have broken covenant." Balfeus unslung his battle-ax. "The elves of Alnora enchanted our labyrinth to keep out humans. They promised they would never allow them in Minos."
"I'm not from Alnora." Aura held up her hands pleadingly. "Look, we're just passing through."
Balfeus glared at Taurin. "Have they bewitched you, brother? I know you are not capable of such treason."
Taurin opened his mouth to reply, but Hannah stepped in front of him. "I am a demigoddess and have forced him to do my bidding. Now, let us pass, or I will kill him and you." Her forehead furrowed in concentration, and her eyes began to glow white.
Balfeus's eyes flared wide with anger and surprise. "Have not the gods punished us enough? Now they send their illegitimate progeny into our midst?"
Hannah threw up her hands in exasperation. "The gods didn't send us, you idiot! This is just the fastest way to get to Prometheus's Rock!"
Balfeus roared in frustration, then abruptly turned tail and ran.
Hannah blinked. "Well, that was easy."
"Wait, brother!" Taurin threw up a hand as Balfeus reached the end of the bridge and stomped on the ground. The section of stone sank into the ground, and the bridge rumbled. Taurin leaped twenty feet to the other side just as the center section dropped out from beneath us. He gripped the edge, but the rest of us dropped straight into the raging river below.
Frigid water closed over my head, and the rapid current snatched me like a leaf caught in a sudden wind. I'd been tossed into rough seas, whitewater rapids, and frozen oceans more times than I could count as part of my training but getting dumped into a force of nature powerful enough to crush you to paste was never pleasant.
The twenty-foot fall dunked me underwater briefly, but I'd already scouted my next steps during the fall. Water sizzled and boiled around the brightblade as I fought my way back to the surface. A rock directly in my path was just waiting to break my bones. I had other plans.
Activating the sigils tattooed on my legs, I gave myself extra strength and thrust myself sideways. I had a grappling hook in my utility belt, but there was no way I'd pull it out in time, so I stabbed the brightblade into the rock as I passed it. It didn't penetrate deep, but it dug a glowing groove in the side and slowed me just enough so I could grip an outcropping with my hand.
Without hesitation, I banished my staff and flung out a hand to catch Aura by the hair as the current carried her past. She shouted and gurgled as water filled her mouth. Hoping her hair wouldn't tear out by the roots, I dragged her close enough to wrap my legs around her waist and bring her close to the rock.
