Chapter 9: The Fight at the Labyrinth

An hour had passed, and it was getting darker and darker. Ariadne had taken her human form as she stood at the beach ahead of her. She took a light red flare of a dress as her clothing as the wind from the beach pushed and pulled her dress too and fro. It would be a welcoming look for the coming children.

“I will kill my father when this is done,” she said to herself. “There is no mercy for his acts. He used me to create a labyrinth of slaughter. He made that first batch of children from Attica come in ... they were probably told that we would be treated well.”

A faint outline of a small Greek ship showed up in her view. She had some lit torches to help guide its approach. It was getting hard to see it as it came into view. She could see its sail and oars as it closed in. Within a few minutes, it was ready to pull ashore. It was a medium-sized boat capable of holding ten crew members, including its passengers.

She waived at the boat as the boat beached itself on the soft sand. Some of the crew got off the ship and began to help disembark the children. She watched as seven girls and six boys got off the boat. Ariadne was there to make sure that no harm would come to them and that they would not go to her maze of death.

The children had no fear in their hearts. They were perfectly calm as if no harm was coming to them. It was her job to ensure that they remained that way.

“Hello children, my name is Ariadne, princess of Crete. I am here to make sure that you enjoy your time here on the Island of Crete. When my brother arrives, I will have my men escort you to the palace, where you will get to eat, relax, have fun, and stay the night. Whatever they told you before, my word goes over that.”

A little girl at the age of seven approached her. She had a smile on her face as she tugged at Ariadne’s dress. “Will I get a dress like you are wearing? It is so pretty.”

Ariadne smiled at the little girl “I will create a pretty dress for you myself later on tonight, my dear. Where is the seventh boy?”

She looked at the boat, and a man that she recognized jumped off of it. He wore a light bronze armor on his body. Her heart began to flutter as she started to realize his features as he stepped into the light. Finally, she knew it was him.

“Theseus! It is wonderful to see you.”

Theseus had a look of surprise and happiness as he recognized her as well from not long ago. He bowed and approached her. “It is good to see you, Princess. We were told to go to a labyrinth not far from here where the children and I would be greeted by your father and aids.”

“There has been a change of plans, Prince Theseus. My brother is bringing soldiers from the palace to escort the children to there. I need to have a private talk with you away from the children. It is vital that you know everything that has happened. Do not be alarmed. I do not want the children to worry.”

He understood her words, and he nodded.

After five minutes had passed, Crateus and a squad of soldiers, along with palace aids, came to the scene.

“Attention soldiers, you are to escort these children to the palace. No harm is to come to these kids. Aids it is your responsibility to feed and provide proper care to the children. They are to be treated well, is that understood?”

The lead soldier saluted the prince, and the aids acknowledged his demands. The kids were rounded up and taken to the palace to be cared for. The boat departed, leaving Ariadne, Crateus, and Theseus to talk alone under torchlight.

“Princess Ariadne, Prince Crateus ... would you mind explaining to me what is going on?”

“Prince Theseus,” Ariadne explained. “I wish we had met under better circumstances last time. I am afraid that this is none the better. The fact is ... you and the children that were sent with you were heading to an ambush. My father was waiting to go and slaughter all of you.”

Theseus eyes went wide in shock “What? King Minos lied to us?”

Crateus nodded “Yes ... we had checked the maze where the last batch of what we knew was dignitaries that went to Ariadne’s labyrinth. All we found were remains of the children. None survived.”

Theseus looked down and back up to both of them “I guess all us owe you our lives for stopping our deaths as well.”

Ariadne nodded, “We were planning on confronting our father. King Minos is sure to show up at the labyrinth, knowing the timing of your arrival. We plan on killing him for the crimes of what he did to the children and to your people. We have heard many tales of your actions in fighting evil. If you wish, you may help us out, or you can head to the palace where you will be treated well.”

Theseus had a determined look on his face. He nodded, “I should have sensed your father had gone insane. You are good people that could have let us die. The question is how you a lady like yourself and the Prince here, are going to fight King Minos and his men. Surely he will have a squad of soldiers under his command, and the three of us alone will have a hard time fighting that many men.”

Crateus and Ariadne looked at each other and back to him “It will only be King Minos that should be there. Our father ... he is not human. He is a beast that has the body of a bull and a human. He has the strength of many men and cannot be harmed by mortal weapons. He can take up human form at will to not raise alarm.”

Theseus had a concerned look. “What about ... if this is true and you are his children, then that would make you the kin of Minos ... Minotaurs.”

Ariadne nodded, “ ... Yes, we inherited our father’s abilities and appearance. We are not mortals Theseus. We are, we have always been. The people of Crete have no knowledge that their leaders are beasts and deities. It has been our job to ensure that they do not know that.”

Theseus had a questioning look “What about Androgeus? How did he die when he is your brother?”

“Androgeus is our adopted brother,” Carteus responded. “He was a human mortal that went and tried to hunt our grandfather the Marathonian Bull that also went insane. He never knew that the very thing he was hunting was adopted family.”

“I see ... let us head to the Labyrinth. We will continue our conversation as we discuss our plans to kill Minos and end his madness.”

They reached the entrance of the Labyrinth of Trade. The cold darkness marked the opening of the Labyrinth of Death.

“My question that I still have is, why did they send Theseus on this journey with the children?” Carteus asked.

Ariadne knew the answer, “It is obvious that father went and asked that the soldiers send their children to here. King Aegeus had to agree to father’s demands or face destruction. Children include everyone. Theseus is the son of the king. Knowing father, he wants revenge on the death of Androgeus. What better way to invest in that revenge by killing the king’s son. Theseus you will be in grave danger, but if our father has the revenge motif and he sees you, he will come out to face you. His desire will be nothing but your destruction. You may still return to the palace with the children if you wish.”

Theseus nodded, “I must avenge the honor of all. The children, ourselves, and our future. I need a weapon.”

Ariadne lifted her hand in the air. A swirl of mist appeared in her hand. When the fog cleared, she held her Xiphos blade. She then turned to him, bowed to him, and handed it to him.

“This sword is my own personal defense weapon. It was crafted by Hephaestus himself and supposedly will never break against the torrent of blows it may receive. It was a weapon crafted by a god and can kill a god. I entrust this weapon for you.”

Theseus looked at the sword. What looked like a bronze made sword hid its true destructive properties. “What about you, Princess, without your sword, you will be defenseless.”

“I already have a weapon of my own,” She laughed. “It was entrusted by Poseidon himself.”

He swung the sword in the air to feel the weight of the blade. “If the gods are behind us, then we will never fail.”

“How are we going to do this?” Ariadne asked.

“We all go in together,” Carteus replied. “Ariadne light the torches of the maze, we want our father to know we are coming. Theseus already knows who we truly are. We no longer need these mortal forms anymore.”

“Agreed.”

Ariadne lifted her hands, and all the torches of the maze lit up. The illumination filled the area as darkness became light. They stood outside the maze and could clearly see the path ahead of them.

“It’s time to see what you will fight Theseus. Do not be alarmed.”

He watched as he saw the light emit from Crateus and Ariadne. Their forms shifted from that of humans to that of a nine-foot-tall walking bull-like humanoids. They had the tails of a bull, hooves of bovines, horns that protruded from their heads, and head and snout of something that was not human. Their muscles and skin were partially disguised by the soft fur of their bodies. Bipedal, like a human with only their male and feminine features, help to describe their gender. Ariadne and Crateus were models of their father. Ariadne had the beauty of a female as her armor bronze armor glistened from the torchlight. It was perfectly molded to her shape, her chest, and lower abdominal muscles. Crateus wore a similar bronze vest that covered his body. This would be combat that they would need everything at their disposal. Each one produced a cloud of haze as Crateus summoned his great two-handed bronze maul. Ariadne produced her trident.

“Incredible” was the only word Theseus could say. He did not display shock, but it was something that he still never seen before. He remarked all the features. He knew that King Minos would be of similar construction.

“This will be challenging, but you are human enough that I know that you would have similar weaknesses of human beings. If we all gang up on him, then we will surely win. Having both of you by my side is sure to our victory.”

Crateus looked down upon him. “Do not count this as a victory yet. Our father is stronger than us. He stands slightly taller than me. His strength is not only equal to mine; he might potentially take both my sister and me down if we are not careful. You will have to rely on your smaller stature if necessary to win the day.”

“I will have to use my smaller size to fight something bigger than me. I will make sure he doesn’t touch me then. I imagine one of his blows would be more than enough to finish me then. He will not touch me.”

She turned to look at him “I will do everything I can to protect you, just like you did when you escorted me to camp after the war between our peoples not long ago.”

“Heh ... you never needed my protection, Princess. I can see that now, looking at your form.”

She smiled. “I ... enjoyed having you with us actually. My sister has high regard for you as do I.”

Theseus smiled in return “Then perhaps there will be good things in the future for the both of us then.”

Crateus looked at Ariadne. “Is it possible to use your maze spell and lock him up in one of your labyrinths where he can never do any more harm?”

She shook her head “I can cast the spell, but it takes half a minute time to cast it. I need to concentrate and cast it, and if he sees me try to cast it, or I am under attack, I won’t be able to cast it. He will have to be knocked down or incapacitated for a time for me to cast it on him. I also never tried it on somebody as powerful as us. It might not even work. I recommend that we just kill him here and now before anyone else gets hurt by him.”

With her free hand, Ariadne created a golden string of yarn that rolled up into a ball. She then looked at Theseus. “I am going to open up the plant wall to let us into the center. I will then close the center exits to make any escape from him difficult. If for some reason, you get separated from us and get lost in the labyrinth, you can drop this ball of yarn. It will roll and unravel towards the exit. All you have to do is follow the string, and it will lead you out.”

“Thank you” He took the small ball of golden string in his hand and put it into his pocket.

Ariadne then took her hand, and she concentrated on creating an opening in the labyrinth. She opened her hand, and the plant walls parted open. Foliage and greenery formed a path straight to the center. The trail was lit to the center.

It was time. All of them charged into the center of the labyrinth. Two Minotaurs and a human champion to challenge the King of Crete was about to unravel. Their pace was quick and unrelenting as hooves and sandals struck the soft grass below them. Within less than half a minute, they reached the center.

The only things that they could see were the remains of the children. The bones picked clean by King Mino’s insane and literal hunger for revenge. The broken marble table still slewed on the ground with blood traced on it.

Crateus was the first to say something as he came to a halt. He stabbed the blunt end of his Maul to the ground. “Father, we came for you! We know what you have been doing; show yourself so you can face your sins!”

There was the still silence as they await word from King Minos.

Ariadne spoke next, “Father, we know that you brought children here from Attica! We know that you killed them and planning on doing it again! How could you ... use your daughter to help satisfy your desire for revenge?”

Still silence. There was no response or any signs of anybody.

Theseus was next “I know what you came looking for King Minos! It is I Prince Theseus, son of King Aegeus! I am here with your children. You want to fight somebody that can even pose a risk to you, or do you prefer fighting people that can’t fight back!”

Finally, a rustle of sound came from the other side of the labyrinth center. From a dark unlit area of the labyrinth emerged a towering figure. Standing at 10 feet in height was a gigantic Minotaur. Wearing a heavy suit of bronze armor with pauldrons, heavy bracers, and armor that lined his frame, this mighty creature was bigger and more powerful than his children. He wielded a sizeable double-bladed bronze battle ax that required both his hands to use and several knives of various sizes on his belt that he could use to cut, throw, or lacerate his victims. His body was lined with dark brown fur and large horns bigger than his children had. Anger filled his face.

A deep booming voice filled the quiet area as King Minos spoke. “Theseus ... I finally get to kill you and exact my revenge!”

“Father ... why?” Ariadne replied. “Why did you do this? Have you gone mad?”

Minos looked at his daughter, “Why my poor Ariadne? Your labyrinths are the most beautiful of them all. Never have I seen such artwork in your designs in creating them. I wanted the most comfortable environment for my victims.”