Dungeon Crackers, Chapter 2: Facing the Minotaur
I suppose I could put a "Previously, on Dungeon Crackers" here, but you could just simply read any chapters that you missed. Here's some links here.
Chapter 1: Entering the Dungeon
Chapter 2: Facing the Minotaur
Chapter 3: To slay a dragon, unconventionally
Chapter 4: Assembly of the Elders
Chapter 5: Meeting with the Client
Chapter 8: Attack at Bitane's School
Chapter 9: Just Who is Madelyn?
Chapter 10: Phoebe Reveals Her True Face
Chapter 11: The Stolen Talisman
Chapter 13: Showdown with Grayon
As the minotaur was about to catch sight of me, my fairy friend flew out of my pouch, trailing an invisibility cloak behind him. He covered us both up, and I hoped that it would keep us from being detected.
“Geez, what is with minotaurs and labyrinths?” I whispered.
“Quiet,” Rolf, who was now on my shoulder, whispered in my ear, “he might not hear me, but his hearing could pick up your whispers like scream.”
There was nothing I could do but sit and wait. The best case scenario is to have him move away from the entrance, but even if he was at the other end of labyrinth, he would hear the opening of the heavy steel door to the treasure room.
As I watched him enter into the hall we were in, I got a good look at the creature who was half-man, half-bull. I found that it was not what I expected. I had expected a large man with bull fur, horns, and maybe even a tail. What I was looking at was something of a centaur. He had the muscular physique that I predicted, even the bull’s horns and nose ring. However, it was like the head, torso, and arms of a person had been replaced a head on an ordinary bull. Instead of being half-man and half-bull, he looked like he was half-man and half-cow.
I thought it was so silly, that I could help but laugh. It was an amateur mistake. My chuckle caused the minotaur’s ears to perk up, and he turned my direction.
“You idiot!” Rolf whispered in my ear as loud as he could.
“Maybe he didn’t hear me.”
The minotaur’s front hoof began to scrape the ground, and he brought out a huge double axe that I didn’t see before. He snorted and charged our way.
“Oh damn.”
I took off and ran down the hall and Rolf quickly flew in front of me. He had grabbed the invisibility cloak and it was trailing behind him like the tail of a red comet. I couldn’t help but think about what I hoped was a myth that bulls get mad when they see red. I followed Rolf, who could somehow fly and hold a map scroll. I made certain to listen to his every order.
“Go here! Turn left. Keep on the right side, there is a trap here!”
The Minotaur was gaining on me and I could hear him roar like he was ready to strike.
“To hell with this!”
I snatched Rolf, turned on my magic Troll Gauntlet and phased through the wall to my left. I was in another hall that looked just like the one I was in, and I could hear the minotaur’s axe strike the ground.
“Okay, I’ve bought us some time. Where are we?”
“Some L-shaped passageway.”
I didn’t need the map to see that. Rolf flew in front of me before I could go in the most obvious direction, away from the sound of approaching hooves.
“Don’t, there is a trap here.”
As I went forward to go the other way, I hoped that another convenient passage would appear. Rolf stopped me going that way.
“There’s a trap there too.”
“Really?”
I noticed that the markings on the wall. They were in a language that I didn’t understand, but the symbol for where the traps were located were the same. I began to realize this was how the minotaur knew what parts of the labyrinth to avoid so he didn’t fall into his own traps. I then saw the invisibility cloak on the floor, and picked it up.
I held up the invisibility cloak to the trap-indicating symbol on the wall. It vanished under the cover, and looked like an ordinary wall.
The minotaur appeared around the corner, and he was glaring at us.
““Let’s phase out of here again.” Rolf pleaded.
“No way. We’ve got to do more than just get past him.”
I shook the red cloak at the Minotaur. I then realized that he wasn’t seeing any piece of cloth there.
“What are you doing?”
“No time to explain.”
The minotaur began charging.
“That’s your idea? Let him charge us? You’d better make time to explain.”
He raised his axe over his head.
“The cloak covers the sign for the trap. He believes that he’s got a clear shot at us…so when he crosses this barrier here….”
I had to raise my voice to Rolf as the minotaur’s charging hooves had practically drowned them out. There was no need to explain as the minotaur crossed the threshold with the trap, and from out of the wall shot some darts. It was enough to make him miss. He then tried to stop before he ran into the second trap, which he saw coming this time. More darts went into him.
He then stood still, and I thought that he was only slightly phased by the darts. However, he was taking the time to pull them out, which made me think that they were poisoned. Eventually, he grew weary of pulling them out and just stopped. He then only had strength enough to collapse.
“See,” said Rolf, “that didn’t take that long to explain, did it?”
“Well, that’s that. Now time to take out the dragon.”
A dragon, you say? Check out the next chapter here.
