I followed the sound of sobbing down the narrow passageways to a central chamber. And there before me sat the minotaur. Apparently unaware of my intrusion he was looking down absorbed by the skull cradled in his arms which he caressed with a calloused hand while drifts of bleached bones lay in the dark corners behind him. Between sobs he was muttering to himself.
“I can’t bare to think how many lives I have taken – how I have butchered so many.” Tears ran down his brutish face as he continued to berate himself for several minutes – then his mood shifted,
“But I was banished from the society of men – surely, therefore, the usual rules don’t apply. I’m as much a victim as they are. I didn’t choose this life. But they chose to come seeking me. Thinking my head on a stick would make them their fortunes. Greedy fools! They got what they deserved.” He now spoke with relish in his voice.
But almost instantly sadness befell him once more. “So why then did she have to come? Said she was lost. Thought she’d found refuge when she happened upon my home. She had, I suppose – for a while.” Then his apparent remorse was gone again – and he chuckled. “They do say the way to a man’s heart is through his belly.”
“But then I’m not a man – and my hunger is far greater than any mere man’s. Which brings me to you!” he suddenly snapped. Looking up he stared straight into my eyes. “Thought I hadn’t seen you, eh?”
I turned and quickly retreated back into the labyrinth following the trail of white stones I had dropped on my way in – trying desperately to tread them into the dirt as I ran.
Anotherwherethanhere 