Chapter Thirteen: The Labyrinth

Ariadne vanished, leaving Than alone at the entrance to the cavern, the labyrinth devised by Daedalus for King Minos centuries ago to house the Minotaur. In the old days, the Athenians sent seven warriors and seven maidens to be sacrificed to the Minotaur as payment for killing Minos’s son, but once Theseus destroyed the Minotaur, that practice ended.

But the Minotaur was immortal, and he came back.

He had no regular food source, so he must depend on lost travelers for sustenance.

Although Than was immortal, he could be consumed by such a monster. And it would be painful. More threatening, though, was the recovery time. Than wasn’t sure how long it would take, and his chances of securing Dionysus’s help would be jeopardized. He would never see Therese as his bride.

Though now, as he crept through the winding, rocky maze, he feared he’d already lost her. The anger in her eyes when he kept her friend still haunted him. Why had Therese taken such a risk? Didn’t she know she would lose his father’s favor, which was already shaky if it existed at all? He was beginning to wonder if he was alone in still wanting this union. She hadn’t really meant it when she said she hated him, had she?

Cracks in the rock above him allowed dim points of light to illuminate the passageway, adding to the light cast by his own body. Cables of different colors lay at his feet where others copied Theseus and his ball of yarn. He bent down and held a red colored chord and hoped to use it to find his way back. When he came to a fork in the tunnel, he recalled what Theseus, upon entering the Underworld, told him centuries ago. He said, “One should go straight and down, never right or left.” Than went straight and down.

He could easily god travel out of the labyrinth, as Ariadne well knew, but if she discovered it, she would refuse to help him. He could also disintegrate and hover above the labyrinth, making its outer walls transparent so he could guide his other self through, but he didn’t want to risk Ariadne catching him at cheating. If he wanted Dionysus’s help, he had to do this the hard way.

And since he carried no weapon, he would have to defend himself from the Minotaur with his bare hands.