Indomitable Marvel

Theoric looked around,- "Where is Selene?"

Sigyn gasped- "She must have stayed behind, do you think she'll hurt Grani?"

Theoric shook his head- "Not if she knows what's good for her, now the Minotaur on the other hand might being having a really bad day."

Sigyn tilted her head, wondering,- "Theo, do you not care if the Minotaur dies?"

Theoric sighed,- "That thing is beyond redemption, and the way it was created is frankly a tragedy."

Sigyn- "How do you know so much about it?"

Theoric,- "Athens had plenty of books on the subject detailing why they had to give sacrifices to the island and what they were being sacrificed to."

Sigyn intrigued, asked- "Athens has to give sacrifices?"

Theoric- "Oh yes, the king of this place is a son of Zeus... Strange though, I use to think Athena was his favorite, but it's starting to look less like the case the more I think about it, I feel like we still lack vital information about what is really going on."

Thoughts jumping around, Sigyn came back asking about what he said earlier,- "Hey Theo, when did you start reading?"

Theoric just about tripped hearing that, clearing his throat,- "Ahem, I've learned to read on occasion, what else was I suppose to do on the boat when we weren't having our private fun, Caius has a whole collection of books to choose from."

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Selene watched the two monsters going at it from a safe distance, intending to feast on the bull-headed beast once it was finished. She wasn't going to pass up another good meal after having to give up on Theoric and the others.

Grani braced himself with another roar as the Minotaur crashed into him, head lowered, horns smashing into his scaly c.h.e.s.t, pushing him back across the floor, creating drag marks as his feet dug into the ground trying to stop the rampaging bull.

Once they slowed enough Grani grabbed him by the horns pushing him back as they began to square off again, sizing each other up as they roared at each other before the bull charged again.

Swinging his claws, Grani was able to easily rend flesh from his nonscaly counterpart causing the Minotaur to cry out in agony as it tried to find some way to inflict damage to its hard-skinned foe.

It was soon clear how outmatched it was though as its human fists throbbed with pain with each hit while Grani's claws were now dyed red with blood.

Changing tactics the Minotaur lifted its hoof and kicked Grani in the c.h.e.s.t so hard that he was lifted off his feet as he fell back. Quickly following up the Minotaur ran up, jumping into the air just missing Grani who rolled out of the way as he slammed back down smashing the floor into pieces with spider cracks crawling up the walls.

Grani attempting to get back to his feet during the chaos, going for a tackle instead as the floor gave way and smoky debris filled the area. Only to miss as the Minotaur seemingly expecting this was already in the air again as he came back down for another stomp on the exposed back of Grani, cracking his scaly hide as he drew blood for the first time, driving him into the ground.

Grani roared in pain and anger, growing frustrated his body started to expand intending to end this. At full size, this bull-man would be nothing more than a bug he could squish between his fingers.

Feeling the change below, the Minotaur jumped off and backed away unsure what was happening as Grani's size continued to grow.

As space grew more cramped due to his ever-increasing size, Grani broke through the adjacent wall as his head hit the 20ft high roof before stopping.

Turning to the Minotaur as the place shook from his every movement, he gave a deafening roar that caused those in the area to wince from being in such tight quarters.

The Minotaur for the first time was completely silent as it looked up at its adversary, completely bewildered by what just happened. Instincts kicking in, it tucked tailed and tried to run for its life but didn't get far as Grani lept sideways, so he could fit well enough in the hallway and not have to continue to smash through the wall, with an outstretched hand, grabbing the beast before it could turn the corner and disappear.

Dropping it once the struggling ceased, Grani began to shrink back down, popping through the destroyed wall as he went searching for his Mistress.

Forced to watch from behind as Grani's size completely blocked her off at the time, Selene sadly approached the dead Minotaur, all that delicious life force gone.

Spotting a golden shimmer, she bent down to take a closer look at the bull's nose ring.

"Hm, this is magical," she muttered to herself as she ripped it off.

Looking back she saw the wall still hadn't fully closed and quickly followed after Grani thinking he likely had some way to track down Theoric and Sigyn.

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King Minos back on his feet upon seeing the fight play out and how easily the magical walls gave way to the intruders, nervously watched on. Looking to his left he felt a tinge of empathy seeing his wife crying for the beast, not that he cared whether or not the Minotaur died. He was glad it was dead, but it didn't sit right with him seeing the woman he married crying knowing deep down this was all his fault, he could feel his regrets surfacing along with her tears.

The nobles he was entertaining were also on their feet shocked by what they were witnessing.

"What is that creature?" "Who are they?" "What do we do?" "Will they get the treasure?"

The last question rang in the king's ear the loudest as he shouted for news from the guards he sent out. He couldn't allow them to escape with the treasure without Zeus's permission first, this treasure must have been placed here for reason by him and he was sure this wasn't it.

Rushing to their king the first one back reported,- "We found an Athenian styled ship in the docks that we believe is theirs, and they say two women remain on board, as for the entrance..."

The next one step forward,- "We found the tunnel they used to get down, though it's no longer usable having collapsed."

The King brushed him away with his hand,- "Doesn't matter, the walls heal..." Thinking some more on it, he realized that with their ability to easily break the walls and dig, they could come out from anywhere... "Gather the men and head to the docks, I want it surrounded and fortified, I don't want them leaving this island, and send a group to capture those women on board, bring them to me," he ordered.

The third stepped forward, giving a bow- "My liege, Talus is just about to do his 3rd pass for the day."

King Minos halted the guard he gave orders to,- "Wait, make sure you wait for Talus to pass before you act on the women in case they are as unusual as the rest, on second thought I'll go with you, prepare the men we ride now."

They gave a quick salute before carrying out their orders with haste.

King Minos turned to his guests,- "As you can see we have a bit of a situation, I trust you'll find your way out, I'll make sure they don't take anything."

One of the braver nobles spoke,- "Are you sure you can handle it?"

King Minos narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at the man,- "Don't forget I still have Talus a gift from the gods, and if he doesn't work then I'll just use my other gift," he said with a smirk appearing on his face as the jarring information he dropped landed. Their faces showing a mixture of shock, surprise, and disbelief that one man can be granted so many gifts, unaware of his lineage.

King Minos never flaunted his status as a son of Zeus, he knew his father would never approve of using his name in such a way, not to mention his own pride. He wouldn't lower himself to crying his father's name, not only would it make him look weak and pathetic to everyone including Zeus, but all his accomplishments would be rendered meaningless, he would then only be remembered as a son of Zeus rather than a mortal who got the very gods to notice him.

The Queen walked over catching the King before he left,- "I know you, can you do this?" she asked in concern. They may have had a falling out, but she still cared for him.

King Minos paused as he turned to look at her, feeling conflicted,- "If you're here to ask me to seek revenge, think nothing of it, just so happens our goals align," he said dismissively.

The Queen hurt at his dismissal of her feelings, recoiled back a step before gathering herself, changing her tune as she spoke in a more offhandedly way,- "Then go see it done, I won't wait up for you," she said turning to leave.

King Minos watched her go, still unsure what to do about her after all this time, then an image of the women in the labyrinth popped up. He started to think maybe it was time for a new queen, he still needed a strong heir after he lost his son, and his wife was far too old now to give him another.

He did have a few bastards running around that he could claim but they likely wouldn't last long as a king. They would be fighting an uphill battle having not been raised as royalty and would probably be referred to as a bastard king in the end.

No, he needed a strong heir, and for that, he needed a new queen, and what queen would be better than one of these interesting women.

Heading outside now geared, he greeted the men as he mounted his horse before leading them to the docks. He needed to personally go for Talus to take notice, who was only made to protect himself and the island from invaders and pirates. He wasn't sure why they weren't considered invaders or pirates, but Talus would still have to protect him so he was going just in case.