When Jes used the big rock as the figure for the minotaur, I didn’t think we would meet him as an actual big rock. Seeing that shaggy bulk rise, I now feel that me being the raisin may have been appropriate. He’s a good forty feet away from me and that is way too close.

  The mist makes everything slightly unclear, but what is clear is this thing is enormous. If Sadie sat on my shoulders, he’d still be significantly taller. He flexes his massive bull’s neck, supporting a head far larger than any actual bull’s head, and turns.

  Jes was not kidding. This thing’s eyes actually glow red. The glow cloaks his bull face in scarlet shadows, making his body a dark shaggy mass in contrast. His shoulders are hulking and covered in thick curls of black hair. He’s so wide my outstretched arms might be able to just reach his biceps.

  That face is not exactly a bull. Fangs come from under lips that curl in a human sneer. His snout isn’t as pronounced and extended as a bull, and he doesn’t have a septum ring. The eyes face forward, more to the front of his face than expected, more befitting a predator than prey. Gratefully, he’s wearing a ragged skirt, or maybe it’s just a loincloth, under a thick belt. He stretches one arm out, with a hand ending in what looks more like talons than nails. The back of his other hand is covering a yawn. His fingers have more muscles than a Mr. Universe contestant. His wrists sport some sort of rivetted bracers. It’s an ugly amalgamation of man and bull, taking the best of neither.

  Jes was right, we are woefully underprepared and underpowered.

  The minotaur looks across the clearing and, for the first time, notices us. Baco’s screaming must have broken his slumber. He lets out a breath through bared teeth, the sound of a broken steam pipe. Then he does something I’ve never seen in any minotaur pictures.

  He makes fists and drops to the ground, crouching on all fours. He paws the dirt with his knuckles and snorts several times, passing his glowing gaze over each of us. His rear feet are indeed tremendous hooves, planted and firm, ready for launch. It’s something between angry silverback and bull about to charge. His chin juts toward us and his mouth opens wide.

  I can feel the bellow he lets out. It pushes against me and twists my stomach. The sheer volume and power is hard to understand. I can’t tell if the pressure I feel is literally the breath from his lungs or a sonic concussion.

  We had plans. We had lots of plans. Strike him before he had a chance to survey the battlefield. I look down. I’ve readied my spear. I don’t remember doing that. I had my hand on the stake, and now I’m holding the spear. There’s supposed to be an audible call. A choice has to be made on how to move. A choice has to be made to move.

  My sandals feel cemented to the floor. I hear a faint whimpering. It’s Baco. He’s standing his ground, but it sounds like he’s hyperventilating.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The bellow must trigger some sort of freeze effect. We have to break out. I have to break out. If we don’t get control of ourselves, they will never be able to identify the bodies. The minotaur flexes. I think it’s some kind of power-up.

  If I can exert Dominance over others, I can sure as hell exert it on myself.

  You’ve gained the Iron Will (Emerging, Level 1) skill.

  “Straight charge, three prong,” I hear myself yelling.

  I don’t know how long we stand frozen. I don’t know if my Domination or Persuasion kick in, but we burst into action. As we mapped out against the big rock, which was astoundingly small compared to the actual big rock, we attack.

  Sadie lobs a softball of fire with a grunt of exertion. I hear the whishing noise of Jes’ throwing darts, and I heave my extending javelin. Sadie barks and Jes’ akons, as well as my spear, take on a fiery glow. The minotaur will dodge the fireball and either take flaming darts or get impaled by a flaming javelin. Baco has begun his charge, ready to swerve and knock his feet out from under him. We are back in action.

  Only what we planned is absolutely nothing at all like what happens.

  The minotaur sees our attacks. And then without even taking a step, he fucking punches Sadie’s fireball into the ground like a kid swatting a firefly from the air. The ground in front of Baco explodes with flaming dirt from the impact.

  Baco jumps in the air, does a 180, and hits the ground already charging away from the minotaur and the burst of sand and fire.

  “Scramble-regroup!” I shout. Sun Tzu would call this gaining ground behind us, a tactical retreat. It feels a bit more like panicked running, but I can’t let the others see that or the fact that I have no idea what we’re supposed to do next, since our target effectively spit on all of our careful planning.

  As discussed, I am running a zig zag pattern, three steps one way, two the other, four steps back. This was to avoid being easily tracked in case of ranged weapons. Baco whooshes past, a purple haze trail behind him. I hear small fireballs wooshing. It’s to make him duck and be confused as Sadie tosses them over her shoulder. Considering how effortlessly he punched aside her attack, I don’t picture it having any effect. The air sizzles. Jes just teleported somewhere. I make my way into the stalactite forest and press my back into one.

  He's laughing. The minotaur is letting out a gut busting laugh at our retreat, a sound lower than the lowest cello note ever played. It is the most vile, tauntingly raw sound I can imagine.

  Sadie lands from high above, just beyond the next stalactite trunk. I’m not sure where Baco went. I clap my hands once. Sadie claps twice and then darts behind another stalactite, giving me her position, but not too accurately for an enemy. Somewhere to my right, I here three fast claps from Jes.

  “Dom,” Sadie pants over her shoulder. “Dom, I’m out. I had to use the last I had in me to jump here. I have nothing left for spells or skills.”

  We knew the fireball and twin ignite combo would take a lot from Sadie. But we also assumed it would be a decisive blow and that we wouldn’t need to use up more power in an immediate escape afterwards. Our plans were designed for a huge overwhelming burst of power. What we got was overwhelming disappointment.

  There is a roar and a stomping sound. I don’t have to peek around my hiding place to know that the bull-headed, angry silverback is charging right for us, and I doubt these dirt and rock pillars will slow him down.