Ariadne jumped as a gentle pair of hands mopped her brow. She had had her eyes tightly shut ever since she entered the cleansing chambers.
"Ariadne?"
"Pythagoras. Why are you here? You should be with your family."
"I am. I'm with you."
Ariadne rolled her eyes. "I don't think you should be here..."
"I failed you. I couldn't find anything."
"You didn't fail. That's ridiculous. Why you took it upon yourself to try and protect me, I can't think."
"You remind me of a friend I lost. She was like you. Strong, beautiful and brave."
"I am not Medusa."
"I know. But I can't lose you, Ariadne."
Ariadne felt for his hands and held onto them. She could feel the prince's pulse beating lightly against her skin. "Don't fear for me."
"How do you expect me to do that?"
"I will be safe. I will be in the Underworld with my parents, my lost love. Though I will miss you." She tightened her hold on his hands. "I'll miss you all."
"I am not going to let you die."
Ariadne lowered her head. She didn't want to sadden him, though she knew her time for dying was near. Somewhere in the distance, a horn blew.
"I have to leave you." Pythagoras told her. "I'll be with you soon."
"What?" Ariadne shot her head up to ask the blonde what he'd meant. He was gone. She was puzzled. WHat had he meant by saying he would be with her?
Jason ran towards her as she waited with the six other people. "Ariadne! What did he say?"
"He said he would be with me soon."
"What? What does that mean?"
"I don't know. I think he might try to stop it."
"Can he do that?"
"I hope not. It would be defying, not just the king, but the gods."
"He won't do that!" Hercules had caught up with Jason. "He's not a fool."
"I'm worried about what he may do."
"Don't worry. I'm sure Pythagoras will come to a sensible solution."
Oh, gods. This was terrifying. Come to think of it, was this defying the gods? It was certainly defying Minos and Pythagoras sincerely hoped the king would not find out. He was just out of sight in the Minotaur's cave. The beast would not know he was there if he kept quiet and still, so he did.
It had been difficult getting in there. The guards were unmoving in the sun's punishing heat, and he'd had to resort to throwing stones about in an attempt to distract them from the entrance. Once they'd gone, he'd sprinted from his hiding place and grabbed the pouch of arrows they'd left behind. At least they would give Ariadne a chance.
How he'd managed to walk on the plank to the cave and then push it back without falling into the chasm, he'd never know. Still, he was here now.
"Citizens...Great honour..."
Clearly, the people had arrived. He listened to the guide talk about how it was an honour to die and how they should be proud to be there. He suddenly wished that he had not been brought up a royal. Anything to shake off this burning guilt.
"Catch her! CATCH HER!"
Was someone running? The sound of falling gravel confirmed that someone was. Then, "You two, go!"
Other voices, muffled. Wait. Was that Hercules? And...oh no. Not Jason...
He heard the sound of the plank snapping onto the hard, spiky ground. He tightened his hold on the bag and waited. Finally, the first victim, a young woman with long black hair came into view. When she saw him, her eyes widened, but at the worried look Pythagoras gave her, she made no sound. He passed her an arrow and she tucked it into her worn brown belt, nodding gratefully at him.
The second, a middle aged man, with sad eyes came in. He pointed at his king's son in amazement, but didn't say anything, to Pythagoras' relief. He, too, accepted the arrow and looked relieved that he would not be facing the Minotaur unarmed.
The third was another male. He was barely eighteen years of age. Pythagoras knew him. His name was Andrei and now the young man was looking at him as though he was the younger one. "You shouldn't be here, you know!" Andrei hissed. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Pythagoras shushed him and passed him an arrow, which the other man accepted, though he didn't look happy about it.
Ariadne was not pleased. "What in Hades' name are you doing here?!"
"I did say..."
"No,look, you should not be here!"
"Yes I should!"
"She's right, though." Andrei told him.
"Every year. Every year..." Ariadne trailed off.
"It's not every year."
"Yes it is!" most of the group chorused.
"Not last year. Or the year before that.."
"Yes, but only because your father wouldn't let you out of the palace until the day was over." Ariadne reminded him.
"Just because I wanted to give people a fighting chance."
"Alright, enough!" the second victim said, calmly. "We had better get it over with. At least we've got our arrows."
Jason edged in front of Pythagoras and Ariadne. He knew she could handle herself, but he wanted to protect her. And the prince too. The blonde didn't seem too sure of himself.
CRACK!
That was sickening. Like the sound of a bone being broken. Jason swallowed and stopped where he was. A sudden snarl pierced the air, causing most of the victims in the cave behind him to cry out in fear.
Jason stepped forward, going deeper into the caves and suddenly, the beast came out of the shadows. As the myths had told him, the creature was indeed taller than a man. It was fearsome to look upon. He ran. The beast, growling followed him. Just as he entered a new cave, he heard someone cry his name out.
"This is my fault. I knew I should have stolen the plank so no one could get across."
Ariadne lightly slapped his shoulder. "Don't be an idiot. They would have just got a new one, anyway."
Far away, a shriek of pain echoed off the walls. Whether it was Jason or the Minotaur, nobody knew. Pythagoras stepped towards the cries, worry etched onto his features.
"Stay here." Ariadne whispered.
"I should be with him."
"Please don't be offended, but you're not very skilled with weapons."
"I know that. It's just that he shouldn't be facing it alone."
Another sound, a loud crash came from where the cry of pain had originated. Pythagoras jolted forward. Before Ariadne could stop him, he'd gone to find Jason.
No bull was ever like this one. True, the minotaur was not a bull, but if it was, it would be truly unique. He saw Jason, struggling to get up and gathering all his courage, stepped forward to the creature. It spun to face him, red eyes narrowed. He held his arrow in front of himself, trying to look threatening and hoped it would not kill him. It started stamping, steam billowing out of its nostrils and despite the predicament he was in, Pythagoras found himself remembering the stories of large, smoke breathing dragons Minos had told him as a child. The creature was sizing him up now. He stood in front of Jason, and tried to fight the shaking of his body. If the minotaur knew of his fear, they would all be doomed. It lunged at him and the last thing he could remember was agonising pain in his head before he blacked out.
When he woke up, sunshine flooded his sight. Looking up, he saw a pair of wide blue eyes. "M...Mi̱téra?"
He had never seen Joya look so scared. She covered her face when she saw him. "You're alive. Praise the gods."
He propped himself up on his arms and gazed at her. "What is it?"
"You.. you were in there and you were bleeding and I thought you were dead!" Joya was very distressed. SHe was trying to keep calm for the sake of her now worried son, but the memory of him bleeding was burned into her brain.
"I'm sorry."
"Never do that again. Do you understand? Never!"
"I won't. I promise." he pulled himself up onto his knees and put his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Mi̱téra."
Joya pulled him towards her body and gripped onto him. She was quivering, but felt soothed as the fact he was still alive sunk in.
"Where is everyone?"
"They are safe. THe Minotaur was slain, mikró. I sent them back to the village."
"I had to keep Ariadne safe."
"She reminds you of Medusa, doesn't she?"
"Yes."
Joya gently pulled away from him and looked into his eyes. "I know you miss her, but you mustn't risk your life like that."
"I'm sorry."
She kissed his cheek and standing up, offered him a hand. "Come on, sweetheart. We'd better go home."