Chapter 15 Family Revelations
Her voice boomed with a deep and rough laughter that had my mouth dropping. It was like killing that thing had been just another walk in the park on a sunny Sunday.
Aster lowered his sword, his mouth gaping, his chest heaving.
“And here I thought your father raised warriors, not reckless fools,” she said as she stood over the fallen creature, completely calm, as if she hadn’t just killed a giant rock monster.
The glow from her axe faded, a glow I was only noticing now, leaving only the faint shimmer of runes etched along its surface.
She was tall, close in size to Aster, and the muscles in her arms rippled under her skin as she shifted the axe slightly with it rested on her shoulder.
“Well, that was fun,” she said with a grin, swinging the axe so its head now sat on the ground.
“You always did know how to find the worst kind of trouble, little bull,” she commented, and I tried not to snigger at the nickname.
Aster continued to stare at her as if he were seeing a ghost, and I knew, at that moment, that this was the person he had been speaking of. The one who could help us. The one he suspected may no longer be alive.
“I thought… I thought you were gone,” he said, and he sounded so young, so vulnerable, I couldn’t help but feel for him.
“I am hard to kill, boy, you should know that,” she replied with a scoff.
“I thought about you and the herd every day. As soon as I heard that the darkness was invading these lands, I feared the worst. And then, after we followed them through the Rift, trying to catch up to them, I never knew what happened to you once I became trapped. The years I spent not knowing… the years I feared you would all be gone.” I could hear the raw emotion in his voice at what had obviously been an uncertain time.
She clasped his shoulder and squeezed it, telling him,
“We feared for you also. I will not lie to you and say we have not endured our own difficulties as the herd was divided. It was hard to keep our people together when most of the land had died. Even Minotaurs get scared, and conflict arose about what to do and where to go. But you should know by now, boy, it takes a lot more than a little chaos to frighten these old bones.”
Her voice filled with warmth as she looked him over, sounding more like his mother than anything else.
“You’ve grown, boy,” she said. “Taller, broader. And those horns, oh my! The Goddess would grace her smile upon you just as the rest of your kin!” Her eyes gleamed as she took in his horns, and I found myself looking at them too. “Your father would have been proud.”
Aster lowered his head slightly, something flickering behind his eyes that looked like grief but also shyness.
“Aunt Stava,” he said in protest.
Stava arched a brow at me.
“Of course, he was an impossible young one, too damn big for his hooves, used to trip over his own damn tail this one.”
“Goddess, do we really have to do this now?” he grumbled, making her laugh.
“Thought he could take on the world before his horns had even grown in.”
Aster groaned under his breath. “And you never let me forget it,” he countered, making her hit a hand to his bicep.
“What, and give up my favorite pastime, not a chance, little bull.” She winked, making him groan.
“Come on, we'd better get out of here. I assume you still know the Labyrinth’s secrets,” Aster said, making her incline her head.
“Aye, better than you, it seems. That mortal realm didn’t turn you soft, I hope.”
“Try battle-hardy,” he replied tensely to her teasing, with a grimace that said it was clear he had spent his years worried about his family, despite his aunt’s playful nature.
“That’s my boy! Thick blood, strong bones and…”
“Stronger will to use my horns… yes, I remember our family’s motto.”
She grinned big and I had to say, I was really starting to like Aunt Stava. Her gaze shifted to me, but it wasn’t intimidating. No, if anything, it was inviting.
“And who is this human girl who fights beside you, so courageously, I might add?” she praised, making me blush.
“Alex,” Aster said.
“She is… someone important,” he said, and I couldn’t tell if he hesitated because he didn’t know what word fit best or because he didn’t want to tell her the whole truth. Either way, warmth bubbled inside me at his words.
Stava studied me for a moment, her eyes bright and curious.
“I have a feeling the rumors that the King is back have something to do with you… Ah, don’t look so shocked now.
I may have a thick skull, but it protects all my knowledge, isn’t that right, boy?
” she said, laughing as she nudged Aster enough that he had to stop himself from missing a step as he walked away from the slain monster.
I didn’t know what to say, looking at Aster for guidance. He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close.
“It’s a long story, Stava, and I give you my word that we will explain on the way. Is the herd close by?”
She nodded. “Some of them.” After her reply, she promptly turned to me. “Come on then, human girl. You look like you could use a proper meal.”
It only took one step before my heart dropped into my stomach as I remembered what I had lost.
“Oh, no!”
“Alex, what is it?” Aster paused, taking a step back to look at me.
“The dagger… I lost the dagger. It fell down the crack and…” Tears filled my eyes, knowing our hopes of defeating Demetrios had dropped significantly.
“Oh shit… hey now, come on. This isn’t your fault,” he said, switching from shock to comforting me in seconds.
“It is, you told me not to use it, I should have kept it in my sheath and…” Suddenly, I stopped when Stava stepped into view next to us and held out her hand, making me gasp.
“Is this what you’re looking for?”
My mouth dropped before I stammered out the question, “Where did you…?” I didn’t finish before she started chuckling.
“Sometimes the walls move and it kills you, sometimes they move and deliver you a gift. So, imagine my surprise when a one shifted to reveal this beauty.”
“Oh my god… thank you… thank you!” I said, throwing my arms around her, or at least as much as I could get them around her anyway. My reaction must have taken her by surprise because she went back on a hoof and released a billowy breath before she chuckled.
“Ah, you're welcome, wee one,” she replied, patting me on the back far more gently than she had Aster when hitting him on the arm.
I took the dagger from her hand, the one she wasn’t using to pat me, and slid it back into my sheath, happy to feel the weight of it there once more.
I also saw the way Aster mouthed a silent thank you to his aunt before she stepped away.
We then followed Stava deeper through the Labyrinth, the atmosphere completely different from before.
There was no tension. There was no fear.
And though I could still feel the heartbeat of the Labyrinth under my feet, it was slower now, more subdued, as if it knew better than to challenge us now that Aunt Stava was here.
But then again, I was surprised that she didn’t seem afraid of anything, and I had to say, her bravery was infectious.
Aster walked beside me, and I couldn’t help but chuckle the next time she called him little bull after he had asked her a question about the herd.
This alerted him to my smirk, prompting him to warn, “Don’t say a word.”
My grin grew before I dragged a finger across my lips, telling him they were sealed.
It lasted only about thirty seconds before I informed him, “Looks like we have more in common than I thought.” He raised a questioning brow, and I continued, “Unless, of course, you want to stop calling me little human.”
He glared at me without malice, and I mouthed a single word after…
‘Karma’. Then I winked at him, making him roll his eyes and groan, which I classed as a total win.
We continued in silence for the most part before she asked about the Rift, wanting to know what had happened that day.
Aster explained the essential parts of what had happened over the years he had been gone, although for those in The?kós it was much less time, which for his aunt had been a blessing.
Surprisingly, through most of this, she didn’t say a lot, just nodded and took the information in.
Then she started to confirm what we already knew was happening at the capital, where the king’s judgment could no longer be trusted.
Of course, we knew why and soon so did she because we both explained what I had seen in my visions and what Atlas had planned.
Something we were here to stop.
We turned yet another corner, making me wonder how she remembered any of this and whether navigating her way around the Labyrinth was more of an instinct than memory.
“I can’t believe this is still standing,” Aster said quietly after a while, his hand returning to brush along the wall as we passed, his touch respectful as the corridor widened and opened into a vast chamber.
I stopped beside him, my breath catching.
The space before us was broad and circular, its boundaries marked by towering stone pillars arranged symmetrically, each carved and polished with a care that spoke of worship.
Above us, the ceiling rose high, formed from an intricate lattice of stone beams that crossed and curved overhead in an elegant design, allowing daylight to filter through.
Grass grew beneath our feet, thick and green, pushing through the stone in defiance, dotted with small flowers that bent gently in the breeze.
At the center stood a circular training ground, its stone floor worn smooth by countless footsteps.
Faint markings were etched into the surface, practice rings and boundary lines were still visible.
Around the edges stood training posts and stone targets, scarred and cracked from repeated impact.
Their surfaces bear the memory of blows struck long ago.