Chapter 15 Family Revelations #2
Aster stepped forward slowly, his gaze sweeping the chamber with unmistakable familiarity. His shoulders squared, and his posture shifted as muscle memory resurfaced.
“We trained here,” he said, his voice low. “This was the heart of it. Where boys became warriors, where discipline was learned before strength.”
Stava remained silent, adding to the quietness that seemed wrong in a place that would have held so many sounds, though her expression softened as she took in the space, her eyes tracing the pillars, the markings, the places where young Minotaurs once stood side by side.
I understood then that this wasn’t just a training ground.
It was a rite of passage. A sanctuary carved into the Labyrinth.
“They stopped coming,” Stava continued after a moment. “When the darkness spread, the herd scattered. Some went in search of land untouched by it. Others went looking for answers, for help.”
Aster exhaled slowly as Stava looked to him and finished.
“And the rest… chose to wait.”
I felt the weight of those words in my stomach.
The darkness hadn’t claimed the heart of the Labyrinth. Not yet. But the Labyrinth had outlasted those who once filled it with life for generations.
And standing there, surrounded by life instead of ruin, I realized this place wasn’t forgotten or lost.
It was waiting.
Waiting for the young Minotaurs to return.
“I thought the darkness would have devoured it by now,” Aster commented, his thought no doubt suspended somewhere in the past and in what the future held for this place.
“It has tried,” Stava said.“But the God’s magic runs deep in these walls, and we have added our own runes to help protect it. Which brings me to tell you that we have also made the Labyrinth our home.”
“What?! But… but how?” Aster asked, clearly shocked by this and well, I had only been here for a few hours, but based on what I had seen so far, I couldn’t say that I blamed him.
“It wasn’t easy to tame it, but it has finally seen the truth of what we are, and how we worship this place.
Eventually, it stopped fighting us after discovering we were only trying to help keep it pure.
It then accepted us for more than just training our children.
” She ran her palm along the nearest wall, and the same shimmer appeared under her touch, moving around quickly like an excited Labrador.
“In the end, it has kept us safe from the evil outside. Here, we are away from the worst of the darkness.”
Her voice hardened slightly.
“But it won’t stay that way for long. The darkness is spreading faster now, slowly taking control of the Labyrinth, creeping in along the edges. There’s not much of anything left beyond the walls of the Labyrinth as the rot of evil is increasing.”
Aster’s jaw tightened. “Then we have even more reason to hurry. Not only for Atlas, but for all of The?kós too.”
Stava looked at him for a long moment before nodding.
“Still your father’s son,” she said softly. “Always charging ahead, but yes, in this I would say you are right.”
“Wait, if the Labyrinth has accepted you, then what about all those creatures we had to fight, that huge monster at the end?”
Stava sighed, but it wasn’t in exasperation, more in pity.
“It accepted us because we have no reason to fear it. It still does not know you, but it tasted your fear, and that was enough to call forth those of the Underworld to protect its sacred walls.”
I nodded, understanding now, and honestly, I didn’t know if I needed to say a prayer or speak to the walls and tell them that I was sorry. Let’s just say it wasn’t a predicament I ever thought I would be in.
“And the herd? How many are left?” Aster asked eagerly.
Stava exhaled slowly, her shoulders rising and falling.
“Enough,” she said, but the word carried a heaviness that I knew all too well.
“Not as many as before. The darkness first took the weak, then the ones who went out in search of help. Others left with plans to get through the Rift, who knows if they made it… As for the rest of us, we soon learned to stop waiting for rescue.”
They fell silent, and her words lingered in my mind. Minotaurs had tried to cross the Rift. They would have only been successful if they had crossed it when I opened it, and it hadn’t been opened for a long time since that day. But then, if they didn’t make it through the Rift, where did they go?
We continued past the training grounds, into narrow paths once again.
I followed, confident that Stava knew her way, as the journey through the Labyrinth seemed to continue forever.
Eventually, the path widened again, opening into a long, sloping passage.
The air grew cooler, and a faint breeze carried the scent of grass, water, and smoke.
If there was a breeze, then there was an opening somewhere. There was a way out.
When we emerged from the path again, it opened up into a cavernous space that took my breath away. One so big it could have easily fit a large village inside. The ceiling arched high above, cracked in places where thin beams of pale light filtered through. A shallow river wound through the center.
Greenery climbed the walls. Vines threaded through natural fissures, and shelves of stone had been shaped into hanging gardens where moss, ferns, and broad-leafed plants flourished.
In places, soil-filled basins were carved directly into the rock, supporting small trees whose canopies brushed the lower arches of the ceiling.
Narrow paths wound between planted terraces, more training grounds, and communal spaces, all softened by grass and low flowering plants.
The walls were covered in carvings, ancient symbols, spirals, and horns. But these looked like stories etched into the rock, tales of strength, unity, and protection, no doubt.
A cluster of figures moved along the riverbank. Minotaurs, tall and broad-shouldered, their horns gleaming in the faint light. Some were in human form, others in a hybrid form between human and minotaur.
When they saw Stava, they all nodded in greeting. One of them stepped forward, bowing his head.
“You returned.”
Stava nodded.
“As I always do. The Labyrinth stirred again. I thought it wise to see why.” She glanced at Aster with a wide grin. “Now I know.”
The other Minotaur’s gaze shifted to him, and recognition twinkled in his bright yellow eyes.
“Aster of the House of Voudouris,” he said. “We thought you were long gone.”
“I was,” Aster replied quietly. “And I intend to make that absence mean something.”
As if satisfied with the answer, the minotaur’s attention turned to me, curiosity flickering in his eyes before he looked back at Stava.
“And the human?”
Stava let out a hearty chuckle that boomed through the cavern to the point I worried it would begin to fall around us.
“The human is with him. That’s all you need to know.”
That seemed to be enough for him to incline his head in understanding. The minotaur stepped aside, allowing us through, and I was thankful for Stava’s answer. I was tired and not in the mood to answer many more questions. Who was I kidding? I was dead on my feet and completely drained of energy.
We followed Stava toward a ring of fire pits where the herd had made what looked to be a permanent camp. The light from the flames cast long shadows that stretched along the walls, flickering across faces made weary by what The?kós was enduring.
Despite their size and strength, there was a quietness to them, a weight that hung in the air like mourning. I understood how they felt. The darkness had uprooted so many lives on Earth as well, and we had all lost loved ones.
Stava lowered her axe beside one of the fires and sat on one of the carved stone benches dotted around the fire.
“Sit. You both look like you need a rest.”
I didn’t argue. My legs ached from hours of walking, my heart still pounding from the fight… and the zombies… let’s not mention the zombies.
A chill ran through my body as I sat, and I shivered, prompting Aster to give me a look that asked, without words, if I was okay.
He also jerked his head to another Minotaur standing close by, who must have seen my shiver and therefore knew what he wanted.
Only a moment passed before Aster was handed a fur blanket, and he was draping it over my shoulders before taking his place next to me.
“I will confess, Stava, that I am impressed by all you have achieved here, but it does not look like a sustainable solution.”
“And I confess that it is not. We can’t stay here in the Labyrinth much longer.
It has been a nice, temporary home given the circumstances, but its walls have been shifting faster lately.
The darkness is spreading, and it seems the Labyrinth is its next victim.
No matter how much we help it, we just aren’t strong enough, and runes can only do so much. ”
The fire crackled, and I stared into the flames, trying to imagine what waited for us beyond these walls. The silence stretched until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Do you think he’s safe?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Aster didn’t look up, but his hand found mine, squeezing it.
“He’s Atlas, our King,” he said, giving me a smile that didn’t mask the worry. “He’s still alive. I can feel it.”
And for the first time since crossing the Rift, I realized I could feel it too.
That connection we had was like a strange tugging sensation inside that pulled me toward him.
As if our souls were connected somehow. If he was dead, surely that tug would no longer exist?
I had to hold onto that hope. I just had to.
Stava leaned back against the stone, her eyes half-closed.
“You should both get some rest,” she said. “You’ll need it for what’s coming.”
Aster didn’t answer right away. He sat beside me, elbows on his knees, staring into the fire as if it were speaking to him. I could tell by the set of his jaw that his mind was already elsewhere.
When Stava finally drifted off to check on the rest of her herd, I glanced sideways at him.
“You’re worried?”
He didn’t look up.
“Yes, but only because I know what we need if we are to reach him in time.”
“And let me guess, it’s about as easy as traveling through a Labyrinth that wants to kill you?”
He gave me a wry grin before admitting, “Maybe.”
“What do we need?” I asked, knowing there would be a catch here.
“Not what, but who.”
I cocked my head and asked, “Who?”
He released a sigh that spoke volumes and answered…
“The Way Weaver.”