Mighty Minotaur

by Anh Do

  Stanley bounced in front of the TV excitedly. ‘That could be him!’

  ‘Huh?’ Kelly was astounded by what she had seen, but wasn’t sure what Stanley was talking about.

  ‘Don’t you see, Kelly? “He will be recognised by his strength.”’ He pointed at the screen. ‘That could be the Minotaur!’

  5

  A Wise Plan

  William James watched the footage again and again.

  He glanced at his translation of Portents and Prophecy, at the passage that described the Minotaur. Most of it made little sense to him, but one line was plain enough.

  ‘He will be recognised by his strength,’ William muttered.

  Duelling emotions fought within him. There was fear – the hooded guy in the footage could well be one of the three reborn mythological spirits destined to bring his rule to an end. There was also excitement – the strength on display was truly remarkable, and William so loved remarkable things.

  What a trophy to add to his collection!

  He mulled over what he would do if he could capture the Minotaur. He could paint him, of course, and all danger would be removed, but the very thing that made the beast worthy of attention – his strength – would be nullified.

  Maybe William could establish some kind of escape-proof viewing enclosure? A cell built of pure titanium, or a field surrounded by electrified fences? There the Minotaur could roam about, performing great feats at William’s command.

  Unfortunately, William had no idea where to begin looking for him. He almost turned to ask Stanley if he had deciphered the prophetic clues yet, but remembered that his Chief Archaeologist was no longer with him. Curse Solomon! This was just the kind of thing he was expert in.

  Maybe he should summon that new fellow he had employed? What was his name again? Professor Crickshaw?

  ‘Captain Aiken to see you, sire?’ came the hesitant voice of a guard.

  ‘Ah, Captain Aiken,’ said William. ‘I see you have a new Elite.’ His eyes lingered on the man’s flowing red hair and muscular form. ‘Who is this shiny fellow?’

  Aiken glanced sideways at the guy, clearly not expecting this line of questioning.

  ‘This is Jimmy Lyons, sire.

  He was instrumental in crushing the rebels at Brovio.

  I decided to give him a shot on my team when I had an … opening.’

  Jimmy bowed deeply. ‘It is my great pleasure to serve you, Collector.’

  ‘Wonderful,’ said William. ‘What a specimen you are.’

  Aiken saw the glint in the Collector’s eye, and quickly cleared her throat. ‘Sire, Jimmy is a loyal asset to the KG and—’

  ‘Yes, yes.’ William waved away her concerns. ‘Don’t worry. I am capable of complimenting someone without turning them into a painting, you know.’

  ‘Of course, sire,’ said Aiken.

  Jimmy looked somewhat relieved. ‘Thank you for the kind words, sire.’

  ‘Now,’ said the Collector, ‘what news, Captain, of my wayward unicorn?’

  Aiken swallowed. ‘The sewers are a winding maze, sire, and the hunting dogs have had trouble navigating the … competing smells. I am widening the net, but …’

  ‘You have nothing to tell me,’ finished William.

  ‘The search continues,’ said Aiken, trying to sound resolute.

  William took a sip of wine. It was an ancient red from the cellars of the Vatican, priceless, yet it tasted sour in his mouth.

  ‘If you catch sight of her,’ said William, ‘you will track her without alerting her to your presence. You understand? She’s working with Stanley Solomon, and unless I am terribly mistaken, they will be attempting to solve these lying prophecies.’ He stabbed a finger at the book. ‘It may be that, if we let them, they will lead us to this Minotaur.’

  ‘A wise plan, sire,’ said Aiken.

  ‘Why, thank you,’ said William coldly. He suddenly rose to his feet. ‘However, rather than stand here fanning my ego, how about you get back out there and find them, so my plan has a chance to succeed!’

  As the air darkened around the Collector, Aiken and her Elites bowed hurriedly, and beat a hasty retreat.

  William sank back into his seat. He plucked some grapes from a bowl and stared up at the paused image of the Minotaur lifting the car.

  ‘Come on, Stanley,’ he muttered. ‘Step back into the open and lead me to the Minotaur.’

  6

  Pages of the Mind

  Stanley grew more and more fretful as he paced.

  ‘We need the other two spirits from the prophecy,’ he said. ‘Without them, we are … well, stuffed.’

  Kelly still wasn’t sure she believed in ancient prophecies. Then again, up until recently, she also wouldn’t have believed that a horn was going to erupt out of her forehead.

  ‘Tell me the words again,’ she said.

  ‘That’s all I can remember,’ said Stanley. ‘I committed that passage to memory, but there were other passages too. I remember that line about the Minotaur’s strength, but not the rest. If only I hadn’t left behind my book!’

  I’m so stupid!

  Stanley’s thought arrived forcefully enough to make Kelly flinch.

  So stupid! So stupid!

  Kelly placed a hand on his arm. ‘Please, Stanley, calm down. You are not stupid. You made a simple mistake in a highly stressful situation, because you are a human being.’

  His eyes flickered to her, and she held his gaze until his breathing slowed and his face relaxed.

  ‘We don’t need the others yet,’ she said.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘I want to rescue my mum. You want to get back your wife. That is not the same thing as “felling” William James. We don’t need some Minotaur or Griffin to take action.’

  Stanley blinked. ‘I suppose you’re right. But still,’ he gestured at the TV, ‘this may be our best lead. We can’t just ignore it. No one should be able to lift a car. I’m sure there were other hints about the Minotaur in the book, if only I could remember …’

  He was getting worked up again. Half-thoughts spilled from him, drifting like frayed threads.

  But if … if we can’t… what will …

  Standing this close, it was as if Kelly could perceive the turmoil that enveloped him.

  ‘Stanley, Stanley,’ she said soothingly, squeezing his arm to keep him with her. ‘You’re a smart man. The memory of what you read is still inside you.’

  His mind swirled with anxiety as he created his own barriers to memory. Gatekeepers of fear and stress held shut the doors to his deeper self. Kelly found herself reaching out mentally to gently push them away, to scatter them to the spiritual winds.

  ‘What are you doing?’ Stanley said, wide-eyed.

  ‘I don’t really know,’ she whispered. ‘Helping you remember?’

  It was hard to put into words, like trying to describe colours to a blind man.

  ‘The answers are inside you, Stanley. You can remember. You will remember.’

  With fear now absent, the doors of his mind opened. Something trapped there, pale in the darkness, wafted forward.

  ‘The words are right there,’ she said. ‘Right there for you to see again.’

  Stanley went a little weak at the knees, but she held his wrist firmly. The ‘something’ solidified into more of a shape, like a page with fuzzy edges, covered with fuzzy words.

  ‘Read from the pages of your mind,’ Kelly murmured.

  Stanley opened his mouth and the words spilled forth.

  After the words had left him, Stanley’s mouth stayed open in amazement.

  ‘You did it!’ he said. ‘I … you … have you ever affected anyone like that before?’

  Kelly shook her head.

  ‘Do you know what this means? Your telepathy is not merely passive!’

  Kelly felt a bit disturbed by that notion. How far did her powers go? She didn’t feel as if she could have actually controlled Stanley’s mind – she had just helped
him along a path he already wanted to tread. That wasn’t the same thing, was it?

  ‘We don’t need the book anymore,’ said Stanley happily.

  Kelly finally smiled. ‘No, Stanley – because you are the book.’

  She could tell – literally – that Stanley’s mind was racing.

  ‘So, what does it mean?’ he said. ‘Prophecy is never completely clear.’

  ‘Well,’ said Kelly, ‘if “his forebears will not be known”, could he be an orphan?’

  ‘In which case,’ said Stanley excitedly, ‘maybe the first place to check is Capital Orphanage?’

  7

  The Orphanage

  If they had been able to travel above ground, getting to Capital Orphanage would have been easy. Unfortunately, they had to return to a safer route that was growing all too familiar.

  Neither Kelly nor Stanley had a netpad – even if they had, it would have been way too dangerous to use it, given the KG’s ability to track such things. Without satellite maps, they simply had to stumble along in what they hoped was the right direction.

  To help guide them, Kelly experimented with her newfound control over her telepathy. She could reach out or retract her senses, focus on or shut out the thoughts of the people above, her horn tingling all the while.

  Running late for my date at Giovanni’s, came the frantic thought of a young man hurrying along, which meant they must be getting closer to the city centre.

  Let’s see, left onto Smythe Street, thought someone else as they used their own netpad to navigate.

  I just have to turn here and Joe’s Bookshop should be on the right, thought someone else, listening to a voice assistant in her car.

  Kelly was beginning to appreciate how much people relied on their devices to get around!

  Still, it was slow going, and the tunnels did not exactly mirror the roads above. For hours they trod slippery ways and twisty turns, and were often glad for Stanley’s torch.

  ‘If we can’t get there by dark,’ said Stanley, ‘we’ll have to hole up for the night. This torch battery won’t last much longer.’

  Kelly was not a fan of this possibility. ‘I think we’re getting close,’ she said. ‘In fact … ’

  She gestured to a sign on an old building. Capital Orphanage.

  They wove their way as close to the building as they could, looking for a secluded place to emerge. After trying out various options, they found a drain in an alley beside the orphanage which didn’t seem to be under camera surveillance.

  As they stole along the side of the orphanage, no light could be seen through the windows. Many of them were boarded up. Kelly imagined her telepathic bubble expanding around her, opening herself up to any thoughts in the general area – but while there were some dim echoes from over on the main street, she heard nothing from within the building.

  ‘I thought this place was meant to be full of kids?’ she said.

  Stanley found a side door and began jemmying the lock with a Swiss army knife.

  ‘Where did you get that?’

  ‘I always carry one.’

  There was a click, and the door swung open.

  ‘Wow,’ said Kelly, ‘you did that fast.’

  ‘Had to break into a lot of places in my time,’ said Stanley. ‘I sometimes think of an archaeologist as a very, very, very late thief.’

  Kelly smiled as they slipped inside.

  The dark building stank of mould. In rooms along the ground floor, the only coverings on the rows of beds was a layer of dust.

  ‘No children have been here for years,’ said Stanley.

  A stray thought made Kelly start.

  … keep them safe. And release me from service soon, oh Lord, for I grow weary …

  The words were faint. Kelly turned her head this way and that, trying to track their origin.

  ‘There’s someone on the upper floors,’ she said. ‘It sounds like she’s praying.’

  As quietly as they could, they stole up several flights of stairs. The boards creaked treacherously underfoot, but Kelly didn’t hear any alarm sound in the thoughts from above.

  Soon they made it to the top floor where, from a doorway down the corridor, light spilled forth. Kelly could sense the presence inside, thinking about how her knees did not hold up so well to kneeling on hard wooden floors anymore.

  ‘I think she’s old,’ Kelly whispered. ‘And tired, and alone. I don’t want to scare her.’

  ‘I don’t see how we can avoid it,’ said Stanley. ‘Perhaps we could—’

  Kelly and Stanley flattened against the wall, their ears ringing from the gunshot.

  ‘Who’s there?’ demanded a quavering voice. ‘Better find yourself an exit, or I’ll find one for you.’

  Kelly flicked a smoking wood chip off her neck. Stanley reached into his backpack for his stinger pistol, but she placed her hand on his and shook her head. She could sense that the woman with the gun was scared, despite her tone, and Kelly couldn’t really blame her.

  ‘My name is Kelly,’ she called out. ‘Please, we mean you no harm. We’re looking for someone – an orphan boy.’

  ‘No orphans here,’ came the reply. ‘Not anymore.’

  ‘Can we show ourselves without you shooting us?’ said Kelly. ‘I’m just a teenager, and I’m with an old man.’

  ‘Not that old,’ grumbled Stanley, but Kelly gave him a shush look.

  There was a pause.

  ‘Very well,’ said the woman. ‘Let’s see you.’

  Holding her hands in front of her, Kelly stepped into the corridor. Stanley followed, muttering that perhaps this wasn’t the best idea. They saw that the woman was a nun, but a mean-looking one with a firm grip on her shotgun.

  The nun held her lantern higher and peered at them. Kelly knew she couldn’t keep her face hooded or there was no way this woman was going to trust her. Slowly and deliberately, she pulled back her hood.

  The nun gave a little gasp when she saw the horn. ‘You’re the ones the Hornets are looking for!’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Kelly, hoping the nun was not with the enemy. Somehow, she didn’t think so. She decided to double down. ‘It’s because we’re fighting against the Collector.’

  The nun considered this for a moment.

  ‘All right,’ she said, and lowered the shotgun. ‘Best come in here where we can talk.’

  Stanley breathed an audible sigh of relief.

  8

  Sister Anna

  Sister Anna was a lot nicer once she put away her shotgun. She even made them tea with a couple of biscuits, which reminded Kelly how hungry she was.

  ‘I used to be Head Matron here,’ said Anna. ‘Back when we had floors and floors of orphans, many due to William James.’

  Her expression soured as she spoke the name, and the disgust that emanated from her was palpable to Kelly.

  They were definitely on the same side.

  ‘Some of their parents were collected,’ continued Anna. ‘Others were imprisoned for resisting James in the early days of his ascension. After Capital Treasury fell under his control, he decided that orphans, even those created by his very own actions, did not deserve help.’

  She sipped her tea and stared off, reliving something disturbing.

  ‘What happened?’ Kelly prompted gently.

  ‘He sent them off to the Agricultural Zone,’ said Anna. ‘Said they’d be more use working on the farms than sponging off the Kingdom, as he so kindly put it. Turned innocent children into slaves.’

  Kelly and Stanley exchanged a glance. The Agricultural Zone was some hours from the city, and covered a large area.

  ‘Could he still be out there somewhere?’ said Kelly.

  ‘It’s our best lead,’ Stanley replied.

  ‘Who?’ said Anna.

  ‘Someone who might help us defeat William may have been an orphan here,’ said Stanley. ‘I wonder if you have any records you could share with us? Such as where the children were sent?’

  Anna wen
t to a filing cabinet. ‘This is all meant to be confidential, of course,’ she said. ‘But what do rules matter when our so-called ruler himself doesn’t obey them?’

  She handed Stanley a dusty old ledger.

  ‘You kept living here?’ said Kelly. ‘Even after everyone left?’

  ‘It’s been my home for many years,’ said Anna. ‘And despite everything, I hoped to open its doors again one day. Besides, I have nowhere else to go.’

  She looked around sadly. Kelly felt a wave of sorrow for her.

  ‘Look at this,’ said Stanley, handing Kelly the book.

  ‘“Other marks which follow from birth to birth”,’ said Stanley. ‘His name is Minh. Could it be that simple?’

  ‘Maybe just coincidence,’ said Kelly.

  ‘This would put him around your age now,’ said Stanley.

  ‘Are you going to tell me what this is all about?’ said Anna.

  ‘Honestly,’ said Stanley, ‘the less you know, the safer you will be.’

  ‘But,’ said Kelly, ‘know that we are trying to make things better.’

  Sister Anna sniffed, but nodded. ‘Well, at least take some more biscuits with you. You inhaled those in two seconds. Believe me, I can spot a hungry child a mile away.’

  Kelly felt a swell of gratitude for the woman.

  They left the building by the same door they had entered by. It was spitting rain, and Kelly didn’t relish the thought of going back into the sewer with rising water levels.

  ‘How can we get to the Agricultural Zone?’ she said. ‘It will take forever underground, if the tunnels even reach that far.’