"On second thought, bring out the Minotaur and bring Skarra. Tell her the new fighter needs a challenge," Aldrin telepathically communicated with Bohr.

The pinkish-white Goblin still stared at Aldrin, his question hanging in the air between them along with the thousands of other questions. Aldrin turned his attention back to the Goblin. "I am a friend. You have nothing to fear," Aldrin gently said to the poor Goblin.

The Goblin squeaked once, lowering his guard. "How do you know Old Goblish? How are you here? How are you going to help me?" The questions spilled from its mouth in a series of grunts, growls, and chitters.

"All questions I will answer in due time. For now, you will be returned to wherever they brought you from. Wait just a little longer and you will feel fresh air in your lungs once more," Aldrin said, then subtly nodded to Bohr.

The pinkish-white Goblin looked between Bohr and Aldrin, confusion evident in its eyes. Bohr raised his hand, silencing the booing crowd. "It seems we have an unruly opponent in our midst!" Bohr shouted, and the crowd jeered. "Take him away, men!"

Aldrin carefully watched the men open the gate when Bohr released the protective shield. The two human men rushed in, yanking the Goblin up by his arms before dragging him away through the crowd that threw food and empty cups at him. Aldrin growled quietly in displeasure at the display before he returned his attention back to Bohr.

Bohr whistled a sharp tune that instantly silenced the crowd. "It seems our challenger needs to be humbled!" He shouted, his harsh voice reverberating off the walls to elevate it louder. "What do we do when that happens?" He grinned wickedly, turning in place in the middle of the sandy arena cage.

Seeing the crowd snicker as if already tasting the blood that was about spilled, Aldrin slinked back to Moira, Evie, and Ty. "What's happening?" Aldrin asked Ty, feigning ignorance.

Ty only shared a grin just as malicious as the rest of the surrounding people. "Just wait and see," he told Aldrin and went back to watching Bohr with rapt attention.

Evie nudged Aldrin with her elbow and leaned in close to whisper. "What's going on?"

"I've enthralled Bohr. I'll tell you about it later, but for right now, be ready to run," Aldrin replied just as quietly.

"Aldrin…" Evie groaned in mock annoyance as she tried to suppress a grin. "Never a dull moment with you, is there?"

Aldrin flashed a beaming smile. "This time it was out of my hands. Tell Moira to be ready to run. I have a feeling things are about to get really chaotic in a few minutes." Then he focused his attention on the Ghoul Baron. "Turn the Minotaur as soon as you get the chance," he commanded through the bond telepathically. The Ghoul Baron didn't respond, but through the strand that linked Aldrin to it, he felt extreme elation at the command.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" Bohr paused, letting the anticipation build within the crowd. "Bring! Out! The! Minotauuurrrr!!!!"

The crowd erupted in wild cheering, hooting, and hollering all around them. Aldrin, Evie, and Moira watched with reserved gazes, then they felt two tremors, and the crowd went wild again. What followed was a deep bellow that was a mix between a bull and a screaming man, and to Aldrin's keen hearing it nearly deafened him.

Aldrin felt a spike of unease twinge in the strand that connected him to the Ghoul Baron. However, the twinge was easily replaced by a hungering desire, one that Aldrin knew all too well since his turn and embrace of being a Vampire. The Ghoul Baron wanted to test itself against the Minotaur, turn it into another Ghoul that would follow its commands. It wanted power, and they were serving the power it craved right up to it.

The tremors became thundering footsteps along with rattling chains. The crowd turned, as did Aldrin and his friends, to see a wide gate shimmer into existence along one of the wooden walls. "Dimension Magic," Aldrin narrowed his eyes as the gate rose slowly.

To normal eyes, what lay behind the gate was only darkness they couldn't pierce, but to Aldrin, he saw all he needed. They held all their prisoners in cages only big enough to allow them a step or two in any direction. Further back, monstrous creatures were kept chained to the wall with old and new wounds keeping them from retaliating against their captors. Then he saw the Minotaur. Its chains were loosened by magical glyphs on the wall that glowed with the movement as the chains fed out of the wall until they became taut.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Aldrin whipped his head back to Bohr to see him slide his unnaturally long, clawed fingers along the bracer he wore that was embedded with a sapphire gem. It glowed, and Aldrin heard the chains snap and the Minotaur come stampeding out, stopping at the entrance, letting out another bellowing roar.

The light from the magic torches that lined the upper beams of the walls gave everyone a good look at the Minotaur. It was a deep chestnut color, with black scars that ran all over its massively muscular 12-foot frame. One of its horns was broken, while the other was capped with a golden tip. Beady black eyes that were too small for its head frantically looked at everything as it stomped its hooves, preparing to charge. Its human-like hands balled themselves into meaty fists once it caught sight of Bohr standing in the middle of the sandy arena cage. It roared, showing its jagged sharp teeth that were wet with blood, then took two lumbering steps before turning into a full sprint.

The crowd quickly parted, but there were a few unlucky ones that didn't move out of the way in time and were promptly smashed or stepped on during its mad dash to get to Bohr. Yet, Bohr held no fear and only chuckled before raising his sapphire-encrusted bracer.

Two things happened at once: the shield materialized around the cage and a blazing blue collar formed around the neck of the Minotaur. When the collar formed, it lost its momentum and footing as it clutched at the collar, trying to break free before crashing against the shielded arena with a thunderous heavy thud that shook the ground.

"By all hell's planes… what have you gotten us into now…" Moira stared unblinkingly at the beast as it thrashed around on the ground, its roars turning into shrieks of pain that tugged on Aldrin's dead heart.

"I- I don't know…" Aldrin said, looking at the creature with pity. To everyone else, they heard the pained screams of a monster, but to Aldrin, he heard the pained screams of a sentient being.

"You will behave, beast!" Bohr cackled madly, sliding his fingers upwards on his bracer, eliciting a higher octave of shrieks from the creature. Aldrin wanted to stop it, to immediately order Bohr to throw away the bracer and free the Minotaur, but he couldn't, not without blowing his cover. The crowd cheered on still, happy to be complicit in what was happening.

Finally, Bohr relented when he slid his fingers down the bracer, and the blazing blue collar shattered like it was never there, leaving the Minotaur in a daze as its chest heaved in deep gasping breaths. "You will fight and you will win," Bohr commanded, and Minotaur lay there still in a daze. "Stand," Bohr growled, and the Minotaur begrudgingly did. Grinning more to himself, he turned to address the crowd. "Call Skarra! It's time!"

And a time it was when there was a loud bang that came from above them that knocked dust and dirt from the ceiling. Only a few looked up to see what was going on before a mangled body crashed down the stairs. There were shouts and screams of alarm as many turned to see what was going on. Aldrin inhaled, sniffing the air as he too turned to see what the commotion was. Evie and Moira stepped up beside them as further back one of the Ash Vulture's stumbled down the steps, holding a large gash across his stomach.

"We are under attack! Skarra needs all of us!" he shouted with his last remaining breath, and many of the Ash Vultures pushed past him, already condemning him to his fate as the wound and blood loss turned him ashen grey.

Aldrin turned to Ty. "Kill yourself," he commanded without hesitation and sprung into action. Behind him, Ty's eyes glazed over as he pulled a steel knife from his Inventory and plunged it into his neck without a second of hesitation. Aldrin didn't look back as he raced towards the Minotaur. "Bohr! Free everything and everyone!" Bohr did as he was told, relinquishing the bracer before a shadow towered above him. He turned in surprise to see the Ghoul Baron throw off the cloak, revealing the emancipated-looking Orc turned Ghoul before it opened its mouth wide, sinking its teeth and tusk into the small shoulder and neck of Bohr, infecting him. Aldrin heard the sharp crunch of bone being broken and his screams, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.

"Moira! Secure us an exit! Evie, shield us!" Aldrin shouted, coming to a sliding stop next to the Minotaur that turned to face him. It sniffed once and recoiled from the scent.

It stomped on the ground, working itself up into another rage as it bellowed in anger, readying itself to charge as it angled its head down. "Stop!" Aldrin tried to reason with it, but it didn't listen, taking off faster than what Aldrin was prepared for. He Shapechanged into black fog, letting the charging Minotaur pass through him.

He reformed in time to see the Minotaur bulldoze its way through many of the gang members before they had time to react. It only stopped when it crashed into the wall of the underground arena, shaking the foundation. The gang members who were clambering to get up the stairs turned to face the new threat of the Minotaur. Unfortunately, they had their backs to the now freed prisoners and monsters that surged from the darkness, attacking the unsuspecting ones first.

Aldrin looked for Moira and Evie through the chaotic crowd that rushed to fight back on two fronts. "Moira! Evie!" he called, but it was drowned out by the feral snarls and roars of monsters. He turned to see four more Minotaurs stampeding out from the darkness, turning anything nearby into paste as they thrashed about, running for the stairs that seemed too small to fit them. Aldrin realized far too late how small the space had become amidst the chaos. He needed to get out and away to regroup. He felt through the Servant Bond for Evie and rushed to her, pushing his way past the gang members that were being savaged by monstrous beasts and freed prisoners.

Another unfortunate event in Aldrin's mind was that some dumbass, either a freed prisoner or Ash Vulture used Magic to cast a fireball, setting the whole underground ablaze. "Oh, come on!" Aldrin groaned and continued to work through the crowd by weaving through. He wasn't going to take a chance to reveal any more of himself than he already had. It was going to be another long night.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.