Zaldizko - Chapter 24 City Of Minos

Everyone followed Brystagg to the top of the dais and stood before the statue bearing my name.

I let out a goofy grin. I mean, come on, the statue was a statement of godly cool. There was no way I would not feel both conceited and humbled.

“Something you want to share with us?” Lyra asked with a raised brow.

“Oh, um, well. Someone must’ve thought Famine was cool when they made this, right?” I said as I patted the namesake statue, feeling noteworthy.

“I doubt it.” She blatantly shot me down.

“Brutal!” I sulked.

My stomach let out a nasty growl that echoed around the room; I hugged my noisy gut.

“I haven’t eaten since whenever.” I groaned.

Buru surprised me when he stepped before me, holding out a bundle of cheese cloth he had pulled out of his pocket.

I soon realised it was enclosing a piece of heaven. Tears of joy spilled from my eyes at the savoury, blissful aroma of fried tofu.

“Here yah go.” He handed over the blessed morsel.

I gingerly untied the cheese cloth and imagined stars twinkling around the untouched piece of ganmodoki.

“Buddha bless this beautiful being!” I beamed and devoured the morsel with grateful bites.

“Thank you for the food!” I licked my lips with heartfelt gratitude and bowed at the end.

“The kid’s got manners.” Buru chuckled as he took back his cheese cloth.

I relished the warm pats his generous hand gave my head, and thought I saw Brystagg’s mouth twitch with a smile.

“Done?” Lyra scowled.

I nodded, feeling satisfied enough to take on the world.

Lyra unfolded her old gold fan with a sigh and assumed a moment of focus. She held the fan before her mouth and muttered a passage from the Sacred Word.

My eyes widen with awe. The sparrows on her fan guards came to life. Their dainty gold bodies flew formations around the room; changing course whenever Lyra swept her fan, back and forth, with elegant movements. Their tail feathers trailed a generous stream of gold dust to shower the room with starlight.

I flinched and clung to Colin’s side when the star pattern on the floor ignited with white fire and caused the eyes of the snake statues to burn white. The statues became animated and moved about their pedestals to create a figure eight shape.

“Yip!” I yelped when I felt my butt cheek sore from a firm pinch.

I pushed Colin off me and met his blameless expression with a snarl.

_”Famine, pay attention!”_ Death shouted.

I shook off the ringing effects from my ears and did as he had instructed. I saw that the stardust had called images to every part of the tourmaline walls.

The sparrows flew into one of the walls. We found ourselves trailing their flight through a maze of a sparkling gold city without moving off the dais.

“Ooh!” I gasped at the wonder of gold and tourmaline paved streets crowded with other bull-men and women going about their business.

The sparrows’ flight moved us further along the streets, past square gold brick buildings that sparkled magnificently. Grand white marble and silver lined ribbed-columns stood as tall sentries along the street corners. I gazed up to an aqua blue and white streaked sky. How something so wondrous could exist underground was beyond my comprehension.

Lyra swept her fan back and forth, so the sparrows moved us to an enormous gold building in the middle of a mosaic center at the heart of the maze city.

The birds flew circles around the building’s triangular roof that was supported by evenly spaced white marble-silver columns.

We moved towards a domed archway entrance at the start of a square courtyard, which was illuminated by burning kettle drums forming rows on either side of the grounds.

Our travels ended at the entrance’s threshold. Lyra muttered a passage of the Sacred Word to recall the sparrows back to her fan and their dormant state within the fan guards.

I breathed in musky odours, and a powerful aroma of iron, sandalwood and sage lingering among the milling bull-people donned in fine robes of white or of a commoner’s attire. They walked about their own busy around the courtyard near the building directly opposite the archway, and up and down shining gold steps, which led onto the building’s wide glittering porch and the double entrance beyond.

I glanced up to the high eaves and fascia of the building, and read strange hieroglyphs moving about the wide fascia.

_”Here lies the Temple of Mithras, City of Minos.”_ Death translated for me.

_”Mithras? Minos?”_ I whispered.

“Minos be meh home city forged within the labyrinth,” Buru answered for me. “Mithras be our divine god.”

I noticed expressions of sadness and longing in his eyes.

“Is something wrong Buru?” I asked and gently gripped his arm.

“Nay. Just been long time since meh seen home.” Buru sighed.

“Thank you for your directions Buru. We’ll take our leave now,” Brystagg said and gestured for me to follow his lead.

I turned to Buru with questions. “You’re not coming?”

“He can’t.” Brystagg answered for him. “He was exiled.”

“Exiled?” I found it hard to believe that good-natured Buru would face a crime that would forbid him entry into his home city.

“It be okay Famine. It be meh fate.” Buru kindly reassured me.

“Don’t stray from Sire’s side. Meh not be like other minotaurs who dine on flesh of man,” he warned me.

“May the gods shine favourably on yah.” He sent me off with a pat to my back for safe journeys.

“Meh be waiting for yah here.”

“Make sure you do not leave my side,” Brystagg whispered to me.

He hadn’t needed to tell me twice.

The carnivorous stares we received from Minos’s citizens we passed made me tremble with a fear of being shish kebabs.

“Oi!” A burly minotaur grumbled when I accidentally bumped his arm. His expression of annoyance had instantly changed to one of glee.

I’m sure he thought it was his lucky day, bumping into a piece of walking high grade meat.

“O-Oh, s-sorry kind Sir,” I whimpered and clung closer to Brystagg’s side.

“Don’t walk away pretty boy,” gruffed the burly minotaur.

I flinched when I saw his thick tongue lick his chops.

“Keep walking,” Brystagg ordered me.

I nodded and continued with my eyes fixed on the double doors beyond the porch. I braved a glance over my shoulder and hurried my steps when I saw a hungry procession trail behind us. My heart raced at the same speed of my walk, which became a light jog up the steps. We found our way to the double door entrance blocked by a mob of common minotaurs.

“Dem look tasty,” said a salivating minotaur.

“Yeek, their friendliness is a lot different to Buru’s.” I hid behind Brystagg’s back as the crowd closed around us.

“LEAVE THEM BE OR BECOME NULL!” Boomed an omnipotent voice from within the temple building.

The temple grounds roared and trembled with voices bellowing out with pain. The crowd dispersed and scattered, holding onto their horns or cupping their ears. Our way to the gold double doors was clear.

“Well.” I dusted off my hands.

My attention was drawn to a white robed minotaur standing at the threshold of the double door entrance.

His whole image was a feeling of wisdom and a peaceful age, grey fur was flecked with the odd strand of youthful brown and deep-set brown eyes seemed to be smiling with a friendly expression. He had his hands out with a gesture of welcome.

“Galais. You have my gratitude old friend.” Brystagg respectfully and warmly greeted the minotaur with a firm pat to his shoulder.

“I am grateful you heeded Our Lady’s call Prince Brystagg.”

I felt calmed by the elderly minotaur’s soothing, deep voice. I’m sure the burning incense at the small homage shrines at either end of the porch was partially to blame.

“She has been expecting you Lord Famine.” The elderly minotaur directed his words to me with a respectful bow and prompted us to follow him inside.

I gawked at the gold and silver statues of snakes or minotaurs of old that I passed. Each one showed majestic forms of either caught within a moment of battle. As I peered lower toward the nameplate of the statues’ pedestals, I noticed humans were depicted as teeny tiny fillers littering these creatures’ feet.

“I take it that humanity is not number one here,” I carefully whispered.

“Majority of the minotaur race see us as cattle. Only a minority view us as other intelligent beings.” Lyra answered for me.

“You think?” My eyes darted about the various statues to confirm that fact.

I returned my focus to Brystagg’s lead and our way up steep marble steps.

“Oh!” I let out sounds of awe at the stained-glass domed roof high above our heads. I hadn’t noticed it when we were trailing the sparrows’ flight.

Outside light seeped into the temple through the roof’s coloured glass, streaming gentle rays over our bodies as we crossed a circular floor depicting a lotus in full bloom on a dark watery surface. I marvelled at the water ripples my footsteps created as I walked across the lotus floor like I was skimming across the surface of a pond.

_”Fascinating. The floor is of dark silver imbued with semblance magic to cause that rippling water effect when walking,”_ Death said with a voice that was almost a whisper.

We stopped before a set of steps, leading up to a dais where an enormous gold statue of a robed Minotaur stood proudly before us. His billowing cape carried starlight to his back. It ran the length of his body, right down to the train of his robes, which covered his ankles and part of his forefeet. I noticed the statue’s feet were the same structure as a human. I wondered if our similarities had them view us as the insignificant beings in the end.

“It is fact. They are here in the Age of Apocalypse.” A wise and motherly voice warmed my ears.

Any aches I felt in my heart were soothed by the white robed figure of a bull-woman at the top of the dais before the statue. Her white fur was free from any blemish a bull would carry; delicate ears were pierced with gold, silver and jade studs, they glistened with an impression of starlight, (similar to the statue’s cape). Her eyes were completely white, I felt like I was staring at two balls of milk candy.

Her balletic walk towards us was enchanting.

“Your highness, Lord Famine and friends, I welcome you to Minos. There is much we must discuss.”

She gestured for us to follow her lead past the statue and down a blue carpeted and silver marble hallway, which ended into a jade and tourmaline circular chamber.