Minos PoV [https://i.imgur.com/gUgKCZM.jpeg]

Lira was right, Minos knew this. She always had been. Ever since he was a little boy, the drow huntress was the reason he remained a straight arrow.

When he was ten, his older sister was injured on a hunting trip and their father blamed him for it. He tried to deny it, pointing his finger instead to his elder brother, but nobody believed him.

His parents adored their firstborn. He was the favorite child, the legacy and pride of the family. They also doted on his older sister, and loved her more than anything, or anyone else. That left them with nothing but disdain and resentment for him, the third child, the second son.

Growing up, Minos tried to make his parents see how terrible their oldest son was. His elder brother pulled pranks that endangered people around them, he abused their household servants, and he would speak out his entitled and bigoted opinions to the embarrassment of their family. However, they always turned a blind eye. To them, he was the perfect golden child, and Minos was just a jealous boy hungry for attention.

After that accident in the woods, their father finally had enough so he hired three prominent individuals to be their personal mentors. To keep him, along with his two elder siblings, in check.

Lira was the one assigned to Minos.

She was already famous for being a skilled bounty hunter, ranger, and mercenary; in fact, she was regularly recruited by a number of noble families to be part of their retinue, or as a bodyguard whenever they needed to travel outside the city. She was trustworthy and dependable; and despite being a drow, she had earned the regard of the upper echelons of society.

At first, Minos frowned upon the idea, there’s nothing wrong with me, he’s the one they should look after, he would often complain, referring to his older brother. He was quiet and reserved during his younger days, with his nose always stuck in one book or another. He was practically invisible; that is, until something terrible happens in the household, then he becomes the scapegoat.

Lira’s assignment as Minos’ mentor ranged from honing his martial skills, to horseback riding and hunting, as well as teaching him basic discipline and moral standards. He was proud to say that he excelled in each of those areas. More importantly, Lira became, not only just a mentor, but also a friend and personal confidante. She ended her tenure when he came of age, but they remained in constant communication.

Nevertheless, out of everything Lira taught him, the one thing he cherished most was her lessons in humility. When his older brother was being lauded for his achievements, Lira helped him not feel envious. When he himself would make shortsighted decisions, Lira pushed him to apologize and take responsibility. If not for her, Minos would probably turn out the same as his older brother: narcissistic, arrogant, and selfish.

Still, he was no paragon of virtue. He wasn’t perfect, he knew that. More often than not, his ambitiousness and stubbornness would get the better of him, and he would momentarily forget Lira’s teachings. That was exactly what happened with his interaction with Cassana earlier that night.

After Lira, he took on another mentor, Minos of Copper Road. The old bard and grifter taught him the art of manipulation; and in spite of the questionable skillset, he learned all about the power of words, and how to harness it to one’s advantage. How to control what you say, and how you say it.

Minos would jest, but he never intends to be mean with his words. He would push the envelope, but he would never cross the line. Every lie is measured; every truth, deliberate. That was his second mentor's most important words. Looking back at it now, he felt regretful that he lost control of his mouth, and he ended up saying things he didn't intend to say.

Ever since he met Cassana more than a week ago, he had been trying his best to be patient with her. He did find her amusing, but she had a measure of impertinence that made her quite irksome. He was fascinated by her skill, and how she overcame the challenges of becoming a wizard in spite of her station; but at the same time he was annoyed by her over-confidence and self-righteousness.

How dare she judge me like that. He didn’t appreciate that she accused him of being uncaring. He and Rei had only been traveling for a month, but he had already grown fond of the masked foreigner. They had saved each other’s lives half-a-dozen times, and he would never take his presence for granted.

Yet, he also knew things that Cassana didn’t. Like how it was Rei that forced himself to accompany him on his journey. He didn’t ask him for help or anything, the masked foreigner volunteered. It was his choice. And so, Minos would not be responsible for anything that might happen to him. They both knew the dangers they were taking.

Secondly, Rei was a better fighter than him, Minos would never deny that. In fact, he was better than him in any way, except maybe when it comes to social skills. And lastly, Rei was resilient. He survived arrow blows, knife cuts, and sword hits, so Minos was confident that he would survive his current predicament.

No, Lira was wrong. He wasn’t obsessed with finding the sword. He would never put his quest over people’s lives, over Rei. But if he stopped now, if he even paused and contemplated, it would put to waste all the things they went through, all the effort they poured into this endeavor. He had to move forward, that’s what Rei would say. His foreign companion understood the stakes, more than Lira and Cassana would ever know.

But yes, Lira was right. He should apologize to Cassana. Be the bigger person. For all the reasons she explained. I’ll apologize tomorrow. He thought.

----------------------------------------

Minos and Robb reached their rented room and as soon as he could paint a mummer's grin on his dour face, promptly entered through the door.

“How’s my favorite charcoal-boy?” he greeted Ashvell.

“Hey, man.” The woodcutter greeted back. He was lying on his back on one of the four beds by the side of the room. “Hey, kid.”

“Hey Ashvell,” Robb greeted him back as he lagged behind Minos. He hopped to the other bed beside Ashvell’s, and sank his face on a soft pillow.

Ashvell jerked his head back and covered his nose as the young boy walked past him.

“That’s the smell of the sewers,” Minos said, matter-of-factly. “You should probably jump in the tub first kid, to rinse off that odor from you.”

“I don’t wanna,” complained Robb, with the pillow muffling his voice.

“Fine, reek if you want, but I’m not gonna stand here and do nothing about it.” Minos grabbed another pillow and tossed them over to Robb’s. He took more pillows, and even the sheets and blankets, and piled them all over the boy, who then started laughing hysterically.

Ashvell chuckled along as the young boy shouted his muffled protestations. He pulled his head out of the blankets to take a breath..

“There, can you still smell him?” Minos asked Ashvell, sniggering.

“Nah. But I think it’s coming from you now,” he answered.

Minos sniffed both his armpits, then his tunic. “Then I’ll take a bath.”

He started undressing his top, while walking towards the door to the bathroom. “Do they have hot water?”

“They do. It’s nice.” Ashvell responded with glee.

The young nobleman pulled the bathroom door to a close but left it an inch open. “How did it go, by the way?” he heard Ashvell asking from outside.

“Swimmingly!” shouted Minos, as he started filling the copper tub with water. “We got ourselves a ship, and we can head out earliest tomorrow.” Thick smoke started rising as the faucet poured scalding hot water into the basin. He pulled the contents of his pocket out, including The Guild's signet ring, and carefully placed them by the bathroom sink.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

“That’s great!” replied Ashvell. “I’m glad that you get to leave as soon as possible. That’ll be a huge relief for Cassana.”

“Oh, tell me about it!”

A brief moment passed by where only the sound of pouring can be heard. Minos jumped into the tub, splashing water about that even reaching outside the bathroom.

“Also, sorry about Cassana earlier…”

“Nah, it’s fine.. It was my fault, I went over the line. I should be the one apologizing. She’s grieving and I was insensitive.”

“Dude, I was scared for a moment, I thought she was gonna freeze you to death.”

“Not without her staff she wouldn’t. I was more scared she might trigger one of those pylons, you know?”

“Pylons?”

“Yeah, remember the pointy rods in the sidewalk that I pointed to earlier when we were walking?”

“The ones you said can detect magic?”

“Yes. If she casts a spell, even a small spell that doesn't need a Focusing stone, those pylons would detect it, and the City watch would be all over us. That’s how strict this city is about unsanctioned magic.”

“You think she was just gonna cast a small spell? No way bro, I've seen that look in her, she was ready to freeze your ass off.”

“Well if she does that without a focusing stone, it would drain her with all her energy, and we would both be dead. What an anti-climactic ending to this sorry tale.”

The two men laughed.

----------------------------------------

Minos couldn’t sleep. He could blame Ashvell’s snoring, but he wasn’t completely bothered by it. The truth was that his mind was drifting to the sea, across Leona’s Bay, to a mysterious, hidden island somewhere. To the end of his quest, to his ultimate goal.

He rose up from his bed and grabbed the small wicker box that Lira brought in the room along with his bag, weapon, armor and other belongings. He bought this box from the village, as he was strolling along the day before they left.

He took a liking to its simple and practical design, and how it didn’t easily catch one’s eye. It was the perfect container to hide something valuable. And the last few days on the road proved it so, as nobody had even seemed to mind, notice, or question the presence of said box inside their vehicle.

As he opened the lid, he gently took out his clothes from the top layer. Immediately underneath them was the fancy bow he collected from the mansion, wrapped in rags, and placed diagonally across to fit the box. He removed it but decided against unwrapping it. He then went to the books, scrolls and paper that were neatly arranged at the bottom.

He grabbed one scroll and unfurled it; it was the map that they were carrying since they left the capital, the map of Windcoast and all its surrounding areas. He studied the trails and markings that he made, chronicling their entire journey. His fingers reached the spot labeling the City of Soliton, and he let his index finger run up, to the blue tinted area denoting the Roewing sea.

He had done this half a dozen times already, every other night since they left the village, when everybody else was asleep. Whether under a campfire in the forest, or from the candlelit room of an inn such as the one he was in right now. It was turning into a habit, a sort of ritual to remedy his anxiety of being far away from home, and being so close to his quarry.

He took his sweet time looking over the map, before returning everything back inside the box. He then slid it along his other things. He was supposed to return to bed hoping he could finally get some sleep, but he heard something curious from outside the room. He could tell that somebody was walking past the hallways and stopping in front of every door.

Minos grabbed hold of a small dagger from his armaments and quietly stepped towards the exit. He opened it gently to take a peak of the hallway outside where he saw a figure slowly walking by, facing away from him. As the person reached a spot lit by a sconce, he recognized it based on its clothes.

“Rei!” he whispered, after stepping out of the room. When he didn’t respond, he tried again but a little bit louder.

Minos held his dagger tighter. He had read quite a few things relating to lycanthropy during his time in the Capital’s library, and he had known about some of its effects on the person. Among those effects was the infected’s compulsion to hunt for prey during the night. He carefully took his steps towards Rei, weapon on guard on the occasion that he needed to defend himself from his friend.

However, just as he was reaching for him, Rei turned around and gave him a curious look. It took a while for him to recognize his face, since he rarely took his mask off, but it was his eyes that gave him away.

“Minos…?” Rei answered with a low rumbling voice.

“Yep, it’s me. Are you alright?”

“What am I doing here?” he asked, as if he just realized that he was standing there.

“You tell me… how are you feeling?”

“I’m… hungry. Like I haven’t eaten in days.”

“Well I got some food inside our room. There’s also food from the tavern below,” Minos opened his arms wide as a friendly gesture, “but I’m not the food, okay?”

“What?”

“You’re still you, right?”

Rei closed his eyes and seemingly tried to remember everything that happened since. It took a moment for him to reach a certain realization.

“Why? Have I done anything…”

“No, no, don’t worry about that. You haven’t done anything concerning, or any that would endanger us, so don’t get worked up about it. You’re fine.” It was too late before he remembered about the dagger he was holding with his right hand. He shook his head and hid the dagger away. “That wasn’t for you.”

Rei touched his own face and also realized that he wasn’t wearing his mask.

“It’s just us two. No one else would see your face.”

The foreigner remained standing looking uncomfortable.

“Where is your room?” asked the young nobleman.

Rei pointed towards the door one room away from Minos’.

“Who’s there with you?”

“Cassana, and… Lira?”

“Yeah… you don’t remember? She found us. As expected, father sent for her. She’s the best at her job, so, duh. And here she is. But don’t worry, I convinced her against bringing us back. She’s coming along with us.”

"Right..." Rei sighed, finally remembering more.

“You wanna head down?”

the foreigner nodded.

Minos led him down towards the tavern floor, trying to keep the flow of their conversation.

“Do you not remember anything?”

“I do,” answered Rei, “it’s just scattered in pieces. Like catching feathers on the wind.”

“That’s good.”

“We’ve been traveling…”

“Yeah…”

“To where?” Rei asked.

“To Ad-Nilem. Cassana means to bring you to the Tower so you can get the Cure.”

“The Cure?”

“It’s the cure for lycanthropy. It’s a procedure that the wizards developed to remove the disease from the body. Completely remove it. Even makes one immune.”

“I see… So if I don’t get the Cure I would turn into that creature that that drow turned into…”

“Yep. I’m guessing you’re against that, right?”

Rei nodded again.

They reached the dark and empty first floor of the inn. Minos took a candle from one of the sconces by the stairwell and continued towards the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” asked Rei.

“Looking for food.”

“You’re not allowed back there.”

“I’ll compensate the owner tomorrow," the nobleman waved his hand.

Rei followed him and inside, they found shelves filled with an assortment of food and cooking ingredients. Spices and herbs were hanging by another rack, and there was a shelf for pots and pans, and another shelf for dishes and utensils. Minos made for the cabinet and found confits of lamb, pork and poultry.

“Question,” Minos started, holding up a slice of pork belly, “you still want them cooked, right? Or are you into raw meat now?”

Rei snorted.

Minos was so used to seeing only Rei roll his eyes that he was amused that his companion can do other facial expressions as well.

“Give me that.” Rei pointed to a container filled with dried bacon strips.

Minos picked up two slices and handed one to Rei, “Do you never get tired of eating bacon?” He took a bite of the remaining one.

Rei shook his head.

Minos rested his back along the shelves and let the moment pass by. He watched as Rei finished half of the bacon strip. The way he hesitantly bit against the meat didn’t make him look like he was hungry at all.

“Are you okay with that?” The foreigner suddenly asked.

“Huh? Yeah, it tastes good, actually.”

Rei grunted, “no, not the bacon. This, the situation. The detour that I caused. I’m sorry…”

“Stop.” Minos glared at Rei and gave him a tap on his shoulder.

“You should be focusing on finding your next lead… The Sword…”

“I did find a lead.” Minos leaned in closer and continued with a hushed voice, “I found a map to an island where, I believe, Cassana’s father hid the sword.”

“Then we should go there already.”

“After you’re cured.”

Rei scoffed, “I’m supposed to look after you, not the other way around.”

“Look, that island is not going anywhere. And who knows what’s waiting for me down there so if I’m gonna raid it, I need one of the best fighters I know by my side.

“And that’s you, Rei. For that, you have to be in tip-top shape.”