Advent Letters: Year Seven, Letter Four

Jer checked and double checked. But there was no other passageway, no other crevice of cave where he and his brothers could go. And every time he stepped away from the door, the colors in his lens turned grey.

There was no getting around it: they had to go through the Minotaur’s Lair.

 But even after explaining this twice, Matt still shook his head.

“I still don’t know—are you sure?”

So Jer explained it a third time.

Bri chimed in. “We can do it, Matt. We’ve already beaten a troll, a kelpie, a snake monster, and an army of goblins. One minotaur should be easy!”

“Minotaurs are never easy,” Matt said. “I read about them in a mythology book. Besides, we’ll be fighting in the dark.”

“I can see everything,” Jer said.

“Yeah, you can,” Matt replied.

Jer opened his mouth, but no words came. Honestly, he had the same concern. The enchanted lens from Santa made everything bright and clear for him. But his brothers were still in total darkness.

How could they fight a minotaur like that?

“I still say we go in,” Bri said. “It’s where Santa’s leading us. But…” Bri winced as he spoke. “I’ll wait for you guys.”

Jer could almost hear Matt’s heart beating faster. 

Finally, Matt said, “You guys are right. The lens led us here and... I trust Santa.”

Matt tightened his grip on Jer’s shoulder. Bri did the same.

“Okay then,” Jer said. “Here we go.”

Jer stepped up to the massive door and, with gritted teeth, pulled it open. The door groaned on its enormous hinges, dust and pebbles falling from its arch.

“See anything?” Matt whispered.

“Nothing yet. Come on.”

Jer led his brothers across the threshold, into an even deeper darkness.

Using his lens, Jer saw the outlines of a giant circular room. The ceiling was high and domed. All along the walls and floor, different levels and platforms of stone jutted up in jagged slabs. Along the far side of the room, a waterfall cascaded down to a hidden pool. And beside that waterfall was a stone staircase leading to a final door.

Jer’s eyes lit up. That must be the way out.

But getting there would be slow-going through the slabs of uneven stone. Especially since he would have to lead his brothers the entire way. If only he could—

A growling, deep-chested roar rumbled over the waterfall. The noise of something big. And angry. And close.

Matt’s grip tightened. “Do you see it?” he whispered.

Jer scoured the room. But with so many rock ledges, boulders, and crevices, there was no telling where the creature could be hiding.

“Maybe it doesn’t know we’re here,” Bri whispered.

The growling grew louder. Heavy footsteps pounded stone. Jer’s eyes whipped around the room. His brothers shuffled behind him in the dark.

A rock soared over their heads, erupting in gravel behind them. Jer couldn’t tell where it came from. But it was clear who had thrown it.

“Get your shield up,” Jer whispered to Matt.

They kept going forward toward a ledge that dropped down to a lower platform. That’s when Jer looked up.

Outlined against the waterfall, the hulking body loomed like a stone colossus. The minotaur could have stood face to face with an elephant. Its human foot pawed the ground. Razor horns crowned its bull head. The monster had the torso of a professional wrestler, and thick hair ran down its chest and legs. Its eyes were glassy from the endless dark. But its bull nostrils sniffed the air, and its bull ears turned to the Mellemas.

Jer froze for a moment. And in that moment, the minotaur charged. It leapt from ledge to ledge with horrendous speed. Jer thought about leading his brothers over the ledge. He thought about pushing them out of the way. Then he realized the minotaur was nearly on top of them.

“Matt! Shield!” he yelled. 

Matt stepped forward and set his shield right before the minotaur charged into it. Though the enchanted shield protected the brothers from harm, the impact sent all three flying in different directions.

Jer landed with a crunch before sliding into a wall. He leapt to his feet, finding his bow and quiver as he scanned the rock ledges for his brothers. They were both back on their feet. But they were on opposite sides of the room, and in pitch darkness.

The minotaur, meanwhile, was recovering from the shock of the enchanted shield. It turned to Bri, who was swinging his hammer in wild circles. The minotaur lowered its shoulders to charge.

“Hey!” Jer shouted at the monster.

He notched an arrow and fired. Though it hit the minotaur square in the back, the minotaur barely seemed to notice. So Jer fired another arrow. And another. And another. Soon, the monster’s thick hide was a pincushion of arrows. But that didn’t stop it from charging Bri. 

Jer only had time for one more shot. So he aimed carefully at a different spot—the tendons running up the ankle. He fired.

The enchanted arrow hit its mark, and the minotaur finally lost his balance, falling in a heap in front of Bri. For his part, Bri kept swinging his giant hammer wildly. The hammer connected, sending the minotaur flying over the nearby ledge.

For now.

Jer scrambled over boulders and down cliff faces to reach Bri. Even as he did, he could hear the raging bellows of the minotaur below. The scraping crunch as it lumbered to its feet and started to climb.

Jer had seen enough to realize that his arrows weren’t much good against this monster and its armored hide. He needed Bri’s big hammer to do any damage. But Bri couldn’t see. And Jer couldn’t count on him connecting with another blind swing.

By the time he reached Bri, Jer knew what he had to do. Grimacing, he removed the lens from his helmet. The shock of the total darkness was like plunging into icy water. Jer had to fight the urge to panic. But he knew Bri needed the lens more than he did.

“Put this in your helmet visor,” Jer said, feeling for Bri’s hands.

After some fumbling, Bri clicked the lens into place.

“This is amazing!” Bri exclaimed.

“I know,” Jer grumbled. “But the minotaur’s close. Keep a look out for the both of us.”

“What about this?”

Bri dropped something in Jer’s hands. It was the red lens from Santa.

“Bri, you need to keep this. It’s more important for you to—”

“I still have mine,” Bri replied. “You gave me two.”

Jer was confused he could only stammer.

“Hurry!” Bri said. “It’ll be here any second.”

Jer put the lens back in his visor and looked at Bri. His brother was telling the truth. They both had an enchanted lens, and could both see in the dark.

“I don’t—how could…”

“Must be part of the enchantment,” Bri shrugged.

Jer’s eyes widened. But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He’d just realized why it was taking the minotaur so long. The minotaur wasn’t going for them—it was going for Matt.

Matt was backed against a high rock ledge on the other side of the chamber, crouched behind his shield and swinging his sword at random. The minotaur was climbing up to him as silent as a shadow.

“Matt—it’s coming for you!” Jer called.

“And so are we!” Bri added.

The two brothers leapt toward Matt. The minotaur, meanwhile, picked up its pace. It was only a few leaping bounds away from Matt’s ledge. Jer stopped to fire a few more arrows into its back. This caused the minotaur to lose its grip and slide down in range of Bri’s war hammer.

Bri grew the hammer to the size of a buffalo, and hit the minotaur with all his might. The minotaur launched from the hammer, making a crater in the far wall.

Jer and Bri climbed up the cliff as fast as they could. When they reached the top, Matt was still backed against the wall, and still blindly swinging his sword.

“Cut it out—it’s us!” Jer said. “Here, take this.”

Jer once again removed the visor from his helmet, and handed it to his brother. Jer held his breath as Matt awkwardly maneuvered the lens into position.

“Did I get this right…Oh, wow!”

Jer heard Matt walking freely around the ledge. He kept waiting.

And waiting.

“Should we head for the exit now?” Matt asked.

Jer was about to respond, but Bri beat him to it.

“Matt, don’t you have an extra lens?”

“Huh? You mean…oh, that explains it!”

Matt fumbled with his visor. After another click, Jer felt a lens in his hand.

“Sorry about that,” Matt said. “I accidentally put both lenses in. You’ve had extra this whole time?”

“Not until now,” Jer said. “I’ll explain later.”

Jer put his own lens back in his visor. For the first time, all three brothers could see. Each boy gathered his weapons. Jer stepped forward.

“First thing we need is to figure out where the minotaur landed. Bri hit him hard, but I don’t think we actually—”

“Jer!!!”

Bri’s was a panicked shriek. The shriek that only comes from seeing a minotaur rise above the ledge beside your brother—its horns pointed at your brother’s chest. Once again, Jer was too stunned to move. But Matt, finally able to see, stepped forward with his sword drawn. His blade slashed toward the minotaur in a smooth, determined arc.

For a moment, the world seemed to pause. Jer looked into the minotaur’s eyes—still dark and glassy. But now, tinged with something that might be fear.

The minotaur’s head slid off its body, landing at Jer’s feet with a splat. Its body fell off the ledge into darkness.

Matt dropped to his knees. He stared at his sword in surprise.

“Did I just…cut the head off a minotaur?” he asked.

“Yep,” Bri said. 

Matt cleaned his sword on the ground before putting it back in his scabbard. “Huh. Not too long ago, I would have found that strange.”

“You ready to get out of here?” Jer asked.

His brothers nodded. Carefully, they picked their way to the rock staircase. Once at the top, Jer unlatched the door and pulled on the handle.

All three brothers stepped into the light.