Dreaming Out Loud

[Minotauric]

Here's a story I've been writing lately, just thought you all would like to read it as I write. I've been working on it for a long time now and it will be longer until its finished.



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[Minotauric]

Ryan sat down on his bed, pulling the sheets over himself. He laid back and sighed peacefully. His week had been going uneventfully. His friend Chris still hadn't come back from his classes. Probably went off to some party and got himself drunk, Ryan thought. Chris had his faults, Ryan had his too. Perhaps his worst was procrastination. An essay he had not even started was due the next evening. His plan was to write it during his mythology class. Ryan didn't know why he had decided to take mythology, in the end it would most likely only come off as a waste of money. That was his view on it at least. Chris, who was also taking the class, loved it; he was the kind of person who enjoyed that kind of stuff. Chris wasn't quite sure, but he thought he wanted to major in ancient history, maybe teach it for highschool as a career.
Ryan shut his eyes and let his mind wander elsewhere. He had almost fallen asleep when he heard a knock on the door of the dormitory. He kicked his sheets off, moaning, and walked to the door in nothing but his boxer shorts. He peered out through the small peephole he had drilled in the door earlier that year. Chris stood outside. Ryan opened it for him and let him in, "Where is your key?" "Robby took it." Ryan sighed. Robby had a habit of pestering both Chris and Ryan. Even though he was in his senior year of college, Robby apparently still hadn't grown up.
Shutting the door behind him, Chris followed Ryan over to where the two beds were on the far side of the room. They both sat down, Chris flipped on the TV that hung on the wall across from his bed. "There's a big storm coming," Ryan gestured to the window where he had just seen a rather large lightning bolt. Chris nodded, but didn't reply. Ryan didn't particularly like storms. He really didn't like to admit it, but he had many phobias. He wouldn't go out alone in the dark, he didn't like deep water, and he certainly was not a fan of the supernatural. Perhaps that was what scared him most.
Ryan's mind wandered back to the essay he had to write. He looked at his laptop on the nightstand at the end of his bed. A small blue light slowly faded on and off to indicate that it was charging while a purple one remained lit, whatever the reason was, he wasn't sure.
The small building shook as lightning flashed and thunder cracked nearby. The lights flickered out and Ryan felt a chill creep down his spine. "You have a flashlight Chris?" he asked. "No," Chris replied bluntly. Lightning flashed again, Ryan jumped, "Did you see that?!" "What was it?" Ryan pointed to the far corner of the apartment, "There was something over in that corner. It was really tall!" Ryan began to move back into the corner of his bed. Chris stood up and slid the bat the he kept under his bed out and began walking slowly forward. Lightning flashed again and as the thunder clapped, Ryan could have sworn he had heard a roar. The lights flicked back on. There was nothing in the room with them.
"We could always just hope you were seeing things," Chris said nervously. "Yeah," Ryan replied. Ryan was doing his best not to show it, but he wanted to throw up, he had never experienced anything like that before. Sometimes he would lie in bed at night questioning the shadows outside his window. For a college student, he always thought it was an irrational fear. Now his nerves tortured him, he fought with the urge to leave the building and come back in the morning. Chris walked to the window between the two beds and opened it. It was not raining outside yet, but thunder and lightning cracked and rolled as loud as they had ever heard.
"We should try and get some sleep Ryan," Chris's voice startled Ryan in the quiet confines of his mind. He nodded in response to Chris and pulled his sheets over himself. He sighed heavily, whether his head was full of the day's happenings or just insomnia, he couldn't tell.
Ryan sighed and closed his eyes. What had he seen? Had Chris seen it? He began to go through it all in his mind. It had been tall, from what he could tell, it was very hairy, and something was protruding from its head. Ryan thought more and more, and the longer he thought, the deeper his thoughts strayed and eventually, he was lost in them.
As morning drew on, Ryan yawned and rubbed his eyes. As he sat up and blinked, he realized that outside, the storm still raged on. He reached for the remote on the nightstand next to Chris and flipped on the TV. "Great," he mumbled. Three more days of rain. Hard rain. Flipping on a small lamp, he stood up, Chris still slept silently. He walked to the bathroom and picked up his toothbrush. He placed to toothpaste on the brush and began to brush his teeth. He stopped suddenly when he heard someone call his name, "Chris? Is that you?" Nobody responded. The voice came again, Ryan… I need your help. "Chris what are you talking about?" Ryan dropped the brush and walked outside the bathroom door. Chris was still asleep. "Chris are you messing with me?" Chris yawned and rolled over, "What?" "Why were you calling me?" Chris sighed, "I wasn't. What are you rambling about?" Ryan turned around, "I swear Chris. If you are messing with me I'll," Ryan was cut short by the same voice. This time it was clear, a deep and guttural voice, My name is Rham Es-Hestos. Find me. Ryan flipped around, "What was that?!" "I heard it too!" Chris replied in an almost hysterical tone. He stood up and put on a pair of shorts. Ryan listened for the voices again but he could not hear them. He flipped on the rest of the lights and Chris squinted to see in the brightness. He could not see much else but Ryan surrounded by the bright lights behind him that he had just turned on. His vision adjusted and like before, there was nothing in the room with the two boys.
"Maybe its just Robby," Chris suggested, "I can see him doing something like this. He acts just like a freshman sometimes, I swear." Ryan relaxed his muscles, he had not realized it, but in the past minute, it seemed that every one of his muscles he gone taught. Ryan knew Chris was just trying to calm him down, Robby had never pulled a prank like this. His pranks and jokes were very public and he did it that was on purpose.
Ryan walked back to his bed to sit down, "I know it wasn't Robby, Chris. What was it though?" His friend sighed, "I honestly don't know Ryan. Its been rumored that a student or two had seen some strange things here last hear. Though, nothing ever happened of it. Just try to ignore it for now."
Ryan wanted to ignore it, though the name kept pressing on his mind. Rham Es-Hestos. It was unlike any he had heard before. He kept running the name over and over. He concluded that he had indeed, never heard it before, none of his friends were called that, and he had never read a book with anyone named that before. Perhaps the two night's phenomena were related. He thought more about the possibility, both times he had heard the same voice, deep, and rough. Both similar, enough to be the same he concluded, meaning that what he had seen the night before, was the source of the voice that plagued his mind.
Ryan pulled his laptop toward him and quickly searched the name on the internet. A few results cam up, but for the most part, they were variations on the name and were listings of high scores and nicknames of gaming websites.
It was almost three in the afternoon, Chris had left a few hours before for his other classes. Ryan was about to leave for his class, he had finished his mythology paper and was proud of himself. He couldn't be sure how well he had done because for the most part, his mind kept wandering back to the events of the previous nights. Since early morning, Ryan had been hearing whispered, Chris never heard one. In truth, Chris was worried for Ryan. He knew Ryan's fears well enough to know that sometimes, Ryan might do irrational things in response to his phobia. He could only hope for the best in this case, because there was nothing else he could physically do to help.
Ryan picked up his essay and headed to the door with his satchel bag in hand. Before shutting it, he glanced back into the room, nothing seemed out of place, but as he left, he could have sworn someone was watching him.
Mythology class went uneventfully, nothing bothered him and nobody called his name. He was able to turn in his essay on time and end the end of class, learned he had received a seventy-eight percent. As he progressed throughout the day, he was relieved to have no more incidents, his other classes as bad an boring as they were, passed without any type of excitement.
When Ryan returned home that night, he was starving. He had forgotten to bring money to buy dinner with after his second class. He took a small dish out of the countertop refrigerator they had. As he walked to the microwave, he pulled a towel off the counter and wiped his face down. The rainwater had soaked his upper body thoroughly, his pants were relatively dry. After toweling off his head, Ryan threw the towel around his shoulders and put the plate of leftovers in the microwave. After entering an amount of time and pressing the start button, Ryan turned to find Chris standing behind him munching on a piece of fried chicken. He looked at the plate with the soggy bread and old beef with gravy that spun in the microwave and then back to Chris's chicken, "Where did you get that?" Chris shrugged, "Hannah gave it to me today at lunch." Ryan pulled his food out and set it down, "Trade me?" Chris laughed and walked away.
Apparently, Chris had been in the room longer than Ryan had, it was odd for him to come home so early. Most of the time, Chris stayed out late to party. Tonight he had decided to come home to go out on a date with his girlfriend Hannah. He planned to leave at 8:30, which was not more than an hour away. Ryan finished his meal and showered, he felt much nicer after a warm shower. When he got out, Chris was preparing to leave, Ryan saw him as he put on an overcoat. The night was coming on, and as the weather channel had predicted, it was still storming. Chris said goodbye to Ryan and left. Everything was quiet. Ryan walked to the cabinet and took out a bag of popcorn to put in the microwave. While he waited, he went to the TV and put in a movie.
The bell rang on the microwave, Ryan walked over the it and retrieved his snack. He sat down on his bad and turned up the volume. Not an hour later, he was fast asleep. As he slept and the night went on, he dreamt…
Ryan stood up, he was in a large forest. Huge trees surrounded him with ferns growing out of them all over the place. Vines grew high into the upper canopy of branches. Bird chirped around him and insects hummed. As he stood, he heard a loud roar. Had he been back at home, his first instinct might have been to hide somewhere. Here, Ryan felt a sense of ecstasy and got the urge to find out where the noise came from. He began to jog in the direction from which he had heard it first. He heard it once again and picked up his speed. He was now running faster than he had ever before. His heart paced itself and beat rapidly. His mind was set only on the noise he had heard now. Unfortunately, concentrating there, led him to miss the large thick vine that grew along the ground. He tripped and fell, a large branch slashed him, leaving a rather deep and nasty laceration along his right arm about three inches long. He picked himself up, unhindered from the fall or the blood that spilled out of him. Something about this new place gave him strength and, it gave him something he had never felt before. Courage.
As Ryan continued his heated pace through the deep, lush forest and the undergrowth, he could tell he was nearing his quarry. His senses were heightened and he knew it. He reached a huge wooden wall, stretching as far as he could see in both directions. Outside it, he saw a creature he had never seen before. Except once, in his very own dormitory. He was sure of it. Now that he could see clearly, he could define horns, a snout, and long gray fur. It stood at the wall made of huge logs that soared at least forty feet into the sky roaring loudly and pounding it's huge fists on what Ryan could only have guessed to be the gate.
Ryan approached cautiously, careful to mind his distance. He wasn't sure how to start so he cleared his throat. The beast stopped his rage and turned, it's eyes grew wide, "Human, what are you doing here and how did you come?" Ryan shuffled his feet, "I don't know how I got here. I heard you roaring so I followed your voice." The beast looked quizzically at him, "Your words are strange boy, I do not understand you. Why do you not attack? Where are your weapons?" Ryan shrugged, "What weapons? What are you talking about?" Ryan's new acquaintance bared his teeth, "I should cut you down now you lying heathen." He drew his sword and growled. Ryan put his hands up in the air, "No! I'm not lying. I don't know how I got here, why would you want to kill me?" No answer came. Ryan sighed, "What are you anyway?"
The beast sighed, this human must have been different. How did he not know what was going on? The minotaurs had declared war on the humans over seventy years ago. Since then they had warred almost constantly. "I am a minotaur boy. My name is Rham Es-Hestos." he stared at Ryan's strange clothing. "Where are you from?" Ryan's jaw dropped, Rham Es-Hestos. He was speechless, this was the Rham Es-Hestos he had been looking for. This was the Rham Es-Hestos he had heard about and this was the Rham Es-Hestos that had called him. "Speak up boy!" the minotaur shouted. Ryan fumbled over his words, "I- I am Ryan Hunt. I came from- from Washington." The minotaur shook his head, he had never heard of Washington before and Ryan Hunt was a strange name to him. He had never heard of any human like that before. Ryan spoke again, "I'm not from this time. I'm sure of it. You called me though, I know your name." Rham wrinkled his eyebrows, "I did not call you. I have never heard of you and I don't need you here." Ryan shrugged, "Well I don't know why I'm here then. Do you need help with anything?"
Rham tilted his head and glanced toward the huge gate. He was unsure of what to do. He did need help, his problem was that he didn't trust the human. What if this 'Ryan' was some sort of sorcerer. His clothes were strange, he spoke strangely, and his name was different, not to mention he claimed to be from another time completely. Rham wasn't sure, perhaps the boy was a spy, but perhaps he was telling the truth. He didn't have reason not to trust Ryan. His instincts told him otherwise, but he decided to befriend the boy. "I do," Rham admitted in a downcast manner, "my clan has banished me. They accused me of helping the humans. I've done no such thing."
Ryan walked closer to the minotaur, realizing his full height of seven feet, five inches tall with thick black horns to boot. He was surprised that Rham was opening up to him. One thing was for sure, his luck had greatly increased since he came here to this strange place. "What's wrong with helping the humans?" Ryan asked. "The humans and minotaurs have been enemies for neigh around seventy years. I won't explain why, that's not the problem, I need to get back in there. If I don't, the humans will find me and hang me. It would be one thing to die in battle, but they will execute me like a disobedient slave and use my horns to drink from." Ryan scratched his head, "I'm not sure how I could help you, seeing that I myself am a human." As he put his arm back down, he realized the gash that had been left by his fall earlier. He smiled weakly and pointed to his arm, "I took a fall in the woods back there." Rham sighed and walked toward Ryan, "Come here." Ryan met him halfway, Rham placed his hand on Ryan's arm, "tell me if this hurts." The minotaur applied pressure to the wound. Ryan yelped and jerked his arm back, "What was that for?" No answer came from his new friend, instead Rham pulled a bone needle out of one of the many pouches that were attached to his sash and a length of wiry thread. Ryan backed away, "Oh no, you've got to be kidding me." Rham stopped and looked up indignantly, "It has to be done, otherwise you will get a disease and if you're going to be following me around, you are not going to have one of those." Ryan shuddered and sat down on a log nearby, he took a large stick and clamped his mouth down on it and motioned for Rham to begin. The minotaur was surprised at Ryan's willingness and quickly set to work.
Though it was painful, Ryan watched with a strange interest as the needle passed in and out of his own skin. When Rham finished, Ryan removed the stick from his mouth, large gouges lined it where he had bitten down harder than he had thought he was. It was not necessarily a good stitch job, but he thanked Rham for his help anyway.
Ryan stood and shook Rham's massive hand. His hand was dwarfed by the minotaur's. "So how do we go about getting you back inside?" Rham shook his head and pulled his beard, "It's going to be a matter of finding someone on the inside that can help me out, but for now, I need to worry more about staying safe from the humans. They may live far away, but of late, they are exceeding their boundaries and we have caught them exploring even past the city here." Ryan looked confused, "What city is this exactly?" Rham looked up at the huge walls, this is the capitol. Faelmirth. These walls are still not even part of the city, they boarder the inner wall which, after getting through this gate, is another half mile walk. The city itself is over two miles wide." Ryan's eyes widened, "Where I come from, in Washington, we build up, not across. Some of the buildings in our cities are hundreds of feet high." Now it was Rham's turn to gasp, "How do you build so high?" Ryan glanced down at his arm and scratched it, Rham pulled Ryan's arm down, "Don't touch it." Ryan sighed, "Our builders use steel. It is an alloy, you have probably never heard of it. And concrete too. Lots of that." Rham was clearly confused, "You keep your world to yourself. Your words are strange and I do not understand them." Ryan shrugged and cracked his knuckles.
Suddenly, Rham took Ryan's shoulder, a roar came from above, high on top of the gate, "They have seen you. Come with me." The minotaur pushed Ryan back into the forest, deep into the underbrush. Thorns scraped at Ryan's skin and briars matted his companion's fur. Ryan ran with his eyes closed to avoid them being scraped out by the long thorns. Unsure of where he was going; he kept a tight grip on a fistful of the gray and black fur that grew from Rham's back.
When Rham stopped, Ryan opened his eyes to find himself in a small opening within the thicket. Rham stopped and dropped himself to the ground swearing. Ryan was once again, confused. He sat down next to the hulking figure who pounded the ground mercilessly. He picked up a small stick and began cracking it, waiting for Rham's firestorm to end. He waited. And waited. When he could not wait anymore, he sighed and tapped Rham's shoulder. The minotaur stopped, his breaths short and quick. "What is it?" Ryan asked. Rham growled at Ryan, who quickly recoiled his hand. "You. They saw you with me. Now there is no chance of me finding my way back into the city. They will think they know for sure now." Ryan dropped his shoulders, "I'm sorry. We shouldn't have stayed and talked." Rham sighed, "Don't worry about it. I will figure something out." Ryan stood up and began to pace, "What if we figured something out? I will help you get back in since I seem to have remotely caused your ejection from the city in the first place." Rham didn't answer. Ryan waited for a few minutes before saying anything again, "Rham?" The minotaur grunted, "Fine. I don't know what help you'll be, but I suppose you can tag along."
Sun shone into Ryan's eyes, it was morning. What a strange dream, he thought. He stretched and stood up, Chris lay peacefully on his bed sleeping. Ryan walked over to the small kitchen area, pouring a cup of water to put in the microwave for coffee, Ryan began to think his day over and what he would do with himself over the weekend. He reached up and put the cup in the microwave and was terrified by what he saw. He dropped the cup, it shattered on the hard floor. Chris shot up in bed, "What was that?" Ryan grasped his arm, shaking and turned to Chris. Along his lower right arm, was a deep gash, sew up crudely with a length of thread.
Chris was shocked, "Where did you get that?" Ryan said nothing, he stared at the stitching on his arm. "Ryan?" Ryan began to laugh, but the look of hysteria on his face at the same time betrayed any thought of Ryan pulling a prank in Chris's mind. "I don't know." Chris cocked his head to the side, "Ryan what did you do? Did you go out last night and get in a fight Ryan?" Ryan slowly shook his head, "No. No I didn't." He started shaking harder, "Chris, I really don't know what happened."
Chris stood up, "Come over here and sit down for a minute Ryan, I need you to think about this." Ryan walked over to his bed, careful of the glass on the ground. He sat down on the bed. Chris walked to the sink and ran some warm water on a washcloth. He took it to Ryan and placed it on the wound. Ryan began to rub it, Chris grabbed his arm, "Don't rub it Ryan." Ryan's eyes widened, "Chris, last night. I had a dream. I fell, and cut myself. Rham stitched it up, he told me, 'don't rub it'." Chris shook his head, "It was a dream Ryan." Ryan stood up, throwing the washcloth on the ground, "No Chris, it wasn't. I don't know how, it wasn't like any other dream. I could control my actions and I knew consciously what I was doing." Chris folded his arms, "Maybe you were sleepwalking, or maybe just in lucidity." Ryan didn't know what lucidity meant, but he was sure of what he had experienced that night.
It ended up that Chris forced Ryan to see a doctor about his arm. When he got there, he explained that he had cut himself after falling and tried to stitch his arm back up himself. The doctor gave him kudos for trying, but then reprimanded him severely for trying to do so himself. He took blood samples from Ryan's arm to test for infections. When the tests came back negative, Chris and Ryan both sighed in relief.
The bad news came when the doctor told Ryan it would have to be done over again. The doctor numbed Ryan's arm and pulled the old stitches out, cleaning the wound as he went. When he was finished, Ryan dared himself to look at it. The wound was puffed around the edges and the insides were white, mingled with blood. Before Ryan was able to inspect it any further, the doctor closed it again with sterile stitching. Ryan thanked the doctor for the work and reluctantly took the bill.
When they got back to their apartment later that day, they both decided to skip classes that day. They had a good enough alibi. Besides, neither of them had anything of importance due that day. They discussed the wound a little bit more, Chris could do nothing to convince Ryan that he was dreaming. Though, as hard as he tried to convince his friend it was a dream, Chris could not, for the life of him, explain the wound. Finally, he decided to drop the subject. Ryan would not stop thinking about it though. He pondered for the rest of the day and into the night. He feared going to sleep.
Ryan stayed awake until two in the morning that night. He wasn't really ready to risk the possibility of another strange injury like that. He drank five cups of coffee, which was a lot for him. Ryan didn't normally drink coffee at all, though tonight, Chris suggested it to him before bed after Ryan told him that he didn't want to sleep that night. For most of the time, Ryan read a book to stay awake. Though, as time passed, even with coffee, Ryan, who was not used to staying up late at all, began to grow sleepy. It was a few minutes until two in the morning, Ryan got up to refill his coffee cup. As he trekked through the darkness with his flashlight, he missed a small pile of clothes on the floor near the end of his bed and tripped. He tried to suppress his surprise, but accidentally let out a small shout as he began to fall. He caught and righted himself. Chris stirred and sat up, looking dazed and confused. The look on his face left as he remembered what Ryan's plan for the night had been. "You should really get some sleep. Tomorrow you will have to go back to class." Ryan shook his head, "No Chris, I don't want another dream like that." Chris sighed, "So you're never going to sleep again?" He paused, "Ryan, you're very unlikely to have the same dream again." Ryan was pretty much cornered, he knew Chris was right, the idea of him having the same dream twice was unrealistic. Not impossible, but unrealistic. Ryan put his coffee cup on the counter. He needed to sleep. Classes tomorrow would be horrible if he didn't. He walked to the bathroom once more and then headed back through the kitchen to his bed. Ryan's senses told him correctly as he shuddered, dreading any dreams that most certainly awaited him that night.
Ryan threw another log onto the fire. Sparks flew into the air, one of them landed on Rham's shoulder. He quickly brushed it out. He turned away from the fire, heaving an even larger log onto the side of the lean-to he was building. He grunted as he pushed it into place. The small structure would be big enough to shelter the both of them and even house a small warming fire. Rham pulled some sinew from his belt and began to tie it around all the smaller trees that grew nearby and pull them towards the shelter for camouflage. Then he threw large clumps of green leaves and grass on it, making sure to leave a small hole for smoke to come out of. Rham's home would be here until they could find a permanent solution, they would hide in the swamps of the forest. The jungle was thick and mosquitoes always buzzed around. Vines hung from all the trees and there were numerous small streams winding through the different mangrove swamps.
"Keep an eye out for monsters," Rham teased. Since the two had first met, they had become good friends. Rham respected Ryan as a human as long as he would keep his strange words to himself. Ryan knew his friend was kidding, but earlier, the minotaur had warned him that there were many dangers to be found in the forest, hence the reason for both of the gargantuan walls around the city of Faelmirth. The humans were not the only problems the minotaurs dealt with as a civilization. Jaguars, snakes, and poisonous spiders roamed within the jungle-like environment.
Ryan turned around to see the finished project. The lean-to was about ten feet tall and ten feet wide. It would be a great shelter. Ryan threw another log on the fire to sustain it and went inside to check it out. He complimented Rham on his work and they set to work making their beds.
That morning, the both of them woke to rain. Their lean-to had held up well that night. They may have woke to rain, but they woke up dry as well. First thing, they set to work planning. Neither of them were sure what to do first. Rham would be recognized too easily if he went back, and they would never let a human inside. It seemed that it would be impossible to get Rham back inside.
After much deliberation, Ryan had an idea, "What if I went back to the humans? I could convince them to stay away from you and they could form an alliance with you all. Then you could get back into your city." Rham pulled at his beard, "It sounds like a good idea. And at the moment, I cannot think of any reason why we should not try it." Ryan grinned. He was surprised Rham hadn't already thought of it, but he wasn't going to ask, they had an end point to get to and part of a plan. Now they had to finish it.
Rham and Ryan both stayed in their lean-to for most of the day. They discussed how they would go about getting Ryan to the human city. Rham knew where it was and that it was called Hanaseth. Also, the boy would need some type of clothing to make him look more 'normal', as Rham put it. Ryan gave Rham a light punch after he made that comment. That was a mistake. Rham grinned and hit him back in the gut. Ryan was surprised, very. He picked himself back up and laughed. Perhaps Rham had never heard of a friendly punch. Perhaps he looked at it as an invitation to fight because he soon after leapt at Ryan, grabbing him around his chest and knocking him to the ground. Ryan hit him back desperately, trying to crawl away. Rham laughed and smashed Ryan's back with his fist. Ryan groaned and collapsed, too exhausted to fight back. Rham sat back, "What are you doing?" "What you are you doing?!" Ryan yelled. "Fighting," Rham returned confused, "Do you not fight for practice where you come from?" Ryan stood up, wobbling a little bit as he regained his balance, "I hit you because, well, it was a joke. I didn't want to fight." Rham pushed himself to his feet, "My apologies. In my city, we fight for practice, and when we have a score to settle." Ryan didn't respond to him, it was enough of an explanation to him.
Ryan asked Rham his plan for getting clothes, Rham suggested they make them since they had no money. It would be hard, Rham would have to find at least two more deer to make Ryan some pants and a shirt. Rham had never made clothes before. That was a job for the females.
The minotaur cringed as the small bone needle poked into his finger yet again. He now knew why the females were made to do all the sewing work, their fingers were indeed quite agile and moved with grace as the needle passed in and out of the cloth. They would be crude clothes indeed, but what Ryan was wearing now would get him kicked out of Hanaseth for sure, the humans would most likely suspect him of some type of witchcraft. Passing the bone needle through the thick deer hide was tough work indeed and it took Rham nearly the entire day to finish the pants and shirt.
As the sun dipped into the trees of the thick jungle, it grew dark quickly. Rham had still been working on Ryan's clothes as the night drew nigh, so the boy began to build a fire. It wasn't long before he had a small flame kindled in the makeshift fire ring. Ryan sat on one side of the ring, Rham sat next to him on a stump. Whenever the minotaur pricked his finger, the entire mass of hair flinched. Ryan thought it almost comical.
Rham finished the clothes about an hour later and Ryan slipped them on overtop his white tee shirt and underpants. They fit perfectly. "Thank you Rham, I know it took quite a lot to do it," Ryan said. The minotaur nodded his head, "Yes, but you are working to help me back into the city, so I have no problem with working to help you achieve your goal." Ryan stood up, examining the sleeves of the shirt. Suddenly, he heard a small twig crack in the undergrowth behind him. Rham stood as well, he put a hand over Ryan's mouth, "Quiet. It's a totem." "A what?" Ryan pushed the hand away and stared into the brush. Rham growled at him, "No. Stay back. Go into the lean-to." Ryan obeyed him, he wanted to find out what a totem meant, but he decided risking both their safety was not worth it. After going inside, he shut the door tightly, but pressed his face against the bars of the small fort to see what was going on. Outside, he saw Rham run headlong into the ferns, vines, and large plants. There was a small flash of light, Ryan thought it was strange to see. Outside he saw a white flash, followed quickly by a black flash into the small open area they had cleared out. There stood a pure white tiger, black striped adorning its body. Across from the tiger, bearing it's sharp teeth, stood a jet black jaguar. The tiger lunged at the jaguar, it's bright claws flashing in the light given by the fire. Blood stained the white on the tiger's face as it ripped through the jaguar's back. The cats both roared in determination, the jaguar took a large slash out of the tiger's hindquarters. The fight went on for what seemed like an hour, in the end, the Tiger took a large bite into the jaguar's neck and killed it.
The tiger laid down on the ground and began licking its wounds. A flash surrounded the animal and in its place, lay Rham. Ryan threw open the door and ran to his wounded friend, "What was that? What happened?" Rham tried to stand, his legs wobbled beneath him. Ryan did his best to hold the tall minotaur up but he was not nearly strong enough to support his weight. Ryan helped his friend to a nearby tree where he could lean against it and then ran inside the small hut and collected the scraps from the clothes. He gave them to Rham who then proceeded to take off his belt, using it to apply pressure to his largest wound after placing a few layers of the deerskin on it. The other wounds he dressed by scraping any dirt away and then doing his best to tie the scraps as a tourniquet.
Ryan helped the minotaur to the small hut where he laid him down on one of the small makeshift beds. The boy went outside and took a few of the flaming branches and brought them inside to the small pit in the lean-to. When the fire had caught the other sticks, Ryan sat next to Rham, "What was that? You said it was a totem. What does that mean?" Rham breathed deeply and gathered his strength, sitting up, he looked at Ryan, "Boy, a totem is like a piece of magic, built into you. Only a certain few have them. Mine, is the White Tiger. Once every day, I can become my totem, those below my totem can change only once every two days and the top totem can change whenever they wish." Rham showed Ryan his necklace, on it, a small tiger carved into a piece of wood, "This is the most crucial part to being a totem. It allows the physical change. Without it, The only difference would be that I could roar like an overgrown cat," Rham said. The carving lines were filled with white paint. "The jaguar out there, was he a totem?" Ryan asked. "Yes," Rham replied, "He was a totem, he had been wandering through the region for all I know and spotted my signature. I guess since he came so close that I was able to detect him, he must have been simply trying to find out what I was doing here." Ryan had a confused look on his face, "You could detect him? What?" Rham nodded, "All totems can detect eachother to an extent. I can easily detect any totems below me for a mile around. In certain regions, there are different tiers of totems. Here, in the jungle, there are four types. I have seen all of them but one. The other two, jaguars and boars are below me, an easy kill in many cases. At one point, there was another white tiger totem in this place, I killed him. That is why my friends suspected me of helping the humans' advance."
Rham repositioned himself and took another deep breath, "After I killed the tiger, I came back and they saw my injuries. I tried to explain that I had been attacked by a tiger but they grew suspicious, they could smell the scent of humans on me. The other totem had been a human. They sent me away and I came back to the gate every day hoping to be let back in. The jungle is a very inhospitable place, totems roam free here." Rham and Ryan spoke more about the totems, Rham explained that in each region, four totems roamed free. Each region, mountain, ocean, jungle, and air, had four of them, one was the most powerful, it could sense any other totems within two miles of itself. Rham's totem, was one below the strongest.
As the night wore on, Ryan and Rham talked quietly in the hut. There was not much that could be done about Rham's injuries unless they managed to get inside Faelmirth to get help, and that, would not be happening.
Ryan awoke, smiling to himself, another dream. He had managed to stay safe throughout it. Ryan wondered, his plans with Rham were indeed risky. Something could happen. Ryan liked that place though, the jungle seemed to have a strange effect on him, numbing his fears. As long as Ryan kept himself out of direct danger, he would be fine. At least, that's what he hoped.
Ryan woke Chris around eleven. He would want to eat and get out to buy food for the weekend that was fast approaching. Chris had gotten his license revoked for DUI. He would have it back soon enough but for now, Ryan had to drive him. Chris put his shirt and shoes on and followed Ryan to his car.
Ryan looked at Chris, "Where to?" Chris sighed, still rubbing his eyes, "Wal-mart first I guess." Ryan nodded and turned the key. As they pulled out of the parking lot, Ryan began to think back on his dream. It really wasn't a dream, it seemed. It felt real, and the injuries Ryan received in the dream were real enough. Though, how it all happened gave him even worse trouble to try and understand. How could he imagine himself getting injured, and have it happen in reality. Ryan's eye clouded, the trees began to shoot up around him again. He stood in front of Rham, the minotaur was bent over, telling him exactly how to travel to Hanaseth. Ryan understood him, everything seemed to go blurry again, Ryan could tell he was walking to Hanaseth, the trees thinned at one point as he crossed over a thin land-bridge. This dream was strange, Ryan knew he was dreaming this time. Time seemed to fly past him as days later, he found himself standing at the gates of Hanaseth. He stood, staring at the gates, he heard a scream, and again.
Ryan shook himself, finding that he was back in his car, is had veered onto the wrong side of the highway. Chris had his hand on the steering wheel, trying to bring the car back. Ryan panicked and swerved the car onto the other side of the highway, blocking his entrance though, was a large semi truck. Ryan collided with the truck at fifty miles per hour. The front end of the car was sucked under the trailer, smashed to bits by the huge tires following the rest of the truck. Ryan's head collided with the windshield, his seatbelt had proved no good. After Ryan had fallen asleep, he had accidentally slipped out from under the shoulder belt. The glass shattered but did not fall out. Chris was restrained by his seatbelt. The car flipped as it was spun out on the other side of the tractor-trailer's wheels, skidding violently into the jersey barrier between the highways. The car smoked as fire broke out in what was left of the engine. Chris unbuckled himself and pried his door open. Ryan tried to take a deep breath, he thought the worst was over, but his lungs were filling with blood and his breath turned into a hacking cough. Chris ran to the other side of the car, pulling his friend out.
Ryan did his best to stand, the world swam around him, blood clotting his vision. He felt a wave of sleep come over him and passed out and Chris held him. Had he been awake, Ryan would have witnessed his car exploding into a bright fireball. Rescue crews arrived on the scene, taking the unconscious body of Ryan Hunt to the back of an ambulance. Chris was taken to another ambulance when he was looked over and found he had broken nothing. Firefighters rushed to put out the blaze as cars drove slowly past in the remaining open lanes.
Ryan stood again in front of the gates of Hanaseth. He called out for someone to open them. Two men came to the window in the lookout tower and whistled to a few below. The huge gate was hefted open. Ryan walked through the tall gates; the keepers gave him strange looks, most likely his clothes. As he entered the city, he saw many humans, all seemed to have something to do, an agenda that needed to be fulfilled. The first thing to catch his eye, a girl his age, she was beautiful. Every one of her features seemed perfect from her deep blue eyes that looked like sapphires to her beautifully smooth looking hands. Ryan would never have approached a girl at home, though now, his fear was gone again. He walked up to her, "Excuse me, do you know who is in charge?" The girl looked at him, when she spoke, her voice seemed to pour like water over her lips, "Well, that would be the king, but he doesn't just talk to anyone. I'm sorry." Ryan frowned slightly. The girl looked at him, "I don't recognize you, what is your name?" "I'm Ryan Hunt," Ryan returned. The girl smiled, "I'm Latika Sanhadra." Ryan looked at her, "Latika, like your name, you're beautiful." The girl blushed, "Thank you Ryan. Come, let's see what we can do about getting you in to speak with someone. Tell me, what is it you are in need of?"
Ryan smiled, excited that Latika was interested in helping him, "I have been to the north and have word from the minotaurs. They wish to make peace." Latika wrinkled her eyebrows, "The minotaurs have always hated us." Ryan sighed, "There is one minotaur I know, named Rham. He was banished from his clan, they thought he was working to help us humans advance on the minotaur land. He is a totem too, a white tiger." Latika's eyes widened, then drifted back to normal, "A totem? What's a totem?" Ryan explained to her openly all about Rham and what he had said. He told her about where they were staying and how the Rham had fought off the jaguar and won. Latika listened intently to Ryan's stories. She kept asking about Rham and his totem. Ryan was too in love to question her motives. Soon the two reached an elaborately decorated building. Latika pointed out that it was the home of the magistrates. "That's where you need to go," Latika said. "Thank you," Ryan replied. Latika put her hand on Ryan's shoulder, "Ryan, do you need a place to stay tonight?" Ryan nodded, "I thought I might find a place to sleep outside the city." Latika laughed, "You have been staying in the jungle for how long now and you still don't know it's too dangerous to sleep alone in there? Stay at my father's house tonight. He will welcome you." Ryan blushed, "Thank you Latika, you have been a great help." Latika shook Ryan's hand. I will wait out here for you, I don't think you'll be long."
Ryan walked up the steps of the ornate building. When he walked inside, he saw many people, all dressed in elaborate robes and tunics. He stopped one of the men, "Sir, please, I'd like to speak with someone about a peace treaty." The man stopped and looked around. He glanced at Ryan and pointed to a thin man sitting on a chair in the far corner of the lobby behind a desk.
Ryan approached the man, who looked up at him, "Yes boy? What can I help you with?" Ryan looked at him, and straightened himself, "I'm here to see about a peace treaty between us and the minotaurs." The man cocked his head to the side, "What?" Ryan sighed, "The minotaurs, they want peace." The man scowled at him, "They've captured you haven't they?" "No they haven't. I am here because they want us to stop exploring into their land and personally, I think we should leave them alone." The man laughed, "They have you under some spell, don't they boy?" Rham shook his head, "Take me serious. I'm not joking with you. They are sick of the humans being in their lands." The man became serious, "Wait. 'The humans' are in their lands? You've turned to their side haven't you?" Ryan was not sure what to say. The man began to jump to conclusions, "you're helping them aren't you?" Ryan put his hands up, "No, I swear, I'm not!" Ryan turned around and began to walk away, the man was still yelling and throwing accusations at him as he left.
When Ryan got outside, he found Latika, still standing in the same spot, waiting. He walked down to her, looking deep into her blue eyes. "Nothing?" She asked. "No," Ryan replied. He shrugged. "Well, come with me, we can find you a bed at my house," Latika suggested. Ryan nodded, "Good idea."
When the two arrived at Latika's house, she introduced Ryan to her father, who was Captain of the guard in Hanaseth. This gave both him and Latika a considerable amount of respect around the city. Latika's father greeted Ryan and welcomed him into the house. Latika showed Ryan upstairs to a guest room. Ryan gladly accepted the bed, his head was pounding and he was unsure as to why. Latika sat on the bed next to Ryan, "You know, you look very tired, perhaps you should sleep now. Nightfall will come in no time and by morning, you can leave again." Ryan sighed deeply, "Yes, that would be nice," Latika's voice calmed Ryan and made him sleepy. "Latika, do you have some aspirin I could have?" Latika looked confused, "What?" Ryan apologized, "I'm sorry, nevermind." Latika nodded, "Goodnight Ryan. See you in the morn." Ryan nodded back and leaned over to Latika, slowly, his lips pressed around hers and the two shared a moment of bliss. Ryan quickly pulled himself back, "I'm sorry, your father…" "would have been fine," Latika interrupted. She hugged him and stood up, walking out of the room quietly.
Ryan laid back on the bed, it was probably made of down. It was very soft, the pillow was the same. Pulling his pants off and tossing them on the floor, Ryan closed his eyes, soon he would be back with Chris in his own world.
Doctors pushed a gurney carrying the limp form of Ryan's body quickly through the halls, the severe concussion he had received after hitting the windshield had cracked his skull, now his brain was swelling and doctors would need to operate. Ryan's worst fear had always been operation, though now, he had no say in the matter, he was in comatose. The coma had come on about ten minutes after the initial impact. The doctors could do nothing to bring him out, but they still had to operate, and operate they did.
The operation was successful. The bits of Ryan's skull that had been fractured were removed to allow the brain to swell without damage. Later, his skull would be reinforced with titanium plates after the swelling went down. Chris had been looked over and the doctors had all agreed that he would be fine. For hours, he had waited for Ryan to come out of the surgery, but even after the surgery, it was not until Chris was notified that Ryan was in comatose that he realized it may be a while before he was able to speak with him again.
Ryan woke, he was still in Latika's house. Strange, he thought. It was just getting dark, his head still hurt him, not as badly as before though. He stared at the ceiling, thinking of Rham. He hoped he would be alright alone in the jungle. He figured a minotaur would be fine alone though, not to mention he had the totem to protect himself with.
Rham lay quietly thinking on the mat in the lean-to. A few branches snapped outside the hut. He rubbed his eyes, glad it wasn't another totem. He was wrong. Something in the trees above him knocked a branch loose. Rham shrugged it off as just another jungle animal exploring the new addition to the undergrowth. An hour later, when the noise was still frequent outside the hut, Rham decided to get up and scare off the little animal.
Outside, Rham saw nothing. Even the enhanced nighttime vision that came with being a minotaur did not help him. Above him, he heard the noise and saw a glistening spot in the trees. Probably just a bird, Rham figured. Rham heard a larger branch snap further out into the forest. He began to walk toward the edge of the clearing. Suddenly, what seemed like a large branch came swinging down out of the trees, tightening around Rham's chest and pinning his left arm to his side. Three coils of a huge python wrapped their way around Rham, a fourth coil made its way around the minotaur's thick neck. The python was still not even completely out of the tree either.
Rham swore, a totem, how could he have missed it. Not only was it a totem, but the only one that was tiered above him. The only one that had a good chance of beating him in a fight. The python would inevitably be exponentially longer than any normal one might be. Totems were always larger than the animal they represented, they were a dire version of the animal.
The python wrapped once around his left leg and then onto his right leg where it's tail wrapped around until there was no more length to wrap with. Rham knew it was likely that he was only covered in half of the entire animal and that even more yet could still be in the tree. With his free right hand, Rham reached for a dagger he kept at his side. Pulling it free, Rham looked into the trees and could now clearly see what must have been a good twenty feet more of coils wrapped tightly around a tree branch. Another end came down from the tree, curling over Rham's right shoulder and all the way down his arm, completely immobilizing it. Finally, he saw the giant beast's head. Dropping the knife, he reached for it using his wrist because it was the only part of his arm that he could move. Grabbing hold of the python's neck, Rham squeezed fiercely, trying to choke the animal.
A smile seemed to creep over the snake's face and it squeezed right back. Rham threw his head back in pain and roared. The snake began to tighten itself all over, the slack pulled out simply made room for more coils and eventually, Rham could not see his own chest, nor his right leg. As he struggled to free himself, the snake hoisted him into the tree. As if to taunt Rham, it threw four more coils around his chest, Rham flailed wildly, trying to get away from the snake in any way possible. He was growing weaker by the second, his breath slowed and grew shallow. Rham breathed as deeply as he could and one more time, the snake tightened the coils around the minotaur as he exhaled. Rham's vision went dark and he became dizzy. Once again, the minotaur made one last attempt to get someone's attention, he roared, using all the breath left in him, hoping that someone, human, minotaur, orge, or elf was near enough to hear his pleas for help. It was too late, as the constrictor pulled tighter, Rham slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
Latika's soft skin caressed Ryan's cheek. He sighed and rolled over, he had slept well that night and Latika was a welcomed sight. He sat up, brushing his hair from his face. Then he grew sad, he realized that he would be leaving to return to Rham that day. Latika knew as well. She kissed Ryan, "I am sorry that you will leave today. I know you will return though, I can sense it." Ryan smiled and bit his lip, "Latika, I know I really haven't known you for a long time, I thank you very much for your help, I love you." Latika nodded, "And I you Ryan." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Ryan stood up, pulling his pants on. Latika escorted him downstairs where he said goodbye to her father and thanked him for the room. Ryan stepped outside, Latika closing the door behind them.
Ryan leaned over to Latika and kissed her on the cheek, "I love you. I'll be back sometime." Ryan knew he would be back, whether before he finished helping Rham, or after, he didn't know. He stepped out into the city and left her. Now he would travel back to Rham and do his best to explain and figure out what to do next.

Three minotaurs stalked quietly through the jungle. They were hunting their dinner, it would support them and their families for the next few days. Grom and Ranoth Es-Hayath were brothers, their friend who was accompanying them was Nothar. He had no clan, they had abandoned him over a simple disagreement. Ranoth spotted a larger boar grazing in a thicket. The three readied their bows and prepared to fire them. A twig cracking caught the boar's attention, it lo oked up and happened to see the three minotaurs out of the corner of it's eyes. Quickly their dinner ran off into the thick undergrowth. Grom cursed. "What was that?" Nothar asked. Ranoth, whose eyes were exceedingly better at spotting small movements pushed his large hand over Nothar's muzzle, "Quiet. Something is moving back there." As the three neared the source of disturbance, something startled all of them. Out of a large fern, came another minotaur. Grom would have asked the minotaur for an explanation, had he thought it was alive. The minotaur was slouched over, his tongue hanging slightly out of his mouth and eyes shut. Frozen on the minotaur's face was an expression of pain. Nothar grunted in shock as the rest of the minotaur proceeded out of the ferns. Wrapped out his body was a huge python, slowly dragging the gray furred minotaur through the forest. Grom, Nothar, and Ranoth's eyes were wide. They'd never seen anything that big before.
Within a few minutes of standing silently, waiting for any danger the huge snake may have posed to them to pass, the three minotaurs looked at eachother. "Nothar, do you recognize him? He must have been hunting." Nothar nodded, "Aye. That is Rham Es-Hestos. He is my friend, we should follow to find out where the animal is taking him, if he is alive, we can help him. It certainly doesn't plan on eating him yet. Had it been hungry, nothing could have prevented a snake of that size from eating him." Grom and Ranoth nodded. They began to follow the snake and its prey to find out where they would go.
After a few minute's pursuit, Ranoth stopped, "We can't just go off chasing this thing down, even if we do find out where it's going, how are three of us going to kill it?" Grom agreed, "Aye, it must be more than seventy feet long." "Well, what do you expect we should do?" Nothar asked. Ranoth shrugged, "We should probably find some others to come with us. I'll be back, give me an hour, leave marks so I can track you faster." Grom nodded, "Run."
Ranoth turned and began running toward the city gates as fast as he could. It took him twenty minutes to reach the outer gates and another ten to get into the actual city.
When Ranoth got into the city, the first place he went, was to the bar. That's where he could find at least one friend to help. Karseth De- Maethodor had been a friend of his for years now and he knew he could be trusted. Sometimes he had a tendency to not know when his friends were trying to be serious. Ranoth was right, when he got to the bar, he found the minotaur there. Thankfully, only starting on his first drink. "Karaseth, we need to get out of here. Find someone else you trust. We need to help someone." Karseth stood up, "Aye. Be right there." The brown furred minotaur jogged outside to get his friend. Ranoth walked outside the bar, when Karseth returned with his closest friend Furthak, Ranoth mentioned to them that they would need their weapons. The two nodded and gripped their swords.
Once back into the forest, Ranoth explained the situation to them. Karseth was skeptical, "You're kidding right? Snakes don't grow that big around here." Ranoth shook his head, "No, they don't, but this one must not be from around here." Furthak stayed quiet, he believed Ranoth, but he didn't really know this other minotaur. He would have to wait until he had physical evidence to back up what Ranoth was saying.
As the three minotaurs ran through the forest, Ranoth could tell where the others were headed as he tracked his friends. Hanaseth. Ranoth put the idea out of his mind, they were chasing another minotaur, it didn't matter where they were going, a brother was at stake.
Finally, they caught up to the others, they had not gone far, perhaps a few miles. When Karseth and Furthak saw what Ranoth had detailed to them, they both gasped. Furthak grabbed Karseth's shoulder, "It's Rham." Rham had been a friend of both Karseth and Furthak for a long time, he was closer to Furthak than anyone else in the city, the others had also heard of him and had spoken to him on occasion but had never shared a meal with him, which, in minotaur tradition, was how two minotaurs became friends. "Is he alive?" Furthak asked. "Grom shrugged, "I do not know. We have been following him for an hour and a half now. He hasn't moved much." Karseth looked at Furthak, "What now?" The giant snake was making its way closer and closer to Hanaseth. None of the minotaurs had any idea why it was going that way.
Furthak motioned to the other minotaurs, "We need to follow him, he's my friend and if he's still alive, we can bring him back." Grom shook his head, "Wait. Isn't he the one who was caught helping the humans?" Karseth nodded, "Aye. He was." They all knew what Grom was thinking. If Rham had been helping the humans, he deserved to be killed. The small group contested the issued for a good twenty minutes. They were getting nowhere. Furthak broke in, "I don't care, he is my friend. Whether he was banished or not, I won't stand by and let him become a meal for a monster." Ranoth and Nothar both nodded. Karseth shrugged again, "We can help him but I won't let him back in the city, it's not just." A few of the others agreed, the rest kept silent.
Nothar pointed into the distance, "Look, we've been here debating so long, I can't see it anymore. We need to catch up to it again." They pushed their way through the thick ferns and brush. They went for a good mile or so until they came upon a small clearing. Right in the distance, they could see Hanaseth. A small cloud of dust was rising from near the gates. There, at the edge of the jungle, they could make out a shape lying in the grass. Furthak ran up to it, Rham lay on the ground, his fur matted and in places, there was blood. Karseth walked up behind him, "Can you wake him up?" Furthak sighed, "I'm not sure." Grom had some water in his waterskin, he poured it on Rham's face. Nothar walked over, he bent down and put an ear to Rham's chest. The minotaur stood up, "He is alive, but unconscious." Nothar shook him violently. Rham coughed and yelled. He sat up for a moment, fresh air finally entering his lungs. He breathed it in deeply and laid back again. Furthak pushed the others back, "Give him room, he needs air." Furthak bent down, "Rham, are you alright? We thought for sure you were dead." Rham coughed again, aggressively sucking down air, "Thank you for coming for me." Furthak nodded, "Thank them," he pointed to the others, "they brought me here after seeing you." Rham sighed, "Thank you, friends."
The clinking of armor alerted the others to the incoming presence of the humans. Nothar looked up, "We need to get out of here. Quickly." Rham sat up, he coughed more, and small bloody clots flew from his mouth, his breathing got heavy. Furthak shook his head, "He's not going anywhere. The rest of you, we're going to need to fight them off. We can do our best but it looks like we are outnumbered four to one." Karseth and Nothar nodded, they all drew their swords and hid in the ferns growing around where Rham lay.
The humans approached Rham, one of them spoke, "Here he is, right where the girl said he was." Another man laughed, "Did you hear how she dropped him?" The others shook their heads. "She smashed 'im over the head with a rock." The rest laughed. "Well, we should get him on a horse. I'm not carrying the stinky mess back to the city," A third man said. The first guard began to bend over to pick up Rham, "Look at him, looks to be more than just getting hit with a rock. Those are puncture wounds." He pointed to the matted fur, pressed down with small puncture wounds lining his shoulder where blood clotted. The others shrugged. "No matter," one of them said, "either way, he's ours now."
A roar pierced the air, Furthak jumped through the bushes, quickly cutting down one of the guards. The rest of the minotaurs came out quickly behind him. The fight was short, five minotaurs were no match for twenty men unless they had gotten previous experience in battle. Furthak's initial entrance gave him an advantage, but it also meant that the other nineteen men around him focused their attention on them first. He took a blow to the back with a large mace, getting knocked to the ground unconscious. The others had to retreat. After taking a few hits, they realized it would not be worth staying around. Karseth argued that they should stay with Furthak and Rham, the others pulled him along with them, there was no point in staying and they could not win this fight.
The humans had lost five men, but the minotaurs were also down one. After the humans stopped chasing the others through the jungle, they turned back to tend to their new acquisitions. Quickly hefting the two minotaurs up onto the spare horses they now had as a result of the few men that they had lost. They had to knock out Furthak, who was still conscious enough to fight back.
Karseth, Nothar, Ranoth, and Grom all stood quietly in the forest. There was no way they could go in after them and they wouldn't be able to get anyone to go in with them. They could do nothing.
Ryan could see the small hut in the distance. He picked up his pace to a brisk jog. He couldn't see Rham, perhaps he was sleeping. When Ryan reached the hut, he found that Rham was gone. He had not left any notes of any kind. Outside, he found Rham's dagger lying on the ground, there were minotaur hoofprints in the ground near a large tree. Ryan panicked. He was alone now and he had no idea where his friend was. Ryan sat down near the fire pit, kicking a few chunks of ash around with his feet. He needed to think straight and figure out what to do. The only other person he knew was Latika, and she was all the way back in Hanaseth. Ryan sighed, if Rham had gone out to find Ryan, he would eventually come back. Yet, he had left no notes or any sign that he had left.
Ryan deliberated for an hour or so and decided to go back to Hanaseth, he would be safe there, and in a week's time, he would come back if he had not yet received word from Rham.
The boy gathered the few provisions left over at the camp that he could use to make the journey back, picking up a small knife Rham had given him before he left, Ryan carved a note into a tree. It instructed Rham to meet Ryan outside the city where the boy would wait every night at dusk.
In the morning, Ryan left for Hanaseth again. He was excited to see Latika again. She would be very happy to see him, he was sure. The journey took him the entire day, as he walked, he took time to keep an eye out for any sign of Rham. While watching for his friend, Ryan saw much of the local wildlife that made its home in the jungle. Colorful birds lined the trees, monkeys and lemurs were also very numerous there. As he neared the city at the end of the day, the sun was dipping into the horizon. Near Hanaseth, the jungle thinned and further past the city, the land became a dry and desolate wasteland. The soil color changed, Ryan hypothesized that the dirt content was different and that prevented the jungle from overtaking the entire city and beyond.
When Ryan got back into Hanaseth, he went straight to Latika's house. He knocked on the door, Latika's father answered. After greeting eachother, Ryan asked, "Where is Latika?" "She has left to go to the market, she should be back soon." Ryan thanked the man and walked back into the street, trying to find his way to the market.
The city streets were lined with torches, Ryan could tell that people were beginning to go home for the night. He spotted Latika at a fruit stall, "Latika!" Latika turned around, "Ryan, what are you doing back here again?" Ryan ran up to her, "Rham was not there in the jungle, I think he may have come back here to find me." Latika's face was emotionless, she said nothing. After a moment, it almost seemed as if she was searching for a response, "Why would he come here to Hanaseth though? Humans hate minotaurs, he would be killed if he tried to come in here." Ryan shook his head, "No, he wouldn't come in here. He would know enough to wait outside for me, but I didn't see him." Latika shrugged, "Well, there is nothing you can do right now. If he is looking for you, he will go back to your hut, when he sees that you are not there, he will come back and wait for you here, will he not?" Ryan nodded, "I left him a message." Latika put her hand on Ryan's shoulder, "Then you have no need to worry. If he has not made contact with you in a week, well, we will have to assume he did not find your message and that he is waiting at your camp." Ryan nodded, "Alright. May I stay at your house?" "You're always welcome at my house Ryan," Latika replied. The two finished buying the fruit that was needed and went back to the house.
Ryan stayed with Latika and her father for three days, he had heard nothing from Rham, each night when he went out to wait, Latika would wait with him. On the third day, Ryan was beginning to become skeptical. There was no way Rham could have missed the note, he would have noticed the missing food and looked around for a message. He told Latika what he was thinking, she agreed with him, "Well, I'm not sure there is much else we can do Ryan. You should not go back there again, it would be a waste of time." Ryan nodded, "Perhaps he found a way back into Faelmirth and didn't bother to tell me." "That is most likely what happened Ryan, the minotaurs are like that. They can't be trusted, that is why we want to get rid of them." Ryan sighed, "Perhaps you're right." The two stood up and left. It was already dark and Latika kept asking Ryan when they could go home. She told him she had errands to run, but she would not explain what they were.
When they got home, Ryan went upstairs. He could hear Latika in the next room humming a tune. He heard some clanking, then all was quiet. She had left. Ryan slipped on a robe and opened his door, he saw her closing the large front door behind her. He snuck down the steps and slipped out the door. Latika was not going to the market, she was headed for the front gate. Keeping close behind her, yet not close enough for her to sense him, Ryan pondered what she could be doing at this time of night.
Ryan followed his friend out the gate where she proceeded to enter the jungle. There was no light to see by and Ryan found that the only way he could see her anymore was by the light of the moon shining off her white dress. As he pushed a few shrubs aside to enter the forest, Ryan saw a flash, the same as when Rham had used his totem. He got excited, maybe Rham had come back for him. He pushed further into the jungle. In a small clearing, something caught his eye. A boar totem stood, its large tusks shone in the moonlight, yet, its face was full of fear. A small rustling in the bushes on the other side of the clearing began to grow louder. A large brown snake slithered out of the undergrowth. Ryan watched as more and more of the snake's body came out of the bushes. It must have been seventy feet long and as thick around as a minotaur in the middle. The boar stood absolutely still as the python raised its head, the snake struck and the boar dodged the attack, jumping to the side. The large pig ran into the undergrowth, hoping to avoid its fate. The snake slid after it. Both of them had disappeared into the darkness. All Ryan could hear was the boar squealing and after a minute, it began to sound more forced. The squealing got quieter until finally it stopped. Ryan knew the snake had won. Then the flash came again. Ryan's mind raced, where was Latika? Had the snake totem also eaten Rham? Out of the bushes came a white robed girl, laughing quietly. It was Latika. Ryan gasped and then cupped his hands over his mouth. Latika looked over, smiling, "Ryan, what are you doing out so late tonight?" Ryan shook, "You- You killed Rham, didn't you?" Latika laughed, "No stupid boy, I captured him and sent him to jail, there in Hanaseth, a minotaur captive is worth three thousand gold coins, and I found two of them. My father doesn't know about my totem, but he is happy for me nevertheless." Ryan couldn't think straight, if Rham was in prison, there was still a chance to get him out, but, he had unknowingly betrayed him by telling Latika about his friend. What did she mean by 'two of them'? Latika shook her head, "How could you have not seen what you did? You were so blinded by your love for me that you were willing to tell me everything. Once they extract the information out of him, we will mount an invasion of Faelmirth." Ryan's eyes grew red and a lump grew in his throat as he realized that she had just been using him. He couldn't fix what he had done now. Latika walked over to him, "Do you still love me now Ryan?" she teased. Ryan turned around and dashed into the jungle, if he could get back to Faelmirth, he could at least warn the others what was going to happen.
He could hear Latika laughing as he ran, he was confused as to why she was laughing now. Until he saw the flash again. Adrenaline pumped through his body, he knew all too well what was happening. He needed to get to the gates before she caught up to him. A futile effort, he knew, but it was worth trying. Ryan ran as fast as he could, he could hear Latika sliding easily along the jungle floor behind him. A sharp pain struck his ankle, he fell to the ground. Terror filled him as he saw Latika latched onto his foot. He tried to kick her away but she had bitten down too tightly. He pushed himself back up again, stepping on her neck, it did nothing though. Instead Latika took the opportunity to coil around Ryan's leg. The force knocked Ryan to the ground again, Latika now sure that she had a grip on Ryan's leg, released her bite and slithered up his side.
As she neared his face, Ryan grabbed her neck to hold her back, though it did no good in the long run. She quickly slid five large coils around him from his waist to chest. Only his arms and left leg were free. He could feel her weight crushing down on him. Using her tail, Latika coiled around the boy's right arm that held her neck, only a small amount of pressure was enough to make him release his grip on her neck. Ryan used his free arm to roll himself over, he pushed himself into a sitting position and did his best to stand up, Latika's weight was too much, he yelled for help to anyone close enough to hear him. Latika coiled twice more around Ryan's chest, he fell to the ground again, pushing against the coils with his right arm was useless. The snake tightened around him until he could feel his breath being forced out. Ryan gave in; he had no strength left to fight with. He didn't care what happened anymore, the guilt of betraying Rham and the rest of the minotaur civilization was too much.
"Ryan," a low, questioning growl came from in front of him, he opened his eyes. Rham stood in front of him. To his right, another minotaur, brown furred and about the same height. His eyes were a golden brown and his complexion was that of being in deep thought. Ryan tried to stand up, he fell backward as a sharp chest pain hit him. He looked down at his bare chest. It was bruised and red. "Rham, I'm sorry. I thought I could trust her." Rham shook his head, "It doesn't matter anymore. What good does your apology do for the others? Now they will end up just like us."
Ryan sat quietly against the wall. His stomach twisted into knots at the thought of what he had done. Now he knew Latika, what she was really like. Perhaps the humans here were all like that. He wanted to give his kind more credit than he knew they were due.
Eyes clamped shut, Ryan began to try and explain what had happened. "Rham. She said she loved me. I thought I could trust her and I tried to get her to help me." Rham shook his head, "You betrayed all of us!" The second minotaur stood up and approached Rham, "Friend, it would seem that he did not know what he was doing." The brown minotaur was calm and collected, Rham seemed to be losing it, "How can you think that Furthak? He knew exactly what he was telling her, he knew full well she was a human. Whether he knew her other secret or not, he still knew she was a human!" Rham turned to Ryan, "How could you have been so stupid?!" Ryan didn't know what to say. He thought for a minute, "Rham, I know you won't believe what I'm saying, but I'm going to say it once more and perhaps you will accept it. I was blind. If you had ever met a girl like that, you may know. I can't ask for you to forgive me, I know what I did was wrong now. I just want you to understand." The small prison cell was quiet for what seemed like forever. None of the three spoke. Rham pulled at his beard for a minute. The gray fur on his shoulders was still stained and matted with blood. He sighed and spoke slowly, "Ryan, I have met someone like that. She loved me, and I loved her. Well, she is dead. She tried to follow me on a hunting outing. She thought it would be funny if she were to come back with a wild boar, and I nothing," he paused, "They slaughtered her like we would do to the animals we hunted. We found her the next day in a swamp." Rham's breathing was heavy. Ryan could see his eyes glazed over. The brown minotaur placed his hand lightly on his friend's shoulder, he was there when they had found Cephera. It truly did look like a slaughter-house scene.

[Minotauric]

Ryan pushed himself up from the ground; he approached the minotaur with his head low. "I'm sorry Rham, If I could- " Rham interrupted him, "No Ryan, I understand. Don't apologize, I forgive you." Ryan was extremely relieved, "Thank you friend." Ryan stretch out his hand, to shake Rham's. The minotaur smiled, grabbing Ryan's hand, he embraced the boy, "No. thank you Ryan. I shouldn't have blamed you."
Furthak cleared his throat, "Now that you two have resolved your differences, we have to figure out how to get out of here." Rham smiled, "Yes Furthak. You are always ready to move forward, are you not?" The minotaur's well trimmed fur bounced up and down as he nodded his head. Ryan could only have guess that Rham used to keep his fur as clean and trimmed as Furthak's was now. If that was the case, he then assumed that living alone for months before Ryan came was the reason that Rham's was so shaggy. Though, something else about Rham's personality told Ryan that it had always been long and shaggy.
The small group of three sat down, trying to think of a way to escape and get back to Faelmirth. They were at a loss for the most part when it came to ideas. Ryan had asked Rham about his totem, he questioned him as to why he did not just transform. Furthak seemed confused as to what they were talking about. Rham had to explain to him what Ryan meant. Within this explanation, Rham also told Furthak about Latika. Furthak was surprised when Rham finished explaining all that had happened, "I've known you for one hundred and sixty years and you managed to keep that a secret from me?" Rham laughed, "I am still not even sure to this day how I could have kept such a big secret for so long."
Rham told Ryan that before he had been attacked by Latika, he had been wearing his totem necklace and after, it was gone. Ryan frowned and Furthak let a low growl escape from within his chest. Ryan let his mind wander, sometimes; his best ideas came when he wasn't trying to think of anything in particular in the first place. He began to think of Latika again. He wondered why she placed him in prison instead of leaving him to wander Hanaseth under careful watch. It made sense to him; at least he could be free of the small, cramped cell. He stood up, his chest was still in great pain, "Rham, I think I may have an idea. Well, at least the start of one. Perhaps I can get Latika to let me out of here and put me under supervision. I am of no real threat inside the city here." Furthak and Rham both nodded. "And if you can get out there into the city, perhaps you can find a way to get out a warning, or, better yet, find my necklace," Rham suggested.
Ryan walked to the thick wooden door of the cell, he yelled for the guard. The large man stomped over to him, "What you want?" Ryan glanced back at the minotaurs and then back to back to the guard, "Would you please find Latika for me? The girl who brought me here. I need to speak with her." The guard laughed, "What's in it for me?" Ryan's eyebrows furrowed, he fished in his pockets for something to entice the guard with. His hands found a small packet of gum that he had moved from his jeans into the new pants Rham had made for him, his cell phone and ipod were also there. He pulled out the gum, "This. This is chewing gum. I promise you, you have never seen this before and in your lifetime, will not ever see it again." He handed a piece of it to the man, "Take it, eat it. It tastes amazing." The guard cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowed, "This isn't some sort of trickery, is it?" Ryan shook his head, "No. I have nothing against you." The guard took the gum and put it in his mouth cautiously. He began to chew and his face lit up, "This is truly amazing. Where do you get this?" Ryan smiled but shook his head, "I'm sorry, it's not from around here and I can't find any more." The man shrugged, "I'll go find your girly." Ryan thanked the man.
Not twenty minutes later, Ryan heard the main door to the prison creak open. Latika stepped into the light, "What do you want Ryan?" Latika glared at the three of them. Her eyes were different. Her pupils were slits, surrounded by yellow irises, just like a snake's. "I was thinking Latika, I know you probably hate me, but would you kill me?" He pointed to Rham, "This minotaur wants me dead for what I did to him. If you leave me in here, I'm as good as dead." Rham growled at Ryan, playing along with the boy's scheme. Latika's face remained emotionless. "Please Latika," Ryan begged, "I know you're feelings toward me, but do you really want me dead?" Latika blinked, as though she was bored, "You know Ryan, I don't want you dead, but I don't want you running off and telling all of Faelmirth about this." Ryan dropped his head.
Rham could see that Ryan was fighting a losing battle. He leaned into the darkness and whispered something in Furthak's ear. Without hesitating a moment longer, he leapt up from where he was standing towards Ryan, roaring at the top of his lungs. Furthak acted quickly, grabbing his friend's arm and holding him back. Ryan jumped out of the way as the huge gray minotaur fell to the ground at his feet, clawing at the dirt, trying to reach Ryan.
Ryan grabbed the iron bars in the door's small window, "Please Latika. Help me, you can leave me with a guard at your house, anywhere but here." Latika sighed, somewhat amused by Rham's actions, though it was obvious that she had no idea it was all an act. She nodded to Ryan and called the guard, "Let him out. Find someone off duty to watch him. Ryan was let out of the cell, he glanced back at Rham as he left. The minotaur was still lying on the floor with a look of pure hatred on his face. Ryan was led up the stairs. When he reached the top, he was let into the sunlight. A guard who had most obviously been sleeping until his awakening that must have been recent approached Latika and Ryan, "I suppose I'm to watch over you now?" Ryan nodded. Latika gave instructions to the guard. She told him that Ryan was free to roam the city, but he could go nowhere alone and was not allowed to leave. When she was finished, she left. She did not bother to say anything more to Ryan. It was clear to him that she was sick of the boy and wanted nothing else to do with him. It made him sad to see her walk away like she did, but yet, she left a bad taste in his mouth. He no longer wanted anything to do with her.
Karseth swore. They had all waited for nearly half a day to see if they would find out anything more from the two minotaurs. After ten hours had passed, they decided to go back to Faelmirth. There was nothing they could do to help. Four minotaurs had no chance of getting into the human city without being attacked and locked up. Nothar suggested they try to negotiate a release, but Grom pointed out that the two were as good as dead in Hanaseth by themselves. Chances were good, that the humans would break the two minotaurs' will and forced them to work for their own causes.
Grom was not particularly interested in finding the two again. He had other things to do. It wasn't that he didn't care. Grom stood nearly seven feet, three inches from the ground. His fur was gray with small patches of white. At almost forty years older than Rham, he had one son, his wife had left him only three years before. His eyes were deep blue and his complexion was calm. When angered, the minotaur became an unstoppable force, capable of taking out many adversaries at once.
Karseth, on the other hand, wanted to do nothing until he found out what had happened and what they could do to help. He had been good friends with Furthak for many years. He had met Rham about ten years after meeting Furthak. Rham and Karseth spoke on numerous occasions. In fact, they even worked together when the outer wall of Faelmirth was being built. His fur was black, jet black. He was exactly seven feet, six inches high, his horns curved outward from his head, they were also black. Despite the dark impression he gave when first meeting him, Karseth was very cool tempered when he wanted to be. Otherwise, his mood could become fierce.
Ranoth seemed to side with Grom. He knew Rham as a friend, they had once been great friends and spoke with eachother all the time. As time went on, the two began to become distracted with their own business and they began to speak less. Eventually it got to the point where they were simply acquaintances, two minotaurs who knew eachother. In a crowd, Ranoth would never have been able to pick out Rham, perhaps it was for that reason, that he did not immediately recognize Rham when they were following him in the jungle. Ranoth was different than many minotaurs in the fact that he was a blond minotaur. Blond minotaurs were extremely rare and were said to only have been born in the fourth generation of a long forgotten bloodline. Many minotaurs were skeptical of this rumor, if that was what it really was. Ranoth did not, for the most part, believe the rumor. Though, something inside him was always curious. His brown eyes seemed to grow yellow when Ranoth was in a good mood, which was the case much of the time. At a height of seven feet, one inch tall, Ranoth was short for his age.
Nothar was all for siding with Karseth. He had known Rham for only twenty years, a short time in the life of a minotaur as, on average, they grew to be over two hundred years old. Many times they would drink together at the tavern near Rham's house and make up stories to tell to friends. They always had fun together, they didn't sell their stories as truth to anyone. The stories were meant for entertainment. Nothar was also black furred like Karseth, though unlike Karseth's black fur, Nothar's was streaked with gray and much longer. His eyes were brown, plain, like the bark of a tree. After his clan had banished him, Nothar moved to the other side of the city of Faelmirth where he joined a small group of friends who hunted together.

Furthak sighed. He had not yet said goodbye. Mikahira and he had been married for sixty-three years now. They both spent all the time they could together, riding horses, exploring the nearby jungle outside the inner wall. Rham enjoyed bugging the two and poking fun at their relationship, though, he was not the only one. Mikahira's closest friend, Arenetha also loved to nag Mikahira incessantly, constantly making jokes of her and Furthak. It was a funny thing to watch. Both Rham and Arenetha were never serious about thier jokes though, it was always in jest.

If there was one thing Furthak wanted right now, it was to be able to say goodbye. It wasn't that he was doubting Ryan, he wanted to trust the boy, but she would be worried now. She would know something was wrong. He could see her blue eyes in his head now, Mikahira, it meant 'blue eye' in his own language. He stood up and began pacing, as he normally did when something pestered him. It was not long before Rham stood up and walked over to him. Furthak didn't seem to notice the other minotaur. Rham held out his arm in front of Furthak, who blindly walked directly into it. Furthak stopped and shook his head, taking a minute to realize what had happened. "You are pacing again Furthak." When Furthak paced, Rham began to get anxious, it wasn't that something was actually going to happen, but it made him nervous nevertheless. Furthak apologized, his pacing would have to stop unless he wanted to get into a brawl with Rham right there and then. He paused his thoughts. A brawl. It could get them out. He glanced at Rham, who had just laid down on the floor and was trying to sleep. He then walked to the door of the cell, locating with his eyes the few gaolers who were outside the cell.

Walking back to Rham, he kicked the gray mass of fur that lay on the floor in front of him. Rham sat up, his face held a questioning look, "What was that for?" Furthak shrugged and kicked him agian. Rham reached out and grabbed Furthak's leg, becoming irritated.

Furthak laughed a little, he knew when his friend became irate, he used brute force to deal with the problem. In many cases, Rham had ended up smashing things, simply because they annoyed him. One time, while he still lived in the city, Rham had broken a precious clockwork instrument that had belonged to the owner of one of the bars that he frequented. Clockwork instruments were extremely rare in that day, the particular gadget that he destroyed was a small, ticking clock, given to the owner by his father. Clocks were even more rare, though not quite as valuable becauase at the time, nobobdy bothered to keep track of the hours. Anyway, Rham had been at the bar for at least three hours and was becoming a bit drunk. Had he been drinking regular ale, he would have been fine, but because minotaurs have a higher tolerance to alcohol, they brewed a special brew that was much more powerful and could knock any human out. Rham spied the ticking clock and watched the pendulum swing back and forth. He began to growl at it and command it to stop. It did not. After a few minutes of the ticking, Rham stood up, walking over to the mantle and with his fist, smashed the clock into bits. As a result, Rham was made to leave the tavern and told not to come back.

Furthak pulled his leg away from Rham, stumbling, not realizing until then that Rham's time in the jungle had made him stronger. Rham stood up, "What are you doing?" He commanded. Furthak laughed and punched Rham in the gut. That was enough for Rham. He saw no reason to hold back. He jumped at Furthak, grabbing his arm. Furthak pulled away, pushing Rham's head down. Rham released his grip and jumped on Furthak's back, his arms around his opponent's chest. Furthak bent forward, trying to slide Rham off of himself. At that point, Rham lifted his legs off the ground, using his weight to his advantage. Furthak, overwhelmed by Rham's weight on him, was forced to the ground when Rham began to hit him repeatedly. The door of the cell swung open and six men came rushing in. They took ahold of Rham and did their best to pull them off of him. Rham swung his fist angrily at the closest guard, making contact with his chest. The man flew backwards. Finally, they managed to pull Rham off of Furthak. The brown minotaur lay motionless on the floor. He could have stood up, but it ws not part of his plan, instead, he chose to remain there with his eyes shut. Three guards helped Furthak up, the other two drew their swords to keep Rham back while the last man stood up again.

Furthak was helped out of the cell on the shoulders of the guards. The door was shut on Rham's face as he tried to follow them out. Furthak was taken above the surface, back into the light. He squinted as the men pulled him along, trying to see Ryan. He couldn't have gotten far. Furthak was escorted to a nearby building in which he was taken to a large bed and laid down. His jaw was bleeding severely and one or two teeth were gone. His eye was already swelling as well.

A younger lady walked into the room, she grimmaced as she saw Furthak on the bed. He was unsure as to whether it was because of his injuries or just the fact that he was a minotaur. He wiped his jaw. The woman aproached him and cleaned his face up with a damp rag. He winced as even the slight pressure touched him. She continued to clean his wounds for a while, without saying anything, she left when she finished. Here, Furthak would bide his time until the nightfall came.

Rham sat quietly confused. Quite puzzled as to what had just happened. It had been nearly two hours since Furthak had been taken away. Rham hadn't realized quite how hard he had been hitting him until he realized soon after that his knuckles were bleeding slightly. Rham wondered why Furthak had angered him like that, Furthak knew that Rham was likely to do something like that when harrased. Rham couldn't help it, it was his instinct, perhaps not a good instinct, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

Night was drawing nigh. Furthak was still gone. Rham was becoming worried that he had severely injured his friend. The gaoler came to the door of his cell and threw in a small peice of mutton. In the morning, the interrogator was to come. He would force Rham, or at least, do his best, to tell of any weaknesses in the outer wall of Faelmirth.

Ryan walked the streets aimlessly. He couldn't even begin to imagine where Latika could have put Rham's totem necklace. As he wandered the streets, the guard followed closely behind him. They moved into the residential district, as Ryan passed by Latika's house, a thought hit him. He could search her house. It wasn't much, but it was a start. He would have to make sure she wasn't home though, that would be a problem because he couldn't simply ask her to leave. He approached the house. The guard seemed wary about him going near it. Ryan turned to the guard, thinking quickly, "Some of my clothes are still in her house, as well as some other possessions that I would like to get back." The guard nodded, "I'll be coming with you to keep an eye on you." Ryan sighed, this would make things difficult.

Rham peered out the small window in the top of the cell that was level with the ground. He could see the horizon beginning to lighten. He was beginning to get unnerved like he had never been before. He shivered violently, knowing he had only a few hours left. He turned and sat down on the small bench in the cell, waiting for something to happen. Little did he know that right outside, Furthak stood pressed against the wall of the jail.

Furthak slid around the corner into the narrow hallway, opening the door, he quietly walked inside. The guard looked at him, surprised. Furthak grabbed him, wrenching his neck sideways. The man fell silently to the ground. "Hri Jesek Una! Please! Help me!" Furthak turned, behind him were bars, and in the darkness, he could see another minotaur. Furthak leaned against the bars of the cell, "Who are you?" A pair of hand came out of the darkness, gripping the iron firmly, "I am Attahai, I've been here for almost a year. Please. Let me out." Furthak turned, picking the small ring of brass keys off of a hook on the wall, fumbling, he placed the in the lock and turned the it. The door swung open and an immaciated, weak form fell to the ground in the doorway. Furthak picked Attahai up, "Come with us, we are going back to Faelmirth." Attahai nodded, Furthak set him back against the wall, moving down the hallway to where Rham was.

He unlocked and opened the door, Rham stood up, "Where were you? What happened? Are we clear to leave? What's going on?" Furthak shook his head, "i'Sarraki Rham." Rham sighed at the command to 'move his horns'. He walked out of the cell, seeing Attahai on the ground, he glanced at Furthak, "Who is this?" His friend helped the young minotaur off the ground, "THis is Attahai. He said he's been here for nearly a year." Rham frowned, "I'm sorry Attahai, we can't stay and talk about this right now though, we have very little time before the city begins to wake." Attahai nodded.

The three walked up the steps and came out into the open, the gate was guarded, even at night and through the early morning, they would have to fight their way out.

As they headed for the gate, their way was clear, but at the gate itself stood two guards. Furthak propped Attahai up against a small house near the gate. He and Rham snuck up on the two guards. Waiting for the right moment to jump, they stayed in the shadows until the guards were facing away from them. Rham and Furthak both leapt on the two guards, putting them in headlocks. The guards struggled until their air supply ran out and then collapsed onto the ground. Furthak ran back to get Attahai while Rham removed the huge iron bar from the gate and pushed it open.

ANother night had passed, Karseth and Ranoth were sitting quietly in the pub, they had both ordered lunch and were waiting for it to arrive. "I really don't think we should be here wasting time. We should be trying to find a way to help Furthak and Rham," Karseth said. Ranoth nodded, "I agree, but there is nothing more we can do. I'm not stomping down the gates of Hanaseth to rescuse and outlaw." Karseth slammed his fist on the table, "It's not just him, its Furthak too. Besides, Rham was not sentenced to death at their hands." Ranoth took a deep breath. This had been quite unexpected and nothing like this had ever happened before. Sure, others had been exiled and lost to the humans, but never had anyone attempted to rescue someone else from them.

Two large plates of steaming venison were placed in front of the two, a large mug of mead next to each plate. The two looked at the meals, suddenly they were not so hungry. "We make Furthak priority, he is not the one who was banished from the city," Ranoth said.

The two stood up and walked out. As they walked hurriedly in the direction of the gates of the city, Ranoth stopped, "Wait a minute." Karseth turned around to Ranoth run back to the pub. He waited a minute, confused. Ranoth came walking back out of the pub, venison in hand. Karseth laughed and they walked on.

As they came out of the residential district, Karseth stopped dead in his tracks. It was Furthak and Rham, along with another minotaur that he did not recognize. Karseth and Ranoth laughed and ran to them, greeting them. Furthak introduced Attahai, who was in a much better state now that he had been in the sunlight for a while.

Furthak explained to Karseth and Ranoth how they had managed to get out and how Rham unknowingly set the escape plan in motion by reacting violently to Furthak's pestering.

Rham was glad to be back in Faelmirth, however short his visit would be. He quicky made his way through the business district to the palace, Furthak and Attahai followed.

When they reached the palace, they were greeted not so warmly by a certain guard who recognized Rham and began to yell at him, telling him to leave and go back to the jungle where he belonged. Rham ignored him and pushed him aside. After they entered the main halls of the palace, they were approached by a minotaur in long robes, most likely the king's attendant. Ceremonial beads hung down from his horns and adorned his stately robes.

Furthak put his hand up in front of Rham as he was walking forward, "Wait, I'll handle this." Rham rolled his eyes and nodded. Though neither of them knew a whole lot about govermental procedures in the city, Rham knew less than an elf would have known.

Furthak approached the higher ranking minotaur, bowing once before him. Furthak was very analytical, that was perhaps one thing that bothered Rham about him the most. When Rham had always wanted to jump forward at the first good oportunity, Furthak was always calculating and deciding. He memorized many little facts that other would have forgotten simply because of their supposed uselessness. As a result he knew at least a little bit about how to approach a Faelmirth official. The minotuar nodded, to Furthak, it was a motion signifying that he could not stand up again. Furthak approached him, speaking quietly in whispers. Rham could only understand a few words that were spoken, such as, "Rham... not smartest... please excuse." The minotaur let a slight growl escape his throat. The official's eyes widened at the sound and he looked up at Rham, who lowered his head.

Furthak walked back to his friend, who gave him a menacing look, "Listen Rham, when you greet him, recognize the emporer first, then you may present the details of what you learned while in Hanaseth." Rham nodded.

As he approached the official, Rham also bowed like Furthak did, except for the fact that he did not wait for permission to stand again. The official decided to overlook this annoyance.

Rham cleared his throat, "Hri Jesek Hotakani," he spoke gruffly. The minotaur nodded, "Continue, but may I remind you, though you may be uneducated, you are still expecsted to act civilized in my presence, I am the emporer's aide, and you will respect me." Rham cocked his head at the mention of the phrase 'uneducated' and looked back at Furthak, who smiled with a clever aire about himself. Rham sighed and turned back to the official, nodding, "Sir, I was recently taken captive by a number of humans. In my captivity, I managed to overhear that they are planning to mount an attack on us." The minotaur closed his eyes, sighing, "Please tell me you're joking.

Chris sat over Ryan's hospital bed, his friend's breathing was slow, but at some time erratic and it seemed like he was in a panic. It had been three days now since the crash and Ryan's parents had come to stay with them. The room was quiet, but the three stayed and watched over Ryan in case he might wake up. None of them knew what was going on inside Ryan's head. The mysterious gash on his arm had healed together extremely rapidly. It seemed as if it was secluded into a state of hyper-animation. Now only a few days after the incident had occured, there was but a scar left on his arm.

Ryan ascended the cold steps into the house, his guard following closely behind to make sure he didn't steal anything. Ryan began to analyze his situation, the guard was wearing light leather armor, too much to be able to inflict any damage upon his chest, but his face was left unprotected. If he could make his was into a room and catch the guard by surprise as he walked around the corner, his chances of escaping would be significantly multiplied. He looked for the room he had been staying in, it was at the end of the ornately decorated hallway.

Ryan walked around the corner after entering the room and quickly picked up a heavy candlestick. The man walked around the corner, just as Ryan had predicted. He swung the candlestick at the guard's face, effectivly shattering the man's jaw and knocking him unconcious. Ryan looked at the blood pouring from the mangled jaw and shrugged, figuring that now the man would no longer be able to tell anyone else what had happened if he were questioned until his mouth healed.

Ryan took the man's armor off and stripped him of his shirt and pants so that he had something to wear that would help him blend in a little better. He walked back down the steps and out of the house.

The streets of Hanaseth were not crowed, but certainly not empty either. Ryan walked calmly to the gates of the city, trying to stay as unnoticable as he could. He reached the gate and motioned for the guards to open it, they paused for a moment, Ryan tensed. The guard pulled at his beard, "You look a bit young to be headed into the jungle by yourself, aren't you? Rhan shook his head, "No, I can handle myself. I've done it many times before and I know how to avoid those hairy beasts that reside to the north." The man looked at the other and shrugged, they opened the gates. Ryan strode out of the gate, his ego slightly boosted by his act of deception.

Rham stood silently beside his friends, the higher ranking minotaur had gone into the emperor's throne room to discuss the matter with him.

Rham walked back to where Furthak and Attahai stood. He sighed, "Things just got much, more, complicated." Furthak laughed uneasily, "As if they weren't before?" Attahai kept silent, unsure of what to say, it this point, he was weak and barely standing in the first place, let alone ready to start talking much.

A few minutes later, the minotaur came back out and approached Rham, "Are you sure that is all the information you have?" Rham nodded, "I'm sure." The other minotaur sighed, "You all can leave, we need to know where you live in case we need you though. What district are you living in?" Rham sighed, "Well. Actually, I'm not, really, living, anywhere..." his voice trailed off." "What? What do you mean?" The minotaur asked.

Rham closed his eyes briefly, "I was, well. I was accused of helping the humans find a weak point in our defenses." The minotaur across from him stepped back, his eyes wide. Furthak yelled, "Accused wrongly!" in hopes of trying to help Rham's case.

The minotaur looked at Rham and to Furthak, "I will speak with Him about this, he may decide to disaccredit your information. Perhaps we will wend spies. In the meantime, I will send a messenger to Furthak's house if He decides to do anything with the information you've given us." Furthak shook his head, "He's not lying, he was not in league with the humans." The other minotaur nodded, "I will tell Him that there is at least someone who will back up your story."

Frustration grew in Rham's chest. He had no more cedibility here inside the city now, no matter, he would have to deal with it. The best he could do would be to get his friends out of the city now. Rham hoped Ryan was alright and that he had figured something out.