Page 16 of The Minotaur's Motivation

His voice was sibilant, but that didn't make his words any less terror inducing. I didn’t want to be eaten by a snake. Frantically, I swung my head side to side. I couldn’t see Cam anywhere. My stomach sank. He wouldn’t leave me here unprotected. Something was horribly wrong.

The snake leaned closer to me, his face nearly touching mine. I tensed, ready for the worst. Ready for the pain to hit.

An axe swiped past my face. I didn't even have time to flinch before it was gone again. A look of shock registered on the snake monster's face before his head slid sideways off his neck and hit the floor with a sickening thud. I hit the floor about the same time as a scream finally ripped from my throat. It was short-lived as I felt rough hands grabbing me and pulling me across the floor. I clawed at the hand holding my arm, and kicked as hard as I could at the thick green legs. Kicks that I'm sure would have hurt a human just bounced off the hard muscles. I was unceremoniously flung behind a sideways table in the main area between the cells. I scrambled to my feet ready to fight whoever this was, and came face to face with the orc from the medical ward.

"Stay in here, out of the way. There's about to be a ruckus."

"What? A… what ruckus?"

A broad grin crossed his face.

"The one I'm about to start. I wouldn't like these fellas looking at my mate like that. So, I'm gonna tell them off till your boy gets here."

"Cam?"

A flicker of hope lit up in my stomach, pushing away the roiling fear.

"Aye, I can hear him coming. Seems right mad."

Before I could ask anything else, the orc turned and ran back towards the rest of the monsters. I peered around the table just in time to see him take a running leap into the air and come flying down, arms and legs outstretched, on a group of monsters like a humongous, screaming spider monkey with an axe. Bodies crunched underneath him and went flying to all sides. I ducked back behind the table, not wanting to see the carnage unfold. I could hear sickening thuds and crashes interspersed with shouts of what sounded like pure orc joy.

Cam is nearby, I have to get to him.

There was a lot of fighting going on between me and the exit. I heard a loud crack and then the scream of someone in a lot of pain.

"Take his eyes out, Bloodletter!" the orc roared.

I didn't know who Bloodletter was, but I absolutely did not want to see any eyes coming out. I needed to sneak out and try not to be noticed in the chaos. My hands were shaking and I wasn’t sure my legs were going to work, so I took a few deep breaths to try to calm myself. It didn’t work. I peered out again. The orc was swinging his axe with a practiced efficiency that was almost beautiful. The very large axe that he should not have in prison.

Really not the time to be worrying about illegal weapons, Cerys.

Most of the fighting was in the back of the room towards Cam’s cell. It seemed like most of the monsters had joined in on trying to bring down the orc. But there were a few standing around the edges of the room just watching and cheering. I couldn't see a clear path. I needed to get to Cam. It was all I could think about.

A rumble shook the walls. Then another slightly louder. One louder again. Some monsters were looking around now. Then the wall at the end of the cell block seemed to explode, sending rubble flying at everyone. Bodies bowled across the floor all over the cell block.

As the dust cleared, a large black furry body straightened up and Cam stood there, eyes red and glowing with fury. He threw his head back and let out a deep echoing roar that shook the entire cell block. Almost every monster in the cell block flinched or took steps back away from him. I knew instantly, maze madness. My stomach clenched. I didn’t know if I could calm him out of a full-blown episode.

"Behind the table," the orc yelled from the floor, before charging out of the hole Cam had left in the wall and disappearing.

I stepped out and Cam locked eyes with me. I thought I saw a moment of comprehension, but then an ogre stepped between us. He rubbed his hands together before pulling a nasty-looking dagger out of his waistband.

"I've never killed a minotaur before," the ogre said in a whistly voice.

Cam ran at him, head down and horns first. He impaled him before lifting him in the air above his head, and then pulled both of his arms off like it was nothing. Blood spurted out in arcs over Cam. He threw the ogre down on the ground before his eyes locked with mine again and he strode past the wailing monster. I fought the bile that was threatening to escape my stomach and crawl up my throat.

As Cam strode towards me dripping with blood, I stumbled back. He'd just ripped someone's arms off. I nearly fell over, but he caught me and picked me up again, holding my face in front of his. Hot breath covered me as he snorted. The wetness in my panties took me by surprise. He threw me over his shoulder. We spun around and he charged back across the cell block and out of the hole he had made.

The corridors outside the cell block were chaos. I hadn't realized with all the noise of the fighting, but it looked like none of the guards had any clue what was going on or what to do about it. Monsters were flooding out of the cell block behind us. My heart ached as I thought of my friends. I didn't know where any of them were, or if they were okay. Cam was running, and I wasn't sure if he even knew where we were going. People threw themselves out of our way as Cam charged along. My brain could barely grasp what was going on around me. But as we charged down a corridor, I recognized the door to the therapy block.

"Left," I shrieked.

Cam veered left.

Okay, he can hear and listen to me.

I shouted directions to him until we reached the back entrance to the prison. He charged right out of the doors horns first. I felt splinters of wood hitting us, but he didn’t stop. Other monsters were right behind us. No one seemed interested in hanging around. Cam’s hooves thudded against the concrete until we left the grounds and were racing through the forest. Squelching noises as he ran told me it had rained at some point. He charged forward, grunting and panting now, but never slowing. It felt like we ran for hours, but it was probably only minutes. My ribs were throbbing.

"Cam. Please, put me down."

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