The Minotaur's attention returned to me and he raised the arrow again. I didn't attempt to move out of the way this time and raised my sword instead. The Minotaur laughed. "Are you going to attempt to deflect my arrows? I thought you were smarter than that. They can penetrate any metal. Did you forget what happened to your chestplate already?"
He shot the bow as soon as he finished speaking, and I focused as I remained standing in place. As soon as the arrow was close enough, I moved my sword to where it was about to hit, and it immediately ricocheted off of my sword and stabbed into the ground. The Minotaur stood frozen in shock and I couldn't help but smile. "This isn't exactly any metal I'm wielding."
His surprise faded and he retrieved another arrow. "Then I guess it comes down to how fast your reflexes are. We'll see how long you last." He shot one arrow after the other at a surprising speed. I deflected every one of them as they hurtled toward me, but the strain in my chest prevented me from blocking them any faster than the last millisecond.
I managed to stay alive until the Minotaur's sheath carried no more arrows, and I smirked at his realization that there were none left. "You're all out." I started to walk towards him but stopped after he raised his hand with a smile as well. "Am I?" Suddenly, all the arrows that were caught in the walls and floor came loose on their own and came back to the Minotaur's sheath like he'd never shot them at all. My confidence faded and I sighed. "I can see why Theodius wants that bow now..."
While I continued fighting the Minotaur, May turned to Theodius as she gripped the bars of the cage she was in. "He needs my help, can't you let me out of here?" Theodius lay farther back in his chair as he dusted his hands after finishing the rest of his popcorn. "Sorry, but I can't intervene. That would be cheating." May hesitated before responding. "Please! He might die if this keeps going on! You like me right? How about if you let me out, or save him yourself, I'll give you a kiss?"
Theodius scoffed. "Ha! I can kiss you whenever I want! If you want me to cheat at my own game you're going to have to go all the way with me." May pursed her lips. "I stand by my kiss offer." Theodius then shrugged. "Alright, alright, if you're going to drive a hard bargain I'll settle for hand stuff."
"A kiss."
"Fine. Just sit on my face and we'll call it even."
"A kiss!"
"Jesus woman, don't you know how bargaining works?"
"A KISS."
May then looked down for a moment and noticed something. "Wait, hold that thought." Theodius grabbed the thought bubble that appeared over his head and May picked up a tiny bone that was just within her reach. She slid it inside the lock on the cage and after a few wiggles the door opened.
She flew out of the cage and smiled brightly. "Oh, I guess I got out on my own! Thanks anyway, Theodius!" She then flew over to help me, leaving Theodius staring in surprise. Once he processed what happened he stood up in anger. "Hey come back here! You can't just promise me smooches and then fly away!"
I didn't notice May's escape from my attention being on the raining hell fire of arrows shot in my direction. However, I blocked every single one of them until the Minotaur stopped in annoyance. All the arrows he shot came back to his sheath again in an instant, and he returned the bow to rest around his torso. "You are persistent. I've never had anyone get past my arrows before. I guess I'll have to crush you with my bare hands!"
He clenched his fists and started to walk towards me. Out of panic, I ran in the opposite direction. 'Crap! How am I going to defeat this guy?!' The Minotaur ran after me and was gaining quickly. "Where are you going, Coward?!" I then stopped so suddenly that my feet screeched across the floor. The Minotaur stopped as well, trying not to trip over his own feet as he did. I immediately turned around and jumped while swinging my sword in a blind rage. "WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!!"
Before he could fully dodge out of the way, my blade slashed his face. "AH!" He covered the wound with his hand for a moment before punching me into the wall next to him. "GAH!" He hit me hard enough to break through the wall beside me, and rubble shot in every direction as I crashed into it. I soon realized that there was grass on the other side of the wall as I landed.
I looked around, surprised to see a small jungle within the walls of the labyrinth that was covered with tropical plants and trees, along with a spring of water. Despite the pain of my body taking a full-force hit to the stone, I managed to stand on my feet. I then turned to see the Minotaur walking through the hole that I created. He had blood dripping from his face as he spoke with an irritated tone. "You made it to the center of the labyrinth. Your luck is really starting to piss me off, but you're going to lose this fight one way or another. Though, I can't help but be curious how you went from zero to a hundred so fast."
I glared at him intensely. "You called me a Coward. I am the future king of this world. I AM NOT A COWARD! I don't care how powerful you are, I'm going to kill you right now!!" The Minotaur cracked his knuckles. "You really are a fool." Before we could continue our fight, I heard May shout from behind me. "Dedrin look! I got the bow!" I froze for a second before turning to see her behind me and carrying the Minotaur's bow and arrow carrier while waving to me, happily.
The Minotaur saw her and realized that they were missing from around his chest. "What?! How did you do that?!" I was confused as well. "And how did you get here before us?" May looked up in thought. "Well, once I escaped from the cage I came to help you, but didn't want to interrupt your conversation so once you cut him I slipped the bow and arrows off and immediately flew in the other direction. I figured that after you got him mad he'd get angry enough to start breaking the walls so I thought it would be best to find another way around so I could meet you there and be readily available for assistance."
We looked at her blankly for a moment before I raised an eyebrow. "Well, that was a very situational plan." She shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?" While my back was turned the Minotaur took the opportunity to punch me in the spine. "Ah!" I went flying and the Minotaur stood with his fists in front of him. "It doesn't matter if you have my bow or not! I can still crush you and take it back, you insects!"