Page 57 of Alexis

“One more step and we have to release the beast,” the Vystian said sadly.

But Tiago didn’t break his stride. Whatever the beast was, he could handle it. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been detained for getting a little rowdy.

Though the fact that there was a Bergalian already and they were planning to releasesomething elsewas maybe a bit alarming.

But none of that mattered. He was a fighter.

If Alexis could risk getting kicked to help him, then he could risk whateverthe beastwas to get to her.

There was nothing but a small strand of palm trees and a short stretch of beach between Tiago and the cottage when hefeltthe footsteps behind him.

They were so heavy that they practically shook the trees, their rhythm so fast it almost defied logic.

How could something large enough to have such booming footfalls move like that?

Tiago pushed himself harder, deciding it was probably better to try to get to Alexis as quickly as possible, rather than sacrificing his own speed to turn and get a look.

But when it let out a frustrated and strangely familiar snort, he couldn’t resist.

Spinning around and landing in a natural fighting stance, Tiago found himself facing off with a giant, muscled figure with the head of a bull.

A minotaur.

It looked exactly like the hologram version at the gym, but big enough to make the gym version look miniature.

Its hooves were huge and polished. The edges looked cruelly sharp.

He let his eyes trace up massively muscular, hairy legs to the creature’s more human looking chiseled abs and a pair of arms as big as logs.

But the most terrifying part was its noble head. Above the pink-brown snout, glittering onyx eyes peeked out from underneath a broad forehead with a pair of arm-thick horns curled into viciously sharp points, literally ten times larger than Tiago’s.

“I don’t suppose you care why I’m here,” Tiago offered, standing his ground as the minotaur thundered toward him across the sand.

It snorted again, and he wasn’t sure if it couldn’t speak, or merely wouldn’t bother. The guards that were there only a moment before were nowhere to be found.

Tiago began looking around for a makeshift weapon and an ideal field of battle. He scanned the beach and trees frantically. Surely, there was something here to help him make up for the minotaur’s obvious advantages.

Unfortunately, all of Oberon’s perfect coconuts seemed secured in the trees, waiting for harvest time. And there were no big sticks or rocks that would be easy to grab.

The minotaur was already moving closer, lowering his head as if to charge.

Tiago moved to the side, so that a coconut tree was to his back, and bent his knees to give the impression he was digging in, but at the same time, he went up very slightly on his toes.

He stayed suspended in place as the minotaur drew closer and closer.

When he could smell its horrid breath, he darted suddenly to the side, leaving the creature to ram its horns into the tree behind him.

A handful of leaves and a single, perfect coconut fell, hitting the creature between the horns.

In a storybook, that might have been enough. But the huge creature barely noticed. The minotaur merely snorted and shook himself off. Some of the leaves still clung to one horn, covering one of the beast’s eyes, but it didn’t seem to care. It only turned to find Tiago again, snout lifted skyward, nostrils flared on a deep inhale.

It spun toward him and let out a furious bellow before charging again.

Tiago moved as quickly as he could, darting between the trunks of the small stand of trees.

If he could wear the beast down, maybe he could at least get away.

But the minotaur crashed into another trunk, Tiago escaping by a hairsbreadth.

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