Reffy's Challenge Entries

[Jenny (Reffy)]

A place for Reffy's Challenge Entries. A safe haven without competiton or competitors where writing can flourish and confidence can grow.

[Jenny (Reffy)]

Is complete. Happy with this. Was nice to just write and explore and develop.
awritersrecluse.proboards.com/thread/4749/march-myth-madness

The Minotaur

“What do you mean you found a monster?” Janet, as per usual, was fed up with Richard’s antics.

By Janet’s standards Richard had a weird sense of humour and was a strange boy. The beast he’d found was probably just a frog that he’d glued a stick on to or some such nonsense. Still, even she reasoned that it was hard not to get excited by his finding. He’d hopped up and down outside of the window of the school for a good hour waiting for the lesson to be finished so he could show her it. She’d had trouble focusing on the spells the Magi had written on the blackboard with him acting a prat to get her attention. It wasn’t fair, she knew, because warriors didn’t need to apply knowledge to anything apart from fighting and Richard was training to be a sword wielding idiot.

“Come and see! Before it wakes up,” he’d changed his hoppety stance to a weird shuffle that spoke of ants in pants.

“Before what wakes up?” Julie-Ann butted in.

“The beast. It’s over by Stone Cairn Lake. If it’s still there. Come on! I’ll show you.”

Before Janet or Julie-Ann could ask any more questions Richard had set off at a galloping speed; his skinny legs peddling beneath him like a watermill caught in a flash flood surge. It was a long way from Goldshire to the lake but it was most of the way home for Janet and Julie-Ann could always stay for tea. “Come on. We best go see what he’s found now,” Janet moaned in a grumpy fashion, failing to hide the smile behind the annoyance.

Julie-Ann and Janet were so alike they could have been twins as they both shared the same girly features right down to the dimpled cheeks and squat nose. The only major difference was the scar on Julie-Ann’s forehead. She was training to be a Warlock, against Janet’s better judgement, and her new imp had caught her with a fireball. She’d lost most of her long black hair to the grotesque monster. Janet believed she was the more intelligent of the two and Julie-Ann was happy enough to let her believe it. They’d been best friends since junior school and had stayed together after the split into different training classes. Even their parents were best friends. The only thing that wasn’t perfect in both of their lives was Richard and his antics. He was a squirrelly kind of kid with a shaved, bald head and gangly limbs. That he was training to be a warrior was almost ironic with more bone than muscle. Janet always thought he’d be better off as anything but a warrior … like a banker in the big city Stormwind. He could barely lift a sword and as girls they’d both beaten him in a sparring match.

Just as Janet knew the walk took a while and by the end of it her feet hurt. During the walk they both took turns in talking. Julie-Ann had explained about her demons and other such types she could summon later and Janet about the freezing spells, which she wasn’t keen on because they made her cold. She was better at fire anyway. Richard kept on ahead all of the time like a fox hunting dog, sniffing out the way and then coming back to check they were still following, then repeating the procedure. He’d tried to talk a little more about the beast but the excitement had caught his tongue.

Eventually they found what Richard was so excited about, having left the cobblestone lined path and made their way towards the lake. On a knobbly piece of tussock, underneath the lazy summer sun, lay a beast the girls had never really seen before in the flesh. It was the shape of a human, with legs and arms and a head, but in everything else it was more like a cow or, to be more precise, a bull. It didn’t look friendly. The head was laden with huge horns at least the size of Janet’s torso and its skin, or hide, was a warm brown dappled with white spots. In places the skin had been decorated with a red paint – or at least, that’s what Janet hoped it was: paint. It was wearing more leather in a strange tunic shape and trousers and a bag strapped to a make-shift belt made out of twine. It was still sleeping.

“How on Azeroth did you find this, Richard,” Janet demanded. “Why weren’t you in training?” She stood with her little hands on her barely-there hips, just like her mother did when she’d done something naughty.

“We’d been let off early. Going to Stormwind tomorrow. Going to see the garrison or something,” Richard said defensively. “Dare you to poke it. Bet you won’t!”

“I’m not poking it! It’s gross. Can’t you smell it? It’s like all sweaty and stuffy,” Janet protested, unaware that Julie-Ann had gone awfully quiet.

“Do you even know what it is?” Richard dared. “You aren’t so clever, really.” He went so far as to poke out his tongue.

“Shut up,” Julie-Ann had sequestered herself behind a nearby bunch of reeds. “It’s obviously a mina-tour,” she whispered quickly, “I saw one, once. It was in a book my teacher lent me. Get away from it. It’s dangerous,” she waved the pair over and when they didn’t immediately move she responded, “I’m going to tell the town guards. They’ll know what to do.”

“It doesn’t look dangerous!” Richard called to Julie-Ann as she rushed away back to the path. The beast shifted a bit at the sudden noise. Luckily it was still sleeping.

Janet knew Richard was lying. It definitely looked dangerous, especially with the horns and since when did cows (or “Mina-tours” in this instance) carry weapons. It had a little dagger and a larger axe on its back. “I’ve never heard of a minowtaur. If it was dangerous I’m sure the Magi would have mentioned it.”

“So, are you going to poke it?” Richard hadn’t abated in his fervour despite Julie-Ann’s recent departure.

“Why don’t you poke it? You’re the one supposed to be fearless!” Janet didn’t really want to touch something that smelly – dangerous or not!

“Alright, fine,” Richard rolled up one sleeve. His wrist was so skinny he could have fit it in a milk-bottle without touching the sides and his skin was so pale you could see the blue veins throbbing. With one strangled looking finger he leant closer to the beast – The Minotaur. “I’ll do it, since you’re too much of a wimp.”

Richard touched the beast with a fingertip and kept it there for a good two seconds. (Janet counted while neither of them breathed even a sigh.) The beast shifted again, which was the sign to take a retreat and remove the finger. They both managed to dart behind a tree before the thing noticed or so they thought. Slowly the mound of the minotaur lifted itself as it grew like a mountain, finding its feet on shiny hooves, and scratched it’s butt. The shadow cast by the monster could have covered the entirety of Goldsmith and more. It had a large nose with a ring through one snout and sharp black eyes that darted back and forth. Even as it stretched each crack of bone and hide could be heard.

“Fee Fi Fo Fumb. I smelt a little one,” the beast roared. It was a deep bass moan that seemed to shake the ground they were standing on violently. “Is it here? Is it over there?” The thing was looking around underneath rocks and behind weeds.

Janet felt like she could wet her panties any minute, while Richard, she reasoned, probably wanted to run away. “What if Julie-Ann was right and it’s dangerous?” she whispered to Richard. He replied with a shake of his head placed a finger over his mouth. The signal to shut up. “We should run,” Janet continued.

“I must have been mistaken,” the beast growled. Janet risked another look around the trunk of their rescuing tree. It was stood less than two meters away scratching its head. The thing hadn’t pulled any weapons yet, despite them being holstered around the make-shift belt. The thing was mostly facing away as well, so they had a chance at a surprise attack that could help give them more time. “There is no little thing here. Just frogs.”

“On the count of three. You charge it and I’ll freeze it – then we run.”

“I don’t think …” Richard started to protest but Janet was already silently counting. “I don’t have a weapon!”

Janet stopped, exasperated. “What kind of warrior are you? Here,” she picked up a sharp pointy stick and shoved it in his direction, “you’ll need to improvise if we’ll have any chance. You need to scare it.”

“I doubt I’ll scare it with a stick, Janet!”

“Ready – GO!”

Janet whipped around the tree first. Richard wasn’t showing any signs of moving yet. Her hands shot up, miniature snowflakes dusting the tops that sparkled in the soft orange afternoon light, as she mumbled an incantation. She did it quietly but the creature had noticed and turned around to watch the performance. It didn’t look scared, merely intrigued. When the spell was finally finished a small ball of ice shot from Janet aimed directly at the Minotaur. The beast shifted now in preparation for a fight, with giant fists raised and what could only be described as a grizzly grin.

Richard finally made an appearance, although somewhat reluctantly, and made a charge for the beast. He let out a battle shout. It was supposed to be a rallying cry that installed fear in the beast but it didn’t translate and came out as a boyish squeak. He held the pointy stick in front of him, loose in the wrist and tight in the grip, as he’d been taught. His skinny and wobbly legs attempted to direct him quickly towards the enemy while his shoulder ducked down ready for impact.

The ice-ball hit before Richard could catch-up. It was supposed to form an ice-crust around the beast’s ankles. What the ice-ball did instead was create a slightly cold and wet patch on the thick hide. The bull like creature roared. It wasn’t the kind of roar Janet had been expecting though. It wasn’t a pained roar or even an offended roar … it was like the thing had laughed?

“It’s not supposed to tickle!” Janet growled, getting ready to launch another attack, hands raised with the familiar blue tinge. She’d gotten so angry that her eyes were nearly closed in an attempted evil squint and even her teeth grated together. She’d seen the teacher do it and the spell had worked on Julia-Ann. Was it just a size difference? Her brain was racing as to what to do next and whether she should try again.

Before Janet could make her mind up on her next action the beast answers, gentler than before; betraying the fighting stance the beast had taken. “What it suppose do?”

That the thing had even answered slowed Richard down in his charge and had Janet pausing before another ice ball could be launched. Milliseconds grew into fully fledged seconds and edged towards a whole minute as Janet stood speechless, unsure on how to respond or even if she should. Instead she stood there with her mouth agape. Richard shot her a look that said do something but all could do was shrugged back at him with lost eyes. Why she’d even trusted Richard and came out this far Janet didn’t even know! It was a stupid idea and a stupid beast and now the stupid thing was going to kill them both!

“You stand like that too long, little one, face get stuck,” it did the same roar from earlier but it was not aggressive. Janet decided it was definitely laughter. It was laughing at them and their petty attempts to escape or fight.

“The ice,” Janet mumbled. Even then she was still unsure as her hands came down from their position, losing the spell. She’d been taught to be polite in every means possible … but being polite to a monster was not part of that lesson. That lesson had involved monsters hitting humans and the humans hitting them back. Eventually the whole affair of hitting each other would end with the humans winning and going home to celebrate. There wasn’t a chapter about talking it through. “It was supposed to stick you to the ground so we could run away.”

“Why run away?”

Richard came to a full stop. He’d lowered the stick, hopeful not to offend the monster. The strange animal was moving out of his or her fighting stance. “What are you? And why are you talking? Monsters don’t talk.” Richard asked the very question that had been circling the pack like a hungry wolf. “Minnatwors aren’t supposed to talk, are they?” He looked at Janet again for confirmation.

“You think me Minotaur?” It laughed, “I Tauren. Name Achak Windblossom. Minotaur is not real. Myth and legend.” It turned back to Janet with a smile. Seeing the beast calm and relaxed changed the whole appearance to Janet. It was still huge and scary but it now looked more feminine and gentle. It was definitely a woman especially with a name like Windblossom. It didn’t look like a warrior, or a mage, or anything else. It transformed from a demon to something a lot softer but still not as cuddly as a teddy bear. It continued, “You spell not work. You need respect element first. Ice not respect yet. Keep working. Will come.”

“Respect?” Janet was confused. “You just need to know the right incantation, don’t you?”

“The air, fire, water, earth … the rock, tree, blade of grass. Each has spirit. Before taming must respect. Before using must connect,” as if to prove a point Achak drew spirit energy from the ground and let it shift around her body. The thick tauren hide shimmered in protective molten lava but not once did it hurt her. The lava cooled to form little mounds of earth and rock which slide around the beasts body on the top of the red lava. All the time Achak used the energy her hands glowed a soft tree green. “See? Earth aids.”

“What are you? Why were you here?” Richard, again. He interrupted the lesson between the beast and Janet. Janet knew he was only doing it because he needed to be the centre of attention. It was his find and he felt he should be the one asking questions. The tauren let the protective armour of earth shift down off her body and back to its original resting point.

“Tribe call me Shaman. You warrior. She mage,” it gestured. Each finger was thicker than Janet’s wrist. “We work with elements and spirit. We know land and people and ills. We heal or protect. We know ice.” She winked at Janet. “I came find herb. Only in Alliance lands grows. Daughter is sick.” It pointed to a cloth satchel around its waist.

Off in the distance, in the same direction as Goldshire and more importantly Stormwind, a horn sounded. "Are you allowed to be here?" Janet had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Not really. Me Horde. You Alliance. Enemies really," it shrugged.

"Then you best get out of here! I think Julie-Ann found some guards," Janet hurried towards the tauren, using her hands to usher it away from the area or at the very least away from the open ground. "Richard: can you stall them?"

"Why me?" he moaned.

"Because you can. Tell Julie-Ann it was nothing – not a Menator and that it's gone!" Janet spoke quickly, not looking in Richard's direction. She hoped he was listening, actually listening and not just watching the beast, and that he'd help her let the Horde thing escape. She didn't know why she wanted to protect the supposed enemy but the tauren was interesting. She spoke of respect and spirits and how to control the elements … which was more than her tutors who just had her repeating incantations so she would learn them by heart. They believed the element was just a tool but this newcomer had told her they were so much more than that and with just a few words.

"Fine," Richard replied grumpily and set off in the only way a young boy knows: with a slouch and sloppy thud with dragged feet. It was as if his mother had told him to go do the washing up.

"Achak, please, go!" Her pushing hands didn't do much to move the beast. It was like pushing at a brick wall. In truth Janet didn't want her to go. They'd only had a few seconds and what they did have was more interesting than the hours of lessons before. Janet didn't even know if she'd ever meet Achak again or if they did whether it would end in a fight. "You must leave. I hope the herbs help."

"Thank you," Windblossom muttered, placing a heavy hand on Janet's should. "Good luck with elements."

Janet could hear the guards approaching and more trumpeting sounds. It wasn't fair. She wanted to ask to meet again, to hold on to the sudden and unusual friendship, but now was not the time. If the tauren was an enemy (she was still learning about the Horde and their history) then the guards would not hesitate to kill her. The words tickled the edge of her tongue and her brow knotted with the temptation to speak them. A sadness came over Janet that she could not explain, nor did she want to. She wanted the afternoon to last so she could ask more questions. Achak Windblossom was the most interesting thing in her world – trumping even her lessons with the tutors. She'd shown Janet such an unusual way to view the world in the space of minutes and she was sure there was more that Achak could tell her.

The supposed Minotaur finally took her leave. As she ran through the grasses, pushing away shrubs, her whole body shifted in to the shape of a blue shimmering wolf. The only mark of her presence was the heavy set footprints that had trampled the fresh spring grass.

[Croswynd]

I liked this, Reffy. I wasn't expecting a Warcraft story, but it worked out. Makes me wonder if a Minotaur is a thing in Azeroth, or if Tauren were always the inspiration for it if the legend does exist. I liked the childishness of the protagonist and her brother, and the scene where she attempts to freeze it was, contrarily, heart-warming, especially once Achak spoke.

My only criticisms would be to show the protagonist's age, because I assumed at first she was older than she appeared later on and have the gender of the Tauren shown a little sooner before the conversation starts (though it might work better this way. I'm not really sure.).

It was a fun story to read, Reffy.

[Jenny (Reffy)]

Mar 24, 2015 13:21:58 GMT -5 Croswynd said:

It was a fun story to read, Reffy.

Tanks! Glad it was fun.

I also wondered whether Minotaur's were a thing but decided to ignore the doubt and go ahead.

I think I accidentally wandered about with her age. They're all supposed to be young teens - before boyfrield/girlfriend issues! I wanted to keep the Tauren's gender quiet for as long as possible to add to the image of the beast! A girl beast is less scary.

[James]

Hey Reffy,

I've given this a read. Were you wanting an actual review or just wanted to have a chance to write and post something?

[Jenny (Reffy)]

Mar 31, 2015 22:34:39 GMT -5 James said:

Hey Reffy,

I've given this a read. Were you wanting an actual review or just wanted to have a chance to write and post something?

If you can sugarcoat the review - then okay. If it's only bad stuff maybe not. Still working on confidence level.

[James]

I don't really like sugercoating reviews because I kind of feel like it loses its proportions, so I'll stay quiet until you're happy to get reviews again.

But I did read it!

[Jenny (Reffy)]

Apr 1, 2015 2:58:55 GMT -5 James said:

I don't really like sugar-coating reviews because I kind of feel like it loses its proportions, so I'll stay quiet until you're happy to get reviews again.

But I did read it!

Thank you :]