The Labyrinth's cavernous hall pulsed with menace, its stone walls flickering with eerie sigils, the air thick with mildew and the stench of beast. Colton stood frozen, heart hammering, the Prometheus spark humming in his chest. His armor, etched with Hestia's hearth-fire sigils, mended a claw mark from the Keres fight, blood crusted on his cheek. The guttural snort
echoed again, closer now, followed by a bone-rattling roar. Down the corridor,
the Minotaur's massive silhouette loomed, glinting horns catching the faint light. Its heavy hooves scraped the stone, each step a thunderclap, snorts echoing like a bellows stoking a furnace. Colton's hands shook, the lyre string symbol still burning, oracle's glint locked on cooldown. He wanted nothing more than to run, his legs screaming to bolt as the monstrous beast grew closer, its
shadow swallowing the dim glow.
The Minotaur stepped into view, eight feet of matted fur, bloodshot eyes glaring, curved horns sharp enough to gut steel, a massive axe gripped in its fists. It pawed the ground, cracking stone, and charged, hooves
thundering. Colton dove, the axe swinging, grazing his shoulder, blood spraying. His armor flared, mending the tear instantly, but pain seared his arm. "Damn it!" he growled, scrambling to his feet. The Minotaur swung again, the blade shattering a pillar, rubble spraying. Colton ducked, heart racing,
the spark urging him to move. He glimpsed a podium at the corridor's end, something shiny glinting atop it—Hephaestus's gift, the weapon Apollo promised. The beast was guarding it, no doubt.
The Minotaur roared, charging again, its bulk filling the corridor. Colton triggered Hermes's speed, the caduceus symbol burning for
seconds, his boots sliding on gravel as he dodged, horns missing by inches. The
lyre string's burn faded—oracle's glint was ready. He focused, vision sharpening, the glint whispering: Momentum is its weakness—bait its charge. Colton's eyes locked on a jagged rock wall ahead, its surface cracked but solid. "Come on, you ugly bastard!" he yelled, planting himself in front of the
wall, muscles tense. The Minotaur's eyes blazed with rage, its roar shaking the
cavern. It lowered its horns and charged, hooves pulverizing stone, momentum
unstoppable.
Colton waited, breath hitching, then triggered speed again, blurring aside at the last second. The Minotaur crashed through the rock wall, stone exploding, dust choking the air. It plowed through another wall, then a
third, each impact a deafening crack, until it collapsed in a heap, dazed, blood trickling from its matted fur. Colton didn't wait—he sprinted toward the podium, heart pounding, the orb in his pocket humming faintly, his mother's voice a whisper: "Be careful, Colton." A roar erupted behind him, the Minotaur rising, stomping its hooves, giving chase. The corridor trembled, sigils flaring as walls shifted.
Colton reached the podium, lungs burning, and saw it—a silver ring, a spear-shaped gem embedded, glinting under the Labyrinth's dim light. "What the hell? Just a ring?" he muttered, snatching it. The Minotaur's hooves thundered closer, its axe raised, bloodshot eyes locked on him. Colton glanced at the ring, the gem pulsing like the spark in his chest. "Here goes
nothing," he said, sliding it onto his finger. Power surged through him, electric, fiery, the gem flaring. An energy spear extended from the ring, crackling with molten light, its blade sharp and pulsing like a heartbeat. The
Minotaur was feet away, horns lowered, roar deafening. Colton gripped the spear, muscles screaming, and thrust it forward at the last second, driving it straight through the beast's heart. Blood gushed, hot and thick, the Minotaur's roar choking into a gurgle. It collapsed, twitching, a crimson pool spreading across the stone, its axe clattering uselessly.
Colton panted, the spear dissolving back into the ring, its gem dimming. He kicked the Minotaur's corpse, blood splattering his boots. "That's for Bella, you piece of shit," he spat, chest heaving, the spark humming with triumph. The orb pulsed, his mother's voice trembling: "You're alive, thank God." A portal flared at the corridor's end, golden light spilling through, and Apollo stepped into view, his bow slung across his back, eyes
gleaming with a pride that made Colton's chest tighten. Apollo's smile was radiant, as if he'd known all along Colton would stand victorious over the beast's corpse.
"Well done, spark-bearer," Apollo said, his voice warm but resonant, carrying the weight of divine certainty. "I knew the spark would
carry you through, that fire Prometheus stole burns fierce in you. That ring—Hephaestus's craft—is no mere trinket; it's bound to your spark, a weapon to carve your path through Tartarus's depths. You faced the Minotaur's rage and turned it to ruin, just as I foresaw. But the fight's not over. Cronus stirs,
and his shadows creep closer to Earth. Step through—there's something I left behind in your world, something we need to face the storm that's coming. You're not just a mortal anymore, Colton. You're a force, and I'm damn proud to guide you."
Colton gripped the ring, Bella's scream echoing in his mind, the Minotaur's blood under his boots. He nodded, stepping toward the portal, the Labyrinth's wails fading as Earth's dangers loomed ahead.