My eyes darted over the area. “Do you think it’s still around here?”
He lifted his nostrils and they flared. “I’m not sure. It’s hard to smell anything with all these flowers putting out their scents. The island probably does that on purpose to confuse those trapped in its jungle.”
I turned my head to the left and glimpsed the dark depths of the ravine. “We’ve been following that crack for a while. I don’t think we’re going to find a way around it.”
“The island is probably making it longer ahead of us,” Ramaro guessed as his tail swished back and forth.
I wrapped my arms around myself and flexed my feet. “I could use a break, but I don’t trust some of these vines to drag me off again.” Ramaro’s tongue flicked out. I’d begun to understand that twitch of irritation. “What’s wrong?”
His eyes darted around the area. “You mentioned the vines. The island should have dragged you kicking and screaming into the fronds for you to be eaten by its pet, but here we are ambling through the jungle without a care in the seas.”
My face drooped. “Speak for yourself. I’m going to get gray hair before we get out of this.” I looked around and lowered my voice to a whisper. “If we get out of this.”
Ramaro suddenly stiffened, and his eyes widened. “That son of a bitch!”
I blinked at him. “What now?”
He whipped his head around to face me. “How stupid of me not to notice! The ravine’s been turning us deeper into the island! It’s leading us straight to your doom!”
My mouth dropped open. “My doom? What about you?”
Ramaro leaned back and glared at me. “Why would they want to kill me? I’m too small and adorable to be eaten.”
I choked on a nervous laugh, but any further debate on the subject of his adorableness was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps. They came from the opposite side of the grove. My blood ran cold as the ferns parted and a behemoth of a creature emerged.
The thing was like something out of a Greek myth. It had the head of a bull, but the torso and arms of a man. The thing towered over us at seven feet high. Its hoofed feet left deep impressions in the soft dirt, and fine silken hair grew from the hooves up to mid-thighs. Horns protruded from both sides of its head, and its nostrils flared as it beheld us.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the creature, and my voice came out in a choked whisper. “I-it really can’t eat us, right? I mean, bulls eat grass.”
The creature opened its mouth in a terrific bellow. It revealed two sets of terribly sharp teeth. My jaw hit the ground.
Ramaro slapped his tail against the back of my head. “What are you doing just standing here? Run!”
I turned tail and darted back the way we came. The earth shook and nearly knocked me off my feet. The ravine branched off and blocked my path. I turned sharply to avoid the deep drop.
Ramaro yelped and clung to my shoulder at the quick turnabout. “Watch what you’re doing!”
A large fern leaf whacked me in the face as I sped past it. “I wish I could!”
The heavy hooves of the beast pursued us, and its bellows grew ever closer. My heart pounded in my chest as I heard the crack of the ravine as it raced against me. There was no hope of outracing a force of nature, and eventually the hole shot across my path, forcing me to skid to a stop at the very edge of the precipice. I wavered on the crumbling edge, my arms flailing on either side of me.
Ramaro grabbed hold of the front of my nightshirt and flung us backward. I fell on my butt facing the ravine. My breathing came out in sporadic bursts, and my lungs felt like they were about to burst.
Everything stopped when I heard the crunch of earth right behind me. I slowly twisted the upper half of my body around as a shadow fell over us. The minotaur creature with the sharp fangs stood there, its yellow eyes staring hungrily at me.
Ramaro raced onto the top of my head and faced the fiend. His tail whipped furiously behind him, hitting me in the face several times. “Back off! This one is the property of Captain Marcus Torvus!”
My mouth dropped open. “I’m what?!”
The creature objected to the classification, as well, as it grabbed my wrist and yanked me off the ground. I cried out at the pressure on my sensitive nerves as I hung in the air, suspended at eye level with the beast. Its mouth dripped with saliva, and its nostrils glistened with snot. It opened its mouth, and a hideous odor wafted out. It smelled like a charnel house. The creature drew me closer, its jaws ready to bite down on my throat.
That’s when something wet struck the back of the fiend’s head, sending spray over both of us. Ramaro sat up atop my head like a meerkat and looked over my captor. His eyes lit up, and a smile spread across his lips. “Captain! It’s about time!”
The creature swung around and flung me with it. My wrist screamed in pain, but hope overshadowed the agony. Torvus stood only ten feet away, a ball of water in one hand and a crooked smile on his lips. His other hand held his flask, the mouth of which was open and tipped toward his watery palm.
He bowed his head to us. “My sincerest apologies, but you two had a head start on me.”
The creature snorted, sending disgusting snot all over the ground and me. I shuddered and tried not to throw up what little food was left in my stomach.
