An extract from Records of the Finis

My search for the Finis led me to Victorian London.

It was said that there was a beast in these parts - part man, part something else entirely. He had stolen the final arrow, and hidden it within his abode.

I arrived in the dead of night. A thick fog was in the air mixed with a heavy silence.

I'd had to dress the part, and my long, blue skirts made a scratching sound as they dragged across the pavement. I was afraid it would be hard to fight dressed in this way, and I clutched at the special sword that hung under my cloak for comfort.

As I navigated the roads, I wondered whether the humans who had built these streets realised they had unknowingly made a labyrinth for him.

I had to marvel at his power then - he had subversively made them do it; he had made them create a vast maze out of the rows of terraced houses, shadowed alleyways and dead ends for him to reside within.

It was a place where it was easy to get lost and impossible to escape.

The beast had always liked a labyrinth.

I progressed onwards. I knew that his home would be at the very centre. That's where he would keep the weapon that would kill anyone who shared the blood of Cupid.

I hid by a wall as two police constables passed by in their tall helmets.

"The Ripper is still at large." I heard one say as their voices muffled into the fog. "Four murders and counting."

I hurried on - clutching the sword even tighter. The humans thought a man had committed the grisly killings - but it was no man.

It was the beast.

The one we knew as the Minotaur.

It was over an hour before I realised I was getting close. The alleys and snicketways grew closer together and before long I reached a tall, wooden fence.

At the foot was a pool of liquid. I bent down and studied it.

Blood.

This had to be it.

I pulled myself over the rotting fence, and landed on a carpet of dead leaves that led to a mansion. It was tall and foreboding - the roof crumbling in parts. I doubted any human had ever set eyes on it before - it was too far hidden within the maze.

I took a deep breath, and made my way towards the large, wooden door. I had just grasped the cold metal knocker when it opened of its own accord.

I stepped inside into an entrance hall, lit up dimly by oil lamps. The air smelt damp and musty. I moved forwards through the doorway ahead.

Then I stopped still in my tracks.

A long table stretched across the room leading to a roaring fire. On top of it a feast of food had been laid. At the end was a figure leant back in his chair - his booted feet resting on the table. His face was hidden by shadow.

It was him; the Minotaur.

"Crystal!" he said - his voice silky smooth. "How nice of you to drop in."

Then he leant forwards and revealed a face I was not expecting.

The face of a man.

His skin was dark and smooth, and his eyes were a hypnotising brown.

I felt them drinking in my body and felt suddenly exposed despite the layers of clothing I wore. I stared back at him in return.

He was wearing a shirt with the sleeves torn off, and I noticed black inked tattoos stencilled all over his bare, muscular arms. His hair was shaved close to his head, and across his cheek and left eye I could see a long, ugly scar which did nothing to detract from his overall beauty.

In a sudden movement he swung his legs down off the table and grabbed a jug.

He looked at me deeply and smirked.

"Wine?"

Without waiting for my response he poured red liquid into a nearby goblet.

I approached the table and sat down beside him.

"How did you know I was coming?" I said warily.

He cocked his head to the side, and I looked behind me to see a wall of monitors depicting areas within his London labyrinth.

I nodded.

He, like the cupids, had access to technology ahead of the time.

"You've come to kill me." he said, grinning and exposing bright white teeth. "But first let us dine."

He made an exaggerated sweep of his hand to gesture at the food before us.

I looked at him curiously. He had an eccentric air to him, and closer up I noticed the black eyeliner accentuating his eyes which sparkled with a hidden amusement.

"You're not what I was expecting." I replied.

He grinned.

"You were expecting part man, part beast?" he said.

He wagged a long finger at me.

"Tut tut tut Crystal." he said "You should know that that is the stuff of fairy tales."

A dark look crossed over his face then.

"But this is no fairy tale. And there is a beast within me" he said quietly "One that I cannot control."

His eyes glazed over for a moment and then with a sudden swipe he pushed my goblet of wine across the table towards me.

"But let us worry about that later." He said "Drink."

I looked at him. He gave a sharp nod of the head.

Cautiously I took the goblet and sniffed the liquid within. And then - for some reason I cannot quite explain - I drank.

That was my first meeting with the Minotaur.

I dined with him that night - and for the three nights that followed.

Though I knew him to be dangerous, there was something that made me yearn to be around him. We talked about life, and death, and politics, and gods, and I learned more of him in that short space of time that I believe I have ever learned of anyone.

It was on the fourth night that we knew this - charade - had to come to an end one way or another.

"So are you to kill me?" he said that evening over the feast of meats laid out across the table "I deserve it you know."

Then he leant forwards and pointed a finger upwards in an exaggerated fashion, as though he had just had an idea. His eyes gleamed excitedly.

"Though perhaps we could come to some sort of...agreement."

I looked at him curiously.

"I have something you desire." He said "And you in turn have something I desire."

He looked at me steadily.

"I know what you keep hidden about your person" he said cocking his head towards my body "You got it from the oracles I presume; the Sword of Aegeus. The one sword that can kill me"

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You would swap the Finis for the sword?" I asked.

"Yes" he replied.

I nodded sharply.

"Then the deal is done."

That night we made the exchange and I took the Finis from London.

I hid it in a place where no-one would expect to see it.

A place where I could watch over it.

And a place where the Arrows would never find it.