As the sun set, the minotaur almost emerged from cover at the edge of town and bellowed. The men of the town did not know better, so they armed themselves and gathered together and went off into the woods to hunt the creature than made the noise. The minotaur killed them, then entered the town and impregnated every woman who was not too old, too young, or already pregnant. No female who gets within five paces can resist the call of a minotaur; such is the nature of their magic.
At another town, the minotaur bellowed, and the people of the town, who were not utter fools, barricaded themselves in the strongest building in the town and prepared to defend themselves. Once it was completely dark, the minotaur broke in and killed all of the men, for any male who gets within five paces of a minotaur becomes paralyzed with fear; such is the nature of their magic. And THEN the minotaur impregnated all of the women who were not too old, too young, or already pregnant.
At a third town, the minotaur bellowed, and someone in the town knew what to do. The men of the town were persuaded to hide until dawn, and the women of the town were gathered in the town square. The minotaur then impregnated all of the women whe were not too old, too young, or already pregnant. This was not ideal, but at least no one died.
At a fourth town, the minotaur bellowed. There was a hunter in the town, and at her insistence, the men of the town hid, and the women of the town gathered in the town square. The minotaur approached the women, and the hunter rose from among them and shot the minotaur in the throat with her crossbow. The minotaur fell, but did not die, and the hunter pinned it to the ground with a spear through the chest. Once the minotaur died, the hunter severed its head with an axe, and then sawed off the minotaur’s horns, and told the people of the town to burn the other remains.
The hunter’s job was not done. She back tracked the minotaur to every town he had visited, and she took an inventory of every woman that the minotaur had impregenated. There would be dozens of children, and she had to make sure of each of them. The vast majority of the children would be female, and they would be no problem. The hunter was one such herself, as was her mother. But the male children would need to be killed just had she had killed her own son, because the male children of minotaurs grew up to become minotaurs themselves; such is the nature of their magic.
Paul Haynie
11/30/2016