Orduc felt the faint fresh breath hit his face. Palms sweaty, he descended the stairs with the beady eyes of the Minotaur Lords watching him.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
His foot steps echoed off the walls of the stairway, slicing through the dreaded silence of the Taurus Metropolis. The weight of the bag slung on his shoulder was the only thing that kept him from bolting. Days, nay, weeks he had spent standing in the corner of the so called mucktown Jabal, where the stench of the slaves and the rancid, rowdy vocabulary of the soldiers had made him want to vomit. But he had stayed, and he had paid the money and bought all the emeralds. Yes, it would all pay off now. It would.
The final step gave way to a beautiful marble floor, veined and decorated in a strange pattern, though symmetrical. His heart skipped a beat when he realized that it was gold veining the marble.
So much gold! By The Three, these filthy animals must be rich!, he thought, all dread and hesitation being driven away by greed.
A shadow fell across Orduc. His eyes tracked the hulking figure from bottom to top; large, broad feet, studded with obsidian spikes at the toes, a completely ripped torso, bulging with insane amounts of muscle, a thick neck, arms the sizes of small trees, and the head of a terrifying green eyed bull. Sa'Uventhraluk, Seventh of the Lords of the Minotaurs.
The Minotaur looked at him intently. A voice whispered in Orduc's mind.
Give us the emeralds....
Knees shaking, Orduc dropped the cloth bag at the large Minotaur's feet. It bent down and picked up the bulging bag with two fingers, and turning its back to Orduc, it pressed a lever set in the wall.
The entire three sides of the room recessed, controlled by some strange mechanical chains. For the first time, Orduc saw that now he was in a larger room, with a huge arched doorframe. set at one end. It didn't lead anywhere, it was a simple stone doorframe, with a dozen cloaked Minotaurs surrounding it, whuffing and chanting in their guttural language.
The large Minotaur went to one of the cloacked ones, and handed it the bag of emeralds. The cloacked Minotaur took the bag, and upended it's contents on the floor, right in front of the strange doorway. All of them returned to chanting.
"Err, my payment, good sirs?" Orduc asked hesitantly. They ignored him.
A strange green glow started to emanate from the doorway. A slight hum travelled the air, and with a silent pop, a door appeared on the door frame.
The Minotaurs raised their heads in unison, and something shreiked in Orduc's mind.
WE CAN RETUUUUURRRRNNN!!!!!!!!
Orduc was never seen again, and nor were Minotaurs.
