My feet dragged painfully across the stone floor as two guards held me by the arms and hauled me through the dungeon. We passed dozens of cells holding some of the most brutal creatures from across the continent. Harpies, ogres, and werewolves leered at me through rusty iron bars as we walked down a dank corridor. The creatures grew more hideous and more terrifying the deeper into the dungeon we went... making me wonder what kind of monster waited at the very end.
I thrashed against the guards' grip as hard as I could, but it was no use. A fitting punishment for the crime I committed--practicing magic after it had been fully outlawed by the king. I begged to be hanged, to be burned at the stake, or tossed in the lake with weights around my ankles... but at the sentencing, the king decreed, "Let the beast tear her to shreds." I could only imagine what sort of beast the king kept hidden for the specific purpose of devouring his enemies.
At the end of the hall was a circular grate, like one would find in the middle of the street. One of the guards shoved it open with his foot and I peered down into a dark, bottomless pit. The guards tied a rope around my waist to lower me down--they obviously wanted me alive so the beast could have its way with me. Once I was lowered to the very bottom, they cut the rope, and it landed with a soft thud around my feet. The guards' laughter echoed throughout the chamber. I was stranded.
There was no way for me to save myself. I drew my power from the Earth and the Sun--below ground, my magic suffocated.
A deep growl emanated from the darkness before a misshapen shape slowly moved into the candlelight.
It stood nearly ten feet tall and had the body of a human and the head of a beast. Two arms, two legs, broad shoulders, with a bare, muscular chest. The head was like a bull, covered in black fur, with glowing yellow eyes and elongated fangs dripping with saliva. Two curling horns stuck out of the back of its head. A minotaur. I backed into the wall as the beast approached me slowly on its hands and knees.
He came close enough that I could feel his hot breath on my face. A huff escaped his snout as he examined me closely. Any moment he would open those powerful jaws and tear into my soft flesh. Tears streamed down my face. He reached out a large, hairy hand and grabbed my breast instead. He squeezed it for a few moments while I watched, utterly confused. He pinched my nipple through the thin fabric of my dress and rolled the hardened nub between his fingers. He repeated the same motion with my other breast, until both were fully peaked.