Here the acrid smell was almost overpowering; and though the room itself was unoccupied, a strange, pulsating aura of evil seemed to flow through it in great waves.
Burke tip-toed to the shining, blue-white tank; peered down into it.
It held clear liquid only. But the stink of the stuff made Burke choke and gasp. His eyes burned. He stumbled backward, fighting for breath.
In the same instant, cloth rustled behind him.
A tapestry had been flung back, revealing a previously-hidden door. Framed in it, well over seven feet tall, stood a creature Burke couldn't believe even now, as he stared at it.
The thing was a man, at first glance--a giant of a man, mightily muscled. He wore nothing save the traditional Minoan loin-band.
But it was the creature's head that held Burke; froze him.
For instead of a human head, to match a human body, this monster had the head of a gigantic bull, with monstrous horns and great glaring eyes and nostrils that flared and quivered.
Burke's hand shook so his lamp almost slopped over. A slow step at a time, he tried to back away.
But now, with a great bull-roar, the monster's head came down. It lunged at him.
Incredibly fast, the thing dodged. The lamp struck the wall. Flame leaped along the tapestry.
But the Minotaur paid the fire no heed. Again it lunged at Burke, spearing in at him with one of the great bull horns.
Barely in time, Burke dived aside. Desperately, he scrambled past the central tank, searching vainly for some weapon. When he stumbled over a low stool, he snatched it up, glad for anything that he could use to strike a blow.
Another bellow. The monster launched a new charge.
But even as the blow descended, the Minotaur brought up huge hands to stop it. Catching the stool by the legs, the creature jerked it up, trying to wrestle it away from Burke.
For an instant, then, they struggled, toe to toe, fighting for possession of the stool.
But only for an instant, for Burke knew without question what the outcome would be; must be. No ordinary man could stand against this hideous freak of nature. It simply was too much to hope for.
Yet unless he won, what would happen to Ariadne?
Fiercely, he threw all his weight onto the stool, swinging by it, completely clear of the floor.