The Tributes

The palace floor in the city of Athens felt deathly cold, sharp, and smooth for both Mayumi and Kata as they were forced to press their knees hard against it. Even kneeling down, the tikbalang was still several heads taller than she was. And seeing him there, with his wiry mane draped over his eyes and his long limbs tied behind his back, Mayumi couldn't help but sigh and curse under her breath.

"I'm sorry, Kata. This is my fault." Her eyes fell to the ground and traced the cracks on the stucco floor, the sound of her sniffing echoing throughout the throne room. She could feel the tikbalang's anxious gaze fall on her. However, she just couldn't bare to look Kata in the eye. "I shouldn't have pushed you to enter the city with me."

"I'm sorry, Mai," the half-horse whinnied, his voice cracking into a wheeze. "The fault is mine. I couldn't keep it together."

They had only just entered the city of Athens for the very first time a few hours ago--the pair marveling at all the tall structures and houses made from either sun-dried mud bricks or pebble mosaics, their roofs fixed with terracotta tiles. The wealthier homes were decked in marble and limestone; and all throughout the city vibrant reds and deep blues were painted across, streaks of gold crowning their glorious ceilings.

The simplicity of the Doric columns surrounding the Parthenon were breathtaking--even from a distance--and the agora that led to its steps was equally astounding. The open plaza--partitioned into various zones that sold either meat, livestock, pottery, or slaves--was loud and boisterous. Sellers shouting over the sound of their bleating goats.

For two travelers from the far South-East, everything about the city was an absolute feast for their senses--so much so that the feast ended up overwhelming Kata that he couldn't keep up his disguise.

When they'd first entered the city, he had taken the shape of Mayumi's uncle--body, face, and all. Even his voice was uncannily alike. Had Mayumi not know of Kata's innate psychic abilities, she might have mistaken him for her actual kin.

However, maintaining the form took on a tremendous toll on Kata's energy, especially if he had to try and to keep it together amidst a large crowd. Because he'd had enough practice throughout their many years of travel together, however, the tikbalang was usually able to maintain human form for several days.

The thing that had caught the half-horse off guard this time was the sheer volume of people present. No rural village or town could compare to the sheer magnitude of this acropolis. And it being the first time that they'd enter such a city, they didn't know what to expect.

At first, Kata's illusion remained fairly stable. They were able to walk through the city gates and along the main street without trouble. Trouble arose when they'd wandered into the marketplace, where a hundred different voices, dings, and chimes converged, overwhelming the tikbalang's senses.

That's when his form began to blur, his face glitching and contorting with every step deeper into human territory.

"Mai... I can't..." he first called out to his friend, her face suddenly stricken with worry.

"Calm down, Kata. Not here. Let's find somewhere--"

It was a little girl's scream that finally broke the tikbalang's illusion. She'd seen through his disguise and panicked, running to the nearest guard with a wail and a pointing finger.

That's how the pair ended up here, in the palace, before King Aegeus and his son, Theseus.

"No more, father!" the prince snapped. "Why must the citizens of Athens suffer under King Minos's tyranny? The minotaur is his son, is it not? Why must he involve our people in his family's troubles?"

"And what are we to do? Androgeos died under our watch. We are responsible."

"Then send me along, together with this year's tributes!" Theseus demanded. "I've brought these two before you, as well, to serve as my aides in this quest."

"So I see." The king regarded Mayumi and Kata with a dubious eye. "What is this thing? Another union borne of the gods?"

"According to the lady, he is of the tikbalang, a race of half-men, half-horse in their land. Cousin, perhaps, to the centaur? Though his kind seem more formidable."

"You there!" the king called out to Kata. "What manner of beast are you, and why have you come to Athens?"

Kata shook visibly at the boisterous bellow of the king. He looked to Mayumi and filled her mind's eye with image of a frightened foal, cowering in a cave underneath a thunderstorm. The quickened beating of his heart became loud and deafening in her eardrums.

Sensing all this, Mayumi bit her lip, swallowed hard, and raised her head.

"His name is Kata, my lord. Of the Kidlat tribe, made up of the fastest tikbalang in our land. We are simple travelers with the humble dream of seeing the world."

"Does the beast not speak for itself?" the king grumbled. "Speak, tikbalang. Or I will have your woman flogged."

Kata shook even more feverishly, his hooves clacking against the marble floors, causing the guards to stand with their weapons readied alert.

"M-my k-k-king. Mayumi s-s-speaks the truth. W-we are s-s-simple travelers."

King Androgeos looked to his son, who merely stood there with a steadied, unflinching gaze. Not once did he look back, even as Kata's voice faltered, but merely bit his lip and shook his head ever so slightly so as to remain unseen.

"This?" the king scoffed. "This is who you choose to take with you? And of what help would he be, exactly?"

"My king, there are stories being told of the tikbalang's innate talent for illusion and deception. Many travelers in their country have found themselves lost in the wood for hours upon days because of them. If we are to lose ourselves inside the minotaur's labyrinth, then whose to say we can't make the bull feel lost in his own home as well?"

The king shrugged and turned to the beast kneeling on the floor. "Is this true? Are you capable of such feats as my son says?"

Again, the rattling of Kata's hooves echoed throughout the chamber, this time accompanied by the chattering of his teeth. Already, both king and guards were sneering and scoffing, stifling the laughter brewing from underneath their breaths.

A moment later, the rattling and chattering dwindled down, prompted by Mayumi's soft, warm hand on her friend's shoulder. She gazed at him with soft eyes and a gentle smile, and nodded, urging him to step forward and speak.

Seeing the confidence in her eyes, Kata did not want to disappoint. She had taken him this far, and through so much already throughout their entire journey together. This would not be the hour that he would betray her trust.

Kata took a deep breath, steadied his posture, and slowly rose to his feet. "If I m-may, your h-highness. I could sh-show you."

The king shrugged and then nodded, waving a hand out as if to say, "Go ahead."

At this, Kata went down, once more, onto his knees, rested his hands face-up on his lap, and began to slowly breathe. Everyone watched as he sat there, the sound of his nostrils flaring with every intake, the whistle of his breath with every outtake.

A moment later, they found the room begin to shift, the walls begin to wander. The hall itself looked as though it were being shaped and molded, shortened and extended. The entire chamber expanded further and further until their eyes could no longer see the end, no longer see the exit. Instead, they were surrounded by rows and rows of Doric pillars, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Theseus merely stood there, his gaze still fixated on his father--who's eyes were now wide and fearful, whose jaw had dropped and hung low.

"I see..." were the only words that left the king's mouth amidst all this.

Those words triggered the release of the illusion, and the slow dissipation of the endless corridors that had once surrounded them.

"Well, father?" Theseus pressed. His grin could not have been any wider. "Shall we slay ourselves a minotaur?"