The Return of the Titans Read Online Free PDF Page A

his
breath. It was an expression of profound sorrow and grief. He felt
his own eyes filling with tears as he looked at that face and
turned away for a moment. He shook his head. I'm seeing my feelings
in its eyes, he thought.
    He looked back at the statue. The face now
was just a face, blank like most statues he had seen. Yeah, I was
right. Then he noticed a small archway behind the minotaur. The
great figure was standing right against the exit and try as he
might, Justin couldn't get around the statue to reach the
doorway.
    He sighed loudly. Great, he thought. How am
I supposed to get out of here? He stepped back and stared up at
that heavy face again. “I wish you would move, buddy,” he said
aloud. His voice echoed around the small stone room followed again
by silence.
    Justin walked around the edge of the room,
tapping the walls, looking for any cracks or seams that might
indicate a hidden door or something. But the walls were solid and
the only exit had to be the one behind the minotaur. Finally he sat
down again in the middle of the room. He was tired and still shaken
by his last memories of what had happened at home.
    Was his Mom all right? What about Wilson?
And what exactly had happened at the end? How had he gotten here,
wherever here was. He had already noticed that the stone that
Wilson had given to him was gone. And what was he going to do now?
If he couldn't get around that statue, he would be trapped in this
little room until he died.
    He knew he should be more afraid than he
was, but he just felt numb. It was all too much to process. He
rested his forehead against his knees and just let his mind go
blank.
    A sound brought him back to reality. It was
the sound of metal grating on stone. He looked around but the room
hadn't changed. Or had it? He looked up at the statue and just
stared. The two large eyes were no longer blank and unseeing. They
were now two holes filled with red flame. He stood quickly and
backed up until he hit the wall.
    The massive head tilted down and stared at
him. The fiery eyes narrowed and the minotaur brought its axe down
off of its shoulder and held it in both hands across it's body.
    Justin looked around but there was no
retreat. He had nowhere to run. The statue lifted a foot and took a
step forward. The archway was now clear but Justin knew that he
couldn't slip by the monster without it grabbing him or smashing
him with its weapon. He felt a sort of calm descend upon him as he
faced his death. He swallowed and stepped away from the wall toward
the minotaur. Then he just stood there awaiting his fate.
    The statue stopped. It continued to stare
but now Justin thought that he saw a look of puzzlement on that
bronze face. It rested the axe on its shoulder again and reached
out with its empty hand. Justin didn't move. The metal hand touched
the top of his head.
    He had expected it to feel cold and hard but
was surprised to find that the hand was hot, almost burning as it
touched him. He wondered for a second if it would have burnt him if
he felt pain the way most people did.
    The hand just rested on his head for a long
moment. The minotaur didn't press down on him. In fact, the hand
was strangely gentle, almost tentative. Then it was gone. The
monster turned and stepped to one side of the archway. It turned
again to face Justin and snorted. Twin jets of flame shot from its
nostrils. And then it was just a statue again. The eyes were blank,
the body was still. And Justin stood in the center of the room,
shaking with relief.
    He waited a moment but the statue remained
still. So, with a last glance at the minotaur, Justin walked though
the archway.
    He was standing in a narrow, unlit hallway.
A dozen feet ahead, the hall seemed to connect with another room,
The light from that room was much brighter and steadier than the
torchlight behind him. He walked forward and as he was about to
enter the next room, he heard the sound of metal on rock again.
    Justin turned around in time to see the