All Kindreds

3: Master

Liz's eyes gradually adjusted to the light, and the creature came into focus. It was not her sponsor.

This being had a longer snout, flaring into cavernous nostrils. And large, dark, wide-set eyes. A brace of horns swept back over down-turned ears. One of the minotaur race. That was Liz's private name for them. Their real name -- rurka-something-or-other -- she could not pronounce.

Liz inched herself up onto elbows and looked blearily around. "Where is my sponsor?" she asked in commonspeech.

The creature snorted, and the spicy scent freshened on the air. "I am your master now," he rasped. "I bought your contract."

Master. She stared at the minotaur. "My contract was not up for sale."

"Yet your sponsor was glad to take the price I offered. You should be glad as well that you no longer need grub in the dirt. Now get up. We have a presentation to make."

Liz wanted to ask how long she had been sedated, but didn't know how minotaurs measured time. She sighed. On her sponsor's world, days seemed shorter than on Earth. And she had just noticed a repeat in seasons. She had hoped to estimate a time equivalence so she could at least guess the passing of years. Now she'd have to start over again. "What world is this?" she asked as she sat up and massaged her legs.

She couldn't understand the sound the minotaur made in answer, much less reproduce it. Then she saw he was speaking to another of his kind. He had tuned Liz out. Loneliness crept up from the depths. Alone, and friendless. Other humans had come into this sphere, but if any still lived, no one knew where they now dwelled. I am a stranger in a strange land, she thought, echoing Moses' words even though this realm was far more bizarre than anything the ancient prophet had encountered.

Liz shook herself, pushing despair to arm's length. No. When God is with me, I am not alone. She shut her eyes, calling out, reaching for support.

She heard no answer. There was too much noise and bustle, with minotaurs bellowing at each other and her need not all that pressing. For now she must fall back on treasured memories of His support.