Once upon a time, there was a lovely princess. But she had an enchantment upon her of a fearful sort, which could only be broken by love's first kiss. She was locked away in a castle guarded by a terrible fire breathing dragon. Many knights had tried to free her from this dreadful prison, but none prevailed.

She waited in the dragon's keep, in the highest room in the tallest tower for her true love and true love's first kiss.

"Pfft! Yeah, like that'll happen." said someone closing a book he'd been reading and placing it on a shelf carved out of wood.

Out from a rocky cave came a very large creature with dark skin that was half human and half bull. His name was Mace, and that cave was his home.

Mace stepped out from his cave and stretched out as he felt the warm sun on his face.

It was a beautiful day in the mountain range. The flowers were in bloom, the sky was clear, and Mace was ready to get yet another day started.

"Just another day in paradise." breathed the minotaur.

Somebody once told me

The world is gonna roll me

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

She was looking kind of dumb

With her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead

Mace's life in the mountains was pretty routine. He liked to start the day with a nice cool shower at the waterfall where the birds also liked to take a bath. The water always felt so soothing with how warm the sun could be a lot of days too.

Well, the years start coming

And they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart, but your head gets dumb

Now that he was clean, Mace went on to foraging the forest for food. There were always a lot of fish in the river down the mountain, and he'd gotten pretty good at catching decent chow over the years. It helped too that there were lots of berry bushes, herbs and fruit trees that grew in the forest a hop skip and a jump from his cave. Of course, there were plenty of seeds from many of those plants too, and Mace had his hobbies when he wasn't collecting food or cooking it over a camp fire.

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow

Hey now, you're an all star

Get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star

Get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

It's a cool place and they say it gets colder

You're bundled up now, wait 'til you get older

But the meteor men beg to differ

Judging by the hole in the satellite picture

Mace liked to garden with the seeds he collected sometimes; sometimes, he fed them to the birds and squirrels that lived in the forest (when they weren't too frightened by his intimidating appearance to come out and eat them); and sometimes he'd string the seeds together to make necklaces and decorations to spruce up his cave. And whatever fruits he didn't eat, he crushed them up and used them to make paints to make beautiful portraits, or he would use them for skin care. Unlike some minotaurs, he didn't have the most hair, but he took care of himself anyway.

The ice we skate is getting pretty thin

The water's getting warm so you might as well swim

My world's on fire, how about yours?

That's the way I like it and I never get bored

Of course, despite the peaceful life Mace had alone in the forest mountain range, that didn't mean he was any stranger to danger.

In a village somewhere around the bottom of the mountain, some humans were getting torches and pitchforks ready as they were planning to go up to Mount Gaia and bring back the head of the legendary Mount Minotaur, a beast said to inhabit that very mountain. Some thought it just a legend, but others swore they'd seen him for at least the last twenty years.

Hey now, you're an all star

Get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star

Get the show on, get paid

As night fell, Mace could hear a sound he was no stranger to. And when he peeked out from his cave, sure enough, he saw a bunch of men coming up his mountain with their pitchforks and torches.

"Here we go again," said Mace, rolling his eyes. "When will these guys take a hint?"

All that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold

As annoyed as he was with these angry mobs, Mace decided it was once again time to have a little fun with these "visitors."

Of course, there were actually a number of caves on the mountain, some with animals living in them, some with none, but none of the angry mobs that had come to the mountain over the years were sure which one the Mountain Minotaur lived in. Although, that was likely because the Mountain Minotaur was always on the move, and popped out at different spots to scare the angry mobs away before they ever had a chance to fight back.

On this particular night, the angry mob peeked from behind some bushes at a cave they believed to be the one the Mount Minotaur lived in.

"I think it's in there," whispered one man.

"Alright. Let's get it!" said another all too eager to rush in, until his friends stopped him.

"Hold it! Do you have any idea what that thing could do to you?" said the eager man's friend.

"Yeah, I hear it'll grind your bones for it's bread," said a more nervous member of the group.

And the whole group became scared as they heard someone much larger laughing from behind them.

"Actually, that would be a giant," said Mace, getting closer to the mob. "Now, minotaurs... oh they're much worse. They'll make a suit from your freshly peeled skin, they'll eat your wives, and pop out from under bad children's beds, looking for they're next meal."

Mace liked to tease the mobs by making up stories, knowing that none of them would even think to verify these facts first, and then scaring them away. Then, one of the men swung his torch at Mace, just barely missing him.

"Back! Back, beast! Back! I'm warning you!"

Mace, however, just licked his hand and pinched the flame, extinguishing it instantly.

"Right," said the man, dropping his now useless torch.

Then Mace took a big breath and unleashed a mighty roar that had all the men screaming, some jumped into each other's arms, hugged each other, and Mace could swear at least one of them got so scared he soiled himself. Mace literally had enough time to eat an entire apple before the men stopped screaming. He threw the core away, wiped his mouth, and whispered to the men, "This is the part where you run away."

And with that, the mob ran all the way down the mountain, screaming their heads off, Mace laughing at them.

"And stay out!" Mace shouted, his voice echoing in the mountain.

But then, Mace noticed a paper one of the men dropped. It was a WANTED poster.

Wanted: Magical Creatures were written in big bold red letters, and there were various pictures of different magical creatures on it. Fairies, nymphs, pegasus ponies, unicorns, and basically any creature that proved non-human in any way.

Mace shook his head in disappointment.

"What is wrong with these people?" Mace asked himself before heading back to his cave.

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Mace lay himself down on his bed and looked at a portrait he'd carved out of stone long ago. It looked like him when he was little, and he was with two other minotaurs that had to be his parents.

"Goodnight, Mother. Goodnight, Father." Mace said to the picture.

Not that he had really anyone he could tell, but Mace never even admitted it out loud to his own reflection that although he lived peacefully in a beautiful mountain range with enough food, water, and safe shelter and space for him to live, he was sad. He hadn't seen another minotaur since he was very little.

You probably know minotaurs for living in a labyrinth and eating maidens and prisoners placed in there, but that wasn't the case for Mace. Even though he lived in a world without walls or chains, he still felt like a prisoner at times. But that's another story for later.