progress from today

book-1/11.tex

@@ -1,3 +1,227 @@
 \chapter{11}
 
-The Minotaur was gigantic.
+The Minotaur was colossal.
+Even without the mighty horns that bent forwards he was at least two meters tall.
+His naked torso had the form and dimensions of a large wine barrel,
+and even though hunger and other deprivations had left an irreversible mark on him,
+his muscles looked like they would break railroad ties just for fun some times.
+The face was one hundred percent that of a bull,
+but from his neck down he seemed to be a normal person:
+if you ignored the nearly monstrous musculature.
+
+``So it is true'', the dog man growled.
+``He's finally awake\footnote{You were trying to cross the border, right?}''
+He actually \textit{growled},
+even though it was clearly modulated and had a surprisingly pleasant sound.
+All the same every word he said seemed to be accompanied by a threatening growling.
+The reptilian being didn't add anything,
+but its tongue flicked in Andrew's direction more nervously than it had been.
+
+``Then maybe we can talk to him now'', the minotaur added.
+His voice was just as resonant and deep as Andrew had imagined,
+but he spoke very slowly and added an audible pause after every word as if it were difficult for him to speak.
+Maybe his vocal cords were more that of a bull than those of a human,
+Andrew thought.
+The brain behind that massive forehead was definitely human,
+which he could tell from one look into his large unmistakeably intelligence-filled eyes.
+Andrew made a mental note not to underestimate the minotaur.
+This creature was not only strong,
+but also smart.
+
+He raised his shoulders.
+``No objections.''
+
+Katt gave him an almost imploring look.
+``This is Andrew'', she said hastily,
+then just as quickly she pointed to the dog man,
+the snake, and the minotaur.
+``Rex, Liz, and Bull, the oldest in the tribe.''
+
+Short names seemed to be very beloved here,
+Andrew thought amused,
+and just as \textit{unimaginative}.
+As to their authenticity he only had more doubts.
+He wouldn't dare guessing the age of the snake person,
+much less the minotaur,
+but there was no way Rex was older than Katt.
+
+``You can't expect too much from him'',
+Katt continued to the three \textit{elders} in an abrupt tone and distinctly louder than it needed to be.
+Andrew had the feeling that she was just talking so that \textit{he} wouldn't say anything.
+``He's still somewhat flustered and his fever isn't all the way gone!''
+
+She made a circular motion near her temple,
+which apparently meant the same thing across cultures and species.
+When she turned around to Andrew she gave him the same imploring look she had given him earlier.
+It was impossible to overlook the immense respect she had for the three figures.
+
+``Why don't you let us decide that, Katt?'', asked Bull.
+The words confirmed Andrew's suspicion.
+The minotaur was the leader of the three.
+
+``Sure'', Katt said nervously.
+
+``Why don't you wait outside?'', the minotaur suggested.
+``You can help Ratt with Bat. I don't think she is doing too well.''
+
+Katt hesitated and Andrew smiled at her and said cheerily:
+``Go ahead.
+If they are your friends,
+then they're friends of mine too.''
+He turned directly towards Bull.
+``I will answer all of your questions.
+As much as I can, that is.''
+
+Andrew regretted the last restriction almost as soon as he said it.
+He could tell that the eyes of a bull were able to exude a feeling of mistrust,
+but he didn't break eye contact.
+After a moment Katt reluctantly turned around and left.
+Rex followed her to the door.
+He didn't didn't hide the fact that he was doing it to make sure she actually left and didn't just stand right outside the door to listen in.
+
+``Katt said you helped her'',
+Bull began after the dog man had come back and had nodded to him.
+``Is this true?''
+
+Andrew was a little surprised.
+He had expected that the minotaur would have asked where he was from.
+He simply nodded.
+
+``Why?'', asked Rex.
+
+``Why?'' Andrew didn't understand the question.
+
+``Why'', confirmed the dog man.
+``Nobody helps anyone if they don't get something out of it.''
+
+``Where I'm from they do'', answered Andrew automatically.
+
+``Not here'', said Bull.
+He didn't even take the out Andrew had given him.
+``So, why did you help her?''
+
+It was at the forefront of his mind to just tell the truth.
+\textit{Because I owed her.
+She had saved my life before that and risked her own life for it.}
+But for something told him that that wouldn't have been smart.
+Apparently the values here were different than where he was from.
+
+``Without her I wouldn't have made it'', he said 
+--- which was the truth.
+``She knew the way.
+I didn't.''
+
+\textit{This} answer seemed to satisfy the minotaur.
+``Katt also told us that the dragons had chased after you'', he said.
+``Is that true?''
+
+\textit{Dragons?}
+At first Andrew wasn't sure what Bull was talking about,
+but then he understood:
+Frightening flying monster that spewed fire.
+Dragons.
+Of course.
+``Yes''
+
+``Why?'', Rex growled.
+
+``That I do not know'', answered Andrew.
+
+``You're from outside and you don't know why the dragons were chasing you?'', asked Bull.
+``Why would I believe that?''
+His drawn-out way of speaking gave the words a heft that warned Andrew to be especially careful.
+He had just been wondering why the minotaur hadn't immediately asked him where he was from,
+but now it was clear to him that they weren't talking about anything else this whole time.
+
+``Because that is the truth'', he said.
+``I don't know who these \dots \textit{dragons} are.
+And I don't know why they killed my friend or wanted to kill me.
+Before I came here I didn't know that they existed.''
+
+``Even though you claim to be from outside?'', Rex asked.
+``The dragons come from outside.
+Who would believe that?''
+
+``Not from where I'm from'', answered Andrew.
+In a lightly snotty tone he added:
+``There's quite a few places, you know?''
+
+Rex's eyes flashed with anger and Andrew had the feeling that he had said something that wasn't quite so smart.
+Regardless he not only forced himself to calmly maintain eye contact,
+but also smiled a little.
+He himself had never had a dog,
+but he knew that you could never show weakness towards them.
+
+Liz hissed and Bull said slowly:
+``That's enough.''
+Andrew noticed that the snake had always hissed before the minotaur had said anything.
+Was it possible that he had been wrong and that Bull was just the translator for the snake person?
+
+``I'm sorry'', he said.
+``But that is the truth.
+The world I am from is very large.
+I have never seen anything like these dragons before or ever heard of them,
+you have to believe me.
+I also don't know why they are trying to kill me.''
+
+``Then why are you here?'', asked Bull.
+
+Andrew almost laughed out loud.
+``Definitely not on purpose'', he answered.
+``Nick and I crashed in our airplane.
+At least that's what I thought at first.''
+He instinctively decided to leave off the whole prologue and not to say anything about Scarhand and his companions either.
+It was already complicated enough.
+``But now I think one of your dragons shot us down.''
+
+``An airplane?''
+Rex sniffed his shoulder as if he could tell if Andrew was lying by doing that.
+``What is that supposed to be?''
+
+``A machine'', answered Andrew.
+``A contraption that flies.''
+
+Mistake number \dots oh whatever.
+A huge mistake since not only Rex took a quick step backwards.
+Liz hissed agitatedly and Bills eyes were saturated with mistrust.
+
+``Like the dragons?'', barked Rex.
+
+``No'', answered Andrew quickly.
+``Well yes, but \dots''
+He shook his head confusedly.
+Something told him that a lot of things
+---his life for example ---
+were depending on his next words,
+but it was getting more and more difficult to find the right words.
+
+``But?'', asked Bull/
+
+``An airplane isn't anything special where I'm from.'', he said carefully.
+``But they aren't dangerous.
+You just use them to get from one place to the next.
+Not to kill people.''
+
+``You fly from one place to another one with it?'', barked Rex.
+Maybe it was a mocking laugh.
+``What would that be good for?''
+
+``Because its fast'', answered Andrew.
+``You can go the same distance in a few hours that it would usually take weeks or even months to travel.''
+
+Bull and the dog man looked at each other with a knowing look,
+but Andrew couldn't tell if they didn't understand his question or if they just didn't believe anything he said.
+Or both.
+
+``Then its bigger outside than here?'', asked Bull.
+
+Andrew didn't know how big \textit{here} was,
+but he nodded nonetheless.
+``I think so.''
+
+``And they're all like you?''
+
+``Like me?''
+Andrew asked, but he already felt that the answer was a little too rash.
+From Bull's and Rex's point of view all the other people were \textit{like him}.
+``More or less'', he constrained.

book-1/Main.tex

@@ -91,6 +91,7 @@ I'll need to go over it multiple times later anyway.
 \input{8}
 \input{9}
 \input{10}
+\input{11}
 
 
 \end{document}

book-1/all.tex

@@ -15,3 +15,4 @@
 	\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{3}}
 \input{book-1/10}
 	\addtocontents{toc}{\protect\setcounter{tocdepth}{-1}}
+\input{book-1/11}