Richard Knaak: Land of the minotaurs

Sekra, was just a little smaller and more narrow, but darker-furred. The stubs where her horns would come in were barely noticeable, as a female's horns grew in later and to a lesser size than those of a male. Both children were, of course, perfect in the eyes of their parents.

"You could just as easily take care of them as I." Her tone was hesitant, however, caught as she was between her care for her brother and her love for her children.

"You know they cooperate with you much more than they do with me, Helati." She could not deny that. The infants loved their father, but their mother had what seemed a sort of magic touch. Where Kaz might take all night to coax them to sleep, Helati would need only an hour… or two. The twins shared his rebellious nature, all right. "And we can't take them with us, now can we? Not if something's amiss in Nethosak."

Looking up, she locked gazes with him. "You know it might be dangerous for you to go back."

"Go back where?" asked another voice.

A shorter, muscular minotaur with a mixture of black and brown fur and a long snout came trotting toward them. One broken horn spoke of his past in the Great Circus. Brogan never talked about his experience there, much the way Kaz never did. Brogan visited them often, possibly because he had no family in the settlement, not even distant kin.

Kaz saw no reason to hide the truth. The others would notice his absence. "I'm going back. Hecar hasn't returned from Nethosak. I'm going to find him."

Snorting, Brogan replied, "I'll gather the others. We'll be ready when you are."

"I'm going alone."

"Alone?" The other minotaur snorted again. His thick hands curled into fists. "Not alone! You don't know what it's like back there-"

"Brogan." Kaz's quiet tone commanded silence. "I can't very well go riding into the imperial capital with a conspicuous force behind me. A lone rider will make less disturbance than fifty. Besides, it's been over eight years. It's less likely someone will recognize me. The war and the time since then have made changes."

"We could follow you."

"You haven't been gone that long. People will spot you or the others more easily than they would me. Besides, I work better alone." That was not entirely true, but other than Helati or Hecar, there was no one he would trust to follow his lead… Well, there was one more, but "trust" was not exactly the right word where a kender was concerned. "Desperately hope" to follow his lead was more accurate. Fortunately, the kender concerned was not here.

Brogan looked unconvinced. He turned to Helati, but she looked away. Helati, more than anyone else, knew how Kaz worked best. It was not to her liking, but Helati was aware that he had a better chance of success without others to betray his presence.

"Was there something you wanted, Brogan?"

Blinking, the short minotaur nodded. "Aye, but it'll wait. Just some of us wanting permission to put your mark on our places. I told 'em to wait until we knew it was fine with you. It can wait, though."

He turned and stalked away before Kaz could pull himself together to respond. Helati gazed up at her mate, seeing the consternation in his face.

"My mark on their homes? They're supposed to put their clan markings there."

"Perhaps they've decided they belong to a different clan now."

Kaz was uncomfortable with the image of his name carved into the simple structures. That was reserved for the clan name, which was the way by which minotaurs asked their ancestors to watch over a new home. By putting his mark on instead, they were acknowledging him as clan leader, much the way Orilg himself had been chosen.

Clan Kaziganthi… or rather Clan Kaz… since there was a tendency to shorten the title. At one time, Kaz would have felt honored. Now he was unnerved.

"I leave before dawn, Helati. That should let me escape the others. I can't take them with me. You know that."

"I know." She rose, careful not to disturb the infants, who were still wakeful. "Would you like to hold them for a while?"

Kaz nodded, taking his children in his arms. To his surprise, they nestled in close to his chest and began to drift off into slumber. It was the first time they had ever fallen asleep so smoothly. He was almost disappointed. This might be the last time he saw them before he departed.

Helati turned toward their dwelling. "I've got some things I want to prepare for your journey. Do you want to put the children to bed or hold them a while longer?"

"I'll hold them until you're ready to take them."

She nodded, then went inside. The massive minotaur watched her disappear, then returned his gaze to the twins. At the moment, Kaz did not feel like a former champion of the circus, a veteran mariner, or a seasoned warrior. He felt like a proud father, and the feeling was a good one.

Enjoy it while you can, he suddenly reminded himself. It may be the last time you feel this way for days… or ever again.

Cradling the twins closer, Kaz looked north.

Dawn was still nearly two hours away when Kaz began the final preparations for departure. His great warhorse, a cherished gift from the Knights of Solamnia, was impatient to go. Kaz needed only one more item to complete his gear, something long mounted on one of the walls of his dwelling.

The battle-axe he pulled from the wall was one that had been given him by an elf named Sardal Crystalthorn, an elf who had been dead for more than three years now. Even in the dark, the long, double-edged weapon somehow gleamed, its mirror face able to catch even the slightest illumination. The unknown dwarf who had crafted it had created a masterpiece. The balance was perfect. It had saved Kaz's life many times.

The runes on the side spelled out its name: Honor's Face. It was a name with magical connotations, for the mirrorlike finish enabled the minotaur to see whether a person was or was not to be trusted. Those with honor reflected brightly in its finish; those who sought to betray showed no reflection at all.

There were other things Honor's Face could do, but Kaz had no time to reflect. He gripped the axe in one hand and swung it with practiced ease into the back harness he had strapped on. It was a strange yet comfortable sensation. He had not carried the axe with him in at least three months. For chopping wood he used a more mundane household axe, not a well-honed weapon.

Kaz did not doubt that he would have reason to wield the axe on his journey.

Helati was waiting for him by the entrance. The children slept, the first time they had made it through the night without waking. Kaz wondered if that was somehow prophetic. Did they sleep unconcerned because they knew their father would return unharmed, or was it an omen of a doomed mission?

He was glad he could not ask them.

"You are ready."

"As ready as I can be."

They were embracing when a commotion from the darkness made them turn. Kaz had the axe out and ready without thinking. The clink of metal and the thud of hooves, accompanied by the snorting of horses, warned him that an armed party was coming.

The newcomers were shadowy forms, but it was clear that they were all minotaurs. One of the nearest rode close enough so that Kaz could make out the one broken horn.

"Brogan! Paladine's sword! What's the meaning of this?"

"We're ready to go with you, Kaz." Behind Brogan rode at least a dozen or more minotaurs. The darkness made it nigh impossible to say how many or who each of them was.

He was warmed by their loyalty and concern, but angered by their disregard for his wishes. "I told you I needed to go alone. It'll be easier that way. A party like this will attract the notice of the guard miles before arriving at the city gates!"

"Nethosak is dangerous these days," insisted another faceless minotaur. "More dangerous than it has ever been."