Richard Knaak: Land of the minotaurs

Beside him, Hecar heard Kaz quietly say, "All right, Delbin. It's time."

The temple guards did not seem to hear or notice the kender suddenly touch his manacles, which slipped off a moment later without a sound. Only belatedly did Hecar note the tiny lockpick in Delbin's hands, a lockpick that the kender put to use with astonishing speed on Hecar's own manacles. In the space of seconds, he had the chains off Fliara as well.

It was not until Delbin reached Scurn that one of the guards blinked and noticed what was happening. He turned to stop the kender's efforts, shouting, "The prisoners-!"

His outburst was all that was needed to send the two groups into battle. Three guards turned on the prisoners. Hecar, using his chains like a flail, swung at a soldier. His blow struck the minotaur's sword hand, causing him to drop his weapon. Delbin was instantly there, seizing the sword and handing it to Fliara, who was closest.

The minotaur with the streak in his hair laughed as he fought back both the escort leader and another temple guard. He wielded a sword large even by minotaur standards, a sword that whipped in and out and around with such speed and daring that it confounded the pair who fought him. Neither could get past his blade. The escort leader fell seconds later to a thrust.

Two more guards fell, one of them wounded in the leg, but one of their rescuers also died. Hecar swung the chains at any guard who came within range. One soldier managed to press Fliara back, but Hecar pulled his chains around the attacker's neck and did not loosen his grip until the guard ceased to move.

Someone bumped into Hecar from behind. He turned, expecting another attacker, and found Scurn, one hand still manacled, struggling with a guard who had evidently tried to run Hecar through the back. The guard was strong, but Scurn was stronger. The scarred minotaur pushed his opponent to his knees, then raised his knee into the guard's chin. Scum's adversary collapsed.

Circumstance makes for strange shield-brothers, Hecar thought as he turned to fight some more. Never thought I'd owe that one my life.

"Give yourselves up!" demanded the leader of the rescuers. "You can't win this battle!"

The remaining soldiers lowered their weapons. Four of their number were dead, including the escort commander, with at least three others injured. Of the rescuers, only one had fallen and another had a wounded arm. All in all, a good battle, at least from Hecar's point of view.

"Toron!" Fliara ran over to the minotaur with the streak in his fur, hugging him. For no reason he could fathom, Hecar felt a twinge of jealousy. He was certainly not attracted to Kaz's sister. Certainly not.

"This is hardly the situation I'd expected you to get into, little sister!" roared the one called Toron. "You were always the strict, rule-abiding one in the family!"

"Toron?" The name was more than familiar, but as with Fliara, many years had passed since Hecar had seen this same minotaur. Toron, like Fliara, had been much younger. Hecar turned to where Kaz had last been standing. "Kaz! Your brother is-"

Kaz, however, was nowhere to be seen.

Hecar quickly scanned the street, fearing that somewhere he would find the fallen body of Helati's mate.

However, it almost immediately became apparent that Kaz was not among the dead and wounded.

Delbin tugged on his hand. Hecar looked down at the kender, who was trying to hold back a giggle. "He fooled you really good, but then he looked exactly like Kaz, which is what he told me he had to do in order to give Kaz the time to get where he had to, and, besides, it would have been harder for Kaz to do certain things if we were still prisoners in the temple-"

"What the blazes are you talking about, Delbin? Are you saying that wasn't Kaz with us?"

"No, it was the gray man from my dreams, and he said Kaz had the best chance to rescue Ty if we were out and safe, and, besides, Helati's been talking to your clan, which is why-"

"Which is why we decided to show the temple it can't push around Orilg, especially my own family." Toron walked up and patted Hecar on the shoulder. "And that includes you, Hecar! I missed the rest of what this little creature said! Where's Kaz?"

Hecar shook his head. "Delbin says he was never here, that some mage was here, disguised as him. That much I think I understand. Kaz went to rescue a… human female"-it would not do to tell Toron the truth just yet- "who is a prisoner of the high priest. The female's important for some reason."

"Then we should go back and help him! The others can handle these prisoners!"

"No!" piped up Delbin. "The mage said we should go to the circus!"

Hecar paused. On the one hand, he wanted to go back and help Kaz, but on the other hand, their interference might make it more difficult for Kaz to slip out with Ty.

"I wish Helati were here," he muttered. Her advice had always been sound.

"She's done enough as it is," replied Toron, "considering all she helped plan!"

"Helati's here? How is that possible? Where is she?"

"Not here, at least not in the flesh, but-"

Fliara joined them, cutting off her brother's explanation. Her expression was one of great concern. "Where's Kaz?"

"Not here," her brother replied, "that's all I understand. He might be back at the temple, if what Hecar here said is true."

"Then we've got trouble."

"Why's that?" asked Hecar.

She looked around, verifying something. "Scum's missing, too."

As the ceremony announcing the imperial duel began, Infernus felt a tug of warning in his mind. The tug was something he had added to the hatchling's prison spell; it warned him if, say, the young one's power grew sufficient to disrupt or destroy the crimson cage. It also, as a matter of function, warned the dragon if some outside force attempted the same thing.

Infernus did not think the hatchling was sufficiently schooled yet to free herself. That left only outside influence and that, to the disguised leviathan, meant, impossible as it seemed, only one audacious creature.

"Kaz…" he whispered.

One of his subordinates, hearing the high priest mutter, immediately turned to see if his master desired something.

The chair of the high priest was empty.

The fall, if not the shock, should have killed Kaz. He knew that very well. He should have struck the wall or the floor with the force necessary to crack his hard head open or snap his neck. It would have been appropriate. It would have been almost exactly like the death of his father.

Yet, while Kaz's head throbbed as if every drum in the homeland were being beaten, he was far from dead. His muscles ached, but that was fine compared with broken bones and a battered body.

"Kaz! Don't die! Don't!"

"I'm-" The minotaur tried to rise too swiftly and encountered throbbing pain. "I'm alive, Ty, but I think I might regret that good fortune for the next several minutes."

"I thought you were going to die! I tried my best to keep you from falling so hard!"

Kaz's head began to clear. Finally he could see well enough to observe that Ty was still a prisoner, but the spell that held her had grown pale now, almost pink, and did not pulsate every time its captive breathed. The girl's words started to make some sense… he thought. "Are you saying… are you saying you kept me from breaking my neck?"

"I couldn't let that happen! Not after… not after…" Ty fought back tears. "Not after I couldn't save Ganth!"

"It's all right, Ty." Kaz slowly rose. The throbbing lessened, but his arm, the same one that had been injured in the woods, now hurt intolerably. "You can't be blamed for not saving him. Blame Infernus, if anyone."

"I hate him! I wish I could do something!"