Richard Knaak: Land of the minotaurs

There had been other pyres, too: one for Scurn, who Kaz made certain was honored for his bravery, and one, not very well attended, for the late emperor. The burning of Infernus's body had taken a great deal more effort, considering both the dragon's size and its natural resistance to fire. A variety of flammable oils had helped that effort.

Kaz turned to his friend. "Should I have accepted?"

"No. I, like the others, was proud that they wanted you, but it's not right for you. You want something different. You don't want to conquer a world. Besides, Helati would have killed both of us if you had accepted."

Kaz chuckled. "There is that. As for conquest, hopefully the Supreme Circle and the new emperor will think long before they embark on rash adventures. The gray man said that if they continued with the invasion, they would fail."

"I'd like to meet this gray man… and give him a piece of my mind. I still haven't forgiven him for using you, maybe all of us, like that. No, I've changed my mind. I'd rather give him a piece of my fist."

Now that things were calmer and Kaz could think, he felt he understood the mage better. There was always a hint of sorrow in those eyes, sorrow and, most of all, frustration.

Thinking of the mage made him think of Ty. Most of the minotaurs had taken his word that the silver dragon had vanished because her work had been done, but Hecar and the kender had wanted to know a little more, especially Delbin. It had taken some effort to explain to the kender, but when Kaz had finished, Delbin had been so impressed by what had happened, he had immediately sought his notebook… at which point the kender had discovered one or two objects that belonged to Athus, as it turned out.

"Forget the mage," Kaz told his companion. "He did what had to be done." After another pause, he asked, "Do you think they really listened?"

Kaz had been forced to make a speech rejecting the crown for the benefit of the crowd, while trying to keep from offending them. He knew, he told them, that he would not be a good emperor. He had enough trouble leading his own small settlement. He recommended some immediate changes concerning one or two members of the circle, who saved themselves further dishonor by resigning there and then. As for the clerics, they needed to spend some time working themselves back into the good graces of the people.

Toward the end of the speech, after telling everyone what Infernus had done, Kaz reminded the minotaurs of what mattered most. They were their own leaders now, possibly for the first time in their nation's existence. If they made mistakes, they could blame only themselves.

"Remember that life without truth or honor is nothing," he had concluded. "If we are the children of destiny, we must act suitably."

"Are you two going to stand by that rail through the entire trip?" bellowed Toron from behind Hecar and Kaz. Kaz's brother had decided to join the settlement, taking his family-his mate and three small children-with him. They evidently were still below, possibly with Fliara, whose company Hecar seemed to enjoy.

In fact, there were more than a hundred minotaurs aboard the ship, dubbed Dragonslayer in Kaz's honor, and even the crew included new additions to the settlement. Several were from his old clan, but many had come from others. There would be more coming as the weeks went on. Kaz might have rejected the role of emperor, but he still had found no way around turning his back on the village that had grown around his dwelling. With a hundred more minotaurs, it would be more like a town from now on.

He hoped he would not be calling it a city before long.

At least there were not any gully dwarves aboard. Clan Orilg and the circle had taken it upon themselves to escort the creatures back to their home, such as it was. Galump had become unelected leader of the newly released slaves, who had nearly forgotten their enslavement already; such was the benefit of a limited memory span.

"We were taking one last look at Nethosak," Hecar finally responded to Toron.

"I can do without the entire homeland! There are better adventures than fighting one worthless war after another. I would rather my children explore when they grow older."

Coming from Toron, who had always played warrior even as a very young child, that was something. Kaz nodded his agreement. "Exploration would be good. There's another continent. Why should Nethosak be the only one sending ships to chart it?"

Hecar looked both of them over. "First you're going to take some time to raise your children, Kaz, or Helati will have both of our hides… and you would do well to do the same with your own mate, Toron. She seems the strong-minded type when it comes to family."

Kaz's brother laughed heartily. "Perhaps I'll go down even now and see if my mate needs me. I'll leave you two alone to admire Nethosak."

As he departed, Hecar mumbled, "It's going to take me a while to get used to him, Kaz."

"Think of him as a younger me."

"I'd rather not. You couldn't ever have been like that."

Kaz laughed. The two of them returned their gazes to the shore. Kaz knew that the bulk of minotaur history to come would always emanate from Mithas and Kothas, especially from Nethosak. Good or ill, though, the future would be determined by the minotaurs themselves. Kaz suspected their basic nature would not change much.

The dream of destiny would, of course, continue without Infernus. Deep inside, Kaz suspected that most of his people needed the dream, if only because they felt too unlike the other races to comfortably live with them.

"We have been enslaved, but have always thrown off our shackles," Kaz found himself whispering. "We have been driven back, but always returned to the fray stronger than before. We have risen to new heights when all other races have fallen into decay. We are the future of Krynn, the masters of the entire world. We are the children of destiny."

Hecar grunted in disgust. "Are we really?"

He shrugged. Nethosak was tiny in the distance now, seemingly inconsequential. Kaz squinted and thought he could still make out what might have been the ruined roof of the temple.

"I don't know," the minotaur murmured more to himself than to his companion. "I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

They watched Nethosak continue to shrink, thinking no more about its future. After all, Kaz and the others, including Helati and the rest of those already at the settlement, had their own to consider… and that was more pressing at the moment.