Richard Knaak - Kaz the Minotaur

The minotaur straightened. If the reborn mage was going to kill him, Kaz would die with honor and dignity. “So I gathered. You didn’t escape the Dragonqueen after all.”

“Not quite. I was trapped in my own creation, but the claws of my mistress reach very far. Though she could not remove me from my selfmade prison, she spoke to me. I still could aid her with her conquest of Krynn, even after her defeat and temporary exile by your belated comrade.”

“Temporary?”

‘Temporary.” Galan Dracos smiled through Ravenshadow’s visage. More and more, the elf’s body seemed gaunt, and the skin, though it might only have been the minotaur’s imagination, appeared a bit scaly. “Tonight, Kaz, you will watch the world welcome Takhisis back to Krynn! Tonight!” He laughed again in that same mocking tone.

The laugh broke off in midstream as two things happened simultaneously. The first was the hourglass, which, without warning, exploded, sending glass shards and bits of sand flying about the room. The other was what at first seemed to be an attack of some illness so virulent that all of a sudden Dracos pitched forward and fell to one knee, screaming.

“Cease… your… struggling! This is… my body now!”

Kaz scanned the room hurriedly, seeking something he could use against Dracos, or Ravenshadow, or whoever was controlling the body.

“Kaz!” Delbin rushed to his side.

“Get out of here, Delbin! Go and find the others! I’ve got to stop him if I can!”

“He’s got your battle-axe, Kaz! I saw it! That one called Dracos has it, only it’s invisible now, so you can’t see it-”

“Where? Just point!”

“I don’t know. He hid it!”

Eyeing the agonizing figure of the elf, Kaz held his breath and concentrated on the axe. Maybe, just maybe, with both Dracos and Ravenshadow fighting for control of the body, the spell on the battle-axe would be weakening. If so…

Delbin whistled. “How’d you do that? Can you do it again? That’s a neat trick!”

As Kaz gazed down at the dwarven axe, new sounds reached the minotaur’s ears. The sounds of battle had returned. The barrier that Ravenshadow had formed with the guidance of Dracos was no more.

Thrusting a sword through an overanxious opponent, Darius looked up and saw a strange dull haze surround the keep. At first he thought it was some new addition to the spell that Argaen Ravenshadow had evidently cast, but then he spotted several figures in the distance. At least three of them had their arms raised and were staring intently at the keep.

Another man came at him with an axe, and he put up his sword to block the blow as best he could. Something bright flashed in his adversary’s eyes, and the man faltered.

“Do something!” Tesela shouted from behind him.

Darius realized that she had saved his life. While his opponent tried to move back out of range until his eyes cleared, the knight urged his mount forward, reached under the other’s frantic swings, and ran the man through at the neck.

“Darius! Look at the keep!”

He did-and covered his eyes as the spell of the other mages reacted with the barrier spell and the entire region was lit up brightly.

When he dared look again, the barrier was gone. The keep was open to attack.

“Stay close to me!” he shouted at Tesela. “This is our chance to rescue Kaz!”

With renewed morale, the knights surged forward.

“You have… your god-spawned battle-axe… again! No matter! That will not… help you now!”

Dracos had recovered somewhat, and now pointed a finger at his adversary. Kaz was thrown back, but he managed to keep a grip on his weapon. He landed on a table, crushing several tomes and breaking the table itself in two. The minotaur was only slightly stunned; he had suffered worse blows in tavern brawls with drunken, hateful humans.

Dracos swore bitterly and swerved toward the emerald sphere.

Kaz looked at his battle-axe, momentarily debating whether to throw it or not. He might succeed in striking the sphere, but there was no guarantee that it would shatter.

Galan Dracos made it to the artifact, but he paused there, oddly indecisive. He seemed to be of two minds, and Kaz sourly reminded himself that he was indeed of two minds. What Argaen Ravenshadow lacked in sorcerous ability, he more than made up for in willpower, and he was not about to surrender his existence to Dracos. Ravenshadow was an elf, and he had centuries of training behind him, something the human mage had evidently not taken into account.

Kaz took one look at the sphere and then at the struggling sorcerer. The minotaur hefted his battle-axe. Perhaps he could get two targets with one blow.

The doorways were suddenly brimming with onrushing soldiers.

Cursing, Kaz turned to meet them. He should have realized that it was only a matter of time before guards were summoned to investigate the commotion.

The first man came at him, a spear thrust barely missing Kaz’s shoulder. This man, too, underestimated the reach of the minotaur, and Kaz brought the axe around, ripping a great gap in the human’s chest. The man tumbled to the floor as two others moved closer. They were armed with longswords. Behind them, a third man, clad in the dark armor of one of the Black Guard, saw the crazed mage and shouted Dracos’s name.

Another guard went down under the minotaur’s onslaught, only now two more joined in. Against four, Kaz was hard pressed. These were not goblins; these were veteran warriors.

Kaz couldn’t see what was happening, but the guardsman who had called out the mage’s name now gave a shout and ran toward his master, sword at the ready.

That relieved the minotaur of one opponent, but the other three still kept him at bay.

“Give me that, you little vermin!” a voice shouted from the other part of the room. Kaz could spare no time to glance back, but he could think of only one person the guardsman could be shouting at. In his present danger, he had forgotten that Delbin was still in the chamber. The kender was quick and armed with both a knife and a sling, but Kaz thought less of Delbin’s chances than he did of his own.

“Stop him!” Ravenshadow- Dracos, Kaz corrected himself-shouted.

The minotaur had no time to wonder what his companion was doing, for in the next instant, a huge form broke through the roof, sending massive sections of stone tumbling down on everyone. A guard in the corridor outside screamed as he was crushed by the stone. Kaz and his opponents leaped away from one another as a particularly large chunk fell between them, collapsing the floor and falling through to the next level.

Above him, the stone dragon opened its mouth in a silent roar.

One of the guards sought to take advantage of the moment and jumped across the gap. Kaz turned and caught him as he was landing. Before the man could secure his footing, Kaz shoved him backward with the top of his battle-axe. Cursing, the guard fell into the hole.

Temporarily free, Kaz located Delbin. The kender was backed into a corner by the ebony-armored guardsman. In Delbin’s hands was a barely visible item, Ravenshadow’s shard. Off to one side and still near the emerald sphere, the two minds within the dark elf’s body continued their struggle. Occasionally words would bubble forth.

The stone dragon finally worked its way into the chamber, leaving a gaping hole in its wake, and proceeded to go wild. The one opponent still left to the minotaur screamed as a massive paw crushed him into the floor. The beast’s tail swished back and forth madly. Whichever of the battling mages had summoned the beast barely controlled it now; it was possible that no one really did anymore.

That left fighting it up to Kaz-and Delbin.

The kender cried out. Kaz saw the guardsman strike the small figure down, but the dragon chose that moment to swipe at him with a huge rocky paw. The minotaur was buffeted and fell to one knee. The battle-axe almost slipped from his grip.