Land of the minotaurs lh-4

by Richard A. Knaak

  "I gave her my bond. I did not give it to you!"

  "But I may act for her, if she desires."

  Twisting around, the prisoner pleaded, "Mistress Helati! I've lived here for more than six months, acting as agent of the high priest, especially when he became suspicious of this one's information. I am Yestral."

  Yestral. The name was familiar. "I know you. You helped build the storage house."

  "Aye. My orders were to watch and report all. Then, when Keeli and her mate arrived, she informed me that the high priest wanted Brogan eliminated for his betrayal. Since your mate was known to be riding toward Nethosak, where it was assumed he would be captured or killed, she also commanded your execution. Keeli said she'd bring the pair of you together. Zurgas and I were to follow and await our chance. She would join us if able. I obeyed, but it wasn't to my liking."

  "How many others?" asked Brogan. "How many other agents does His Holiness have here?"

  "None! I swear!" Yestral's fear of the one-horned minotaur was palpable. "Mistress Helati! I'm your prisoner, not his!"

  "All right, but you'll answer all questions when I ask them. Is that understood?"

  "I swear by the horns of Sargas."

  They were interrupted by the arrival of three other minotaurs. Helati tensed, then saw they were ones she was certain she could trust.

  "You see?" said the foremost, a dark-furred, bulky male with wide eyes who acted as smith for the settlement. "I told you I heard weapon play."

  The other two nodded. One of them looked at Helati. "Are you all right, Mistress?"

  "I am, but Brogan is wounded."

  He waved off assistance. "It'll heal right enough. Someone should take care of this one, though, Mistress Helati. We also need to dispose of these two carrion."

  "Agreed." She pointed at one of the newcomers. "You. Get some help to drag these two back to the main part of the settlement. I want this one bound and locked up in the storage house."

  They moved to obey. Brogan joined Helati.

  "What of me?"

  "I'll take a chance on you, but you have to tell me what you did that made him fear you so."

  He smiled ruefully. "I've got something of a reputation. Much of it is exaggerated, but… seme of it isn't." His tone darkened. "I don't make excuses for that. I'll tell you anything you want to know about my past, but I ask that you leave that for tomorrow. I think I'm going to collapse soon if I don't tend to this shoulder."

  Helati had almost forgotten about his wound. "Let me help you."

  "I can minister to it myself. You have enough to concern yourself with. Get some sleep. Mistress." He nodded.farewell, then walked toward his dwelling.

  "One more question," she suddenly called.

  "What?"

  "You seemed to know that something was going to happen. How did you?"

  He looked somewhat guilty. "It seemed like the sort of ambush I might've planned once."

  She made no attempt to stop him when he turned away. Perhaps there was reason to be suspicious of him, but Helati doubted that Brogan was lying.

  What about Kaz? Yestral's words haunted her. Kaz had ridden into a trap, after all. They knew he would ride to Nethosak and try to rescue her brother. What had happened to him?

  I have to go rescue him, Helati thought. I have to go after him before it's too late… but what about the children?

  Brogan had offered to organize an armed force. She knew that if she asked for aid, he and most of the others would offer themselves, but to take so many into what certainly had to be the maw of danger…

  I have to go alone. There's no way around it. Ayasha will have to tend the children. She loves them as if they were her own.

  She shivered, thinking about that. It was fortunate that her friend cared for the twins so much. It was all too likely that if Helati did not return from Nethosak, Ayasha might find herself acting as mother to the young pair for the rest of her life.

  Delbin looked around the chamber. The chains holding him against the wall had so far defied his supreme lock-picking skills, which really impressed him. That left him with only sleep or staring at the wall, but he was too curious to sleep. Why did a minotaur cleric desire his presence? Maybe he had never seen a kender before and was just curious. More likely, the bad minotaurs wanted to use him against Kaz. Delbin hoped someone would come by soon before things got too boring. So far, the only visitor to his chamber had been a guard who had inspected his head for injuries.

  His head still throbbed, but not nearly as much as earlier. At least now Delbin could see clearly, not that there was much to see in the room. It was nicer than he would have expected from a prison cell. The place was clean and orderly. There was even a bed to one side, though he certainly had no way to reach it at the moment. A table and two chairs stood not far from the bed, also out of his reach. The room was dim at the moment because the only light source came from a pair of torches in the hall beyond his cell door. But Delbin's night vision remained exceptional.

  With nothing else to do, he occupied his thoughts with the memories of the dream he had experienced just before blacking out. The man in gray again. The kender wondered why he had dreamt of the strange figure yet another time. True, the dream had been interesting, even entertaining at times, but why the gray man? Why had he not dreamt of being rescued by Kaz instead?

  It did not matter. What mattered was that the gray man had reassured him, saying there was still hope. Hope for what, Delbin could not say. What the gray man had said after that was a hazy memory, but the kender had no difficulty keeping his spirits up. Already he began wondering if, by using the pick he had secreted in his hand, he might be able to unlock the fascinating mechanism that kept the manacles sealed…

  A murmur from the hall distracted him. It was not one of the guards, but rather what sounded like a child shuffling down the outside corridor.

  A moment later, a bedraggled-looking head popped up at the door. Actually, it looked more like the upper half of. a face that belonged to a gully dwarf. He had seen a few of them running around, cleaning refuse off the streets, but this was the first one he had seen up close.

  "Hello, my name's Delbin. What's yours?"

  The gully dwarf blinked, then replied, "Galump. Galump is Galump's name. Delbin's a kender."

  "Yes, I am. What're you doing down here? Are you a prisoner, too? Did you escape? They certainly have good chains here, so if you know how to unlock them, I'd sure like to know."

  It took the raggedy figure some time to digest this before finally answering, "Galump's no prisoner. Galump does what minotaurs say he do."

  Delbin recalled the collars he had seen the gully dwarves wearing. He did not think it was nice that the minotaurs made the poor creatures do such tasks and wear such nasty collars.

  The gully dwarf suddenly dropped out of sight. Delbin recalled almost too late the short attention spans of these lowly creatures. "Wait, Galump!"

  Galump popped back up into sight. He had to hang on to the door to be able to peer inside. "What Delbin want?"

  "Can you help me get out of here?"

  This seemed to sadden the gully dwarf. "Galump can't do that, no, he can't. If he could, he would help nice human girl, nice girl who mean bull who hits Galump keeps in cell."

  Another prisoner? "If you help me, maybe I can help her. We could all escape together."

  Even though all Delbin could see of Galump was the top half of his head, the gully dwarf's fearful reaction was evident. "No! Galump could not do! Disobey the high one and he'll eat us like he eats the others!"

  "Eats the others?" People thought it was difficult to keep track of what Render said, but Delbin thought Galump's kind was the most baffling race. "What do you mean? You don't mean he actually eats them, because that's highly unlikely. What you probably mean is that he punishes them badly, but don't worry, because if we get the girl-a human girl? — out, then we can go to my friend Kaz and he'll protect us-"

  "No!" The gully dwarf dropped
out of sight, his disappearance followed a moment later by the sound of light, receding footfalls.

  He sure is afraid of the high priest, Delbin thought. He really believes the high priest minotaur will eat him, but minotaurs don't eat other races, as far as I know, even though they're descended from ogres and long, long ago, like my friend Kaz told me, ogres sometimes…

  A human girl?

  "Now what would a minotaur want with a human girl?" Delbin whispered to the emptiness. "Maybe she's a slave like poor Galump. Maybe she's a princess the high priest is holding hostage." Delbin cared very little for this high priest. He was not a nice minotaur, not if he was making gully dwarves and little human girls into slaves.

  "Well, I'll just have to save her, and Galump… and all the other gully dwarves and prisoners the high priest has and deliver them to Kaz. He'll know what to do. He will."

  With renewed gusto he went to work on the lock. Normally kender enjoyed the challenge of a good lock, but this time Delbin was impatient. He had to get going. He had to rescue this princess. She was probably a shy, helpless young lass who had never been outside in the real world, not like him. Maybe she would reward Kaz and him for rescuing her by showing them her kingdom.

  Orderly footfalls in the corridor caused him to quickly hide the pick. The newcomers drew nearer and nearer until they finally paused before his cell. He made out two guards and one figure clad in the robes of the priesthood.

  One of the guards opened the door. Both entered, to be followed by the most sinister minotaur Delbin had ever seen. The kender actually felt a twinge of fear, something rarely experienced by any of his kind.

  "I am Jopfer, High Priest of the Temple of Sargas, the Soul of the State. I would like to speak to you about your friend Kaziganthi." He leaned forward and stared into the kender's eyes. "And you will answer me as I desire. Do you understand?"

  The fear grew stronger… and the simple fact that it did frightened the kender more than the fear itself.

  Chapter 13

  The Red Dragon

  Scurn was in a foul mood. Not only had he been humiliated in the circus again, but he was now out of favor with both the high priest and the Supreme Circle. His only hope was to recapture Kaz and his companions before someone else did, not an easy task, since there were search parties all over Nethosak. Of course, some of the parties had spent more time sparring with each other than searching, which was some consolation. The servants of the Supreme Circle had little love for the servants of the state priesthood, and vice versa. Neither cared for the members of the guard. Members of the guard, in turn, thought little of either group.

  Scurn drank from his tankard, finding only the dregs of his ale remaining. Yet another thing to curse about. Still, it was probably good fortune that he had finished his drink. He was due back at guard quarters. Scurn had, through his rank, pulled the authority for yet another search party. This time, he swore, he would find Kaz and see to it that his rival was dragged before Jopfer himself.

  As Scurn rose, he mulled over his latest humiliation. Truth to tell, he secretly admired Kaz's combat skills. Kaz had defeated him fairly, but leaving Scurn alive but unconscious was an insult. Kaz should have killed him, as such a combat demanded. By leaving the guard captain alive and relatively unharmed, he had belittled Scum's skill.

  You should have killed me, Kaz, he thought. An honorable death was preferable to a bloodless defeat. Scurn felt diminished in the eyes of his warriors. Only Kaz's capture or death would appease the disfigured captain.

  Scurn exited the tavern, his mind on where to search next. He wanted to check back with his old clan. Orilg was hiding something. Even Dastrun, who was supposed to be a supporter of the emperor, had said nothing of value when questioned. Yet Scurn was certain the clan had harbored the fugitives for a short time. He had a witness who claimed to have observed members of Orilg behaving suspiciously outside the circus at the time of Kaz's disappearance.

  I should go back and shake old Dastrun by the collar until he talks! He knows. He does.

  The main quarters of the guard lay just ahead. Because of its importance, the headquarters was not all that far from the emperor and the circus. Scurn picked up his pace, growing more eager to renew the hunt. He recalled now that Ganth had many former comrades among the mariners. There were more than a few who might be willing to give him and his son shelter. He also needed to consider the sector where untried or failed minotaurs made their humble homes. One of these multiple dwellings could easily serve to hide Kaz, Ganth, and Hecar. That sector was overdue for a scouring anyway.

  "Captain Scurn?" called a female voice.

  He paused and turned. A female warrior several years younger than him ran up, breathing heavily. He did not recognize her, but pinned on her chest was the badge of the guard, a circle within which was depicted a watchful eye superimposed over an axe. "I'm Captain Scurn. What is it you want?"

  She gave him a salute, then, gasping, said, "I was sent to find you. The sergeant on duty said you were at the Baleful Basilisk, but I couldn't find you there. So I decided to check this area."

  "You must've just missed me. Now spit it out. What's got you running?"

  "Captain, there is news that the fugitives have been spotted in the wharf district! Your second took the search party out, but I was left behind to inform you! If we hurry, we can meet them by the warship Sea Lancer."

  "The Sea Lancer?" Scurn did not know that particular vessel. "Is Kaz there?"

  "So the rumor goes. The captain is an old member of his father's crew."

  "So I was right!" The captain seized her by the shoulders. "Quickly! How long ago? They aren't simply going to board the ship, are they?"

  "No, Captain. Right now they're waiting for you. If I don't show up with you soon, though…"

  "Then let's get going!" Scurn rushed past her in the direction of the docks.

  She fell into step beside him, now silent. That suited Scurn, who was busy thinking. Kaz was familiar with the area, which meant the guard had to be doubly careful. Fortunately, Scurn himself was familiar with the docks, having worked there for quite some time.

  The female hurried ahead of him, saying, "We should turn down this way. The other path is blocked by construction work."

  "Construction work?" Scurn could not recall any work, and he had been down that street the previous day. "What work?"

  "They've decided to expand the woodworks again. It started only this afternoon, but they're going to be working through the night, Captain."

  "Hmmph." On the whole, the news was not that surprising. The woodworks were vital not only for shipbuilding, but in other areas of construction as well. They had been enlarged once before, but with activity at its highest since the peak of the war, Scum could see why the circle would demand improvement.

  He turned down the path, again pulling ahead of her in his impatience. The street here was much more narrow, almost an alley, but it did lead in the direction of the docks. Scurn paid his dark surroundings little heed. He saw the like often enough in his duties.

  The shadowy form of a tall minotaur materialized before him, almost as if by magic. In one hand he wielded a sword that was pointed at Scurn. The newcomer's intention was clear even if his features were not.

  "Stand where you are," the figure said in a gravelly voice.

  "You're a fool-" Scurn began, but then a second figure wielding an axe appeared, settling into a fighting stance. Even without being able to see their features, Scurn knew who at least one of this pair had to be.

  "Kaz-" he began, reaching for his weapon, but choking on his next words… this time because a sword point prodded his back.

  "No sounds, no moves," his own companion said in his ear.

  "Very well done, Lass," said a new voice. "Smooth as a morning breeze, you were."

  "Thank you, Father."

  Father? Scurn wanted to turn around and look at the female, but sensed that her warning was a serious one. It was one thing to die in combat, but a
nother to die uselessly in a dark alley. He would wait. Kaz and the others wanted him for some reason, and he suspected it had to do with that blasted kender that had been captured at the circus.

  The scarred warrior relaxed more. The opportunity for triumph still remained. Somehow he would turn this latest humiliation into victory.

  Kaz eyed Scurn carefully, noting that his adversary was calmer than he would have expected. That bothered him somewhat, but he could not let it overwhelm his thoughts. The plan had to proceed at the prearranged pace if it was to succeed. They had to strike when the temple was at its most subdued.

  There were those who would have called his plan insane, and Kaz was one of them. Still, if minotaur tendencies ran true, invading the citadel of Sargas might prove far easier than anyone could imagine. The minotaur clerics thought that no one would ever be so mad as to enter their domain without permission. That was the sort of attitude Kaz had made use of many times in the past against opponents who, while skilled, had grown too careless with their power.

  "Greetings, Scurn."

  The disfigured minotaur snorted, but said nothing. He was taking Fliara's sword very seriously, a wise thing to do. At a nod from Kaz, she removed Scum's weapons, including the small dagger that most minotaurs wore on their kilts.

  "Now then, Scurn, let's talk. I'm glad to see you're the creature of habit I remember, but we did have to wait a while longer than I wanted. Still the same taverns and inns. Still the same impetuous behavior." Scurn glared. Kaz lowered his voice. "You're an excellent warrior, Scurn. Never doubt that I respect your abilities and even, at times, your sense of honor and dedication. I never chose to make an enemy out of you."

  "You-" the captain started, before Fliara reminded him of the blade in his back.

  "Best to get on with it, Lad," recommended Ganth. "You'll never change his mind. Dedicated he is, to the point of obsession. He'll not see anything but the side he's already chosen, and that's that."

  Kaz knew that was true. He said, "I'll offer you the chance to gain your life and freedom, Scurn. I want something from you, and in return I'll let you go. You'll be free to hunt me down again and challenge me to proper combat. That's what you really want, isn't it? The circus doesn't count. The situation there was awkward at best. You want me in formal combat, warrior against warrior, just as you did when you tracked me down three years ago."