Land of the Minotaurs

by Richard A. Knaak

  Kaz’s own opponent was no match and was quickly backed up, leaving Fliara’s male alone. He tried to slash at her, but she shifted under him, running her blade into his chest. As he collapsed, Fliara joined her brother in pinioning the sole remaining guard.

  All of a sudden, more guards appeared at the top of the steps. This time, there were at least seven. Kaz and his sister found themselves abruptly losing the ground they had gained. Soon they were pushed back near Hecar and Scurn, who were still battling.

  “We’re trapped down here!” Fliara informed Kaz needlessly. “There’s nowhere but the cells behind us!”

  Three more guards joined the squad. Although not all of the temple sentries could do battle, the small band was being continually pushed back down the steps. Ganth ran one through, but two more appeared. Kaz and his group retreated. Hecar was forced to abandon his duel with Scurn, lest he be isolated.

  “The one with the axe!” the scarred warrior shouted. “The high priest will want him alive if possible, but kill the others!”

  As Kaz backed even farther, he bumped into a small form. At first he thought it was Galump, but then he saw it was Delbin.

  “Kaz! There’s no other way out! I looked all around, but I couldn’t find a path anywhere—”

  Kaz deflected a sword thrust. “Where’s Ty?”

  “She’s here, Kaz! Listen, she thinks she can get us out of here!”

  “Don’t talk nonsense! Get back!”

  “But listen, Kaz! She can do magic! She can!”

  He had no time for the kender’s babble. “Well, then let her do it! Get us out of here! Take us anywhere!” Kaz succeeded in knocking away one minotaur’s sword, but that minotaur immediately retreated, and one of his comrades renewed the press. Kaz cried, “Ty, if you can do it, get us out of here!”

  “I don’t know, Kaz! Delbin took off the chains, which the high priest said held back my power, but I’ve never tried it with so many people. Usually it’s just myself!”

  He had no idea what the young human was talking about. She talked like a kender. Perhaps there was some truth to the story. Perhaps Ty was a mage. If she was, then she was their only chance to escape. It certainly would not hurt for her to try.

  “You have to do it, Ty!” Delbin insisted. “Just concentrate hard on getting us someplace else! You should be able to do it! I’ll bet you’ve got a lot of power!”

  A pair of guards prevented him from saying more. Kaz fought off their attack and prayed to Paladine that Delbin wasn’t crazy this time.

  “There’s more of them coming!” Ganth cried. “We’ll have to break—”

  The corridor vanished … to be replaced by a huge, familiar room dimly lit by a few well-placed torches.

  “—away and …” the old mariner’s voice faded as he and the others realized the change in surroundings.

  “What happened just now?” Fliara demanded. “Where are we?”

  Kaz quickly surveyed the group. They were all there, his father, sister, Hecar, Delbin, and the human girl. Ty was pale and shivering, but seemed all right, especially considering the fact that she had just done what Kaz had assumed was impossible,… transported them all from one location to another.

  “That was fun, Ty! How did you get all of us here? I didn’t think you could do that!”

  “Where are we?” repeated Fliara. “This looks like it’s still part of the temple!”

  “It is,” Kaz responded. “It’s the audience chamber of the high priest, a place we should definitely not be.” He started toward the doors. “Come on!”

  They had gone only a few steps when every unlit torch in the chamber burst into bright flames.

  “Interesting,” came the voice of Jopfer. “I found you just in time, didn’t I, Young One? Your great powers begin to manifest themselves.”

  The band turned to see the high priest standing at the top of the dais, arms folded. A satisfied expression covered the tall figure’s features.

  “At last, this will come to an end.”

  “Jopfer!” shouted Hecar. “What’s got into you? What’s happened to you?” Helati’s brother started forward, angry at his old friend. “You were never one with much love for the temple. You hated all they stood for, but now you’ve become the worst of them!”

  “The truth would surprise you,” the cleric returned, his tone one of mockery. It was almost as if he enjoyed some jest the others knew nothing about.

  “Upon reflection, it would do to take a glance at the face of honor,” someone said in Kaz’s ear.

  He looked around before realizing that the voice had sounded like the infernal figure in gray again. It was bad enough that they stood before Jopfer, but did the gray man have to haunt him just now? Still, Kaz turned slightly away from the others and held the mirrorlike finish of his battle-axe so he could see … or not see … the form of the high priest. The others he knew he could trust.

  Kaz stared into the axe face, certain that he would see nothing but an empty dais.

  What he saw, however briefly it appeared, nearly made him drop the axe. Honor’s Face had revealed the truth about Jopfer, but Kaz had difficulty believing it.

  Kaz wasted no more time. He had briefly contemplated using the high priest as a hostage, but now, with practiced aim and no warning whatsoever, he threw Honor’s Face at the cleric.

  The high priest glanced at the whirling weapon, then caught it by the handle when it was mere inches from his chest.

  “Dwarven make,” he hissed, as if the mere thought of the race disgusted him. His nostrils flared. “And elven taint. A foul but fascinating combination. I shall study it in more detail later.”

  To Kaz’s horror, Honor’s Face vanished. He tried to will it back, but the axe would not return.

  “Your will is nothing compared to mine,” the figure on the dais hissed. “All your wills combined are nothing to me. I am power itself. I am greater than all the race combined!”

  “You’re mad, Jopfer!” Hecar called. He took a step nearer to the platform. “And you might’ve been lucky with that axe, but you’re still only one minotaur!”

  “Aye, let’s see how your tricks work against all of us,” Ganth added.

  The other three minotaurs started forward. Kaz gazed at them in dismay. They truly did not know the extent of the horror.

  “Get back, all of you!” Kaz cried. “He’s not what he appears!”

  That made them pause. Even the high priest seemed momentarily startled.

  “Mage or cleric, Lad,” Ganth said, resuming his advance. “It’s all the same to me.”

  “But he’s neither! He’s not even a minotaur!”

  The last word was punctuated by mocking laughter that echoed so loudly in the chamber that every member of Kaz’s band had to cover his or her ears. The robed figure continued to laugh for several seconds, sounding more bestial by the moment.

  “Clever little warrior!” he cried, his toothy smile unnerving Kaz, who knew the truth. “Clever little minotaur! I will have to wring the secret of your cleverness from you just before I end your short, useless existence! You’ve guessed! You know me as I truly am, do you not?”

  “I know you …”

  “What’re you talking about, Kaz?” asked Hecar. “What’re you saying about Jopfer?”

  “He’s neither Jopfer nor even a minotaur! The high priest is a dragon!”

  They looked at the cleric as if expecting him to refute the incredible claim, for dragons had disappeared at the end of the war. Not a single dragon, good or evil, had been seen since, as far as most knew.

  Jopfer said nothing. He merely nodded, acknowledging Kaz’s warning … then began to swell in size. His snout twisted; his teeth grew longer and sharper. The fur covering him became scales as red as fire. The robe fell away, revealing expanding wings and a long whip of a tail that had not been there a breath before.

  His hands became claws with long talons, and his arms twisted. He was already ten times his original size.

>   It all happened in the blink of an eye. Where the minotaur had stood there now squatted a red dragon of immense proportions. Kaz noted how the huge chamber allowed the creature free movement and wondered if perhaps—and the thought was a chilling one—if perhaps the place had been built with him in mind.

  “I am Infernus!” roared the dragon, looking down at them as if they were insects. “I have worked centuries to make you all what you are! I have guided you in guise after guise!” He raised his head high. “I am your true god … and you have been very, very naughty children indeed!”

  They backed away suddenly as a fear washed over them. It was no normal fear, not even what one might expect to feel when confronted by such a leviathan. Kaz recognized it as dragonfear, a magic of the creatures he had not felt since the war.

  The dragon, Infernus, lowered his head. “And as naughty children, it’s time you were punished.”

  Chapter 14

  The Emperor

  ———

  “You shouldn’t even be here!” insisted Kaz, fighting the dragonfear. “The dragons have all left Krynn! Since the end of the war!”

  “The gods commanded that we depart, yes,” agreed the red leviathan. “They compelled us! We served them well … on both sides … and for our reward we were to be cast out of this world! Yet I resisted! I fought against the pull! One by one, my brethren flew off into the air, unable to command their own wills, but still I managed to resist!”

  The red dragon clambered down from the dais, eyes darting from one minotaur to the next. Each time his gaze returned to Ty. Kaz noted that and began to wonder.

  “My anger was my strength. I had served my lady well, working over the centuries to achieve her goal, and now I was supposed to abandon my work for her, all that I had strived for! It had become more mine than hers, and I was simply to leave it behind because of her failure! I, Infernus!”

  Where were the clerics and the guards? Kaz had expected others to barge in by this point. Did they not hear the bellowing? He could not believe the minotaurs who worked in the temple knew the secret of their high priest. Perhaps a few high-ranking ones did, but even that was doubtful.

  Again Kaz tried to will his axe to his hands. This time, he felt a slight tug, as if Honor’s Face sought to return but was prevented. Yet it gave him a little hope. The dragon’s will was not invincible. Kaz might be able to get the axe back if he could distract the dragon enough.

  Providing he got the chance.

  Infernus seemed glad to have an audience, albeit a captive one, for which to boast of his exploits. They were probably the first outsiders to know the truth … no doubt because the dragon intended to kill them all.

  “You are my children, more than you are the offspring of either Sargas or his mistress, dark Takhisis! I have made you into the terrors that you are, guided you over generations for her, obeyed foolish edicts, and given you over to other masters so that you would be honed by the harshness of your lives. All so that you would become stronger, more defiant soldiers! Now, I can lead you to fulfill your glory, and mine! I will rule, and your kind will act as my talons, reaching out farther and farther until we have all of Krynn under control! You shall bow to no one, no god or goddess, but me!”

  Infernus looked up to the ceiling. If Kaz had understood the dragon correctly, then the history of the minotaur race was a mockery—centuries of endless manipulation by forces without and within—the dragon the greatest manipulator of all. Every high priest for countless generations may have been this dragon in minotaur form.

  The shiver that ran down his spine was not influenced by the dragonfear, but rather the realization of what had happened to all those minotaurs, many of them no doubt good, honest clerics. What had Jopfer thought when the offer was presented? Had he thought that here was a way for someone to correct the ills of the priesthood? Had he believed that he could work with his former masters and make the temple of Sargas an ally of the circle?

  When had he finally discovered the truth? Just before Infernus stole his form and destroyed him?

  The baleful gaze of the huge red creature suddenly focused on Kaz. “A shame you had to be so defiant, Kaziganthi de-Orilg. You and I share a kindred spirit, but that is why you could not obey me. You were useful for a time, though, spreading the glory of minotaur skills beyond the homeland. For a time I let those tales spread among your own kind, knowing such feats as were rumored could only encourage others to strive harder.” He dipped his massive head in what Kaz supposed was a bow. “I am glad I decided to let you live after you departed the circus. It would have been a pity to rid myself of both you and your brother at the same time. Until you began to settle down and draw others from the homeland, you were more aid than hindrance to my plans. Had you accepted my offer, you would have redeemed yourself and become my greatest general. I hoped you would. Truly I had hoped so. You are what I have been striving to create, Kaziganthi. You are the minotaur warrior that knows no defeat, knows no challenge that cannot be overcome!” Infernus cocked his head. “You still have one last chance.”

  “You must be mad!” Kaz began, enraged. “After what you’ve done to me and mine you still have the arrogance to offer—”

  “You!” The voice was Ganth’s, as Kaz had never heard his father. The mariner, sword raised, stared wide-eyed at the leviathan. Despite his dragonfear, the older minotaur began edging forward. “You had Raud killed! And you had Gladiator sent out on that doomed mission, didn’t you? I remember the high priest sanctioning it! By the Just One’s beard, I remember the temple practically insisting we be sent out into those dark waters immediately … without a cleric aboard, which was standard practice back then! You knew we’d run into those ships, those marauders, and that storm as well, didn’t you? You expected us all to perish, didn’t you?”

  Eyeing Ganth, the dragon coldly replied, “It was my duty to cull the weak, the unstable, and the unpredictable from the ranks. The race had to be tempered constantly if it was to be of use to my mistress.” Infernus scowled, but not at them. “And what was done?” the dragon raged. “They were wasted, used as fodder by those who could not appreciate my efforts! I strained to create for her a perfect race through which she and her consort could take Ansalon. Then her insipid little mortal minions wasted so much effort! All the centuries of work, the strengthening through adversity and winnowing …”

  “You killed Kyri, you slimy serpent …” Ganth growled. “You killed my crew. You killed hundreds … thousands … You killed my son.…”

  Kaz moved too late to stop his father. The older minotaur bounded forward, rage overwhelming reason. He raised his sword high, calling out an old minotaur war cry.

  Raising one limb, Infernus reached forward and batted Ganth away.

  “Father!” Kaz and Fliara both cried. Ganth literally flew over their heads, his weapon clattering to the floor. The companions, save for Ty, forgot the dragon as Ganth crashed into the floor several yards away, his body sprawled.

  Even before Kaz reached him, he knew that his father was dead.

  He looked down at the lifeless body. From the marks on him, it was possible Ganth had died before he landed. A single blow from a dragon could easily kill most mortals.

  In that moment, the accursed voice of the gray man murmured in his head, “I’m sorry, Kaz. I had no control.”

  “Get out of my head!” he muttered, turning on the dragon. Infernus was personally responsible for the deaths of his parents and his brother. He was, as Ganth had pointed out, responsible for the deaths of thousands, all in the name of some foul plan to create a perfect race of warriors to serve a sinister goddess. Kaz faced the murderous beast, again seeking to will Honor’s Face to him. Briefly, he almost thought he would succeed, but the dragon’s will was still too strong, even though Kaz was fueled by intense grief and anger.

  As he abandoned his effort, he became aware of a lone figure standing before the fearsome behemoth.

  Ty.

  “I won’t let you hurt t
hem anymore!” the girl called.

  “Ty! Get away from him!” Kaz yelled.

  “You are young. I will forgive your foolishness,” Infernus told the human. “But do not test my goodwill!”

  “You killed Kaz’s father!” shouted Ty, ignoring the dragon’s words.

  A fireball large enough to consume a minotaur burst from the human female’s hands. It flew at Infernus, striking him in the chest. The dragon grunted, batting away the flames.

  “Consider yourself fortunate that the balance must be maintained, young one. Now behave yourself.”

  A transparent shell of bright red fell over the girl. It sank down, first enveloping, then passing through its victim. The last traces disappeared into the floor, but the aftereffects were evident. Ty slumped to the floor, overcome with dizziness.

  “This has gone on far too long,” declared Hecar. “We have to take him or die trying. What other choice have we? Are you with me?”

  “The girl must be freed,” came the voice of the gray man again. “There must be balance in all things for you to succeed. Balance leads to balance.”

  “I said get out of my head!” Kaz growled. “Take your advice and stuff it back into whatever dream you come from!”

  Fliara touched his arm. “Kaz! What ails you? Who’re you talking to?”

  He had no time to answer, for Infernus refocused his attention. “You were not supposed to die in the circus, Kaziganthi, but your father would have, as an object lesson to you. That is rectified. Now, however, I see that I might as well have let you perish. You will never bow. Never. It would be efficient to simply eliminate you and your small band once and for all, but there would be little satisfaction in removing you in such a … draconian … fashion. Your deaths must be elaborate to excite the masses, something even more extravagant than the ritual executions I’d earlier planned. I shall have to think about it.”

  They started forward, but it was already too late. Emerald shells similar to the red one that had enveloped Ty covered each of them. Kaz felt his body stiffen, his mind grow distant. The shell passed through him and, by the time it sank into the floor, he could not move at all, save to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaz could see Hecar’s hand, as pale and still as his own.