Land of the minotaurs

Chapter 12

Helati looked the children over one more time before settling down. She could not sleep, not just yet, so she spent the time in quiet contemplation of what she and Kaz had expected to do with their lives over the next few years. They wished for more children and had intended to expand their dwelling accordingly. However, the growth of the settlement was going to force them to rearrange some of their plans. Like it or not, Kaz was going to have clan responsibilities.

Helati was not so put out by that. If anyone deserved such an honor, it was her mate. Had he not fought well in the war, faced mages and monsters, and earned the praise of other races, the last the hardest thing for any minotaur to attain? Clan Kaziganthi had a good ring to it, though it would no doubt be shortened to Kaz, as her mate expected.

Her reverie was disrupted by a slight sound, a movement outside. It might have been only an animal, but Helati doubted that. Like Kaz, she had come to sense the difference between various intruders. This seemed more the two-footed kind.

Easing the dagger from her belt sheath, Helati pinpointed the location. Even in her home she always wore a blade, a notion Kaz had introduced to her, for which she was glad. Her other weapons were nearby, but the sound was close to where the children slept. The dagger would be better.

The sound was repeated. A footfall, all right. She poised herself, ready to strike.

"Mistress Helati?" whispered a female voice.

Many of the minotaurs had started calling her by a number of titles such as "lady," "matriarch," and "mistress." Like Kaz, she preferred simply being called by her name, but the others would not hear of it.

"Come in slowly," she called, "with both hands visible."

The other obeyed. A moment later, a female called Keeli entered. Helati recalled her as the mate of Zurgas. The pair had been busy since their recent arrival, already having located a place to build their dwelling. "Forgive me for disturbing you at this time, but I wanted not to be noticed."

Helati lowered the dagger, but did not put it away. "And why is that, Keeli?"

The other female looked around, making certain they were alone. "I had something to tell you, but I was afraid others might be around, others who might be the wrong ones."

"Including your mate?"

"Zurgas knows, but since this is my knowledge, he agreed that it was up to me to tell you. He waits back at our campsite."

Helati did not know whether she was supposed to feel more secure knowing that or not. She was not certain she could trust the newcomer. "Perhaps if you explained what knowledge it is you have…"

Keeli cleared her throat. Her gaze fixed on Helati's suspicious eyes. "I am of the clan of Sumarr. It's not a large clan, but it has links to others. Through those links, I gained a position working as a low-level subordinate for a member of the Supreme Circle. At the time, I was proud of the honor. My work involved seeing to it that his dictates were followed by the State Guard. That was how I met my mate. He occupied a similar position for another member of the circle. We had cause to meet often, though we kept our interest in one another quiet for some time."

"Understandable." Members of the circle were terribly rivalrous and, as such, leery of interaction between their subordinates. "What does this have to do with me?"

Keeli looked down. "I am sorry. Let me move on. Months later, Zurgas and I came to the understanding that we could not love one another and still work for our masters. For our own good, we resigned to seek our futures elsewhere, perhaps in sailing. If either of us remained as a servant to a circle member, the other might be suspected of betraying secrets. You understand what I mean?"

"I do. Go on."

"It was but a short time before I was to leave. I was doing what I could to make certain my master would have no reason to fault my work since I hoped he would still give me a recommendation. I worked late hours that day, trying to organize everything. That was when he came."

Helati said nothing, relieved that the other female had at last gotten to the point. The younger minotaur had begun to remind her, with her long-windedness, of a certain kender named Delbin.

"He was a representative of the high priest. He seemed annoyed to find me there, but dismissed me a moment later as not being worth his interest. I recalled seeing him once or twice before, but only glances. He wore a robe that marked him as a cleric of some ranking. Since it was not entirely uncommon for the high priest and the circle to communicate, I thought nothing of it, but now that I've seen him again, I thought you ought to know."

It took several seconds for the statement to register. Kaz's mate chose her words with care. "Let me see if I understand what you're trying to say. You are talking about a high-ranking cleric who visited the sanctum of your master, one of the Supreme Circle, and then you claim to have seen him again… Do you mean here?"

"Yes! His appearance has changed, but I remember him. I've always been good at recalling faces."

A cleric among the settlers? High-ranking clerics especially did not simply give up their positions and walk away. She could think of only one reason why a cleric would be among her people: to spy for the priesthood.

"You say he's changed his appearance?"

"Aye, Mistress Helati. The hair is shorter and his face did not wear such a beaten, gladiator look to it. Both horns were intact, too-"

Helati stopped her there. She could not believe what she was hearing. "One of the horns is damaged?"

"Broken off. I was afraid to say anything at first, for he stood next to you when we arrived."

Brogan.

"The one who greeted you when you first met me?" she asked Keeli, hoping somehow the other would deny it. "Brogan?"

"That was him. I swear by the sword of Kiri-Jolith."

Brogan a spy? How long had he been among them? He was one of their most trusted. Helati could not believe what she was hearing, and yet… there had been times when both she and Kaz had wondered if they were being monitored from Nethosak. The powers were suspicious of anything that threatened their supremacy.

She could not condemn him without hearing his side. It could be that Keeli's memory for faces was not so perfect. It could also be that Keeli herself was the spy. Helati tried not to let paranoia guide her emotions.

"Come with me." Sheathing the dagger, Helati returned to the children. With great care, she gathered them up, still slumbering, then turned to Keeli and commanded, "Walk before me. I'll direct you where to go once we're outside."

The younger female did not understand, but obeyed. They abandoned Helati's dwelling, at which point she ordered Keeli to turn right. The dwelling they soon reached belonged to another mated pair raising a child of their own. The mother was a friend of Helati's, named Ayasha. Ayasha could be trusted. She and Helati had been friends once, long ago in the homeland. It had been one of Helati's greatest pleasures to greet Ayasha when she and her family had arrived in the settlement.

She left the twins with Ayasha, her explanation a simple one, then briefly returned to her own dwelling. Moments later, sword dangling at her side, she journeyed to the home of Brogan. Keeli followed her halfway there, but Helati decided it was best if she went the rest of the distance alone. If, for some reason, the accusations were not true… or even if they were… she did not want Brogan knowing who had informed on him.

Keeli protested. "You should not be alone with him."

Helati touched the hilt of her sword. "Don't worry about me. You return to your mate until I call for you."

Still protesting, the younger female departed. Helati did not mention that she hoped Brogan was innocent. In any case, it would be easier to talk to him alone.

The light from a small, crude fireplace burned in Brogan's modest dwelling. He lived alone, far from most of the others. Helati glanced about, studying the lay of the land. Neither she nor Kaz were overly familiar with the one-horned minotaur's home, for Brogan generally visited them.

Brogan a spy? The distance of his home from the main settlement and his constant interest in what Kaz was doing spoke against him, but could easily be excused for other, more mundane reasons. Helati felt rather foolish about accusing him, but could certainly not ignore Keeli's words.

She remembered that Brogan had tried to form an armed force to accompany Kaz to Nethosak. Had that also been a ploy of some sort?

Enough paranoia! she scolded herself. Time to be a warrior.

It was tempting to peer through a window, but Helati boldly knocked on the dwelling's crude wooden door.

"Who's there? Who is it?"

"It's me, Brogan. Helati."

"Helati?" After some noise, the door swung open. The one-horned minotaur blinked, then smiled. "Some news of Kaz, I hope?"

"Possibly." She had not given any thought to what to say to him. Accuse him outright? "May I come in?"

"Of course! Enter!"

As she walked through the doorway, Helati noticed the mark of Kaz on the dwelling. Her insides twisted. If Brogan was innocent, what she had to say would greatly insult his honor. Yet if he was guilty, the mark of Kaz was of great insult to her and her family, a mockery of the friendship they had extended to Brogan.

There were few furnishings in the minotaur's home: a table, two stools, and a box in which personal effects no doubt were stored. Brogan apparently slept on a bedroll to one side of the single room. The fireplace was very small, almost as if an afterthought. A few items were scattered about, but overall the place seemed orderly. A battle-axe hung on a wall near the bedroll. The table was situated so that if Brogan sat down, he could reach the handle with little effort.

In fact, Brogan led her to the table and offered her a seat. Helati shook her head. "I won't be staying long. Just a few minutes at best."

He frowned. "Is something wrong? Have you heard some bad news?"

"I'm not certain." She did not know how to proceed. Had Kaz been here, Helati suspected he simply would have pushed ahead. She must do the same.

"I'm worried that Kaz might be in danger, that he might also have been captured and imprisoned along with my brother."

"Well, as you indicated not long ago, Kaz hasn't been gone all that long. He might even be on his way back by now."

"Maybe. What makes me fear that Kaz is a prisoner are some rumors." She hesitated for effect. "I've heard there might be spies among us, Brogan."

"Spies?" He sounded genuinely concerned. "Here? Who?"

"There may be more than one, but I've heard that there's at least one who might be acting as a servant of the high priest himself." She watched him for some sign of guilt. So far, he seemed perfectly at ease.

"The high priest, eh?" He rubbed his muzzle and.turned toward the fire, staring into it. The battle-axe was only a step away, but Brogan made no move toward it. "I don't like the sound of it. The high priest, he's a deadly sort. Not a gladiator. More like a serpent. That's what he always reminded me of."

"Then you've seen him… often?"

"Now and then." The male squatted by the fire and, seizing a loose stick, prodded the fire into greater life. "From a distance."

"Do you have any idea who might be the spy, Brogan?"

The question startled him more than it should have. Helati saw that. Her hand shifted slowly, almost casually, to the hilt of her sword.

"I used to be one," he replied, still stirring the fire.

The outright admission was so unexpected that Helati froze where she stood, not quite certain how to continue. Her grip tightened on the sword. "You're the spy, then?"

He looked up at her. "No, I said I used to be one. When I first came here, I was a spy for the high priest. I sent messages through various means back to Nethosak. The past four months, though, I've been sending misleading messages."

"Why would you do that? More to the point, why should I believe you?"

Brogan finished tending the fire and rose. "When I came here, I was a fairly high-ranking cleric. That's why they trusted me to send them accurate intelligence about this settlement and its growth. His Holiness does not like this place. Everyone and everything here defies his preaching. I was ordered to assess the situation and report on it. I did so for the first several months."

"What changed your mind?" Helati found herself wanting to believe that Brogan was a friend, not an enemy. But he might simply be an excellent liar.

The one-horned minotaur looked her in the eye. "Kaz. You. The lives I saw around me. There's more life, more satisfaction here than in all the homeland. Oh, everyone works frantically to fulfill our 'destiny,' but we are losing our individuality. We are becoming the servants of the dream, not the masters we were supposed to be." Brogan shook his head. "Honor has become like a sword without a warrior to wield it. We're heading in the same direction as the ancient ogres. Even if we do conquer the world, we will eventually fall. Without honor, without vitality and respect for ourselves, we're lost."

Helati's grip on the hilt loosened. Brogan sounded honest, but could she believe him? "Pretty words. I'd like to believe that being here has somehow converted you, but I've got no proof, Brogan. Can you tell me anything that'll make me more willing to accept your words?"

"No. Nothing. My words are all I've got. I saw in Kaz the embodiment of what we should be. I decided to follow his example. To be a true minotaur warrior, I could do no less."

More words, but still no proof. She had to make a decision. "Brogan, what you've said sounds good, but I can't accept words alone. I think you should come with me. I think some of the others need to hear what you've said."

"I understand that, but could I ask you a question?"

"Ask."

"Who told you about me?"

"I just found out, that's all."

"It was the two newcomers, wasn't it? They're the only source of recent news. I wondered about them. I thought the female looked familiar-" His eyes brightened. "She worked for the priesthood… no… the circle!" He grinned. "Of course, that amounts to the same thing these days. At least three members of the circle are under the thumb of Jopfer, especially his old mentor! Hah! To think that old war dog thought he was being handed the state priesthood when they offered to make his aide high priest in return for concessions! He thought Jopfer would stay his servant, but it's turned around on him!"

Helati was able to follow only some of what he said, but it was enough to make her hair stand straight. A servant of the circle was high priest? Jopfer? That name sounded familiar. She was almost certain he was an old friend of her brother.

"Well, we can discuss that later," Brogan concluded. He looked around. "The fire will burn down without any trouble, and I've nothing else to take care of. I suppose we can leave immediately, then. I won't bother with taking my axe, of course."

"All right, you walk in front of me." He shifted around. "You should unsheathe your sword, just in case. I would."

Granting his point, Helati pulled her sword free and pointed it at his back. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"Village center." The center was not far from her own dwelling, and it was where most of the minotaurs gathered to talk.

"Good. I'd prefer somewhere more crowded for the time being."

She did not ask what he meant by that. As they started out the door, however, Helati suddenly recalled something. If Brogan was a cleric, then by rights he had abilities that could make her sword useless. She had seen clerics, not only those of Sargas, who could stop a foe in their tracks with but a glance. It was like magic, and yet not. So far, though, Brogan had made no false moves. They stepped out into the darkness, the one-horned male scanning the area as he walked. Outside, he seemed a little on edge. That, in turn, made Helati more attentive. Did Brogan have allies? She hadn't considered that possibility.

Brogan took a few more steps, then paused. Helati readied herself, expecting him to turn and attack suddenly, but the other minotaur simply coughed and then continued ahead.

Helati took a step after him.

Suddenly the cleric turned and roared, "Get down!"

For some reason, Helati obeyed. As she did, a whistling sound caught her attention. She looked up from where she had dropped and saw Brogan, an arrow sticking out of his shoulder. He grunted, dropping to his knees.

A second arrow struck the earth just beyond her head. Then, figures, shadows with raised weapons, began to emerge from the foliage. She counted two, then a third.

"Helati!" hissed Brogan. "If you've got a dagger, I could use it, please!"

She would have been glad to oblige him, but the first of the three was almost upon her. Helati barely had time to rise before an axe blade swung past her face. Backing away, she slashed with her own weapon, but her attacker moved aside.

The second attacker raced past her. Brogan was the intended target. Helati reached for the blade on her belt, but found herself too harried to toss it to her companion. The third figure had joined the fray, and both it and the second attacked at once. She was driven back, effectively separated from Brogan.

Darkness had prevented her from immediately identifying her assailants, only that one was male and the other female. It was not until the female missed with her sword and uttered a curse that Helati recognized her.

It was Keeli. The other minotaurs Helati could not identify.

Why were they trying to kill Brogan? Did they know of his defection? It was the only reason that made sense.

"Surrender and we'll take you to your mate!" offered Keeli in a snide tone.

"I don't think so. I… just… don't trust you for some reason, Keeli."

The other female laughed, then lunged. Helati dodged, but was thrown into the path of the minotaur wielding an axe, which was probably what Keeli had planned. The axe came down, barely missing her foot. She swung her sword and, more out of luck than skill, grazed the axe-wielder's arm. He quickly pulled back.

"I thought you were supposed to be good," Keeli said mockingly. "They said that Kaz himself trained you. Maybe he's not as good as they say. Maybe he won't last that long in the circus."

She was trying to goad Helati. The thought that Kaz might be facing death in the circus threatened to wreck her concentration.

What was happening to Brogan, she could not say. Neither he nor the third attacker were within sight.

Now the axe-wielder returned to the fray, but his swing was a little off. The second swing was not as shaky, but he left a bigger opening. Leaping away from Keeli, Helati thrust at the male's upper leg, near the muscle.

The blade cut deeply. The assassin did not scream, but fell to one knee. His axe he kept gripped in one hand, but he was badly wounded. Helati backed away, focusing on Keeli.

Blade clashed against blade. Keeli was good, but her moves were traditional, the type taught for generation after generation by instructors. Against most opponents, she would have been almost unbeatable, but Kaz, though more proficient with an axe, knew sword tricks that were outside all the usual rules.

Helati let herself be pushed back. She sensed Keeli's growing confidence that Kaz's mate was about to fall. Twice the assassin struck, and each time Helati yielded a little more.

When next her opponent attacked, Helati brought her blade under and around. Keeli tried to counter, but Helati instantly withdrew her sword, causing the former to overreach herself. Kaz's mate immediately lunged, making utmost use of the opening. She hoped only to wound Keeli, but the younger female twisted wildly in an attempt to sidestep the blade.

Her maneuver had just the opposite effect. Keeli's sword missed Helati's hand by a scant half inch. The force with which Keeli swung her blade brought her forward more than she had anticipated. The tip of Helati's sword sank deep into the other minotaur's chest.

Gasping, Keeli slumped forward. Helati barely had time to pull her sword free before her adversary fell to the ground. Keeli's life had already seeped away.

Helati did not waste time dwelling on her triumph. She eyed the wounded male, but he was clearly no threat. Turning her gaze to the side, she searched for Brogan.

She spotted him standing over Zurgas, the latter crumpled to the ground. The cleric was breathing heavily, holding his wounded shoulder. Helati took a closer look at the dead minotaur. The shaft of an arrow rose from Zurgas's throat. Somehow, Brogan had turned the arrow into a makeshift dagger. It was a reminder of just how skilled he was.

A scuffling sound reminded her of the third assassin. He was trying to drag himself into a position where he could either throw or swing his axe.

"I suggest you drop that before I kill you," she informed him.

"Kill me, then," he grunted in a familiar voice.

"No, she won't kill you. Not yet." Brogan walked up to the pair, gripping the wound in his shoulder. "Not until I've finished with you."

The assassin cringed. Helati had to keep herself from shaking.

"Keep away from me! I have the high priest's favor! You've betrayed your master!"

"The high priest isn't here," Brogan pointed out. "And if you doubt that I still have the power granted by Sargas, then I can think of a dozen fascinating ways in which to resolve those doubts."

The prisoner lowered the axe. He glanced from Brogan to Helati. "I yield to you! Not to him! I give my bond to you! I swear!"

"And how can she tell if you're a warrior of your word? You hunt us from the darkness, giving no warning, no challenge. That is not the way of honor, is it?"

All Brogan did was talk, yet each fierce word seemed to pierce the prisoner like the tip of a blade.

"I swear!"

Looking at Helati again, Brogan asked, "Do you accept his bond?"

She did by nodding. Brogan nodded back, then asked, "Will you allow me to question this one in your name?"

"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.