'These rooms are proofed against sounds, minotaur. I have, on occasion, dealt with those who have failed me or attempted to cross my will. The hunters who failed to capture you. A cleric who protested my methods, calling them dishonorable. A fool of a general who thought he could bully a newly ordained high priest into being his servant.' The robed figure indicated his domain. 'They all challenged me in here in one way or another and paid for their folly… as you shall now.'
Infernus pointed at the minotaur.
A wave of molten rock poured over Kaz before he could even move. At first the heat was searing. The rock flowed over him from all sides. Kaz fully expected to die there and then.
He did not. The rock cooled as it touched him, turning so brittle that all he had to do was move to shatter it and free himself.
'Impossible!' roared the red dragon. 'Impossible… or your doing!'
His last words were directed at Ty, who stood defiantly even though still a prisoner. The damage the staff had done to her crimson cell had given her some respite. Ty had been able to regain some of her strength.
'I won't let you hurt him!'
'You will not? You who are less of a threat than he is? Little One, if you bore a will as strong as the minotaur's, I might consider your words of some import, but you are nothing. You are an infant not yet familiar with much more than breathing and eating. You know a few basics of magic and think you can stand against me! I am centuries old, far older than most and far more dangerous than any. Do not interfere again, Little One. I need you alive, but not necessarily whole. Simply alive.'
Ty glared.
A wind buffeted the disguised dragon, but did little more. Infernus smiled and waved a hand. The wind died away. The dragon glared back at the defiant young female.
The cage began to crackle with renewed energy. Ty's legs buckled, but to her credit, she did not scream.
Angered by the high priest's assault on Ty and knowing it would be his best chance to strike, Kaz leapt for Infernus. Unfortunately, Infernus was far swifter than any minotaur could ever have been. He reacted even as Kaz was in the air, turning his burning eyes on the flying figure. Kaz found himself floating in midair, helpless. The high priest stalked toward him, his expression less and less like that of a minotaur and more and more like what would appear on the reptilian visage of a dragon.
'Enough! It is time we ended this! Emperor Polik is no doubt just beginning his duel, the one that will reaffirm his right to lead the race in the grand campaign. He will win, of course, though the duel is planned to take several minutes simply for the sake of drama. My presence will be required then for the announcement.' His mouth stretched in a way that was impossible, showing far too many teeth. 'Consider yourself fortunate. That means I shall make your death a quick one. Not a painless one, but a quick one.'
Kaz barely bit back a cry as his arms, legs, and head stretched in different directions. His muscles strained, and it felt as if his bones were about to be torn apart. He fought against the strain, but his efforts were for naught. Slowly but surely, he was going to be dismembered, one piece at a time.
'Let him go!' he heard Ty call. 'Let him go!'
Infernus only laughed.
'I said let him go!'
A cry coursed through the chamber, but it had not come from Kaz. The minotaur fell without warning to the hard floor, only a last-minute turn preventing him from breaking his arm. As it was, his left leg felt numb.
'You… hurt… me… you… little…' Infernus sprawled against a column, his chest heaving rapidly and his eyes wide in both anger and surprise. There was no physical evidence of what Ty had done to the red dragon, but the robed figure's reaction was enough to indicate that it had been a mighty blow, indeed.
Rising from the floor, Kaz quietly stalked toward Infernus. Every muscle in the minotaur's body cried out in pain.
'I can see… that your education is going… to require some rethinking.'
The minotaur was close enough. 'Infernus?'
The red dragon turned, still not quite recovered.
Kaz punched him.
He had the satisfaction of watching Infernus fall back, the blow so sudden that the high priest did not possess the wherewithal to brace himself. The robed figure tumbled to the floor, rolling several feet.
If I only had Honor's Face, Kaz wished. I could probably end this now.
It was not until he had completed the thought that he realized the axe was somehow in his hand. The dragon's will had been shattered to the point where his hold over the magical weapon had vanished. Once more Honor's Face obeyed its master's command.
Kaz grinned, starting toward the sprawled figure. Infernus was just rising to his hands and knees as Kaz reached him. The minotaur stopped, raised the axe, and said, 'This is for my father and every other minotaur, dragon!'
A blood-red serpent knocked him off his feet. Kaz fell back, still somehow managing to maintain his grip on his weapon, and saw that his first observation had been inaccurate. It was not a serpent that had attacked him, but rather
A dragon's tail.
Infernus was shifting, throwing off the form of a minotaur. The robe tore to shreds, unable to contain the swelling form. Folded wings burst through the back of the garment, then opened and stretched. The last vestiges of the high priest's clothing scattered as the red dragon expanded. He was nearly full-grown before Kaz could even rise.
The draconian visage twisted toward him. 'Insufferable creature! Audacious gnat! You dare strike me! You dare to think you can destroy me!'
'You like to hear yourself talk, don't you?' Kaz challenged, trying to throw the dragon off. 'You do a lot of talking, Infernus.'
His words further enraged the leviathan, which was what Kaz had hoped for. The more enraged the dragon got, the less thinking Infernus would do. Red dragons, the minotaur recalled from the war, had terrible tempers that often led to their downfall in combat.
'I will crush you!' Infernus raised a massive paw and brought it down.
Kaz jumped aside. It was a clean miss. He adjusted his grip on Honor's Face and waited. If Infernus did that again, Kaz would be ready.
'Your race was nothing until I came along, minotaur!' the immense dragon cried. 'Beasts no better than the cows you resemble! I made you into the master race! You yourself are the product of my careful culling of the weak! You should be grateful to me! Without my touch, this race would have died out long ago!' Infernus hissed. 'Now all I demand is my due.'
'Your due is waiting for you in my hands,' Kaz replied calmly, hefting the axe.
Infernus raised a paw and brought it down again. The strike was nearer, but again Kaz managed to leap out of the way. As he moved, he counterattacked, swinging Honor's Face up in a vicious arc. The gleaming head buried itself deep in the dragon's paw.
With a roar of rage, Infernus pulled the injured appendage away, tossing Kaz and the axe aside in the process. Blood splattered both the floor and the minotaur as the red dragon shook his paw. The minotaur scrambled to his feet, retrieving his weapon. Without hesitation he advanced toward the crimson leviathan's other forepaw, axe up and ready to strike.
His monstrous adversary saw him too late. Infernus had time only to register the small figure's new position before Kaz brought the deadly axe down again.
If the first cry had been deafening, the second threatened to make Kaz's head burst. It seemed impossible that those outside could not hear the dragon's roars despite whatever spell or handiwork was designed to block the sound.
'Gnat! I will eat you instead of killing you outright! First a hand, then a foot, using my magic to keep you alive and conscious until I snap your head off your limbless torso! I will wreak such pain on you as you have never imagined!'
'You're talking again,' Kaz pointed out. 'All you ever seem to do is talk.'
