was seeking…
… and possibly a dragon as well.
Chapter Nine
Kaz burst throuqh the doorway of the inn looking much like a demon from the Abyss. Delbin gave a squeak, and Tesela’s hands clutched tightly around the medallion she wore. Darius still slept, but he seemed to twitch momentarily as the minotaur strode over to the human cleric.
“You have a horse, Tesela. Can it carry me?”
“Carry you? Why?”
If Kaz could have seen himself, he might have hesitated, for the cleric and the kender gazed upon the frenzied eyes of a berserker. His eyes said he would accept only one answer, regardless of the consequences.
“Can… it… carry… me?” he repeated through clenched teeth.
Tesela nodded, pale. “I–I think she should be strong enough, but-”
“Where is it?”
“Around back! Kaz…”
He was through the inn and out the back door in seconds. Tesela’s horse was tied up next to Delbin’s pony. Both animals were nervous, and it took a little doing to get the cleric’s mount to hold still long enough for him to mount. Kaz climbed into the saddle-and abruptly fell off as the horse sat down.
“Sargas take you, you blasted beast! Stand up!”
The horse refused to do so. Kaz tried to pull it to its feet, but the animal’s front hooves dug into the ground, and the minotaur only succeeded in losing his grip and slipping to one knee.
“Kaz!” Tesela came rushing out. “Stop that!”
“Is this thing part mule?” Kaz grumbled. He was certain the horse was mocking him.
Tesela laughed nervously. “I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. She only lets me ride her.”
Kaz muttered something and rose to his feet. “Is there a stable? Where can I find another horse?”
“You won’t find anything here. These people don’t have any horses.”
“Kiri-Jolith’s horns, human! I have to get to Vingaard Keep!”
Folding her arms, Tesela said with authority, “Then you will wait until we are ready to go. You cannot go alone, Kaz, and we will not let you. Give me a chance to see if the knight is healed, and then we will prepare to depart this place together. It will mean a much slower pace, I’m afraid, but you can put that time to good use thinking about what you intend to do once we arrive. I mean
He let out a great breath. “You confuse me, cleric. You are so contradictory at times.”
She smiled slowly and moved to take the horse’s reins from him. “You should try dealing with a minotaur.”
Kaz nodded slowly, thinking to himself that she might have a point.
Darius was awake and feeling much, much better. He stared at his hands, flexed his arms and legs, and stood. “Praise Paladine!”
“And Mishakal,” Tesela reminded him.
“And Mishakal, of course. My thanks, cleric.” He bowed nervously to her and she reddened a bit.
“Does this mean we can go?” Kaz asked impatiently. He was happy for the knight-no warrior likes to be helpless-but each second of delay tore at him, especially since he knew that they only had two mounts for four people and would have to travel at a slow pace.
The knight forced his eyes away from Tesela. “Go where?”
“To Vingaard Keep, of course. Your dragon was here only a short time ago, and now I think it flies in the direction of the keep itself.”
“The dragon?” exclaimed Darius. “Attacking Vingaard! We have to leave!”
“What can you possibly do that all the knights in Vingaard could not do?” Tesela asked.
“That is not the point, milady! I am a knight-”
“Who should know better than to go rushing into battle-” she glanced at Kaz-”like a minotaur. You might try putting on whatever still remains of your armor. The sword would come in handy as well.”
It didn’t take long for the group to ready itself. Only Darius really had any difficulty, and that was due to some of the dents and bends in his armor. Kaz helped there, taking some of the pieces and utilizing his astounding strength to straighten them out as best as possible. The knight, who had never fought a minotaur, automatically uttered an oath to Paladine. Tesela shook her head in amazement. Delbin, who had seen Kaz do similar things in the past, tried to tell everyone about each and every such incident. By unanimous consent, he was told to take a deep breath and get the horses ready.
They departed the village-none of them had ever discovered its name-just as the first sunlight spilled over the horizon. Kaz had little hope that they would actually have a sunlit day. Beyond a certain point in the morning, the orb would find itself hidden behind a thick mass of clouds. This weather was not right, the minotaur knew. It reminded him too much of the war and of the lands about to fall to the servants of Takhisis. Where evil ruled, the sun rarely shone, it was said, and evil could not prevail in Solamnia. Not in the homeland of Paladine’s earthly champions.
Could it?
Kaz buried the thought deep in his mind as they traveled. Vingaard Keep would be visible before day’s end. He would have his answers soon enough.
The trek was hardest on Darius, though not because of his injuries. Those the power of Mishakal had healed completely. Rather, it was the land itself that seemed to affect the knight. Like so many others, he had expected Solamnia to be well on its way to recovery by now. This-this was a wasteland.
“How do so many survive here?” he asked Kaz in horror. “How do they survive?”
‘The land’s not completely dead, human, but I agree it must be near impossible.”
No goblins harried them; no dragon or other beast swooped down to throw them about like toys. The day would have actually been pleasant, if not for the specter of the land itself. Kaz noted that Tesela constantly fingered her medallion. Thinking of Delbin, Kaz glanced at the small figure perched atop the pony next to him. Delbin was growing very moody, an odd reaction for one of his kind. Kender were habitually cheerful. Kaz thought of asking his companion what was worrying him. The thought of a kender trying to explain such a complicated emotion made him hesitate, however, and the matter slipped away.
With the early evening came a distant, mist-enshrouded surprise.
Darius was the first to recognize it as more than just another indistinct speck on the horizon. Only he made the connection between where they were and the relative size of the thing.
The one word he uttered was barely more than a whisper. “Vingaard!”
Kaz narrowed his eyes and tried to make out anything more than a blur. “Are you certain?”
“What else could it be?”
‘True.” Even though they had made far better time than Kaz would have thought possible, the citadel of the Knights of Solamnia was still a goal they would not reach until tomorrow. Kaz hated the thought of stopping when they were so close, but reminded himself that this land had both goblins and some great unnamed beast wandering about. Let the enemy come to them. Better that than walking into an ambush. Besides, although they had not as yet seen any Solamnic patrols, who was to say there was not one nearby even now?
It was an uneasy group that made camp that night. Both Kaz and Darius searched the skies continuously. Delbin, as moody as before, fell asleep almost immediately after finishing his meal. Tesela, having slept the least the night before, soon joined him.
Darius offered to take first watch. Kaz argued with him briefly, but gave in. It turned out not to matter very much. Neither one could sleep well that night, and each spent the other’s watch period waiting impatiently for the dawn.
The night was so uneventful that Kaz had to wonder if he, too, should carry a blank book, much like Delbin’s, to record such rare nights. Yet despite the calm of the evening, the minotaur rose at dawn with such anxiety that his hands were quivering in anticipation of… what? He could not say for certain. It was the same feeling that had
