The knight could barely move at the moment. Kneeling, Kaz did what he could to make him more comfortable. From his cursory examination, he saw that there were bruises aplenty, and the armor on the human’s right leg looked bent and twisted, indicating a broken leg. He wished the healer, Tesela, was accompanying him still.

As he did his best to soothe and bind the injuries, Kaz tried to convince the knight of his safety.

“I am called Kaz. You are a Knight of the Crown, I see.” He pointed at the battered remains of the human’s helmet and breastplate. There were odd marks, like those made by giant talons, across the breastplate. “You are also from an outpost near southern Ergoth, I see. I briefly knew someone from another outpost in Ergoth itself. Buoron?”

The knight shook his head carefully. Kaz shrugged. Buoron had been a good knight, in some ways like Huma, who had died in the first battle utilizing the Dragonlances. The minotaur had known Buoron only briefly but had found him trustworthy and brave.

Kaz shifted, aware that his new companion was speaking. The man’s voice was a hoarse whisper. “Darius. My name is Darius. You said… Kaz?”

“I did.”

Darius pointed a feeble finger at the minotaur. “You are… the one wanted by… the Grand Master.”

The minotaur laughed bitterly. “And do you plan to capture me for him?”

The knight shook his head weakly from side to side. “Not… after what… we have heard. All commands are… suspect.”

“Suspect?”

“We were coming to… present our grievances. Our first messenger… did not return. His name appeared on a… proclamation. The same as you.”

“Indeed. And now your companions have been conveniently massacred by goblins.” Kaz shook his head. “I’ve come not to believe in coincidence.”

Darius somehow succeeded in looking even more pale than before. “All dead?”

The minotaur nodded. “I believe so. I’m sorry, human. I have counted some good knights among my friends in the past…”

“All dead…” The injured knight was babbling. He tried to rise.

Kaz held him down. “You’ll kill yourself if you don’t rest! I’m no healer, knight, and your injuries are going to be a part of you for some time, so relax!”

Even well, Darius would have been no match for Kaz. He settled back down, and the minotaur quickly checked him over again. It was always difficult to tell. There might be internal damage…

“It killed them all,” the knight whispered, half-unconscious due to the strain of his own outburst.

“What?” Kaz froze. He looked at Darius, but the knight was nearly asleep. “What do you mean, ‘it’? The goblins did this, didn’t they?”

The knight’s eyes flickered open, but they looked beyond the minotaur. “Not the… the goblins. They found me… after it threw me. I was lucky; it… it seemed anxious to leave. Paladine! Its skin was as hard as stone! The wings! They-”

“Wings?” Kaz shivered, recalling the thing that had flown over his head one night. He had been that close to it! “What sort of beast was it?”

Darius succeeded in focusing on his benefactor. “Not a beast… not exactly. The lords of the earth. The children of light and darkness.”

The litany was familiar to Kaz, something that he had heard countless times during his life. It was how some ancient bard had described… No!

“You can’t be saying”-Kaz forced the words out-”a dragon?”

Darius grimaced as pain shot through him. “A dragon, minotaur-or something akin to a dragon! Something with huge claws, sky-encompassing wings, and jaws big enough to swallow a whole man!” The knight’s face clouded over. “But… but it left their bodies… what it hadn’t torn apart. I don’t understand. It was and it wasn’t a dragon.”

Feeling the lancing pain in hus shoulder, Kaz lifted the gruesome burden he was carrying. With the utmost care, he placed the body of the last of Darius’s dead comrades in the makeshift funeral pyre. The injured knight watched from a distance, his back against a gnarled tree. Darius lacked any strength for the task he kept insisting must be done. It was unthinkable to leave the bodies of so many brave men to scavengers like the carrion crows or, worse, goblins. Kaz had used up an entire day for this business, but he knew that Darius would not have moved on without giving his comrades a proper burial, even if he could.

There had been no further signs of the goblins. Kaz doubted they would be back, but he kept careful watch nonetheless.

The knight, more coherent than yesterday, still insisted that his band had been attacked by a dragon or something very similar. Kaz could not get the thought out of his mind. Everyone knew that all the dragons had disappeared.

“Your wound needs binding again, Kaz,” the knight pointed out. “You don’t want dust getting into the wound.”

Grunting, Kaz squatted down next to his companion and let Darius do what he could for the binding. It was the only thing the knight could do in his present condition, and the minotaur knew that he desperately wanted to be useful.

“I thank you.”

Kaz grunted. “I doubt I would’ve left your companions’ bodies after all. I would’ve never forgiven myself, I think.”

Though it was past noon, as well as one could tell in the overcast sky, there was a chill in the air uncommon for this time of year. The fire was to prove doubly useful. The knight needed the warmth, and Kaz needed something with which to light the pyre.

The minotaur rose and reached for the dry branch he had set aside for this purpose.

“Are there any words you wish to say?” he asked as he lit the branch.

Darius shook his head. “I said what needed to be said as you gathered the dead.”

Kaz nodded and grimly stepped toward the pyre.

It started to rain just at the point when it became apparent that the fire had served its purpose. Kaz had calculated that the fire would burn itself out, but the rain allowed him to forego keeping an eye on it. By the time the last flame had perished, the rain had ceased.

“Praise be to Paladine,” a somewhat damp Darius said quietly. He held out his hand to Kaz, an indication that he wanted to stand, and the minotaur helped him to his feet. “We should go now,” the knight said.

“Don’t you think we should wait until tomorrow? The rest can only help you.”

A look of pain crossed the knight’s pale face. “I fear that I have some wounds that only a cleric of Paladine or Mishakal can cure properly. I don’t know about the latter, but Vingaard Keep’s lords have always included the former.”

Kaz disliked the thought of depending on anyone in Vingaard Keep for such aid, but he could not think of any better plan. Perhaps they would come across another cleric of Mishakal on their way to the stronghold of the knighthood. There certainly had to be some call for clerics in this desolate region. Someone had to be helping the villagers if the keep was not.

“We don’t know what goes on at the keep now.”

“But we will,” Darius said with the imperious tone that Kaz recalled as being typical of many knights. Even Huma had adopted it now and then. It was the expression of someone who believes his cause is just and, therefore, one that will prevail.

With the crude, wooden staff that Kaz had made for him in one hand, the knight leaned against the minotaur. Kaz put an arm around his companion, and in this way, they started their journey together. It was awkward going, but they made progress.

The first village that Kaz had seen in some time peeked over the horizon near evening. Neither the minotaur nor the knight were familiar with this region, though both knew that Vingaard could only be two or three days ahead. Whether or not they should continue on to the village this very evening was a question.