“Fools! Cowards! One of your own is dying!” His words had no effect. These people had little spirit.

Kaz stumbled. A building that had suffered a mysterious disaster was suddenly before him… as was something else, something very large, very powerful, and very vicious.

The thing that was in the process of reducing the building to splinters rose, revealing itself to be more than twice the minotaur’s height. As Kaz retreated hastily, he heard a beating noise, identical to the flapping that had passed over him days earlier-the beast, he had no reason to doubt, that had killed an entire band of knights save one.

The beating of the wings was in his ears, and Kaz knew the creature was practically right on top of him. If he was to die a victim of a dragon, if a dragon was what it truly was, then the minotaur wouldn’t die without striking at least one great blow.

Even as Kaz whirled, his dwarven axe swinging in a vicious arc, massive talons passed over his head, missing by mere inches. The skillfully crafted battle-axe struck harshly against the flank of the behemoth and bounced off with a loud ringing sound. Kaz stumbled around, waiting for the next attack, but it never came. The creature was flying away as if Kaz were nothing but a momentary obstacle.

Kaz felt the edge of the axe head. It was chipped.

“Come back here, dragon… or whatever pit-spawned creature you arel Face me!” What the inhabitants of the village might think, he did not care. He only knew that he wanted that thing.

It did not return, but Kaz realized that the monster, dragon, or whatever it was had come from the north and now was returning in that direction. If it kept to its present path, it would fly over Vingaard Keep itself…

Kaz cursed and swung the damaged axe into its harness. Ignoring the whispers and whimpers rising from within the various houses and huts, he rushed back toward the inn. Whether alone or not, he knew that he had to reach Vingaard as soon as possible. Vingaard Keep was the key to everything. There he would find the answers he was seeking…

… and possibly a dragon as well.

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 really think about it,”

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.