A brilliant flash of crimson light illuminated the immediate area.

The trees ceased moving. Kaz held his breath, waiting for them to resume, but they did not. He exhaled and laughed.

"Kaz? Are you okay?" Delbin's upside-down head appeared between two of the trees.

"Good enough." He had the arm wound and a splitting headache now, but that was negligible in comparison to what could have happened. "I think I'm going to need your help in freeing myself, though."

"Okay."

With his companion's aid, Kaz was soon able to free himself from the tight little copse. There was no sign of the other attackers. Kaz guessed that he had seen the end of them. Not a very competent group, he thought, not even the minotaurs. He thought about pursuing them, but decided that it was not wise to chase around in the dark. Turning to Delbin again, he asked, "How about you? Are you all right?"

The kender nodded. If anything, he looked thrilled by the night's festivities. It was yet another trait of the race that Kaz would never understand.

Feeling guilty for having left his companion alone, the minotaur added, "Sorry I had to do things that way. I thought we'd have a better chance if I could catch some of them unaware. I'd hoped to do more damage." He was slipping a little, though. He and his companion very well could have been killed. Had his time trying to raise a family dulled his wits some? "I'm sorry."

Delbin appeared unconcerned. The kender looked at the dead ogre and surveyed the remnants of the attack. "It's okay, Kaz. I knew you'd save us."

The statement was said so confidently that Kaz could not dispute it. Delbin resolutely believed in him. Kaz felt embarrassed.

"I knew you'd save us," the kender repeated, looking up and smiling. "The man in the dream said so just before I woke up."

"The what?" Now that had an unsettlingly familiar ring to it Kaz's eyes narrowed- "The man in gray?"

"Yes, Kaz! He said not to worry, because the time hadn't come yet to test the balance. He said you'd see us through to that point. We have to be somewhere else for the balancing test."

"By Paladine! That does it!" The minotaur turned his gaze skyward. "I don't know which one of you it is, but I'll not be your puppet again! I'm going to rescue Hecar and then I'm going straight home to my mate and children! Get another to play your infernal game, whatever it is!"

Kaz doubted that the Great Dragon, as the Lord of Good was called by some, was behind this. Paladine was just and fair, but there were other gods, either of Good, Neutrality, or Evil, that, in his eyes, toyed with creatures when they themselves could not act outwardly.

The night sky, of course, did not respond. Kaz snorted in anger and looked at his companion. The kender seemed interested in his words, but made no comment, for which Kaz was grateful. At that moment he came to a decision that he felt was right under the circumstances. It was what he should have done in the first place.

"Tomorrow you'll head south to the settlement and Helati, Delbin, You'll go there and you'll stay there."

The kender started to protest, but Kaz turned his back on him, beginning the grisly task of disposing of the ogre remains. He did not look at or talk to his companion again for the rest of the night.

When the next morning came, Delbin raised a protest. "I want to go with you!"

"There were minotaurs with that band that tried to capture us, maybe even kill us. I don't know how they knew we were there or why they wanted us in the first place, but some of them escaped." Kaz did have certain suspicions, but none he wanted to voice just yet. The only ones who had known he was coming to the homeland were the minotaurs of the settlement. "That means we might come across them again, maybe even in Nethosak. They make mincemeat out of kender. I've enough to worry about without worrying about you as well. Go visit Helati again, Delbin. She'll treat you kindly. Wait for me there."

"But, Kaz," interrupted the kender, who was bringing the horses. "I told you! The gray man said I have to go with you to help you."

"Maybe you misunderstood him, Delbin. Maybe he wanted you to be around to help me last night. You've done that, so now you can go back."

The kender thought this over. "Do you think so?"

"I'm sure of that."

"But I don't want to leave! You're my friend!"

The minotaur sighed. Kaz was indeed fond of the kender, which was why Delbin had to leave. He did not want to see him hurt; nor was he very comfortable baring his emotions in this way.

"Listen to me. The minotaur lands are near. They're dangerous. Nethosak is the worst of all. I was a fool to bring you this far, and last night's attack only verified that. I don't know why they wanted us… But I think that bringing you to my homeland will only endanger you further. You have to understand that I'm sending you south because I don't want any harm to come to you."

The short figure stared at the ground. "I don't want to go…"

"Delbin." The kender looked up. "I hope you understand how serious this is. I wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"I know, Kaz."

"You'll go south, like I asked?"

"Yes, Kaz, but-"

"No." The minotaur folded his arms, looking as impressive and stern as he could. "Helati needs your help, since I am gone. She has children to take care of." Inside, Kaz winced. Helati would not soon forgive him for making a kender even a short-term member of her household. She cared for Delbin in much the same way as Kaz, but kender had a habit of "accidentally" removing any item left sitting around for more than a minute. Still, Delbin did have a way with children, even minotaur infants, which might prove valuable. That might assuage Helati some.

"I understand," Delbin replied, trying to look big and solemn. Breaking into a smile, he said, "I do like Helati, too! She cooks well for a minotaur and can hunt and knows neat tricks with a dagger, which she showed me once when she hit a target real far away…"

The kender babbled on and, although the constant flow of words drove Kaz to distraction, he allowed Delbin to talk freely. And when the kender at last departed, less than an hour later, Kaz felt strangely hollow.

Pull yourself together, he reprimanded himself, once Delbin was out of sight. You're a minotaur, a warrior. That's the way you have to act when you enter the empire. Hecar needs you to be strong.

Thinking of Helati's brother helped strengthen his resolve. Prior to departing, Kaz searched for signs of the hunters' retreat. He counted only five mounts. It was possible there were reinforcements elsewhere. He was positive that his decision to send the kender back had been the correct one. Ogres and minotaurs did not willingly work together unless there was a good reason.

He would find Hecar. There was no question about that.

The day passed slowly. Kaz found that he missed the kender's company more than he could have imagined. Delbin had been as loyal a comrade to him as any he had known… more loyal than most.

The woods grew thinner and thinner, becoming simply grassy hills dotted with the occasional copse of trees. The southern end of the mountain range that marked the border of the minotaur kingdoms was only a few days away. As he rode north, Kaz also experienced some bad weather. The wind picked up, with cloud cover coming not long after. It started to rain just before the sun set, and the rain intensified soon after that, becoming a full-fledged storm. Ragged bolts of lightning striking in the hills ahead made him finally decide to make camp.

Kaz found an overhang large enough to conceal both him and his horse. It was no surprise to find it there; he recalled it from another journey long ago. There was no way he could start a fire, so the minotaur satisfied himself with eating cold, cooked meat and fruit left from his portion of the supplies. The rest he had given to Delbin. The kender had been more than fortunate in his scavenging, so he and Kaz both had plenty of food.