Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy (30 page)

“He has demonstrated his honour several times as well,” said Harran. “Do not underestimate his honour or his strength.”

Zylor nodded and grinned at the warrior. “That goes without saying!”

Sherman grinned uncertainly. He had often fought against strong and versatile opponents, but he hoped he would never have to fight one this big. For a human, he was large. Compared to a minotaur, especially this one, he was a couple of feet too short and barely strong enough to match its strength. He could probably overpower a minotaur of the same height, he thought, but he didn’t exactly want to find out, either.

“Perhaps you should fill us in on how you got here,” said Harran. “Then we’ll tell you about our quest.”

“Very well,” said Zylor. “The maps I was given in the dwarven city were very accurate. My first objective was to reach my first goal which was the plateau. I used a roundabout way to bypass where Harran and I had encountered the dwarven soldiers. I fought my way through goblins and orcs and reached the plateau in five days. At the entrance, I encountered three trolls who wanted payment in exchange for safe passage. I paid them with the sharp end of my axe.”

Harran chuckled.

“The plateau was relatively peaceful at first,” continued Zylor, “and I ate from the abundant vegetation and wildlife for a short time. I was just settling into a routine of tracking ogres when I saw minotaur tracks in the clay ahead of me. I followed them and came upon a group of minotaurs camped along the eastern rim of the plateau.

“They were startled at first, but they accepted me into their midst warily. It wasn’t long before I found out they were former members of my father’s personal guard. When I told them my name, most of them refused to believe it. One of the older ones examined me closely and told the other minotaurs that I had a strong resemblance to my father. They grilled me with questions until I was asked who my mother was. I told them I didn’t remember my mother and that I was brought up by Mylorga. At this an older minotaur confirmed my identity, claiming Mylorga had gone to see his brother, Graftor, the day my parents died, carrying an infant she claimed was my true mother’s. Graftor hid us in his basement until it was deemed safe to let us escape into the mountains. Apparently, the older minotaur was close to Mylorga, and she had gone to see his brother because it was safer that way. She was never seen since, so he figured Graftor had told the truth.”

“What happened then?” asked Sherman. “Were you accepted?”

Zylor nodded. “They accepted me as their leader!”

“Why were they in the mountains?” asked Harran. “And how did they get there?”

“They climbed the mountain to escape the wrath of my uncle. They climbed until they found a crack in the mountain that led to the plateau. They’ve lived there ever since.”

“How did you end up here?” asked Kazin. “You’re a long way from the plateau.”

“After a few weeks of relieving the tunnels of orcs and ogres, I led a group of us to visit the dwarves living on the mountain’s east surface. It just so happened that Horst and his community were under attack by some lizardmen leading a bunch of zombie-goblins. We helped the dwarves prevail by attacking from the rear, and in a joint venture we tracked the remaining lizardmen through the mountain hoping to find their lair.

“When we got close, we followed them to a wide cavern where they did some sort of magic thing and opened a hole in the wall. Fortunately they weren’t aware of us, and when they stepped through, the hole was left open behind them. We could see daylight and parts of a mountainside beyond where there should only have been more rock. After a quick discussion, we decided to follow.

“As we neared the opening, continued Zylor, we noticed the edges of the hole were beginning to waver. Those of us closest to the hole sprinted for it to catch it while it was open. I hit the opening first and sprang through. There was a blinding flash of light and a ringing noise in my ears. I fell through the opening and landed in a bush well below it. The opening had a very small ledge and I missed it. From my new vantage point I could just see the lizardmen rounding an outcropping several hundred yards above me. I could also see I was alone.

“The opening flickered once and then vanished. I was truly on my own. I guess I must have outdistanced the others in the sprint for the opening. My only course of action was to follow the lizardmen and see what I could find out. When I caught up to them, your battle was already in progress. I wouldn’t have intervened if it wasn’t for Harran being in a little trouble.”

“I’m glad you showed up when you did,” said Harran thankfully.

“Why didn’t you use your axe?” asked Sherman, eyeing the minotaur’s axe, which was still sheathed tightly to his back.

“I’ve had lots of practice,” said Zylor. “Lizardmen are easier to kill than orcs—if you can get close to them. Why bloody a weapon if you don’t have to?”

Sherman gulped.

“So the lizardmen have a system of teleportation,” mused Kazin, changing the subject.

“Speaking of teleportation,” said Zylor. “Where am I?”

They quickly filled Zylor in about details of his present whereabouts and the political situation as it stood. When asked if he wanted to join them he accepted their offer, claiming he had no better alternatives. Kazin even offered to see if he could reactivate the opening Zylor came through to send him back to his original location. Zylor agreed to try it later but was more interested in their quest to find the scouting party and the lizardmen they were after. With that settled they entered the tunnel.

Harran entered first, followed by Kazin with his staff lit, followed by Sherman, who chewed his wildhorn leaves nervously. Zylor brought up the rear.

Harran led them unerringly through a series of tunnels, stopping now and then to mark their path on a piece of parchment. It was a wise precaution. If something should happen to the dwarf, Zylor could lead them back out to safety. Kazin could probably manage to read the map as well, should it come to that.

When they passed a wide tunnel entrance to continue down a narrow, rugged path, Sherman asked what the reason for this was. Harran pointed out the dust in the wide tunnel was too thick to have been travelled over recently. He also showed a recent scuff mark in the narrow tunnel they were using. Apparently someone had tripped over a corner of rock that jutted out into the path. Most likely it was one of the humans in the search party.

“Why not lizardmen?” asked Sherman.

“They don’t wear shoes,” said Harran. “Their feet are much more adapted to this kind of terrain.”

“In that case,” said Sherman, “the lizardmen could have turned off at any one of the previous intersections and we wouldn’t know it! That last wide tunnel may have had some dust on it, but I’m sure some of the others were more travel worn.”

“That is very observant,” said Harran, “but the lizardmen and the scouting party are both ahead of us.”

“How do you know?” asked Sherman.

“Just follow your nose,” said Zylor behind him.

“What?!” asked Sherman, turning to face the minotaur.

“Can’t you smell it?” asked Zylor.

“No.”

“Humans don’t have very strong noses, Zylor,” said Harran over his shoulder.

“Then how come the search party, which consists of humans, is on the right track?” inquired Sherman, catching back up with Kazin and his lit staff. “They can’t smell them.”

“The power of magic,” said Kazin. “They have a mage and a cleric, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” said Sherman. “I forgot.”

They moved down a series of passageways for several hours and then called a halt to eat some dried food Kazin had brought from the base camp.

Harran took advantage of the pause to update his map while the others chewed in silence.

“How far have we gone?” asked Kazin.

“We are halfway back to Lizard’s Pass and about 200 feet lower than where we started,” said Harran. “Judging by the tunnels we passed, I’d say that this is one of the few tunnels that lead downward.”

The companions continued in pursuit of the scouting party for a few more hours and then called it a night. Harran took first watch; Zylor took second, followed by Sherman. Kazin put out his staff and checked it for magical energy. He scratched his head and checked it again. According to his test, it was still almost fully charged. He shook his head and put the staff away. He would have to test it later.

The night passed uneventfully and they started off as soon as everyone had risen. They encountered a stream midway through the day and after Kazin checked it for poison, they filled their wineskins. Harran took the opportunity to gather healing mushrooms while Kazin found lichens and other plant life for some new spells he wanted to try.

They moved on and an hour or so later their tunnel opened up into a large cavern. The cavern linked with several passageways and to one side was a large alcove. It was to this that Harran led them.

“Why are we stopping here?” asked Sherman.

Harran scratched his head. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“What doesn’t make sense?” asked Kazin.

“The scouting party followed the trail of the lizardmen here, and judging by the marks in the sand, the lizardmen kept going.”

“Kept going?” asked Sherman. “Into the wall?”

“That’s right,” said Harran, “and right through it as if it weren’t even there.”

“Let me cast a magic spell,” said Kazin. “Maybe it’s a magical door like the one Zylor was describing.” He held his staff close to the wall and the staff changed from a dull white to a fluorescent orange.

“That’s some spell, Kazin!” remarked Sherman. “I swear I never even saw your lips move!”

Kazin looked surprised as well. “That’s because I didn’t even cast one yet, Sherm.” He cast a spell anyway and the staff glowed so brightly everyone had to avert their eyes. After a moment it dimmed again and they turned to look at the wall. Outlined in the bare rock was an orange outline of a doorway.

“Can you open it?” asked Harran.

“I haven’t encountered a door like this before,” said Kazin, “but I’ll try.” He cast a number of door opening spells he was taught at the tower but none of them worked. Finally he gave up. “Sorry, fellas. I’ll have to ask the arch mages about this one.”

“That’s O.K.,” said Sherman. “We were sent to find the scouting party anyway. Harran, you said the lizardman kept going. Where did the scouting party go?”

“They probably encountered the same difficulties with the doorway as Kazin did,” said Harran. “Judging by the confusion of their footprints, they must have tried another path.”

“What about these orc footprints?” asked Sherman.

“What? Where?” asked the dwarf, coming to see where the warrior pointed.

“Why don’t you ask them yourselves?” said Zylor suddenly, from not far away.

The companions turned to look at the minotaur, who pointed at one of the tunnels intersecting with the cavern. Several orcs had emerged, with more appearing behind them.

“They seen us!” yelled an orc in front. He hefted a nearby stone and flung it in the direction of the companions. Kazin was either unprepared or still blinded by the bright light of the staff because the stone struck him in the side of the head. With a crack he fell to the ground, unconscious. His staff fell beside him, winking out.

“Kazin!” yelled Sherman belatedly. He ran to protect the mage and was thankful he had just eaten another pair of wildhorn leaves. His eyes adjusted to the dark quickly and he could see the dwarf and minotaur flanking him on both sides. The orcs, some fifteen or twenty of them, charged into the companions, feeling confident with their numbers.

Sherman was enraged. They struck down one of his friends. Now it was his turn. He decapitated the first orc with a vicious swing of his sword and fended off the blows of three others simultaneously. A fourth one tried to come in low and Sherman kicked him back. Pretending to be off balance, he lured another one close enough to grab it. Lifting it off the ground, he used it as a shield as three various weapons penetrated its tough hide. It screamed and then gurgled. Sherman heaved it at one of its killers, knocking it to the floor. Oddly enough, the dead creature’s sabre embedded itself in the chest of its assassin, killing it instantly. Then Sherman flicked his gore-covered fingers into the face of another orc, sending it screaming into the darkness. Another orc took its place with an evil smile. With a series of thrusts and slashes, the warrior quickly sliced off the limbs of the orc, leaving it in a helpless heap on the ground.

Two more orcs sprang out of the darkness but Sherman was ready, ducking under their blows and slicing in a wide arc in an attempt to sever their legs. Both went down screaming. He slashed off their heads and looked for more opponents.

Zylor was holding his own. Apparently he had fewer attackers since he looked more intimidating. Harran wasn’t so lucky. Being small, the orcs figured they stood a better chance against him. Sherman made a note to watch the unprotected mage should an orc get close to him and dashed off to assist the dwarf. He fought his way to the dwarf’s side and back to back they fended off the blows, dishing out pain as they saw fit.

Zylor, meanwhile, had things under control. His blood pounded in his veins as his bloodlust engulfed him. Shards of orc flesh went flying as he chopped his way through the forest of orcs. Before he knew it, his opponents all lay in gore-covered heaps on the cavern floor. He turned to his companions and noticed that Sherman was trying to get his attention. The blood rushing in his ears drowned out the warrior’s voice. Sherman was pointing at the mage and Zylor immediately knew what was happening. An injured orc was crawling toward the unconscious mage. With a bellow Zylor lunged at the orc, driving its head into the ground with his foot. The orc moved no more.

The warrior and dwarf took advantage of the confusion created by the minotaur’s bellow and sliced down a couple of their opponents. The remaining ones, noticing the lack of backup, turned and fled into the tunnels from whence they came.

Harran and Sherman looked at each other, panting.

“Nice work, warrior,” panted Harran.