"We'll have to keep a careful eye out when we get to the other side," Ganth called. "Or we might find ourselves running into the jaws of a meredrake!"
A ram burst past Hecar, followed quickly by a pair of wolves that veered after their prey.
A minotaur scream cut through the chaos. It made Kaz look around. Although he did not spot the unfortunate warrior, he did see something else… or perhaps "not see" was the better term. There was no sign of Polik or the representatives of the circle. Even Jopfer's man, Merriq, was missing. No doubt he had been among the first to retreat.
"Kaz! Watch it. Lad!" Ganth was suddenly in front of him, sword slashing downward.
He backed away in surprise. His father tore past him. It was not an animal that threatened them, but a gladiator who had noticed them moving around and had elected to try to block their escape.
The other warrior tried to spear him from the side. Fortunately, Ganth shoved the spear aside with his blade. The spear dug into the earth, jarring the would-be attacker. He pulled the long weapon out before Ganth could follow through, then retreated when he saw he would have to deal with all three minotaurs at once.
"He'll be back with some friends very soon, Lads. Mark my words!"
"Then we'd better get out of here," Hecar rejoined.
Ahead of them, an arrow suddenly sprouted from the side of one of the female lions. The lion stumbled, fell, and managed to rise again. Blood dripped from the wound, but she managed to stay on her feet. Archers began appearing on the walls. A second arrow caught the lion. This time she fell.
"We'd better move faster! They're getting organized!"
They reached the entrance to the menagerie almost in time to collide headlong with a huge bull. Kaz wondered if the kender was purposely releasing them a few at a time to keep the melee going.
"Inside!" Kaz called, hoping that Delbin had not released anything else along with the bull.
The smell ol many years of animal captivity made the trio recoil. Evidently there was a place that could smell worse than the prisoners' cells. Smoke made it uncomfortable but not impossible to breathe in the underground region. There was no sign of fire yet.
Two minotaurs lay crumpled on the floor of one cage. He scanned the rest of the room. The area was clear of threats. Several animals were shrieking in their cages, but most of the doors were open and the cages bare. The cause of the fire was a pile of baled hay that burned within one of the empty cages.
"There're still probably horses in the circus stables, Kaz," called Hecar. "Do we take them or try on foot?"
"On horseback we'll be more noticeable," called Ganth. "We'd be better off sneaking around on foot. The time to fight is later on."
"We can go this way," Kaz said, indicating a wooden door slightly ajar. He and the other minotaurs started for it.
Kaz wondered where the kender was. The brave little creature had a tendency to forget that he could be captured or killed… "I have to find Delbin."
"We've no time, Kaz," Hecar protested. "It's the will of Kiri-Jolith that we've gotten this far. We have to keep going. He'll catch up."
"We've no idea what else the kender had in mind, Lad." Ganth looked grim. "He might've figured that the animals and the fire weren't enough."
Kaz stared off into the distance. "You two go on ahead. I have to find him."
"Lad, from what you've said about Delbin, why not wait until he just shows up again? His kind are clever when it comes to escaping."
"Because I can't take the chance. He's helped me too much in the past. I will not abandon a comrade. You two had better get going."
Before they could stop him, he was already out the doorway.
Delbin hid behind the door as three minotaurs raced past to stop his latest fire. He was proud of himself for what he had accomplished.
He was not normally so adept at lighting fires, but he'd been assisted greatly by a strange bottle of oil he had discovered in his pouch. The bottle bore the mark of the circus, but Delbin could not fathom how it had found its way into his possession. Nevertheless, he had made good use of it. The torches positioned every now and then in the walls helped. Between the oil and the torches, Delbin had created some masterful blazes.
That he might be captured was a thought that occasionally occurred to him, but Delbin did not worry too much. He already knew some neat places to hide and others that could serve as escape routes.
One more. I should do one more. Kaz and the others might still need more time.
Seeing no one in sight nearby, he slipped around and headed down the hall. This one corridor seemed to encompass the entire circus and had so far made it simple for him to move from one place to another. His size helped, of course. Someone as large as Kaz would not have been able to hide in such cramped places. Surely his minotaur friend would be proud of him.
He saw his next potential target moments later. The corridor was stilt deserted, most of the minotaurs having either fled the threat of fire or fighting to subdue the animals outside. Delbin saw a wooden cart. He had no idea of its uses, save that it might be needed to haul things out of the circus. Remembering what most often had to be hauled out of the arena, Delbin made a face. That was a part of minotaur life he did not like. Then the kender started forward.
"Well! Sargas watches over me this day!"
Heavy hands clamped on to the small figure's shoulders. He was drawn backward, then flipped around to face the source.
It was a tall minotaur clad in a black-and-red robe that Delbin knew was the clothing of the clerics of the minotaur empire. He had seen them and knew something about their organization from Kaz, but this was the first time he had been so close to one.
With the robed one were two warriors who looked similar to the ones who had captured Kaz. They each took hold of an arm and dragged the kender nearer to the cleric.
"I am Merriq, representative of His Holiness, the high priest. You have an appointment with him. Resist and we shall drag you there. You cannot possibly escape."
"You let me go or you'll be sorry!"
The minotaurs laughed. Merriq, still smiling, said, "You are a kender, and a young one at that. You are next to nothing, and if it was not that the high priest himself requested your living presence, I would have you tossed into the arena to distract the beasts while our gladiators find and destroy your friends. They have not escaped, you know."
"You're lying!" Despite saying that, Delbin was slightly shaken. Had Kaz and the others been captured?
"The minotaur Hecar and the old one are the prisoners of the circus again." Merriq steepled his hands as if in prayer. "The criminal Kaziganthi died fleeing in dishonor from a meredrake that eventually bit him in two."
Delbin reacted without thinking, with the same temper that had caused him so much trouble among his own kind. Both Merriq and the guards seemed a little startled by his vehemence. Having no weapon in his hands, Delbin threw the only thing he had, the bottle of oil.
The bottle broke against the cleric's chest, splattering him with oil and fragments. The minotaur growled and stumbled backward, trying to rub his injured eyes.
Delbin squirmed out of the guards' grips, but collided with the cleric, who could not see.
Losing his balance, the blinded Merriq fell against one of the lit torches, which fell free. Flame from the torch grazed his robe, and the screaming cleric burst into flames. The oil helped to create an inferno that quickly spread over most of the minotaur's body.
One of the guards seized Delbin. The other tried to aid Merriq, but it was too late. The cleric collapsed. More guards began to arrive.
A guard behind Delbin struck him on the head with the hilt of a dagger and sent the kender to the floor, his thoughts reeling. Delbin tried to rise, but the world went crazy, refusing to settle down. At last, unable to struggle further, the kender collapsed.