His hands became claws with long talons, and his arms twisted. He was already ten times his original size.
It all happened in the blink of an eye. Where the minotaur had stood there now squatted a red dragon of immense proportions. Kaz noted how the huge chamber allowed the creature free movement and wondered if perhaps-and the thought was a chilling one-if perhaps the place had been built with him in mind.
"I am Infernus!" roared the dragon, looking down at them as if they were insects. "I have worked centuries to make you all what you are! I have guided you in guise after guise!" He raised his head high. "I am your true god… and you have been very, very naughty children indeed!"
They backed away suddenly as a fear washed over them. It was no normal fear, not even what one might expect to feel when confronted by such a leviathan. Kaz recognized it as dragonfear, a magic of the creatures he had not felt since the war.
The dragon, Infernus, lowered his head. "And as naughty children, it's time you were punished."
Chapter 14
"You shouldn't even be here!" insisted Kaz, fighting the dragonfear. "The dragons have all left Krynn! Since the end of the war!"
"The gods commanded that we depart, yes," agreed the red leviathan. "They compelled us! We served them well… on both sides… and for our reward we were to be cast out of this world! Yet I resisted! I fought against the pull! One by one, my brethren flew off into the air, unable to command their own wills, but still I managed to resist!"
The red dragon clambered down from the dais, eyes darting from one minotaur to the next. Each time his gaze returned to Ty. Kaz noted that and began to wonder.
"My anger was my strength. I had served my lady well, working over the centuries to achieve her goal, and now I was supposed to abandon my work for her, all that I had strived for! It had become more mine than hers, and I was simply to leave it behind because of her failure! I, Infernus!"
Where were the clerics and the guards? Kaz had expected others to barge in by this point. Did they not hear the bellowing? He could not believe the minotaurs who worked in the temple knew the secret of their high priest. Perhaps a few high-ranking ones did, but even that was doubtful.
Again Kaz tried to will his axe to his hands. This time, he felt a slight tug, as if Honor's Face sought to return but was prevented. Yet it gave him a little hope. The dragon's will was not.invincible. Kaz might be able to get the axe back if he could distract the dragon enough.
Providing he got the chance.
Infernus seemed glad to have an audience, albeit a captive one, for which to boast of his exploits. They were probably the first outsiders to know the truth… no doubt because the dragon intended to kill them all.
"You are my children, more than you are the offspring of either Sargas or his mistress, dark Takhisis! I have made you into the terrors that you are, guided you over generations for her, obeyed foolish edicts, and given you over to other masters so that you would be honed by the harshness of your lives. All so that you would become stronger, more defiant soldiers! Now, I can lead you to fulfill your glory, and mine! I will rule, and your kind will act as my talons, reaching out farther and farther until we have all of Krynn under control! You shall bow to no one, no god or goddess, but me!"
Infernus looked up to the ceiling. If Kaz had understood the dragon correctly, then the history of the minotaur race was a mockery-centuries of endless manipulation by forces without and within-the dragon the greatest manipulator of all. Every high priest for countless generations may have been this dragon in minotaur form.
The shiver that ran down his spine was not influenced by the dragonfear, but rather the realization of what had happened to all those minotaurs, many of them no doubt good, honest clerics. What had Jopfer thought when the offer was presented? Had he thought that here was a way for someone to correct the ills of the priesthood? Had he believed that he could work with his former masters and make the temple of Sargas an ally of the circle?
When had he finally discovered the truth? Just before Infernus stole his form and destroyed him?
The baleful gaze of the huge red creature suddenly focused on Kaz. "A shame you had to be so defiant, Kaziganthi de-Orilg. You and I share a kindred spirit, but that is why you could not obey me. You were useful for a time, though, spreading the glory of minotaur skills beyond the homeland. For a time I let those tales spread among your own kind, knowing such feats as were rumored could only encourage others to strive harder." He dipped his massive head in what Kaz supposed was a bow. "I am glad I decided to let you live after you departed the circus. It would have been a pity to rid myself of both you and your brother at the same time. Until you began to settle down and draw others from the homeland, you were more aid than hindrance to my plans. Had you accepted my offer, you would have redeemed yourself and become my greatest general. I hoped you would. Truly I had hoped so. You are what I have been striving to create, Kaziganthi. You are the minotaur warrior that knows no defeat, knows no challenge that cannot be overcome!" Infernus cocked his head. "You still have one last chance."
"You must be mad!" Kaz began, enraged. "After what you've done to me and mine you still have the arrogance to offer-"
"You!" The voice was Ganth's, as Kaz had never heard this father. The mariner, sword raised, stared wide-eyed at the leviathan. Despite his dragonfear, the older minotaur began edging forward. "You had Raud killed! And you had Gladiator sent out on that doomed mission, didn't you? I remember the high priest sanctioning it! By the Just One's beard, I remember the temple practically insisting we be sent out into those dark waters immediately… without a cleric aboard, which was standard practice back then! You knew we'd run into those ships, those marauders, and that storm as well, didn't you? You expected us all to perish, didn't you?"
Eyeing Ganth, the dragon coldly replied, "It was my duty to cull the weak, the unstable, and the unpredictable from the ranks. The race had to be tempered constantly if it was to be of use to my mistress." Infernus scowled, but not at them. "And what was done?" the dragon raged. "They were wasted, used as fodder by those who could not appreciate my efforts! I strained to create for her a perfect race through which she and her consort could take Ansalon. Then her insipid little mortal minions wasted so much effort! All the centuries of work, the strengthening through adversity and winnowing…"
"You killed Kyri, you slimy serpent…" Ganth growled. "You killed my crew. You killed hundreds… thousands… You killed my son-"
Kaz moved too late to stop his father. The older minotaur bounded forward, rage overwhelming reason. He raised his sword high, calling out an old minotaur war cry.
Raising one limb, Infernus reached forward and batted Ganth away.
"Father!" Kaz and Fliara both cried. Ganth literally flew over their heads, his weapon clattering to the floor. The companions, save for Ty, forgot the dragon as Ganth crashed into the floor several yards away, his body sprawled.
Even before Kaz reached him, he knew that his father was dead.
He looked down at the lifeless body. From the marks on him, it was possible Ganth had died before he landed. A single blow from a dragon could easily kill most mortals.
In that moment, the accursed voice of the gray man murmured in his head, "I'm sorry, Kaz. I had no control."