"Get out of my head!" he muttered, turning on the dragon. Infernus was personally responsible for the deaths of his parents and his brother. He was, as Ganth had pointed out, responsible for the deaths of thousands, all in the name of some foul plan to create a perfect race of warriors to serve a sinister goddess. Kaz faced the murderous beast, again seeking to will Honor's Face to him. Briefly, he almost thought he would succeed, but the dragon's will was still too strong, even though Kaz was fueled by intense grief and anger.
As he abandoned his effort, he became aware of a lone figure standing before the fearsome behemoth.
Ty.
"I won't let you hurt them anymore!" the girl called.
"Ty! Get away from him!" Kaz yelled.
"You are young. I will forgive your foolishness," Inferitus told the human. "But do not test my goodwill!"
"You killed Kaz's father!" shouted Ty, ignoring the dragon's words.
A fireball large enough to consume a minotaur burst from the human female's hands. It flew at Infernus, striking him in the chest. The dragon grunted, batting away the flames.
"Consider yourself fortunate that the balance must be maintained, young one. Now behave yourself."
A transparent shell of bright red fell over the girl. It sank down, first enveloping, then passing through its victim. The last traces disappeared into the floor, but the aftereffects were evident. Ty slumped to the floor, overcome with dizziness.
"This has gone on far too long," declared Hecar. "We have to take him or die trying. What other choice have we? Are you with me?"
"The girl must be freed," came the voice of the gray; man again. "There must be balance in all things for you to succeed. Balance leads to balance."
"I said get out of my head!" Kaz growled. "Take your advice and stuff it back into whatever dream you come from!"
Fliara touched his arm. "Kaz! What ails you? Who're you talking to?"
He had no time to answer, for Infernus refocused his attention. "You were not supposed to die in the circus, Kaziganthi, but your father would have, as an object lesson to you. That is rectified. Now, however, I see that I might as well have let you perish. You will never bow. Never. It would be efficient to simply eliminate you and your small band once and for all, but there would be little satisfaction in removing you in such a… draconian… fashion. Your deaths must be elaborate to excite the masses, something even more extravagant than the ritual executions I'd earlier planned. I shall have to think about it."
They started forward, but it was already too late. Emerald shells similar to the red one that had enveloped Ty covered each of them. Kaz felt his body stiffen, his mind grow distant. The shell passed through him and, by the time it sank into the floor, he could not move at all, save to breathe. Out of the corner of his eye, Kaz could see Hecar's hand, as pale and still as his own.
"Why are you doing this?" came Ty's voice. "Let them go and I'll do everything you say! I won't resist anymore!"
Infernus seemed impressed. "You need to be as helpless as the rest. I thought I took your true origin into account. You are stronger titan you appear. Young One! Good! That; means you will live a long, long life for me! Many, many centuries!"
"What do you mean?"
"You still do not understand?" The great red chuckled. "Ah, the naivete of youth! Do you not understand why you are so important to me? Do you not realize what happened?" Infernus leaned his head back. "All the dragons were called away. I knew I would be compelled to follow, but I resisted. You see, my young one and my statuesque friends, there is a balance…hat must be maintained at all times. For me to remain on Krynn past the calling, there must have been one of my opposite number also on the world! One of the dragons of foul Paladine, you see. Yet, for this one not to obey meant that there must be unusual circumstances. I searched Krynn, sought out the magic forces. Where was there another of my kind, and how had he or she also escaped the call?"
He leaned forward again, smiling. A new wave of dragonfear washed over the helpless group, though none could do anything about it. Infernus chuckled again.
"My agents discovered the fragments of a shell. A single egg had been left behind and had hatched." As he spoke, Infernus began to shrink back to his minotaur form. It was a slow process, a small degree with each breath.
Utilizing his magic, the dragon explained, he had taken the fragments of the shell and used them to seek the hiding place of the hatchling. As long as the other dragon existed, Infernus could remain on Krynn. However, if something happened to either one, the other would likely be forced out of the world.
"Then I found the young one. Or rather, my spell found a creature that appeared to be the hatchling." He grinned. "It found you… Ty. What an amusing name."
"I'm no dragon. If I was, you'd be sorry!"
Infernus found this amusing. Infernus seemed to find everything amusing. "I thought the same, but I observed you. I sensed. I thought. Then I saw that it was true. You are a dragon, Young One. You must be one of the accursed silvers, who shape themselves with more ease than most of us. A newborn especially, with no one to mind it, can shift without intending to. It can take on a form based on the inner knowledge our kind possesses, or from things it happens to see. A young dragon might take the form of humans, who might have been the first intelligent beings ft remembered seeing."
"I am human!"
"It can only have been about eight years since the call, yet you are taller than you should be, older in appearance, too, when you wear that form. That fooled me for a time, but then, young dragons grow fast at first. Deny it all you like, but do you not feel your blood calling? Do you not dream of flying through the sky, soaring at undreamt of heights? We all dream of that from birth on. It is a part of our heritage, dark or light, hatchling."
"No…" but Ty's voice evinced uncertainty.
"Yes. You cannot deny it."
Kaz struggled to move, but the dragon's spell held him fast. A multitude of thoughts swirled within him. Ty was a dragon? As insane as that sounded, it made some sense. The girl's fantastic if erratic ability with magic was impossible for one so young and untrained… if she was human.
Infernus spoke of balance, just as the voice of the gray man had. What was the connection there? He was certain the figure in gray had some past significance. Something Huma of the Lance had once spoken about, but the memory was still hazy.
His thoughts scattered as Infernus, much smaller now, suddenly shifted form. The wings shriveled, drawing within his back. His savage maw reshaped into the more familiar muzzle of a minotaur.
The dragon's tail was the last item to vanish. Before them all stood the false Jopfer, his robes floating and wrapping around him.
"You and I will have a lot of time to talk about these things, Ty. You shall realize your destiny under my tutelage. As for these four…" The high priest returned to the desk, pulling a cord.
A moment or two passed, then the doors opened and two acolytes hurried inside. They froze at the sight of the figures standing before them.
"Summon the guards," commanded Infernus in his role of Jopfer. One of the acolytes did. When the guards arrived, the high priest ordered, "Remove these to cells on different levels from the one set aside for the girl. Be especially thorough when binding the kender. I want them all here for their ritual combats. Their deaths will mark the commencing of the day of destiny for the glorious minotaur race… and myself."
They were suddenly able to move again, though temple guards surrounded them. One of the sentries prodded Ganth's body. Kaz snarled and tried to push him away, but the other soldiers held him back.