Temple of the Dragonslayer Read Online Free Page B

sisters. And maybe she’d even learn how she’d come to be in the middle of the forest with no traveling gear, no food, and no water, not to mention how she’d lost her memories in the first place.
    But what if she didn’t like who she really was? What if there was a reason—a good reason—why she’d lost her memories?
    Sindri suddenly came to a halt, and since he was leading the way, the rest of them nearly collided with the kender before they could stop.
    “That’s odd,” Sindri said as he stared at a small shop. The shutters were open and candles hung by their wicks over a wooden rod, on display for potential buyers. “I don’t recall this candle maker’s shop being here.” He frowned. “Why do you suppose they moved it?”
    Davyn made a sound in his throat as if he were choking. “I’ll go inside and ask for directions.” Without waiting for anyone to reply, he walked into the candle shop.
    “Asking directions is nothing but a waste of time, since I already know where we’re going,” Sindri said. “But if it will make Davyn feel better, I have no objection. Besides,” he added, almost to himself, “it’ll give me a chance to try and remember exactly how I managed to levitate that minotaur’s axe.”

     
    The minotaur in question, whose name was Jax, was at that very moment returning to consciousness. The first thing he became aware of was a terrible pounding in his head; it was especially bad between his eyes. The second thing he became aware of was that he was looking at an expanse of blue sky dotted with clouds. Strange, but the sky seemed to be directly in front of him, when it should have been—
    And then he remembered: the kender. Jax sat up and immediately regretted it as the throbbing in his head increased and awave of nausea rolled through his gut. He did his best to ignore the pain in his head and the roiling in his stomach. He was a minotaur—a warrior born and bred—and he would not let such minor discomforts get the better of him.
    Jax looked around but saw no sign of the kender and his allies. A handful of onlookers stood off at a distance, talking among themselves. One man was laughing, no doubt at Jax’s foolishness for allowing himself to be brought down by a kender—a kender wielding magic, but a kender nonetheless. As soon as the people saw the minotaur was awake and looking back at them, they turned and ran.
    If Jax’s head hadn’t been pounding so, he might have gone after them, but he told himself that the rabble wasn’t worth the effort.
    He looked around for his axe and was glad to see it lying on the ground, along with his pouch of steel coins. Minotaurs usually didn’t have to worry about someone trying to rob them. What pickpocket in his right mind would risk coming close enough to a minotaur to do so? But kender weren’t exactly in their right minds, were they? Not when it came to “handling” objects that didn’t belong to them.
    Jax would have loved to have his own hands around the kender’s tiny neck right now. If he did … The resultant image, gory as it was, made Jax smile.
    Still, he had his money back, and more importantly, he had his axe. The weapon had been his father’s. He’d given it to Jax on the day Jax had left the island of Kothas to seek fortune and honor in the world. Upon reaching the mainland of Ansalon, Jax began working as a guard for trading caravans. Humans might be intimidated by minotaurs, but that didn’t stop them from hiring the man-bulls for their ferocity, strength, and skill with weaponry.
    Jax was in something of a dilemma now. Honor was everything to his people, and his honor had been severely insulted by the kender wizard. True, no other minotaur save Jax knewwhat had happened, and if he never spoke of the incident again, none would. But that didn’t matter. Jax knew, and that was enough.
    Any other time, he would have immediately set out to find the kender and teach him what it meant to insult a minotaur. But Jax