Amber and Iron - Margaret Weis [84]
The beast thrust his muzzle into Rhys’s face. “What we need are hands and legs and strong backs.”
He straightened and gestured. “Take him, mates.”
“Aye, Capt’n,” called out several guttural voices.
Two burly minotaurs approached Rhys, who realized now what kind of trouble had found them. They’d run afoul of a press gang, minotaur pirates, seeking slaves for their ships.
his un’s a kender, Capt’n,” stated one of the minotaurs in disgust. He held his torch so close to Nightshade’s head that the smell of singed hair wafted on the air. “You want him, too?”
“Sure, I like kender,” said the captain with a chortle. “Baked, with an apple in his mouth. And grab the dog. I like dogs, too.”
“I would not grab me, if I were you!” Nightshade said in his deepest voice, which sounded rather like he was suffering from a cold in the head. He held up his left hand and pointed his finger at the minotaur. “Any who dare touch me will find himself feeble as a newborn babe. Er, make that calf.”
All the minotaurs laughed uproariously at this. One of them started toward Nightshade.
“Whoa, I’d be careful if I were you, Tosh,” said the captain, winking. “They’re ferocious, these kender. Why, he might step on your little toe!”
The minotaurs grinned at their captain’s humor. One offered to write to Tosh’s widow if he didn’t come back alive, and that drew more laughter. Rhys had no idea what Nightshade was up to, but he had confidence in his friend. He quietly watched and waited.
“I warned you,” said Nightshade, and he began to waggle his finger at Tosh who was closing on him. Then the kender started to sing a little song, “ ‘By the bones of Krynn beneath my feet, I smite you on the beak and leave you weak.’ ”
The minotaurs roared. Their mirth increased when Tosh suddenly collapsed and went down heavily on his knees.
“C’mon, Tosh,” said the captain, when he could talk for laughing. “Quit your fooling now and get up.”
“I can’t, Capt’n!” Tosh howled. “He’s done somethin’ to me. I can’t stand up nor walk nor nothin’.”
The captain ceased his laughter. He stared at his man, as did the other minotaurs in silence. None of them said a word and then, suddenly, they all started laughing harder than before. The captain doubled over and wiped his streaming eyes.
Tosh howled again, this time in rage.
The captain straightened and, still chuckling, reached out his huge hand to seize the kender. Rhys leaped into the air, lashed out with his foot, and struck the minotaur in the midriff.
The blow would have crippled a human, knocked the breath from his body, sent him flying backward. The minotaur captain gasped, coughed once, and looked down at his gut in astonishment. He lifted his horned head to glare at Rhys.
“You hit me with your foot!” The captain was indignant. “That’s no way for a man to fight! It’s … not honorable.”
He clenched fists that were the size of war hammers.
Rhys’s foot ached. His leg tingled as though he’d kicked a stone wall. Hearing the other minotaur come up behind him, he tried to stand balanced, ready to fight. Atta crouched on her belly, growling and baring her teeth. Nightshade stood his ground, his spellcasting finger shifting threateningly from one minotaur to the next.
The captain eyed the three of them, and suddenly he relaxed his fists. With the flat of his hand, he clouted Rhys a blow on the shoulder that sent him staggering.
“You’re not afraid of me. That is good. I like you, human. I like the kender, too. A kender with horns, by Sargas! Look at old Tosh there, flopping about like a fish on a hook!”
Reaching down with his enormous hand, the captain grabbed hold of Nightshade’s collar, plucked the kender off his feet, and held him, kicking and flailing, high in the air.
“Bag him, lads.”
One of the minotaurs produced a gunny sack. The captain dropped Nightshade into the sack, then reached down and grabbed hold of Atta by the scruff of her neck