Free Kazin's Quest: Book I of The Dragon Mage Trilogy by Carey Scheppner

What’s more, how did it come to be in a position of power like this one was? Minotaurs hated lizardmen; particularly because they used magic. Why did the minotaurs in the booth not slay the beast on sight? Was Traygor now consorting with lizardmen? Was he using them to assist in defeating the humans in battle? It seemed inconceivable that even Traygor would stoop so low. Surely there was no honour in fighting a battle with the help of lizardmen and their magic. Yet here one was, in charge of the recruitment taking place in the plaza. Zylor mulled this over as he crept through the back ways of the city.
    At last he came to a small, winding trail that led out and away from town. There were many trees in this area and they provided adequate concealment, allowing Zylor to make good time. He travelled for several hours before hitting the base of the mountains. The trail ended and the going from here on would be difficult. There was plenty of dense shrubbery and bracken to cut through and not far above that was a sparsely wooded tree line. He looked up and viewed the cliffs above. An eagle soared quietly near the apex of the massive mountain, unperturbed by the sheer cliff face nearby where it was too cold and steep to accommodate lesser vegetation. There was still evidence of snow at the higher altitudes and some of the mountain side was covered in ice. Fortunately Zylor wouldn’t have to go to these great heights to reach the cave entrances, which were located just above the tree line. The vegetation would only provide concealment about a third of the way up. After that he would have to travel in the dark to avoid detection by the patrols. It was a good time to do this, thought Zylor. The patrols tonight would likely be reduced due to the recruitment going on in town.
    With relief he put down his pack containing his blanket roll and its occupant. He unravelled the blanket and out rolled the dwarf, clothes wrinkled and beard askew.
    “Take it easy!” complained Harran. “Do you know how cramped it was in there?”
    “You could have stayed in your cell,” commented Zylor.
    “Very funny,” grumbled the dwarf, standing up and stretching his muscles. “At least I don’t have to breathe through that disgusting smelling blanket anymore. It was worse than unbearable.”
    “You’re still alive,” said Zylor, removing two axes from a holster on his back. He handed the smaller one to the dwarf. “Here, start chopping.”
    “Chopping?!” exclaimed the dwarf. “Chopping what?”
    “This shrubbery. It’ll go faster with both of us chopping a path.”
    “When I agreed to guide you through the mountains, I didn’t say anything about helping to blaze a trail through some shrubbery!” retorted Harran angrily.
    “It’s either that or the blanket,” responded Zylor. “Besides, with both of us working at it, we’ll reach the tree line by sundown. Then we can wait until dark and you can guide us to the nearest tunnel entrance.”
    Harran glared at Zylor. Zylor returned the look. Harran chuckled. Then he laughed. “Nobody can out glare a minotaur. All right. Give me that thing,” he said, yanking the axe out of Zylor’s hand. “The sooner we get out of minotaur territory, the better.” He began chopping at the shrubbery. Then he stopped abruptly and looked at his axe. “Hey! This isn’t my axe! It isn’t even dwarven!”
    “Sorry,” said Zylor. “I couldn’t find out what happened to your original axe so I just grabbed one that looked half decent.”
    “Half decent? This one isn’t even a quarter decent! How are we supposed to save time using this piece of junk?” asked Harran, exasperated.
    “By chopping with it,” retorted Zylor, taking several huge swings with his own axe. As some chunks of shrubbery began to fall, Zylor said, “See. Mine cuts and it’s not made from dwarven steel either.”
    Harran sighed and thought about using the axe on the minotaur instead. He shook his head. If it couldn’t cut