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Whorls of golden and blood red flames flickered and danced in the dying
light of sunset. The fires teased and gently kissed the iron shod hooves
of the minotaur who stood in their midst. The great beast glowered, heat
reflected in his eyes, and clutched the precious object closer to his
hairy chest.
"Human turds, you will never get it!" the minotaur bellowed.
"*Humans*...?" There was a strange note of amusement in Xanth's voice as
she tucked a stray strand of silver-white hair behind her ear. For a
moment the sorcerer's gaze flicked to his companion before he returned
his full concentration to the bull-man they confronted.
"This is useless. We should--" The muffled sound of hoofbeats interupted
the sorcerer's newest plotting.
From over a nearby hill rise charged a knight upon a warhorse, both
master and animal resplendent in glittering silver armor. The minotaur
had a moment to gape as the mounted knight suddenly swerved towards him.
The enchanted horse cantered through the sorcerous flames as his rider
raised a crystalline sword to the heavens.
The knight carefully leaned over and gave the minataur a good whack with
the flat side of the sword. The bull-man's eyes rolled up into his head
and he silently collapsed to the ground, as the momentum of the charge
sent the knight and horse racing down the hill and up the next one.
"-- or we could do that." The sorcerer smiled wryly. "Our thanks, Ren!"
he called to the rapidly disappearing knight. With a quick flick of his
wrists the sorcerer doused the flames he had summoned.
Xanth pounced upon the unconscious minotaur as soon as the last glowing
ember died away. Her boots crunched on the soot encrusted ground as she
knelt and proceeded to pry at hairy hands. Surprising strength dwelt
within her slender body, thus, it was not long before she had wrested
away the prize.
"The First Rainbow Crop!" She gently cupped the shimmering object within
both open palms. The translucent jewel gleamed and sparked with the
light of a thousand twinkling stars and the color of a thousand
rainbows. Xanth carefully placed the gem within a velvet lined bag and
tucked both jewel and bag up a long sleeve.
"Only six more to go..." the sorcerer Lyre said.
"Ah ha! Did I get him?" Ren rejoined the group. The knight pulled his
trotting mount to a halt as his gaze fell upon the crumpled form of the
minotaur. "OH NO! I KILLED HIM!" he wailed.
"Err... Ren, he's just--" Xanth began.
"No, it's not--" Lyre said.
The knight cut off his companions' words with a high pitched shriek of
horror. Yanking and kicking at the confused warhorse, Ren whirled around
and galloped off in a panic. Xanth and Lyre waved away the dust kicked
up and stared after the departing knight.
"He needs to find a new proffession." Lyre muttered.
"Verily," Xanth said.
There was a rustle of movement behind them. Xanth and Lyre spun about,
instinctively on guard once again, as the minotaur belatedly began to
stir. The great beast blinked golden eyes in befuddlement as he clutched
at his swollen head. Swaying as he climbed to his hooves, the minotaur
staggered drunkily around the hilltop. With the Rainbow Drop apparently
forgotten, he rubbed his head in puzzlement and wandered away.
The white haired woman and the dark clad sorcerer stared at each other
and sighed. They reclaimed their supplies and horses from the safety of
a nearby copse of trees and sat down to await their friend.
The blue hazed moon was high in the sky before the sound of puffing and
blowing heralded the return of Ren and horse. The horse looked
distinctly displeased as he snorted and rolled his eyes, trying to
regain his breath. Çontritement clouded Ren's face... until he noticed
the empty patch of crisped grass where the minotaur had been 'killed'.
"Xanth!" The young knight was aghast. "You didn't *eat* him, did you?"
Lyre clapped a hand to his forehead. Xanth, the ice dragon in human
disguise, merely sighed and contemplated freezing the knight where he
stood. Dragons never did get any credit.
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