The Middle of Nowhere — Paul B. Thompson

The peace of a rural village is shattered by the sudden appearance of a band of renegade warriors seeking slaves. The farmers of Nowhere have no hope unless they can raise a company of champions to defend them, but the motley group of saviors who take up their cause--a shipwrecked sailor, a minotaur poet, a kender treasure hunter, a shamed half-ogre, a disgraced foot soldier, and an eccentric sorcerer--seem nearly as dangerous as the slavemasters.