Dragon and Herdsman

CHAPTER 23

They found a good place half an hour away beside a small creek. Jack and Alison got the Erassvas and Phookas settled; and then, at Alison's insistence, she and Taneem took the first watch.

Jack argued a little, but not very much. He was exhausted, and even though Draycos hadn't said anything, Jack knew the K'da was tired as well. And as Alison pointed out, she and Taneem had slept most of the day.

Still, desperately tired or not. Jack slept fitfully, waking every hour or so from a bad dream. Most of those dreams ended with a vision of the dead soldiers Taneem had killed.

Rather to his surprise, the mercenaries didn't launch another attack that night. Alison woke him up a little after dawn—Draycos was already up—and after a quick breakfast and the Phookas' morning dance they were off.

Jack did notice that Taneem didn't participate in the dance. She watched instead from Alison's side, her tail lashing restlessly.

They made good time that day. For once the terrain seemed to be working in their favor, with no cliffs or overly wide streams or large bogs in their way. There were still the stands of rubbery trees and their vine meshes to deal with, more of them with every mile they traveled. But with Taneem at the front of the group with Alison there were no more delays while they waited for Draycos to finish his rounds and cut through the vines.

As for the native animals, they seemed to be avoiding the travelers as well. Jack spotted only one herd of hornheads, and no Kodiaks at all. Draycos mentioned once that the Erassvas' new odor was even stronger than it had been on the previous day, but whether that was the cause or it was just the luck of the draw he couldn't say.

Just before noon Alison called a break, and as the Erassvas and Phookas foraged for food she and Jack sat together beside a pair of trees and compared notes.

"No, we haven't seen any Kodiaks all day," Alison said. "At least, not up front. I did spot a couple of small hornhead herds, but they kept their distance."

"How fast were they going?" Jack asked.

"Not that fast," Alison assured him. "At least we'll have some warning if the Malison Ring tries that one again."

Jack shook his head. "Frost doesn't seem the type to try the same trick twice. I wonder when that transport of his is due back."

"It already is," Alison said. "It came in last night, while you and Draycos were sleeping. Taneem and I heard it."

Jack stared at her. "And you didn't wake us up?"

"No, because there wasn't any reason to," Alison told him. "It was coming in from the west and landed somewhere way to the south. It never got anywhere near us."

"And you didn't think to even mention it when we got up this morning?"

"I'm mentioning it now," Alison said, regarding him coolly. "What's the problem? We both know Frost isn't going to just throw something wildly at us. Whatever he's planning, it'll take him at least until evening to set it up."

"That's not the point," Jack growled. "You need to keep Draycos and me on top of everything that happens around here. Especially Draycos, who in case you've forgotten is our local military expert."

"My deepest and most profound apologies," Alison said, an edge of sarcastic anger in her tone. "It won't happen again."

"It had better not," Jack warned. Still, she was probably right about Frost's intentions. Anyway, this was no time to be fighting among themselves. "Because the next time it does, I'm patching you through to the Essenay and letting Uncle Virge give the lecture. Trust me; you won't like it."

For a moment Alison continued to glare at him. Then, her eyes softened and a reluctant smile twitched at her lips. "I can imagine," she said dryly. "In that case, it definitely won't happen again." Her lip twitched away the smile. "And you're right, I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry."

"That's okay," Jack said, feeling his own tension draining away. "You were right, too. Frost isn't going to just charge madly into anything."

"No." Alison's throat tightened. "Not after last night."

Jack looked around, but Taneem was nowhere to be seen. "You still freaked out about that?"

"Wouldn't you be?" she countered. "Well, no. I guess you wouldn't."

"Actually, I am," Jack admitted. "At least a little."

"Even after living with Draycos for almost four months?"

"Even so," Jack said. "Taneem's attack seemed different, somehow. I'm not quite sure why."

Alison shrugged. "No big mystery there," she said. "Draycos is a trained warrior who knows exactly what he's doing. Taneem's more like a child who's suddenly been thrown into an adult body without even an instruction book. It's all very new to her."

"I think you're right," Jack agreed. "She's probably never even killed anything bigger than a three-bite lizard."

"Or if she has, she's long since forgotten all about it."

Jack grimaced. "She won't forget this one."

"I doubt any of us will." Alison paused. "But it's gotten me thinking. You remember Draycos saying the Valahgua were the aggressors back wherever it is they came from?"

"Are you saying you don't believe him?" Jack demanded, letting his voice harden.

"I'm not saying anything at all," Alison said patiently. "I was just noticing that a K'da in full-bore host-protection mode could easily be seen as an aggressor."

"Taneem's not a typical K'da."

"I know that," Alison said. "And before you get all hot and bothered, I'm not accusing Draycos of lying to us. But it's possible there are sides to this that he doesn't know."

Jack chewed the inside of his cheek. And there was still the unanswered question of why the Valahgua would come all this way just to continue their war against the K'da and Shontine. "No," he said firmly. "There aren't any other sides. Draycos and his people are the victims—pure and simple."

"I just meant—"

"I saw what the Malison Ring did to Draycos's advance ships, Alison." Jack cut her off. "I know the sort of people Arthur Neverlin and the Chookoock family are. If the Valahgua are some poor, put-upon victims, they've picked themselves some really strange allies."

"Okay, fine," Alison said. "I'm sorry—I didn't mean to upset you."

"I'm not upset," Jack insisted. From behind a row of tall ferns to the right came a soft sound like a multiple cough. "And now if you'll excuse me, I have to go help one of my herd."

"Help him do what?" Alison asked, frowning as she looked around. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing serious," Jack said, levering himself to his feet and brushing the leaves off the back of his jeans. "It's just Dumb Dog. That's the other big green Phooka—I call him Dumb Dog to distinguish him from Greenie. He has a habit of poking his head under roots to chase grubs and then not being able to get back out again."

"Oh," Alison said, looking rather taken aback. "I never heard about that."

"That's because you're just the leader," Jack said loftily. "I'm the herdsman."

"I guess so," she acknowledged, a slight frown on her face as she looked up at him. "You need any help?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I just have to tuck his ears back and hold them there while he pulls his head out. Anyway, you should probably give Hren a nudge and get everyone ready to move again."

"Okay," Alison said, standing up and picking up her machine gun.

Jack frowned as something about the weapon caught his eye. "What happened to the gun?" he asked, pointing to the spot where the front handgrip used to be.

"Oh, there was a second tracker in the front grip," Alison said matter-of-factly, holding out the weapon for closer inspection. "Like you said, Frost likes to keep things fresh. No big deal—I spotted it last night, right after we headed out again, and had Taneem slice it off."

"What did you do with it?"

"We put it on a big piece of bark and sent it sailing off on the next stream we passed," she said with a mischievous smile. "Taneem seemed fascinated by it all."

"Like you said, it's all new and exciting," Jack said. From behind the ferns came another series of coughs, this batch louder than the last. "I wish I could say the same about Dumb Dog," he added with a sigh. "Go get Hren, and let's get out of here."

Draycos had also been unaware that the Kapstan transport had returned the previous night. Rather to Jack's private annoyance, he seemed as unconcerned as Alison had been that the girl hadn't mentioned it to them earlier.

"Actually, I've been expecting it to return for the past two days," the K'da told him as they trudged along at the rear of the group. "To be honest, I am somewhat surprised Colonel Frost brought it in along such a vector that Alison was able to hear it at all. Had I been in command, I would have tried to avoid that."

"Maybe he doesn't care whether we know it's back or not," Jack said with a grimace. "Maybe he's got so much firepower now that he thinks he can just charge in and roll over us. Means our best bet is to get to the river and whistle up Uncle Virge before they're ready to make their move."

For a minute Draycos was silent. "What will you do if Uncle Virge and the Essenay did not survive?" he asked at last.

"They did," Jack said firmly. Automatically. "He'll be there when we need him. I know he will."

"I hope you're right," Draycos said. "But a warrior must always make certain there are avenues for retreat. Perhaps we should watch for caves in which we could wait for Alison's friends."

Jack shook his head. "We'll never make it that far west," he said. "Especially not with Frost already expecting us to jump that direction. We have to do something completely different."

"You have an idea?"

"Yes, but I don't think you're going to like it," Jack said. "Do you remember what the terrain is like to the east of the forest?"

"As I recall, there were quite a few miles of plains and grasslands," Draycos said. "A few groups of trees, but otherwise very little cover."

"Which should make it the last place Frost would expect us to go," Jack said. "I'm thinking we could borrow the trick you used to draw out that ambush line a couple of nights ago."

"Where we pretended you were floating down the stream breathing through a reed?"

"Right," Jack said. "Only this time we do it for real. Maybe stick the reeds up through hollow logs or something to help camouflage them. Then we just float away down the river, right under their collective nose. Hopefully, we'll be through the grasslands to whatever's past them before Frost figures it out."

"This would be you and Alison, I presume?" Draycos asked, his voice flat.

"Actually, I was thinking it would be just you and me," Jack said. "Alison and Taneem can stay behind with the Erassvas and Phookas. Maybe they can all head east, away from the caves, and hunker down until Alison's friends get here."

Even without looking he could feel Draycos's disapproving stare. "You believe they could survive alone for two weeks?"

"It should be possible," Jack said doggedly. "As long as the Erassvas are putting out that new, improved smell of theirs the local predators should leave them alone."

"And the mercenaries?"

"They won't care about them once they realize you and I are gone." Jack took a deep breath. "Which is why as soon as we've found some decent cover we'll give Frost a call."

Draycos peered up at Jack's face. "You'll call him?"

"I told you you wouldn't like it," Jack said. "I figure it'll take us a day or two to find ourselves some kind of defensible position. Once we're ready, we call Frost and declare open season on Dragonbacks."

"At which point he will turn his full force against us."

"But at least it'll just be against us," Jack said. "Not against Alison and the others."

Draycos was silent a moment. "My apologies, Jack," he said quietly. "I did not understand."

"That's all right," Jack assured him. "Actually, I'm as surprised as you are that I'm being all noble like this. If Uncle Virge were here he'd have a fit."

"Indeed," Draycos agreed. "Let us hope we will have the pleasure of hearing his reaction together once we are safely back aboard."

"Sounds like a plan," Jack said. Something pressed against his right hand, and he looked down to find one of the Phookas nuzzling against his side. "If not, I figure that if it's just you and me out there we can give Frost a pretty good run for his money," he added, making his hand into a fist and rubbing the knuckles behind the Phooka's ear.

"Perhaps," Draycos said, craning his neck to look around Jack. "What are you doing?"

"What, here?" Jack asked, switching to the Phooka's other ear. "Nothing. This is Snip. He likes to get his ears rubbed."

" 'Snip'?"

"It's short for Special Needs Phooka," Jack explained. "He seems to need a lot of reassurance that we haven't run off and left him."

"I see," Draycos murmured. "Curious."

"Curious how?" Jack asked, giving Snip a rub along his jawline. "As I recall, you've liked your ears rubbed on occasion, too."

"I was referring to you," Draycos said. "In a few days, apparently without even trying, you have learned the character and personality of each member of your herd. That requires an eye for details."

Jack grimaced. "Blame it on Uncle Virgil," he said. "Attention to detail is a big part of a con man's job."

"It also takes great heart," Draycos said. "And that is not something Uncle Virgil taught you."

"It's no big deal," Jack insisted, suddenly uncomfortable with this. "I've got a soft spot for K'da, that's all."

"As you had a soft spot for Alison and your other comrades in the Whinyard's Edge?" Draycos reminded him. "You risked your life to rescue them."

"At your rather insistent nudging," Jack reminded him.

"You could have refused," Draycos said. "And as you also had a soft spot for your fellow slaves on Brum-a-drum?"

And that one Draycos hadn't pushed him into doing, Jack remembered. In fact, the dragon had been rather surprised by his decision. "I guess your warriors' ethic is starting to rub off on me," he said.

"It is indeed," Draycos agreed. "And it shows how my faith in you has been justified."

"Maybe." Jack looked up at the trees arching over them. "Let's just hope that all that faith doesn't get to go out in a blaze of glory."