I swear, sometimes I'm nothing but a bloody amateur. I should have known there would be people watching Kaa'saht, my little bungalow, all of my usual contacts and haunts. But I took no precautions, didn't even think of the possibility until we had gone perhaps a hundred meters up the street, and someone rounded the corner ahead of us.
He was a small man, seedy-looking, and shabbily dressed. I would have dismissed him as a bum, except that his movements were all wrong for a derelict, and his dark eyes were cold, clear, and staring straight at me. The folded newspaper he held in his left hand looked like it had been dredged out of the gutter. There was, however, nothing scruffy about the silenced .45 ACP he pulled from beneath it.
Time slowed to a crawl. I crouched, my breath drawing in through my teeth in a loud hiss as my eyes darted about, checking my options. There were none; the empty street to my left and the blank wall to my right offered no hope of cover or avenue of retreat. The assassin had chosen his spot well. I lunged for the man, but his weapon was already up, the hammer already cocked, there was no time--
Suddenly I felt something grab the back of my coat and yank. With a surprised grunt I felt my feet go out from under me, found myself flying backwards through the air. There was a THUMP and something very hot and very fast scorched its way past my right temple, then I slammed down onto the grimy pavement with stunning force. Orange fireballs exploded behind my eyes as the back of my head smacked the pavement. Half blind with pain I fumbled to my hands and knees, mentally groping for my true form as I watched Stefan's ex-agent pounce upon the assassin. There was a short scuffle and two more THUMPs, then a ghastly, bubbling scream as Kaa'saht ripped the man's throat out.
Silence, save for the sound of splashing liquid, and soon most of that faded as well. Gingerly I made my way to my feet, wincing as my skull let me know in no uncertain terms its opinion on collisions with concrete. I wobbled over to where Kaa'saht silently stood, gazing down at what was left of the assassin. Kneeling, I picked up the man's weapon and gave it a careful once-over, noted the quality of the silencer construction and mounting, and also the cut where the .45's serial number had been neatly excised. "Pro gear," I remarked worriedly, stuffing the weapon under my jacket as I scanned the area around us. "Ksstha certainly learns fast, doesn't he? There could be a backup, so we'd better get the hell out of. . . ."
I trailed off as Kaa'saht swayed, then fell heavily to his knees. I caught him as he toppled to the side, barely managing to keep his face from hitting the sidewalk. Something scalding-hot was trickling over my right forearm. I lifted it, found it covered with steaming blood of such a rich red color it bordered on black.
No. . . . Quickly I eased his inert form down onto his back, soon found the two holes blasted into the front of Kaa'saht's shirt, their edges charred by the muzzle-blast of the weapon as it fired into him at point-blank range. A human would have been dead before he hit the ground after taking this kind of damage. As it was, Kaa'saht was in bad shape. The blood flowing from the wounds was coming in erratic spurts, and I could hear a rattle in what little breathing I could detect.
Not again. . . . I ripped-up what was left of his shirt and much of the assassin's in an effort to bind the wounds, and managed to at least slow the bleeding. I had to get Kaa'saht out of there, and take him. . . . Where? Stefan had admitted to me the dragons had lost what they'd known of medicine, so even if I brought Kaa'saht to him and Lady Dithra, all they would be able to do is stand and watch him die.
NOT AGAIN. I thought my head was going to split apart as I struggled to my feet, Kaa'saht's limp form in my arms. Slowly I staggered back down the street, finally reaching a gap between two warehouses where I could get us out of sight. Scarcely five meters in, I set the young dragon down as best I could, then slumped down next to him as I called my true form. The pain was so great when my skull shifted shape that I almost passed out, and I spent several precious seconds trying to keep my stomach from emptying itself onto the trash-strewn concrete. Finally I managed to concentrate enough to summon the sphere, then stuff it into my mouth as I pieced-together a mental image of a certain old, dilapidated barn.
Snap.
The barn was the same; drafty, leaky, waiting for a stiff wind to knock it down. The dirt floor inside showed no sign of its earlier use; my team had been too thorough in policing-up after itself to leave any traces of our activities. Summoning the power of the sphere until I was wrapped in a cloak of silvery light, I tried to use it to patch Kaa'saht up, but every time I tried to do something Kaa'saht would groan and convulse until I backed off.
I felt like howling my frustration to the stars. Damn it, I still didn't know enough! All I managed to do was what a certain dark sword had done for me once, and feed some of my own strength into the young dragon, at least to the point that his breathing grew a little stronger. Then I left Kaa'saht there on that dirt floor with nothing but some moldering tarp to keep him warm as I shouldered the barn's main door aside and headed cross-country at a lope.
A half-mile of open field, maybe a little more, then several acres of scrubby forest, then another open field, in the middle of which a small cottage sat. It was already dark this far east, and the windows of the house glowed with a cheery, welcoming light. There was also a watcher, sitting just inside the edge of the woods. But boredom had evidently dulled his senses, and shortly after I scented him the man quickly lost interest in watching anything, ever again.
I was just setting foot onto the porch when a horse in a fenced-in pasture perhaps another hundred meters further down the slope began to scream in terror. I hesitated, then glanced down at my glittering scales and blinked in confusion. What the hell am I thinking? Giving myself a shake I shifted back to human form, that headache assaulting me with a renewed fury as I trudged up the steps and banged on the door.
A long pause, then the porch light came on and the door opened to reveal Schmoo's ugly, ever-so-welcome face. "Who in the world-- Mike? What the hell are you doing 'way out here?"
"Schmoo, need some help," I panted. I jerked my head up at the sound of a woman's voice from within the house, winced. "Step out here. Quick."
"Um, okay." Puzzled, Schmoo turned back long enough to tell his wife he'd be back in a minute, then came out onto the porch. "All right, what's--" as I stepped back the porch light fell more fully upon me and Schmoo caught his first glimpse of what I was covered in. "Good God! Are you all right?"
"Not mine. It's a friend of mine's," I quickly corrected, my cleaner hand lifting to fend him off. Damn, that headache was bad. "Need a-- um, need a vet."
Schmoo blinked at me in confusion. "A what?"
"A vet. Animal doctor. Best one you know. Schmoo, please," I pleaded, cutting off the flood of questions I knew were about to erupt "just help me with this, will you?"
My tall, lanky friend stood there for a long moment, studying me. Finally he sighed. "The best one I know of is Doctor Clarke. He heads the Veterinary Medicine branch at the university."
I nodded, wincing again. "That big warehouse-like place on the west edge of campus?"
"Yeah, looks like an aircraft hangar. That's it."
"Can you call and have him meet me there? Tell him-- Tell him it's a large-animal emergency. Very large."
Schmoo blinked at that, relaxing slightly. "I can try. Whether or not he'll actually show, I don't know." He turned to the door. "Let me get my coat on, and--"
"No, Schmoo. Just the call."
"What?" He turned back to me. "Hey, you're gonna need more than--"
"That's all I can afford to ask of you." I glanced meaningfully at the house behind him, then back. "Remember the kids? This is something along those lines."
Schmoo went quiet at that. Finally he sighed. "I'll make the call."
I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, nodded. "Thank you."
My civilian friend snorted. "Y'know, someday you're going to let me know what this is all about."
I smiled tiredly. "Someday, Schmoo, it'll be my privilege to tell you."
Schmoo chuckled at that, then made a small shooing gesture. "Get out of here; I'll make the call."