Dragonback 04 Dragon and Herdsman (22 page)

But there was nothing he could do about it right now. Whatever was
going on, everyone still desperately needed their rest. Including
Draycos himself.

So he would give the perimeter one final sweep, and then he would
settle down to rest as best he could. Tomorrow should be soon enough to
try to find out what was happening with Alison.

Sufficient unto the day
, the thought whispered again
through his mind,
is the evil thereof
.

Jack had hit the ground exhausted, almost too tired to even care
that the mercenaries hadn't attacked the camp. He was therefore not
particularly surprised when he woke to find sunlight already filtering
through the trees and the Phookas in the middle of their morning dance.

Stifling a groan, he worked his way up into a sitting position
against a tree, glancing down into his shirt as he did so. Pure reflex;
he already knew from the feel of his skin that Draycos was gone.
Running the perimeter, no doubt, and Jack grimaced at the thought. No
matter how much he tried to help out, the heaviest burden always seemed
to fall squarely on the K'da's shoulders.

But he could only do what he could do. Taking a few deep breaths,
working the kinks out of his muscles, he watched the Phookas with half
an eye while he pulled a ration bar from his pack. Alison had
thoughtfully included a variety of flavors, but after three days he was
starting to get roundly sick of them. Still, it was better than
starving.

He was halfway through his breakfast when he spotted Draycos
through the trees, working his way around the dancing Phookas. A minute
later, he was at Jack's side. "Good morning, Jack," the K'da said. "I
trust you slept well?"

"The sleep of the dead," Jack agreed, peeling back the wrapping of
another ration bar and holding it out. "How about you? You get any
sleep at all?"

"I had enough," Draycos assured him. Taking the ration bar
delicately between his teeth, he flipped his head sharply, and the food
disappeared into his jaws. A half-dozen quick chews and it was gone. "I
have been around the perimeter," he went on. "There's no scent of the
mercenaries anywhere nearby."

"Unless they're sneaking up from downwind," Jack warned, blinking
a little as the light westwardly breeze drifted across his eyes.

"No." Draycos was quietly positive. "It would take a much stronger
wind than this to keep their scent from me."

"We'll just have to watch out for windstorms, then," Jack said.
"Is it my imagination, or are you getting better at sniffing out these
guys?"

"It is not your imagination," Draycos confirmed. "In fact, all my
senses appear to be growing sharper."

"Good." Jack paused, eyeing the other. There'd been something in
the K'da's voice just then. "It
is
good, isn't it?"

"I don't know," Draycos said. "There is . . . but that is
certainly only a myth."

"What is?"

"It's nothing," Draycos said firmly. "I should not even have
mentioned it . . ."

"Well, you did," Jack said. "And you're sure not going to back out
of it now. Come on, symby, give."

Abruptly, Draycos's neck arched, his crest stiffening. "What did
you call me?" he demanded.

"Uh . . ." Jack found himself pressing his back hard against his
tree. What had he said? "Just . . . symby. Kind of a shorthand for
symbiont. I'm sorry—shouldn't I have called you that?"

"No, not at all," Draycos said, his body relaxing again, a
troubled look in his eyes. "It was just that Polphir, my last Shontine
host, used to call me that. Had I ever mentioned that to you?"

"Not that I remember," Jack said, frowning now himself. "It just
sort of popped into my head."

"I see," Draycos said, his tail tip making slow, thoughtful
circles. "At any rate, I apologize greatly for my reaction."

"That's okay," Jack said. "My heart needed a little restart
anyway. So tell me about this myth."

Draycos turned his head to look at the Phookas as they finished
their dance. "There's an ancient legend that suggests that a K'da
approaching death sometimes experiences heightened senses."

Jack felt his stomach tighten around his breakfast. He'd already
been wondering if his body might be rejecting Draycos. "Uh-oh."

"But as I say, it is only a myth," Draycos hastened to add.
"Recall that back aboard the
Havenseeker
I was very near death.
Yet I experienced nothing like that."

"But in the last month you've taken to falling off my back
straight through walls," Jack reminded him. "That's definitely not
normal K'da behavior."

"Yet I also feel better than I have in years," Draycos countered.
"Whatever is happening, I do not believe I am dying."

"I hope not," Jack said. "I wonder what that might mean for . . ."

He trailed off, looking around as a thought suddenly struck him.
Every other morning during this trek Alison had been the first one up
and ready to go. Usually she'd been right in his face when he opened
his eyes, in fact, nagging him to get his butt in gear.

But this morning, she hadn't yet even made an appearance. "Have
you seen Alison?" he asked, getting to his feet.

"She was over there," Draycos said, flicking his tongue toward
some of the red-berry bushes where Hren and the other Erassvas were
chowing down. "Just past the Erassvas."

"Come on," Jack said, picking up his borrowed machine gun/tangler
and looping its strap over his shoulder.

They found Alison lying on the ground on her back, her head
partially propped up on a thick tree root. Her eyes were closed, but
Jack could see her chest rising and falling rhythmically with her
breathing. At least she wasn't dead. "Alison?" he called as he and
Draycos approached.

There was no response. "Alison?" he repeated, crouching down
beside her and shaking her shoulder. "Come on, girl. Time to wake up."

To his relief, she opened her eyes. But only halfway. "Jack?" she
croaked.

"I'm here," Jack said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," she said, closing her eyes again. "Just
sleeping."

"We can see that," Jack said, easing her open collar back a couple
of inches. There was no sign of the gray dragon on her neck or
shoulder. "Where's Taneem? Alison, where's Taneem?"

"Over there," Alison said, lifting her hand from her lap and
pointing vaguely around her. "Hungry. Went for breakfast."

"I'll find her," Draycos said. Turning away, he ducked around the
milling Erassvas and disappeared.

"Are you feeling all right?" Jack asked, looking down at Alison
again.

"I'm fine," she said. But there was no particular life in her
voice, and the words were noticeably slurred. "Just tired. Already told
you." With obvious effort, she opened her eyes again. "Anything wrong?"

"Aside from you, no, everything seems fine," Jack said. "Draycos
has been around the camp, and says no one's sniffing around."

"Good," Alison said, closing her eyes again. "Maybe we scared them
off."

"Hardly," Jack growled. Even in the middle of a conversation she
was starting to slip away again. What had Taneem done to her, anyway?
"No, they've just switched tactics. Alison?"

"Good," she muttered. "Sure you and Draycos can figure it out."

"Alison?" Jack shook her shoulder again. "Alison!"

But she was asleep again. This time, no amount of shaking would
rouse her.

"Blast," Jack bit out, getting back to his feet and looking around
for Draycos. The K'da was nowhere to be seen. "Draycos?" he called. "
Draycos
!"

A couple of the Erassvas looked up, then returned to their berry
picking. "Come on, dragon," Jack muttered, looking around. His gaze
fell on one of the matted vine meshes— "You," he said, stepping over to
the nearest Phooka. "Yes, you," he said as the animal looked up. "Come
here."

He hooked a pair of fingers behind its crest and pulled it over to
the vine mesh. "Here—cut this," he ordered, pointing to the vines at
the edge of the mesh. "Right here. Understand?"

The Phooka looked quizzically up at him. "Cut," Jack repeated,
lifting one of the Phooka's forepaws and making slashing motions across
the vines. "Cut. Come on, you stupid—"

"I can do that," Draycos's voice put in from behind him.

Jack looked over as the dragon loped up to him. "There you are,"
he said accusingly. "Where have you been?"

"Looking for Taneem," Draycos said. "I can smell her, but I don't
see her anywhere. She must have gone farther away than usual."

"That's Taneem for you," Jack gritted. "Come on, get this cut,
will you? We need something to carry Alison with."

"Can you tell what is wrong with her?" Draycos asked, slashing his
claws through the vines at the points Jack had indicated.

"All I know is that I can't get her to stay awake," Jack said.
"We're going to need the
Essenay
's medical diagnostics to get
anything more than that."

"You intend to use this vine mesh to carry her?"

"The mesh, and a couple of Phookas," Jack said. "We'll tie it
between them with pieces of rope and lay her on it."

"That should work," Draycos said. "Shall I select the Phookas?"

"I'll do that," Jack said. "You go get the rope from my pack."

"Are you certain you are up to the task?" Draycos asked.

"What, picking out a couple of stretcher carriers?" Jack scoffed.
"I could do it in my sleep." He looked down at Alison. "No offense," he
added sarcastically.

"I meant, are you certain you wish to deal with the Phookas?"
Draycos said. "You seem less patient with them this morning."

Jack curled a hand into a fist, a flood of anger and disgust
rising chokingly into his throat. Sternly, he forced it back down. "I'm
frustrated, that's all," he said.

"With the Phookas?"

"With everything." Jack eyed Draycos. "Well, not with you," he
amended. "But with everything else."

"I'm sorry," Draycos said, ducking his head in apology.

"No,
I'm
the one who should be sorry," Jack said,
grimacing. "Everyone's doing the best they can. Even the Erassvas and
Phookas. I'm just . . . we've got a whole platoon of K'da here, or we
should. Only they aren't good for anything."

"They still have life," Draycos reminded him. "A few days ago that
was enough for you to consider them worth saving, even at the risk of
your own."

"Maybe I've changed my mind."

"Have you?" Draycos countered. "Or have your thoughts merely been
colored by fatigue and fear?"

Jack sighed. "Uncle Virge would have a field day with that one,"
he said. "But I'm too tired to argue. Which probably proves your point."

"I make no point," Draycos said. "I merely caution against making
decisions when one is tired or fearful or angry."

"I know," Jack said. "I just forget sometimes." He took a deep
breath. "And things aren't going all that badly right now, anyway, are
they?"

"No, they are not," Draycos agreed cautiously. "But at the same
time, they are perhaps going less well than you think. While searching
for Taneem, I heard the Malison Ring floater moving around somewhere to
the west."

Taking up guard position between them and the cave area? Probably.
"That's fine," Jack said. "We were planning to change course today
anyway. I guess this means we're angling east instead of west. Go get
the rope, will you? I'll grab a couple of stretcher carriers."

"Very well." Turning, Draycos trotted back toward where Jack had
left his pack.

Jack headed toward the nearest group of Phookas, studying them as
he walked. Though all of them had a tendency to wander away from the
herd, he knew which ones were the steadier and more obedient of the
group. He spotted two of the latter digging at the base of a bush near
Hren, and changed direction toward them.

"What now, young Jack?" Hren asked as Jack walked up. Hren's lips
and chin were stained with berry juice, but there was nothing comical
about his expression. It was about as stiff and angry as Jack had ever
seen it. "Do you bring us to yet more danger?"

"There may possibly be more danger, yes," Jack had to admit. "But
we'll do everything we can to keep you as safe as possible."

"
You
will keep us safe?" Hren countered. "You, who brought
us into these dangers, now say you will keep us safe?"

"I'm sorry, Hren," Jack said. "If I'd known the bad men behind us
would be so persistent . . . look, if we'd left you behind, all the
Phookas would be dead. The bad men would have killed them. This was the
only way I knew to save them."

"Yet out here they may die anyway."

"But at least now they have a chance," Jack said. "You
do
care what happens to them, don't you?"

"
We
care, yes," Hren said. "Do
you
?"

Jack grimaced. Stupid, useless, pain-in-the-neck animals . . . but
Draycos was right. A few days ago, in a better state of mind than he
was in right now, he'd considered them worth saving.

More to the point, Draycos considered them worth saving right now.
"Yes," he told Hren. "I do."

Hren was silent for a moment. "Then we will continue on," he said.
"Even if you have brought us here to die, far from our people and the
berries we most love."

"You're not going to die," Jack assured him, wishing he really
believed that. "We're not going to abandon you."

"It would seem young Alison has already done so," Hren countered.
"Yet hear me: We will not give up our lives easily. Not for any
creature."

"I know you won't," Jack said. "You're a strong people, Hren,
despite your casual ways. As for Alison, she hasn't abandoned anyone.
She's just tired. We'll let her sleep, and she'll be fine." He looked
back over toward her.

And as he did so, a flicker of gray caught his eye. Taneem was
back from her hunt, strolling casually toward the rest of the group.
"There she is," he said with relief. "Taneem! Taneem, come here!"