Dragon and Herdsman

Or maybe he had smelled the other K'da. Did K'da give off an aroma when they were in their two-dimensional form? Somehow, the subject had never come up.

"The Phookas will be gathering in the forest for the morning celebration," Hren said as they reached the other Erassvas.

"Phookas?" Jack asked.

"Our friends," Hren said. He gave Jack another knowing smile, like a child with a secret. "They usually hide when there are strangers near. But you are different. You they won't mind."

He gestured toward a wide path that had been worn in the grass between the trees. "Please. Join them."

"Thank you "Jack said, bowing the way Alison had earlier.

Hren smiled again and headed back to the outer edge of the forest to rejoin his fellow berry pickers. Squaring his shoulders, Jack started toward the path.

And stopped short as Alison grabbed his sleeve. "Wait a second," she said in a low voice. "Are you forgetting what I said about there being big, nasty predators in there?"

"You said the legends put them in the deep parts of the forest," Jack reminded her.

"Legends are sometimes a little off in their geography," she countered. "You want to rely on that tangler of yours to deal with them?"

Jack thought about the K'da spread across his back. "We'll be okay," he said. "Trust me."

She snorted. "I'd love to." Bending down, she popped open one of her travel bags. "Fortunately, that won't be necessary."

And as Jack gaped in astonishment, she pulled a small Corvine 4mm pistol from the bag. "What the—?"

"What the what?" she asked as she pulled out a holster and spare ammo clip and fastened them to her belt. "I like to bunker my bets a little." She checked the Corvine's clip and safety then settled the weapon into her right hand and picked up the bag with her left. "You can take the other bag."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Oh, may I?"

"Don't be snide," she said, starting toward the path. "And stay close."

The path snaked its way through several rows of trees and bushes. The bushes in particular showed how the trail had been formed, their branches bent and broken on both sides by the stream of wide-bodied aliens who had pushed their way through during the past few days or weeks. Passing between two final bushes, Jack and Alison stepped into a large clearing.

And Alison came to a sharp halt. "Mother-of-pearl," she breathed.

Jack nodded in silent agreement. All across the clearing, digging methodically into fallen trees or poking among the bushes or just wandering around in the sun, were K'da.

K'da of all sorts, too. Draycos had mentioned that his people came in many different color combinations. But Jack, with only the one example, had naturally come to think of them as gold-scaled dragons.

This group covered pretty much the whole rainbow. There were K'da with dark red scales, dark green ones, blue ones, and another of the brown-and-green ones like Hren was carrying. One of them, particularly striking to Jack's way of thinking, was all gray with shining silver eyes.

"Jack, they're dragons," Alison whispered. "They're real, live dragons."

Jack nodded. "Sure looks that way."

"But this can't be," she protested. "How could they—I mean, how come no one's ever seen them before?"

Maybe because they're usually wrapped around Erassvas bodies? "Why would they?" he said instead. "You said the only people who come here are miners and traders."

"None of whom would bother with the forests," she conceded reluctantly.

"And Hren said they usually hide from strangers," Jack reminded her.

"Right," she agreed, her voice going suddenly thoughtful. "So how come we're different?"

Because Hren's figured out I've got one wrapped around my body, too? "No idea," he lied.

He felt her eyes on him. "If you say so."

"I say so." Jack took a deep breath. This might be risky, but he needed to make sure this wasn't some kind of weird look-alike species. "Stay here. I'm going to get a closer look."

"Oh no, you don't," Alison insisted, bringing her gun up. "They've got teeth and they've got claws, and I'm betting they're every bit as fast as they look."

"They also seem very well fed," Jack pointed out. "Most predators don't kill when they're not hungry."

"Jack—"

"Just stay here and keep an eye on them, okay?" Jack cut her off. Without waiting for more argument, he strode off toward the dragons.

He was halfway there when it belatedly occurred to him that even if they were K'da, they might not be civilized. "Draycos?" he muttered, slowing down his pace a little. "What do you think? Are they all right?"

There was no answer. "Draycos?" he repeated. "Come on, buddy, wake up."

"Look at them Jack," Draycos murmured darkly.

Jack glanced down into his shirt. "What?"

"I said look at them," Draycos said, his voice going even darker. "Lying around, not watching for danger or threat, digging grubs—grubs—out of dead wood."