Dragon and Herdsman

It was probably the last thing the mercenaries expected from their young quarry. It was certainly the last thing Draycos expected, and his warrior's instincts winced as the boy deliberately threw himself into harm's way.

But if the soldiers wanted Draycos dead, they wanted Jack alive even more. For a second the machine-gun fire stopped as both soldiers switched over to their tangler settings.

It was all the opening Draycos needed. Bounding over the pile of webbed soldiers, digging his claws into the threads for extra traction, he threw himself at the nearer of his two attackers.

The other tried to swing his gun up, but he was too late. Draycos slammed into him, grabbing his combat vest with one paw as he slapped the side of his head with the other. The soldier's knees buckled as he blacked out, and Draycos turned toward the other gunner.

But before he could shove off the unconscious soldier something hard slammed into his side, and an explosion of white threads burst around the two of them. An instant later a jolt of current arced through him, turning his muscles to jelly and dropping him and the soldier together onto the ground.

Clenching his jaws, Draycos tried to force his body to respond. At least he wasn't unconscious; apparently with the charge split between two of them it had been low enough to leave him awake.

But it had been more than enough to also leave him helpless. It would be at least another few seconds, he estimated, before his muscles would be back under his control.

There was a sudden movement, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Jack drop to his knees beside him. "Draycos!" the boy gasped.

Get away! Draycos tried to snap. But his mouth couldn't even manage that.

Besides, it was already too late. A pair of boots stepped into Draycos's field of view, and with a startled squawk Jack was hauled to his feet. "Got him," the soldier called.

"This one, too," someone else called back.

With a supreme effort, Draycos turned his head. One of the other soldiers had a grip on the back of Alison's shirt collar and was half-pulling, half-dragging her toward them.

"Do we even want her?" the third soldier retorted as he walked toward Jack, his gun pointed warily at Draycos. "I thought we just wanted Morgan."

"Hey, you want her popped, I'll be glad to do it," the soldier holding Alison offered, giving her a shake. "She's the one who waxed J'nauren."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Jack spoke up quickly. "Frost is going to want her alive."

"She something special to you?" the soldier demanded, shaking Alison again. "Huh?"

"Alive and unharmed," Jack added. "He's going to want the K'da alive, too."

The third soldier grunted. "Oh, absolutely," he said sarcastically. "We'll get him a nice box of scorpions, too."

The feeling was starting to come back into Draycos's muscles now. Carefully, he tried moving his forepaws. They twitched a little with the effort but otherwise were definitely recovering. If Jack could stall for another few seconds, Draycos would be ready for action.

Problem was, he was still tied up in the tangler webbing, his claws turned toward the unconscious soldier and away from the threads. He would have to turn his forepaws over to get to them, and he would have to do so without the soldiers noticing.

"We leave the K'da but take both kids," the soldier holding Jack ordered. "The colonel can sort 'em out back at camp. Give Rinks a call and have him fire up the winch."

"Right," the third soldier said. Shifting his gun to a one-handed grip, he reached toward a comm clip on his collar.

And with a shriek, a gray tornado erupted from the back of Alison's collar.

The soldier holding her never had a chance. Even as he jumped back, Taneem's claws slashed across his throat, nearly severing his head. The third soldier snarled something and grabbed his gun again in a two-handed grip, whipping it around as he tried to bring it to bear on this new and unexpected danger. Beside Draycos, Jack slammed hard onto the ground as his guard shoved him away and grabbed for his own weapon. Taneem hit the ground, spun around, and launched herself toward the two remaining soldiers.

And with their full attention on her, and none of it on him, Jack reached over and dug his fingers beneath the tangler mesh. His fingertips touched the end of Draycos's right forepaw—

In a fraction of a second Draycos had slid up the boy's sleeve onto his arm and from there onto his back. A fraction of a second more, and Draycos had launched himself out again through the back of Jack's collar.

But the K'da's muscles were still not entirely recovered from the tangler shock. His leap was awkward, his attempted blow against the nearest soldier's head weak and off-target.

But it didn't matter. As Taneem's sudden appearance had drawn their attention away from him and Jack, Draycos's own attack now drew their eyes away from Taneem.