Dragon and Herdsman

Draycos came within sight of the bent tree and slowed to a trot. The birds had returned to their meal in the upper branches in his absence, again taking off as he approached. Fastening the comm clip to the piece of vine he'd left hanging, he backed away to watch.

Sure enough, with the threat gone, the birds began to return to their meal. Each one that landed set the branches swaying, the movement translating down the vine to send the comm clip moving in small, unhurried circles.

Draycos smiled again. Frost might be suspicious, but he would have no choice but to conclude that the comm clip hadn't simply been dropped in the leaves in hopes of making him look in the wrong direction. Between the breeze and the birds, there should be enough movement to prove the comm clip was attached to something, and he would certainly conclude that that something wasn't Jack or Draycos.

And he would also know the area where such a diversion had been arranged would be the last place the fugitives would actually head for in the morning.

Which meant that when he set up his watchers above the riverfront in the morning, this would be the one spot on the entire river they would be most likely to ignore.

It was late when Draycos got back to the camp. Almost too late, and he could feel the uncomfortable tingling in his scales as he exchanged nods with Alison and slid up onto Jack's arm.

He had thought he'd been quiet enough not to disturb the boy's sleep. But even as he positioned himself on Jack's back the other stirred. "Draycos?" he murmured.

"Yes," Draycos confirmed, feeling strength flowing back into him. "All is well. Alison is on watch, and there are no enemies nearby. Go back to sleep."

"Okay," Jack said, clearly sliding back toward unconsciousness again. "You find Uncle Virge?"

Draycos grimaced. "We will find him in the morning," he promised. "Sleep now, and I will do likewise."

" 'Kay," Jack mumbled. "Pleasant dreams."

Under the circumstance, Draycos doubted that any of his dreams would be pleasant. But he would nevertheless make sure to get as much sleep as he could.

One way or another, this would end tomorrow.

CHAPTER 25

The next morning, as the Phookas performed their morning dance, Draycos told Jack, Alison, and Taneem the whole story.

They were, to put it mildly, unimpressed. "That's it?" Alison asked when he'd finished. "You've got us an exit point barely a hundred yards from where they're expecting us to come out anyway?"

"I did not have time to go farther," Draycos told her stiffly. "And it is not merely those hundred yards. If they believe we sent a decoy east, they will almost certainly conclude that we have gone west. They will therefore concentrate their forces on that part of the riverbank."

"He's right," Jack said, coming to his partner's defense. But it was clear the boy wasn't any happier than Alison was. "At least it gains us a little time."

"Only if the Essenay is hanging around somewhere nearby and happens to be listening when we need it to," Alison countered. "Otherwise we're no better off than we are right now."

"Fine," Jack said. "What do you suggest we do, then?"

"Only one thing to do," Alison said. "We pull back, dig ourselves in as best we can, and wait for my friends."

"Who could still be ten days away?" Jack shook his head. "Not a chance. Frost will nail us long before then."

"Unless there are more opponents to deal with than he expects," Taneem offered.

"What do you mean?" Draycos asked.

"You are a warrior of the K'da," she said. "Could you not train us to fight alongside you?"

Draycos looked at Jack, saw his same surprise reflected in the boy's face. That wasn't the kind of idea he would have expected Taneem to come up with, certainly not this quickly. "In theory, yes," he agreed, looking back at Taneem. "But it is not as simple as it sounds."

"On the other hand, I only had ten days of training in the Whinyard's Edge," Jack reminded him.

"And we see the kind of results that produced," Alison commented under her breath.

"My point," Jack continued, sending her a dark look, "is that any training he could give her would be worth something."

Alison shook her head. "It's a point, but it's a pointless point," she said. "Even if he could bring her completely up to speed, two K'da warriors aren't going to be enough to tip the balance here."

"Why must it be just two?" Taneem asked. "You woke me. Can you not wake the others?"

Alison sighed. "The problem, Taneem—"

"Wait a second," Jack cut her off, a cautious excitement in his voice. "That's not such a bad idea. Remember, they only need an hour on a host for every six hours off. That means that if we can shake them out of their sluggishness, you and I could handle ten to twelve K'da between us. Draycos?"

Draycos gazed out at the dancing Phookas, a whisper of cautious hope moving through him. If it were at all possible . . .