Dragon and Judge

Extending his tongue, he touched it lightly to one of the folds. It was mainly grain-based material, similar to Golvin bread but with traces of other vegetables mixed in. Some kind of homemade papier-mache, perhaps. The color was already very close to that of the stone in Jack's apartment, and from the lines he could faintly see through the material he guessed that the other side had been made to blend in even more with the rock.

Someone had laboriously carved a hole in the side of his apartment, which was probably strictly against canyon rules. That same someone was concealing the fact with a homemade camouflage mask.

But who? The human he'd smelled last night?

More importantly, why?

It would be simple for him to push the mask aside. But from the faint sounds coming from the other side of the hole he could tell that the occupant was still at home. Perhaps later, if and when the other left, he would have a chance to check the place out.

And then, to Draycos's dismay, two sets of fingertips appeared from the far side of the camouflage mask, carefully squeezing through around its edges. They got a grip on the mask and began to pull.

There was no time to think. For the past four months, ever since his advance team had been slaughtered, the first rule of Draycos's life had been to keep his existence a deep, dark, black-scaled secret. Only twice in all that time had he broken that rule, and both had been life-or-death situations.

Bracing himself, he let go of the stone.

For perhaps the first half second he fell free and clear, the wind of his passage streaming past him. Then, his back slammed against the wall behind him.

Suddenly he was tumbling out of control, his body caroming off the four sides of the shaft, each bounce sending a fresh jolt of pain through him.

And meanwhile, the bottom of the shaft was rushing up at him at deadly speed. Bracing himself, he slammed all four paws outward.

They caught the sides of the shaft and began skidding down, the friction against the uneven stone sending agonizing fire through them. But at least he was slowing down. Clenching his jaws together, ignoring the pain, he pressed harder.

And a second later, with barely a bump, he landed in an undignified heap on top of the reflector stone.

He pulled his legs inward, pressing his burning paws against the scales of his belly to try to cool them. His whole body was throbbing with agony, every scale, muscle, and joint voicing its protest against his thoughtless treatment of them.

But he was alive. That was all that mattered. That, and—

He looked up. The glow around the shaft made it difficult to see, but he thought he could make out a dark shadowy shape leaning into the air. A face, perhaps, gazing down at him.

Draycos froze. The interfering glow from the shaft worked both ways, he knew. If he stayed perfectly motionless, whoever was up there would have trouble making anything out.

Nevertheless, the shadowy figure held its position for a good long minute. Perhaps he was likewise hoping Draycos hadn't spotted him and was waiting for his visitor to make some revealing movement.

But Draycos had the patience of a poet-warrior of the K'da. The other didn't. A minute later he stirred and disappeared from the shaft.

Still, Draycos didn't move until he sensed the subtle change in airflow that indicated the camouflage mask had been put back in place across the hole. Then, wincing with every movement, he dragged himself out of the shaft and headed for the bathroom.

A cool shower would have felt good against his bruised scales. But though Jack thought the shower system was probably self-contained, they really didn't have any proof of that. The last thing he wanted was for some Golvin monitoring the canyon's water usage to suddenly see activity in a supposedly empty apartment.

He settled instead for dampening a washcloth with water from the puddles on the shower floor and mopping away the worst of the black blood seeping through his new collection of cracked scales.

When he had finished, he went to the galley and forced himself to eat some of the cold meat from the refrigerator. He had no real taste for food right now, not with the pain lancing through him. But his body would need the extra nutrients during the healing process.

When he was finished with his meal he went back to the bedroom, easing himself carefully down onto the stone floor on the far side of the bed. If one of the Golvins happened to wander in, he didn't want to be instantly visible.

Jack had said he would be back at lunch. Hoping fervently the boy would decide he was hungry a little early today, Draycos settled down to wait.

CHAPTER 12

"Today we begin a new group of judgments," Thonsifi said as Jack settled into his Seat of Justice. "These will involve injuries caused by one of the Many against another."

"I see," Jack said, hiding a grimace. Just when he'd gotten used to sorting out land and water disputes, too. "Let's have the first case."