Dragon and Judge

The shot went wild, the arrow swishing into the plants two yards to Draycos's left. But the gurgle and shot were enough to alert the other three. They twisted around to face Draycos, and three more bows were lifted toward him. Draycos dug his claws into the ground and dodged to the side, switching to an evasive zigzag pattern.

And suddenly Langston was there among the Golvins, clubbing coolly and methodically with his rocks. By the time Draycos reached them, all four guards were sprawled on the ground. "Piece of cake," the pilot said, a note of grim satisfaction in his voice. "Man. If I'd known it was that easy, I'd have done it a long time ago."

"This was the easy part," Draycos reminded him, peering at the fallen Golvins as he trotted to a halt. He couldn't tell if they were still breathing, but Langston's blows hadn't seemed overly violent. "The next part will be—"

"Draycos!" Jack's voice shouted from overhead.

Reflexively, Draycos leaped to the side as he twisted his neck up to look.

But the move was too late. Even as his eyes registered the fact that there was a fifth Golvin just emerging from Jack's apartment, he heard the snap of a bowstring.

And a searing jolt of pain exploded into his side.

With a desperate lunge, Jack hurled himself through the streamers at the doorway, slamming his shoulder into the Golvin's back with everything he had.

But he was too late. Even as the Golvin gave a strangled little squeak and toppled off the bridge, Jack saw Draycos jerk violently as the arrow buried itself into his side.

"No!" he yelped. Throwing himself onto the bridge, he half ran, half slid down the rough rock to the ground.

Draycos was lying on his side when Jack reached him, panting with shallow breaths, the arrow sticking out of his rib cage. "It's okay," Jack breathed, his heart thudding violently as he dropped to his knees beside his wounded friend. "We'll get this out." Steeling himself, he reached for the arrow.

"No—leave it alone," someone said from behind him.

Jack turned as a heavily bearded man—Langston?—dropped to one knee beside him. "He's hurt," he snarled.

"I know," Langston said, his voice grim. "But pulling it out will just make it worse." He held up one of the other Golvin arrows. "See this wide arrowhead? You pull it out, and it'll just tear more of the flesh and muscle. Besides, it's helping stanch the blood right now."

Jack looked down at Draycos. His glowing green eyes were half-closed, the muscles in his neck working with pain. "What if it's poisoned?"

"I don't think it is," Langston said. "These look like hunting or fishing arrows. There's no reason to poison those."

He looked over his shoulder. "But if we don't get out of here, and fast, it's not going to matter much. They're on the move."

"So we need to get to the aircar." Reaching down, Jack took one of Draycos's paws in his hand. "Draycos? Can you get aboard?"

The K'da blinked, turning his head as if noticing Jack for the first time. "Jack?" he croaked.

"The aircar's a bust," Langston said tightly. "They're on to us. Our only chance is to go to ground for a while." He thrust two Golvin bows at Jack. "Take these. I'll get your friend."

Jack brushed the bows aside. "I'll do it," he said. "Draycos? Come on, symby. You can do it."

The green eyes blinked, and Jack could see the K'da struggling to focus his thoughts through the agony. His paw shifted in Jack's grip.

And to Jack's relief he slid up the sleeve onto Jack's arm.

Langston stuttered out a startled curse. "Holy—Where did he—?"

"He's gone two-dimensional and is riding on my skin," Jack said. "It's a symbiotic thing—I'll explain later." He started to get up.

And froze in horror. Lying on the ground in front of him was the arrow that had been in Draycos's side. The arrowhead and first inch of the shaft were black with K'da blood. "It's not stanching the blood now," he heard himself say. "Oh, no. No."

"Come on." Langston grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. "We've got to hide."

They were halfway up the bridge before Jack's mind cleared enough to realize where they were going. "Wait a minute—this is no good," he protested, trying to pull out of Langston's grip. "It's the first place they'll look for us."

"That's why we're not going to be here," Langston countered, pulling harder on Jack's arm. In his other hand, Jack saw, he still had the two Golvin bows. "We're going up the air shaft to my old prison."

"That won't work either," Jack insisted as they brushed through the streamers into the apartment. "I can't climb up there. Even if I could, they must have blocked that hole by now."

"I don't think so," Langston said, crossing to the light shaft and looking up. "I think all they found was my decoy."

"Your what?"

"A little hole I dug and then camouflaged about as badly as I could without being too obvious about it," Langston explained. "In case you hadn't noticed, these people aren't the brightest stars in the galaxy. You have any food in here?"

"There's meat and fruit in the refrigerator."