Free Dragonback 04 Dragon and Herdsman by Timothy Zahn

be willing to be one of them?"
    For a long moment Hren stood without speaking, still stroking his
K'da as he gazed out into space. Then, abruptly, the look of
concentration disappeared. "Then we must go at once," he said, hauling
his bulk to his feet. "I will gather the other"—he held out his hands,
frowning hard at the fingers—"the other nine," he concluded. "We will
meet you there." He pointed to the far side of the clearing, where Jack
could see the entrance to another path.
    "Thank you," Jack said. "One other thing. My friend Alison must
not be allowed to see how the Phookas come onto and off of your skin."
    "Why not?"
    "Because she won't understand," Jack told him. "The whole thing
may terrify her, and cause her to abandon us and run off. We can't let
that happen, for her sake as well as ours. Can you make sure the
Phookas and other Erassvas understand that?"
    Hren eyed Jack closely. "You have many secrets, young Jack," he
said. "Perhaps too many. Very well. I will make the arrangements."
    Alison was still standing where Jack had left her. "Well?"
    "He's coming," Jack said, grabbing his pack and hoisting it onto
his back. Settling it in place, he walked over to a pair of K'da who
were probing with their muzzles at the base of a patch of reedy plants.
"And he's bringing a few more of the Erassvas to help."
    "To help with what?" she called after him. "Breaking trail?"
    "They'll meet us at that path," Jack said, ignoring the comment.
The two K'da, he saw now, were busily gobbling down some small lizards
they'd flushed from the reeds. "Okay, Phookas," he said soothingly,
waving his hands in a sweeping motion that probably looked as
ridiculous as it felt. "Time to go. Come on—that way."
    The two dragons paused in their meal long enough to bring their
heads up and look blankly at him. Then, without budging an inch, they
returned their attention to the lizards. "Draycos?" Jack muttered. "You
people have a 'mush' command or something?"
    "Try pulling gently against their crests, at the point where they
descend from the back of the head down the neck," Draycos suggested.
    "Okay," Jack said doubtfully. Stepping between the two K'da, he
got a hand behind each of their crests. Trying not to think about Uncle
Virgil's old warning about never bothering a dog when it was eating, he
gingerly applied some pressure.
    The two K'da looked up again, and Jack had the distinct feeling
that they were mildly surprised at the liberty he was taking with them.
But neither seemed inclined to run or, more important, to bite.
    "A little harder," Draycos said.
    Setting his teeth. Jack did so. This time, to his amazement, the
K'da stood upright and began walking in the direction he was pulling.
"I'll be fraggled," he muttered, keeping the pressure steady as he
settled in between them.
    "So that's the technique, huh?" Alison said from behind him.
    "It'll do for a start." Jack said, looking around. Unfortunately,
it was going to take way too long to get sixty K'da moving this way.
"What we need is the head Phooka," he said, searching his memory. Uncle
Virgil had often used animal and nature examples and analogies in his
training. "The bellwether, I think it's called."
    "The one everyone else follows," Alison said, nodding. "Great. Any
idea how we figure out which one that is?"
    "Give me a minute," Jack said, doing a slow turn to give Draycos a
good look. "Mm?" he murmured toward his shoulder.
    "There," Draycos murmured, his tongue lifting slightly from Jack's
skin to point at a large emerald green K'da with three smaller dragons
of different colors following closely behind him. "Try him."
    "Let's try him," Jack said, pointing to the green dragon.
    "I'll go," Alison volunteered. "You might as well get those two on
the path."
    She headed off. "Jack, I must speak to you," Draycos said as the
boy got his two K'da moving again. "We cannot follow Alison's plan of
hiding in the foothills."
    "Why not?" Jack asked.
    Draycos hesitated. "Because there is a