Free Dragon Hunted by JB McDonald Page B

dappled gray and black markings hiding it even from elven sight. Several minutes after it was gone, the first of the mercenaries started running by, following the clear trail the dragon had left. Ashe counted five of the fifteen others, and assumed the rest were attacking from different angles -- with a very loose definition of "attack."
    Slowly, he pulled himself out from under the bush, wincing as thorns he hadn't noticed before caught at his clothes and in his hair. His hand throbbed, despite the miraculous healing their medic had done. Ashe didn't know what was in those salves, but they worked wonders.
    Dragging his aching bones upright, Ashe groaned as pain rushed up his knee. He wasn't old, but even young was sometimes too old for this job. Every sheathed knife on his person -- and there were a lot of them -- had seemingly dug into his skin, leaving bruises in their wake. He limped away from the bush, glancing around, trying to get his bearings. The dragon had gone back toward camp, but there was no one there for it to eat. That, at least, was a small blessing. Ashe offered up a prayer to Moran, the god of the forest, and hobbled toward camp. Leaping from a treetop hadn't been the brightest of ideas, though as he passed the tree he'd been in, he saw it looked more like kindling than a plant. So leaping had been a better idea than staying put, but that didn't make it a good idea.
    The forest, now that the dragon had passed by, was silent. All the animals hid, smart enough to avoid both dragons and people. Nothing rustled, no owls hooted. Ashe did his best to follow suit, treading lightly even as he limped.
    Something snapped. Ashe froze mid-step.
    "You look like a deer."
    He whipped around, yanking a knife free before he even realized the voice was just Katsu. He grinned and tucked the blade away. "Katsu! I didn't think anyone was around here!"
    "What, you thought I'd leave everyone to get gored by a dragon on their own? What's the point in having a medic?" Katsu tromped through the forest, heedless of breaking branches or snapping twigs. It was almost like he was daring the dragon to come back and eat him -- and Ashe doubted even a dragon had those kind of guts. Katsu'd probably give it indigestion.
    Ashe fell in beside Katsu, relieved to have company, glad it was the medic. Somehow, things seemed better with Katsu around. "Do dragons gore people? I don't think they have horns to gore with." Ashe squawked as Katsu slapped the back of his head, sending him stumbling forward. He caught his balance, rubbing his skull. "Bad medic."
    Katsu snorted. "Bad medic? Bad elf. Shouldn't you be up with the others trying to kill yourself? Or do you save that for your off time?"
    Ashe fell back into step with Katsu. "I save that for my off time. How else am I going to get to see you?"
    Katsu gave him a sharp look, but kept walking.
    "And if I don't get to see you," Ashe put his hand to his chest, faking heartbreak, "my day would just never be bright."
    "I hate elves," Katsu muttered. "You're all drama queens."
    Ashe grinned but dropped his hand. "Is there anything you do like, Katsu?"
    "Peace."
    "I hate peas. They look like marsh griffin spawn. Have you seen a marsh griffin?"
    Katsu gave him a disgusted look.
    "They're about this big," Ashe held his hands a foot apart, "and they eat bugs."
    Katsu kept walking.
    "When they spawn, they squeeze out these nasty, ooze-coated egg things. The male--"
    Katsu slapped the back of his hand into Ashe's chest, stopping them both. "Do you hear that?"
    Ashe listened. Something growled. Slowly, carefully, he looked around the forest. It took two sweeps before he realized that he wasn't seeing fireflies, but rather the moon reflected off a scaled hide. He traced it with his gaze, up to a finely wrought head with a strong jaw.
    This dragon wasn't as big as the last. More like a horse than a wagon. But it was looking right at them.
    "Moran's teats," Ashe whispered.
    "Is that bad?" From the corner of