Draconian Measures

by Don Perrin

  * * * * *

  As it happened, Slith was sampling the first output of the new distillery when the alarm over the females was raised. The cactus juice had a bite to it. He’d thought at first he mistakenly mixed in the razor sharp needles, but after the initial discomfort the cactus juice slid smoothly down the throat, left a pleasant burning sensation in the belly.

  “We’re ready for business,” he announced to his assistants. “One steel piece a snort. If they don’t have steel, we’ll take trades. Use your own judgment.” Slith raised a warning finger. “And don’t drink up the profits.”

  The two baaz nodded, grinning. Slith was about to have another sample, just to make certain that it tasted as good as he had thought, when he heard the guards cry out and saw Kang bolt for the female quarters. Slith was about to chase after, to find out what was wrong, when one of the distillation tubes, made from deer intestines, sprang a leak. Once this emergency was dealt with, Slith departed to see if he could offer assistance. He arrived at the scene just as General Maranta was leaving it.

  Slith had thus far been successful in avoiding the general. Maranta had most likely forgotten the elf maid incident and Slith intended to make certain that the sight of him did not jog the general’s memory. A group of draconians had gathered nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of their general, who was well liked among the troops. Slith stepped in among these, planning to blend in with the crowd and take a look at the general himself.

  General Maranta was talking to the sivak who walked alongside him.

  “Entirely unsuitable,” General Maranta was saying. “Remove them from consideration. The remainder of Kang’s troop are satisfactory. Most satisfactory.”

  The sivak said something in reply. Slith tried to hear, but couldn’t. Detaching himself from the crowd, Slith headed over to the shed, wondering idly as he walked what the general had been discussing.

  Whatever it is, we’re satisfactory, Slith said to himself. The commander will be pleased. Things couldn’t have gone too wrong.

  * * * * *

  “Things could not have gone more wrong!” Kang groaned. He heaved a sigh that came from the claws on his toes and then he sagged into a camp chair. “First the females decide they’re going to play a prank on Gloth. They rigged up the old water barrel drop. I’d like to get my hands on the draco who taught that to them!” Kang added savagely.

  Slith, who recalled having related a story to the females about the old water barrel drop involving Dragon Highlord Verminaard, looked sympathetic and innocent.

  “Only it wasn’t Gloth who walked through the door,” Kang growled, “it was General Maranta!”

  “The females dropped a bucket of water on top of General Maranta?” Slith asked, amazed.

  Kang nodded dismally.

  Slith jumped out of his chair and headed for the tent flap.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Kang demanded angrily.

  “Excuse me, sir,” Slith said, “but I’m going to laugh and I know that if I laugh where you can see me you’ll probably bust me lower than the lowest baaz—”

  “Damn right I will!” Kang glared at his second.

  Slith ducked out the tent flap. Whoops of laughter came from outside. Kang might have been tempted to join in. Whenever he recalled the image of the general wiping water from his snout, a corner of Kang’s mouth twitched. But the laughter died when Kang remembered the look General Maranta had given him, a look of detestation that had been hot as a red-hot poker.

  Slith returned. Composing himself with difficulty, he sat back down.

  “Yes, sir. What happened next, sir.”

  “After the general mopped off the water—”

  Slith covered his mouth, half-choked.

  Kang glowered.

  “No, sir. I’m all right, sir.” Slith gasped. “Just a momentary lapse. Won’t happen again.”

  “He made an inspection of the ‘troops,’ ” Kang resumed, sighing again. “He stopped when he came to Thesik.”

  Slith wasn’t laughing anymore. He sat forward.

  “Yes, sir,” he said. “What happened?”

  “General Maranta said something about he and Thesik having come from the same parent, the same golden dragon parent.”

  Slith eyed his commander. “The females had to find out sometime, sir.”

  “I suppose.” Kang slumped in the chair. His tail wound around his feet. His wings drooped. “I kept hoping … maybe the subject would never come up.”

  Slith was sympathetic. “I know that, sir. But now it has and they need to be told. They need to know the truth, sir. Otherwise they might start to feel like it’s something they should be ashamed of.”

  “Shouldn’t we, Slith?” Kang asked wistfully. “Shouldn’t we be ashamed of our so-called ‘birth’? Did you ever look up into the sky and see a silver dragon, see it so beautiful and deadly and magnificent and think that because of you, that dragon lost her child? Not only that, but the children turned out to be hideous and ugly perversions of something beautiful. Did you ever think that?”

  “No, sir,” said Slith stubbornly. “And neither should you and neither should the female draconians. We didn’t ask to be brought into this world, but now that we’re here, we’re here and there’s nothing you or I or the silver dragon can do about it. I look at it this way, sir. I’ll be accountable for my own actions, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to take responsibility for things that happened before I was even born! No, sir. I don’t have anything to be ashamed about. And I don’t consider myself hideous, sir. And I sure don’t consider the females ugly. Do you, sir?”

  Kang softened. “No, you’re right, Slith. I have to say that I never in my life saw anything more beautiful than those tiny little creatures we carried out of that cave. And they’ve grown more beautiful every day. Thank you, Slith.” Kang leaned forward to shake his second-in-command by the hand. “Thank you. I’ll talk to them right away. Tonight, after supper.

  “There’s just one more problem,” he added, feeling more cheerful, “but that’s easily handled. General Maranta asked Thesik if she was powerful in magic. She didn’t understand what he was talking about, bless her heart. Thank goodness we don’t have to worry about them using magical spells!”

  “No, sir,” said Slith, avoiding his commander’s eyes.

  “I was sorry to lose the magic,” Kang continued, “but now I’m glad it’s gone. Can you imagine the problems we’d face if the females knew magic?” Kang shuddered. “It gives me nightmares just to think about it.”

  “Sir—” Slith began.

  Kang closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair. He was worn out. He felt worse than after his battle with the hobs. His wounds hurt, his body ached. He had been so pleased to come to this fort, saw it as a safe haven, a place to rest and relax and forget his problems. But his problems were multiplying, not diminishing. General Maranta, the females, the goblins … But he’d been proud of Fonrar. She’d stood up to the general.

  “What is it, Slith?” Kang asked, opening his eyes with a guilty start. He’d caught himself dozing off and he remembered that his second had been about to say something.

  “I was going to say …” Slith paused, looked at his weary commander and changed his mind. “Never mind, sir. It can wait. We’re going to be finished with the temporary quarters tomorrow. The females can move in tonight, sir, if that’s acceptable.”

  “Excellent. Yes, see to it.” Kang said. Stifling a groan, he rose to his feet. “I’ll come inspect the site.”

  “The men have done good work today, sir. I’m sure you’ll be pleased.”

  “I’m sure I will, Slith.”

  “Also, we’re taking our turn in the watch rotation for the fort tonight. Do you want me to assign the men?”

  “Yes. But see to it that we set our own watch, as usual.” Kang grinned, nudged his friend. “By the gods, Slith! You should have seen General Maranta standing there soaking wet! I have to admit—it was damn funny.”


  “I’m sorry I missed it, sir,” Slith said. “Oh, by the way, I passed the general on the way out. He was talking to one of his sivaks.”

  Slith related the conversation he’d overheard.

  “Satisfactory?” Kang was pleased. “He said we were most satisfactory?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Perhaps I jumped to conclusions,” Kang said. “I didn’t think he thought much of us. That’s good to know, Slith. Very good!”

  “Sir.” Granak rapped on the tent pole. “Runner from General Maranta to see you, sir.”

  The runner, a baaz, entered the tent, saluted.

  “Commander Kang, Subcommander Slith, General Maranta has called a Command Conference, this evening, sundown.”

  “Where?” Kang asked with trepidation, fearing he’d have to fight his way through the maze of the General’s private fort.

  “Command Center, sir. Outside the HQ.”

  “I know where it is, sir,” said Slith.

  Kang was not surprised to hear that Slith already knew his way around the fort. Slith made it his business to get know his environs.

  “Tell the general I’ll be there,” Kang said.

  The baaz saluted again, and departed.

  “Something’s up,” said Kang.

  “That would be the scout’s report, sir,” Slith said.

  Kang cocked an eye at his second. He could always count on Slith knowing the latest scuttlebutt. “Yeah? What have you heard?”

  “Prokel dropped by to see how things were going with the temporary quarters this afternoon, sir. Just before the … er … emergency with the females. The scouts had just returned and, according to Prokel, they reported to the general that the goblin army is massing in numbers we haven’t seen since the War of the Lance. Thousands of them. And they’re well armed and well trained. Someone’s put a lot of effort and a lot of money into this campaign, sir.”

  “Into wiping us out,” Kang said grimly. “The Solamnics. It’s got to be the Solamnics.”

  “But since when do they work with goblins?” Slith argued.

  “It’s these modern times,” Kang said. “You can’t trust anyone. Maybe the Solamnics have figured that once Paladine left, there’s no one around to care what they do.”

  “Maybe so, sir,” Slith said, but he sounded dubious.

  “Not that it matters,” Kang said gloomily. “You’re just as dead no matter who kills you. When does Prokel figure the goblins will attack?”

  “According to what he heard, more goblin troops are arriving daily and they’re digging in as if they mean to stay a while. They can’t even think of launching an all-out assault against this fort with fewer than ten thousand troops. And they only have half that number.”

  “I’ll have to think this over. And now”—Kang rose to his feet—“I better go hear what General Maranta has to say. Is what you told me general knowledge among the men?”

  “If it isn’t now, sir, it will be,” Slith predicted.

  “I’ll want to speak to them. The gods only know what rumors will be flying.”

  “Tonight, sir?”

  Kang hesitated. He thought of waiting until the troops were assembled, waiting for the officers to bring them to order, thought of standing in front of them, making a speech. Thought of trying to be reassuring when what he really wanted was someone to reassure him.

  He thought of all this and then he thought of his nice, warm, comfortable bed. He shook his head.

  “No, everyone’s exhausted. Myself included. First thing tomorrow morning. While I’m gone, have Gloth see to it that the females move into their new quarters. Oh, and you better warn Gloth that the females have it in for him. That bucket was meant for his head.”

  “Yes, sir.” Slith grinned.

  “Now,” Kang said, exiting his tent, “tell me how to locate this Command Center …”

  * * * * *

  Kang learned nothing more during the meeting than what Slith had already told him. He brought up the subject of who was hiring and training the goblins, but General Maranta refused to speculate. He left it to his officers to form their own opinions.

  Kang was pleased by one statement the general made. When an officer—a bozak Kang didn’t know—suggested that the goblins were attacking them due to the presence of the females and that if the females left, the goblins would leave, as well, General Maranta told the officer in no uncertain terms that he was an idiot. Did the officer really think that the goblins would mass thousands of soldiers just to wipe out one small regiment of draconian engineers, females or no? General Maranta doubted if the goblins even knew that draconian females were present among Kang’s troops.

  The goblins were being paid to destroy draconians. All draconians. True, Kang had inadvertently led the goblins to discover this fort, but they would have found it soon enough as it was. In fact, perhaps they had been dogging Kang, hoping he would lead them here. Everyone—goblins, hobgoblins, humans and elves—knew the name of General Maranta. They knew him and feared his power. If anyone was the target of the goblins’ ire, it was General Maranta, not some lowly bozak engineer.

  Not very flattering to Kang, but since it took some of the heat off him, he was more than happy to let General Maranta consider himself the target. In fact, General Maranta undoubtedly had a point. The goblins may have stumbled on this fort, but if they were being hired to wipe out draconians, this was an opportunity to do so in one fell swoop.

  Following the meeting, Kang ate a quick meal in the officer’s mess, then made his inspection of the building site. He was pleased with the progress. The new barracks would be ready for the males to move into tomorrow. The females had already moved into theirs. He had one more task before he could turn in. He would visit the females, inspect their quarters, see how they were getting along.

  The move had gone smoothly, according to Gloth. Chastened by the fiasco involving the general, the females had been unusually cooperative. They had their bedrolls packed and were ready to leave the shed the moment Gloth gave the word to move out. Gloth had doubled the number of bodyguards, but he needn’t have bothered. The fort’s draconian males gave the females no more than a mildly curious glance and hastened on to whatever duty they had been assigned to perform.

  Kang was pleasantly surprised. The fort may have looked a ramshackle mess, but apparently its inner workings were much better constructed. Discipline was strict, well enforced. The troops seemed in good spirits, respected their officers. He saw no harsh punishments being meted out, such as he’d been sorry to observe in the old dragonarmy. The few prisoners locked up in the brig were there on ordinary charges: drunk and disorderly, fighting in the barracks, petty theft. Unlike the goblin army, the draconians did their duty because they were proud to do their duty, not because they were being driven by officers wielding whips. He gave General Maranta credit.

  According to the account of the fort’s history, the general had escaped Neraka with the Queen’s Own and the Ninth Infantry. Guessing that with the fall of their Queen, draconians would be hunted down and slaughtered by the victorious Forces of Light, Maranta had searched for an isolated, desolate place to establish a defensible position. They had thrown up the fort’s walls and the first few buildings, then set about constructing the more permanent Bastion.

  Once settled, General Maranta sent out scouts to find other troops of draconians who might be in a similar plight, urged them to join him. One of those scouts might have found us, Kang thought, if we had not been hidden away in the mountains.

  He speculated briefly on how his life and the lives of his men might have been different. More of his troops would be alive today, he reflected, but they would not have found the females. Kang would be like Vertax and Yakanoh and the other commanders, respectful, obedient, unquestioning, looking to Maranta for both questions and answers. Kang had been on his own too long, he realized. He had developed an independent spirit, a bad thing in a military officer. Kang took himself to task over this. He woul
d not have tolerated such an attitude from one of his own subcommanders and he vowed to shape up, view General Maranta with more respect. He deserved it.

  Still, Kang was forced to secretly admit that he was glad the scout had not found them.

  The night was bright with stars. Torches flared on the walls at the guard posts. A group of draconians returning from the mess hall laughed and talked, saluted Kang as they passed him. He fully intended to speak to the females, relate to them the true circumstances of their birth. He’d put this unpleasant task off far too long, like having a decayed tooth yanked. But when he arrived at the females’ quarters, he found the area dark and quiet.

  “I think they’re asleep, sir,” said the night guard. “Shall I wake them?”

  “No, no!” Kang said hastily. “I’ll just take a peek.”

  The guard slid aside the bar that held the door shut. Kang opened the door quietly, looked inside. The females lay on their newly built cots, fast asleep. Only one was awake, Fonrar. She was pacing the floor, walking from one of the small windows to another, looking out in the night. Kang was about to slip away, but she had sharp hearing.

  She made a quick motion to him and he stepped inside, not sorry to have a chance to talk to her.

  She came to stand at attention in front of him, saluting.

  Kang smiled, shook his head. “At ease,” he said softly.

  “Sir,” Fonrar began, “I just want to say again how sorry I am—”

  “I know,” he said. “I know. What’s done is done.” He regarded her with concern. She looked worn out, he thought, and desperately unhappy. “You shouldn’t dwell on it, Fonrar. You mustn’t let it keep you from your sleep.”

  “It was my fault,” she said miserably. “I knew what they were doing. I didn’t stop them. The worst of it is that we got you into trouble with the general, sir. We never meant for that to happen.”

  “It wasn’t the first time I’ve been in trouble with a general,” Kang said dryly. “And I’m certain it won’t be the last.”

  “Still, sir, we’d feel better if you gave us some sort of punishment—”