With a roar, Griffen charged him……And the George was gone!
As Griffen lunged through the space the George had occupied a moment before, something struck him hard from behind, driving him to his knees.
“Sorry if it’s not a sword,” came the George’s voice, “but that would be a bit obvious to carry on the street.”
Looking back over his shoulder, Griffen saw that the George was holding a metal baton, one of the collapsible ones popular with some policemen. Turning his head was a mistake, even as he registered the weapon, the George’s foot slammed into his face and knocked him fully down, sprawling.
“I thought about the sword. I saw the little toy you use for your fencing practice. But, it would have been like daring an infant to attack me with a fly swatter. Hardly sporting.”
For a moment Griffen was held rigid with paralyzing anger. Again he felt his body tighten as fury changed him.
“Besides, it takes a special blade, and this really does more dam—”
With a snarl Griffen pushed himself to his feet, twisting toward his tormentor in the motion. Even as he turned, his tail lashed out for the man’s head.
His tail?
A surge of joy surged through him as Griffen found his powers responding to his need. The moment’s distraction cost him his advantage.
The George was gone again.
This time, the blow came low on his back, drawing a gasp of pain as he stumbled forward.
“See, thick skin doesn’t protect you from broken bones. Not even plated with scales,” the George said from across the courtyard. “You should know…Hey!”
Valerie had wrapped her arms around his legs from where she was lying on the ground. She tightened, so strong that the George’s face twisted with pain.
“You talk too much,” she growled, rolling like the athlete she was and…
…They ported again, both of them. This time barely ten feet from where Griffen stood.
He seemed to sag for a moment with exertion. Valerie grinned savagely and took the opportunity to wrap her legs around one of the trees in the courtyard. For a moment, they blurred, the George trying to port again, but only for a moment—he was stuck.
Fighting for balance, the George struck at her with his baton, she sagged, but if anything her grip clenched harder…
…And Griffen had him.
Taken off guard by the sudden violence of the attack, the George barely had a chance to give a yelp of surprise before Griffen’s hands closed on his neck.
The George’s baton went flying as Griffen lifted him bodily into the air, ripping him from Valerie’s grasp, and slammed him down on the walkway…
And he was holding a large spotted cat, a leopard, by the throat. Ignoring the claws raking his arms, he tightened his grip…
And he was holding a giant snake that writhed in his grip and hissed viciously. It bit into Griffen’s arm, but fangs could not penetrate scales.
Enough was enough.
Griffen took a deep breath, and exhaled a jet of his strongest flame full in the creature’s face. The creature redoubled its struggles, then suddenly went limp.
Griffen didn’t trust it, he lifted the beast and slammed it down one more time. Reptilian head knocking against the ground.
Releasing his fallen opponent, Griffen moved quickly to his sister’s side. She was just starting to stir, slowly trying to get her hands under her so that she could rise.
“Just lie still, Little Sister,” Griffen said soothingly. “It’s all over. Take a few to get yourself oriented.”
“Held on to the bastard,” Valerie said weakly, eyes flashing.
“Yeah. Yeah, you did. My Valkyrie.”
“I told you I don’t hurt bystanders.”
Griffen whirled to face the voice.
The George was standing in the center of the walkway, apparently unharmed. Even the scratch from the cats had vanished.
“I also said you couldn’t kill me,” he said, smiling at Griffen’s expression.
“What are you?” Griffen said almost to himself.
“The important thing is that I’m defeated,” the George said, holding his hands up, palms out in surrender. “The test is over, and you’ve won. Someone badly underestimated you…I suspect it was me.”
“But I…you…”
“As to the other, the current name for what I am is a chimera. That’s someone who can shape-shift into multiple animal forms, though you didn’t give me a chance to really show off most of them. Also, I have extremely rapid regenerative powers. As an added bonus, as you may have noticed, I’m fireproof. It comes in handy when one’s hunting dragons.”
“I see,” Griffen said, rising to his feet. “And after all you’ve been putting me through, including tonight, I’m supposed to just let you walk away?”
“I seriously doubt you could stop me,” the George said. “But tell you what. Just to save wear and tear on both of us, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll tell you one truth. If you agree it’s valuable enough, you let me walk without any further nonsense.”
“You mean like who sent you after me?” Griffen said.
“Sorry. That’s a professional no-no,” the George said. “But remember, you have to agree that what I tell you is valuable. Otherwise, it’s no deal and we’re back at where we are now. What have you got to lose?”
“Okay,” Griffen said. “Let’s hear it.”
“This is completely confidential, you understand,” the George said. “Just for you and your sister, since she got herself involved.”
He glanced at Valerie, who had managed to prop herself up on her hands.
Griffen nodded.
“All right, here it is. The whole George legend thing? How no one knows what I look like or how I do the things I do? It’s really very simple. I’m only one of a team. Together, we operate under the name of George.”
“I can see where that would give you an advantage,” Griffen said.
He now realized how the lime had gotten into his water back without the man he was facing having been anywhere near where he had been sitting.
“This could be important to you in the future,” the George continued. “As I said, the current contract is over. If someone decides to pony up to send us after you again, it won’t be me you’ll be seeing. Understand?”
“All right. Fair enough,” Griffen said.
“No!” Valerie snarled. “You are going to just let him walk?!”
She started to push herself onto her feet, size swelling again.
The George tensed.
Griffen put a restraining hand on her shoulder.
“Let him go. It’s not worth killing for,” he said softly.
Valerie looked him over, emotions warring in her eyes, but nodded grudgingly. For once the George stayed silent.
“Do you need me to let you out?” Griffen said.
The George looked at him with a tolerant smile, then winked and bowed, flourishing with his baton. He vanished.
Griffen shook his head and helped his sister to her feet. As the two of them walked back toward their apartment proper, Griffen realized that he was no longer lacking in confidence about his abilities and powers as a dragon.
Epilogue
Griffen was sprawled in his living room watching a DVD when his cell phone rang. He flipped it open without taking his eyes from the screen.
“Griffen.”
“You disappoint me, Mr. McCandles.”
It took a moment to place the voice. When he did, a chill ran through him and he sat bolt upright, muting the movie with the remote.
“Stoner? What now?”
There was the briefest pause and it took that break for Griffen to realize he had snapped at this powerful man. Nothing like a brush with death to increase one’s confidence.
“I was under the impression that we had reached a tacit agreement the last time we spoke,” Stoner said as if Griffen had not spoken. “That you would limit your activities to your local gambling oper
ation and, in turn, I would leave you alone.”
“We did. I mean, I have,” Griffen said He took a deep breath and centered himself before continuing. “Excuse me, sir, but is there a problem?”
There was a long, pregnant pause at the other end.
“Am I to understand that you feel there has been no change in the scope of your activities?” Stoner said at last.
“No, I don’t,” Griffen said. “If you have information to the contrary, could you please explain it to me? Believe me, sir, I have no wish to go sideways to you.”
“I’m referring to your renewed contact with your little Asian friend.”
“You mean Mai?”
“Precisely,” Stoner said. “You’re aware, of course, that she is a dragon. More specifically, and Eastern dragon. Did it not occur to you that forming an alliance with the Eastern dragons goes well beyond the scope of a local gambling operation? That now you’re involving yourself in international matters, and in doing so, infringing on my particular area of interest?”
“Whoa. Hang on a minute,” Griffen said. “I haven’t formed any kind of an alliance. Mai has used her influence to bring some of the local Asian games into our network. That’s all. There’s nothing international in that.”
There was another pause.
“Nothing was said to you about forming an alliance?”
“No. Well, she said something about some of the young Eastern dragons being interested in my leadership. I said I’d think about it. That’s all. I haven’t agreed to anything.”
Stoner sighed heavily on the phone.
“I’m afraid you still have a lot to learn about group dynamics, Mr. McCandles,” he said. “Especially when it comes to the Eastern dragons.”
“I don’t understand,” Griffen said. “I haven’t agreed to anything.”
“More to the point, you didn’t say ‘no,’” Stoner said. “In some cultures, if one does not immediately refuse a proposal, it implies that they’ll agree if certain details are worked out. Apparently, that is how your response was taken.”
“What makes you say that?”
“I have reliable information that there is active recruiting going on within the Eastern dragons,” Stoner said. “More specifically, the recruiting is being done in your name. I’m told the response has been enthusiastic…to the point where the old-guard Eastern dragons are quite upset over it.”
“But I haven’t done anything!” Griffen protested. “I had no idea that Mai was going to do anything like this.”
“Unfortunately, part of the job of being a leader is that you are eventually held responsible for the actions of those under you,” Stoner said. “The Eastern dragons now consider you to be a threat. Someone who is actively working to undermine their power base. Under the circumstances, I have to agree with them.”
“You mean you see me as an enemy now?” Griffen said.
“That’s why I was giving you this courtesy call, Mr. McCandles. To inform you that we are now at hazard.”
Griffen heard the words like a sentence of doom. All that had passed, and he still wasn’t out of danger.
“What am I supposed to do now?” he said carefully.
“I am not the one you should look to for advice in this situation,” Stoner said. “I am, however, sympathetic enough to your dilemma to offer up a couple friendly suggestions.”
“And those would be…?” Griffen urged.
“First, look to your defenses. I don’t believe you are anywhere near powerful enough or prepared enough to consider going on the offensive.”
“Anything else?”
“Yes.” Stoner hesitated a moment before continuing. “I am not the biggest threat to you at this time. If my information is correct and the Eastern dragons are uniting against you, you have bigger things to worry about than me.”
Griffen started to thank him but realized the connection had been cut off.
He sat staring at the wall for a while. It slowly dawned on him that the George had only been the first challenge in his new life as a dragon.
ROBERT ASPRIN was raised in the university town of Ann Arbor, Michigan, home of the University of Michigan Wolverines. This, combined with his Philippine-Irish heritage, has given him a rich wealth of characters and stories to draw upon in his writing. Though he has done several stand-alone novels, such as The Cold Cash War, Tambu, and The Bug Wars, he is best known for his humor series, such as the Myth novels and the New York Times bestselling Phule’s Company books. He also edited the groundbreaking shared-universe anthology series Thieves’ World.
A devoted fan before he turned to professional writing, he founded the Dark Horde in the SCA and the Dorsai Irregulars in fandom. Among the honors he has mustered, he has been inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame.
Billing himself as a “people person,” he encourages fans to feel free to speak with him about anything, not necessarily his own works. His declared “eco niche” is the lobby bar of a convention hotel.
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