“Well… I was… urn….”
“Don’t tell me,” she said, holding up a hand. “If I know you, you were either chasing a girl or stuffing your face, right?”
“She’s got you there, Aahz,” I commented.
“Shut up, kid.”
“… so don’t get down on Skeeve here. Compared to what could have happened to him, he didn’t do half bad. How did you find us, anyway?”
“I listened for the sounds of a fight and followed it,” Aahz admitted.
“See! You were expecting him to get into trouble. Might I point out he was doing just fine before you barged in. He and his dragon had those thugs treed all by themselves. He’s pretty handy with that magik, you know.”
“I know,” Aahz responded proudly. “I taught him.”
“Gee, thanks, Aahz.”
“Shut up, kid.”
“Gleep,” said the dragon, craning his neck around to look at Aahz upside down.
“A dragon, huh?” Aahz said, studying the dragon more thoughtfully.
“He might help us against Isstvan,” I suggested hopefully.
“Isstvan?” Tanda asked quizzically.
“Yeah,” Aahz replied. “You remember him, don’t you? Well, he’s up to his old tricks, this time on Klah.”
“So that’s what’s going on, huh? Well, what are we going to do about it?”
“We?” I asked, surprised.
“Sure,” she smiled. “This racket is a bit low class, like Aahz says. I might as well tag along with you two for a while… if you don’t mind, that is.”
“Terrific!” I said, and meant it for a change.
“Not so fast, Tanda,” Aahz cautioned. “There are a few details you haven’t been filled in on yet.”
“Such as?”
“Such as I’ve lost my powers.”
“No fooling? Gee, that’s tough.”