“Now I don’t know about . . .”
“Do you fear for your safety, Wizard?” Again Wurm sounded amused. “I told you I will not harm you and I will not. Besides,” and he lowered his huge head almost to Wiz’s level and cocked it like a chicken watching a worm, “what could I do to you elsewhere that I could not do to you here?”
“It’s not that,” Wiz assured him hastily. “It’s just that it’s not easy for me to just pack up and go. I mean I’ve got responsibilities here and . . .” Wurm raised his head above the castle wall. Then he daintily lifted a foreleg and inspected his three black front talons, each longer than Wiz was tall.
“I’m in the middle of these spells, you see . . .” Wiz continued weakly.
Without pausing to inhale, Wurm breathed a roaring jet of lambent blue flame perhaps fifty feet long. Wiz flinched back from the heat and noise. Behind him he heard screams as people stampeded for safety. But the dragon’s head was turned away from the Wizard’s Keep. Wurm extended his index talon until it was immersed in the fire. He held it there until the tip glowed bright red. Then he reached down and whetted the heat-softened claw on the rough stone of the castle wall. He left three smoking, foot-deep grooves in the stone before he was satisfied. Then he turned his attention back to Wiz.
“Now Wizard,” the dragon said mildly, “you were saying?”
“Can you give me ten minutes to pack?”
Three: He Who Rides a Dragon . . .
Initial client contact is often the most delicate part of the project.
The Consultants’ Handbook
“I do not like this,” Moira said as she and Wiz walked back out to the courtyard a few minutes later. Bal-Simba and the others were trailing by a few yards to give them some privacy.
Wiz grimaced. “It’s not my idea of a summer afternoon’s stroll either, but we don’t have a lot of choice.”
“We could refuse the dragon now,” she said fiercely, “and fight him if he wills it!”
“And get a lot of people killed unnecessarily.” Wiz shook his head. “You heard Bal-Simba. We can’t protect the town right now, much less the countryside. In a few hours we’ll have the spells ready to hunt him down, but now we’ve got to buy time.”
“And you are to be the sacrifice,” Moira said bitterly. Then she sighed. “Oh, I know you are right, love. And so is Bal-Simba. But for once I wish it could be someone else.”
Wiz stopped under the final gate and pulled her close, almost losing his staff in the process. “Come on, it’s not that bad. I’ve only got to stall him for a few hours and, hey, maybe the dragon wants something easy.” He kissed her and felt her relax in his arms. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Honest.”
Moira broke away from him and tried to smile. “I know, love,” she said softly.
“Besides, I’ve got this.” Wiz held up his hand to show off his ring of protection. “Anything dangerous happens and this spell kicks in immediately. So quit worrying.” He leaned close and kissed her again. Then he let go, turned and stepped out into the courtyard.
Wurm was where Wiz had left him. “Are you ready, Wizard?”
Wiz slipped the leather thong of his staff over his head and shoulder.
Then he exhaled and tried to sound chipper. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
The dragon bent its enormous neck down and Wiz swung his leg over. Then the beast raised its head and the spines moved together, cradling Wiz gently but firmly between them. Wiz made himself as comfortable as he could and tried not to think what would happen if the dragon arched his neck further.
Instead Wurm raised his head and Wiz was carried aloft with the swooping suddenness of an amusement park ride. Before he could adjust to his new perspective the dragon pushed off the wall and unfurled his gigantic wings with a beat that sent wind swirling through the courtyard, kicking up stray leaves and blowing grit back in Wiz’s face. Wiz squinched his eyes shut involuntarily and nearly lost his lunch as his inner ear, deprived of a visual cross check, protested strongly. By the time he got his eyes open, the Wizard’s Keep was dwindling toy-like below and the land was spreading out like a patterned quilt beneath them.