"So?"

*So, in the old days, when there was but one thing of His kind in all the world, why would He have need of a name? Just so, billions of years later, some stupid human could cast a spell using it? No. He is The Dragon, oldest of us all, and has no need of a name.*

So what can we do to protect ourselves against him?

*Don't wake Him. He is older than the mountain, and you could break the mountain more easily that you could dent the smallest of His scales. Karl Cullinane?*

Yes?

*I have done one thing for you, no? Will you bring me my sheep now, or must I do the other?*

You make that sound like a threat. And I don't like threats, Ellegon.

*Very well.* Ellegon sighed mentally. *Then, I will let you understand.*

Understand whaa"

The universe fell apart.

He was fifteen, and a nice Jewish girl. Or, at least, she was supposed to be. But there were things she wasn't supposed to be, and things she wasn't supposed to do. Like grope in the dark with Jonathan Dolan, and slip out ofa"

*Enough? Or do you really want to understand Doria?*

You're letting me into her memories? Why?

*So you'll understand.*

No, waia"

And she couldn't tell Daddy, of course. He called her his one-and-only, and Mommy thought she was still a virgin. That was one of the rules: You don't talk about it. But it wasn't only that she was tale, there was this burninga"and that d.a.m.n Jonny Dolan was telling everybody that she'd given him the clap. And that couldn't be true. It couldn't. He was the first, and the only one, so far.

And it hadn't even been any fun. Just a sticky mess. He lied. They all lied. It wasn't any fun at all.

*You still don't see it.*

But I can't tell anybody. Besides, it's probably not that. Maybe, if I just forget about it. it'll go away?

*I think, perhaps, just a bit more.*

"She's a sick little girl, Mr. Perlstein, but with a bit of luck we'll have the fever down in a few hours." She lay panting beneath the plastic, no longer able to paw at the tubes in her nose and armsa"they'd fastened her hands down.

"But it can't be gonorrhea. Not my littlea""

"You know, Mr. Perlstein, you make me sick."

"Doctor, Ia""

"If she'd been able to tell anybodya"if she'd felt able to tell anybody... if there'd been one G.o.ddam person for her to talk to, maybe she wouldn't be lying there now. We could have treated it easily, if we had gotten to it. Before."

"Before?"

"Before it grew into one h.e.l.l of a raging pelvic infection that'll leave her sterile, if it doesn't kill her."

"Sterile? My littlea""

"Sterile. Unable to conceive. Ever. If we're lucky. Nurse." A cold hand felt at her forehead. "I want a temp and BP every five minutes. If her temp doesn't start to drop within the hour..."

*And the last portion of the payment.*

And I guess it doesn't matter anymore and besides in a lot of ways I'm perfect because n.o.body ever has to worry about getting Doria Perlstein pregnant ever which means that every cloud has a silver lining because now I can have any boy I want to but they all treat me like I was a cigarette they pa.s.s around but I guess that doesn't matter because that's what I deserve isn't it because becausebecausebecausebea"

*Enough.*

"Karl, are you okay?"

"I don't care what he said, Walter, we've got to get him out of here."

"Noa"wait. I think he's coming around."

Karl pried an eye open. Doria and Walter bent over him, concern creasing their faces. "It's okay," he said, not surprised to hear his voice coming out as a harsh croak. "Help me up."

"What did he do to you?" Doria asked. "He hurt you again. Thata""

"Shh." Understanding, eh?

*Understanding. It's not always easy to understand things, Karl Cullinane. Even I know that.*

She doesn't know?

*No, of course not. Why would I want to hurta"*

You would have killed us. a few minutes ago. If you could have reached us.

*A different thing entirely, no?*

A different thing entirely.

*Will you get me my sheep now?* Ellegon asked plaintively.

Karl walked slowly to the railing and stared out at the dragon. "You two keep watch. I've got a debt to pay."

"What did it do toa""

"Shh."

*Then I get my sheep!*

No. He slipped out of his sandals, using their thongs to lash his scabbard to his shoulders.

*No? Then you are like all the rest, youa"*

Shh. Just be quiet for a moment.

Karl Cullinane pays his debts. That was the rule. And even if the debt came out of a window into Doria's mind, a window that he wouldn't have wanted to look through...

And to think I treated her likea"

*You didn't know. What are you doing?*

Karl levered himself over the railing. Gooda"the rockface below was rough and cracked; there would be many finger- and toe-holds. I took up rock climbing one summera"hey! why are you asking? I thought you could read my mind, even what I'm not consciously thinking about.

*Not now. There's an intensitya"*

Shh. I've got to pay attention to what I'm doing.

He picked his way carefully down the face, ignoring Doria's and Walter's shouted questions from above. You can't turn off my sense of smell for me, can you? he thought, as he lowered himself into the ankle-deep foul muck.

*Noa"you're really going to do it? Thankyouthankyouthankyoua"I'll leave, I'll fly away, I will. Please, Karl, please don't change your mind. Pleasepleasea"*

Shh. Stumbling and gagging at the stench, he started to walk toward Ellegon.

Never mind, Karl. He's been in this for three hundred years.

As he got closer, it became shallower; a harder surface beneath the ooze supported his bare feet.

The dragon loomed above him, its breath coming in short gasps, its wings curled protectively by its sides. Lower your neck, will you? If there's a weak point in this cable, it'll probably be there, where you can't see it.

Ellegon knelt in the filth, his huge head just inches away from Karl. His mental voice was strangely silent as he presented his barrellike throat.

It was a cable, and like all cables, made up of smaller strands. It took a moment for Karl's swordtip to snick through the first strand, and a moment longer for the next.

Easy, my friend, easy. Just a few dozen more. He had to stop to quell his gagging reflex; wading through this... sewer was something he'd try to forget.

Anda"he cut through the last stranda"done!

Ellegon's ma.s.sive head tilted at him. *Thankyouthankyouthankyoua"*

Shh. Better get going. He slipped his sword back in its sheath.

*Grab my neck,* the dragon said, its mind muttering a background of *Free. Free. I'm Free.*

Karl reached out, and as he did so, the creature's wings flapped, blurring with speed as it eased into the air, then whirred over to the balcony, Karl dangling for a moment, then dropping to the tiles. *Free.*

*One more thing,* Ellegon said, landing.

"Look out, Karl, he's going toa""

The dragon's mouth opened, and a gout of flame rushed out, enveloping Karl. Just flame; no heat, although the reeking muck covering much of his body burst into fire, sparkling and burning away. *My flame couldn't hurt you, Karl Cullinane. Not you. Not now.* It tingled pleasantly, that was all. He turned in the firestream, letting it wash over him like a shower.

*Free.* The flame stopped.

Better get going.

With a snap of his wings, the dragon jumped skyward, his wings just a blur as he left the balcony and the pit behind him.

*Free.*

Flyaway, my friend.

Three times the dragon circled overhead, gaining height as he flew.

*Free.*

"Karl," Doria said, shaking her head, "would you mind telling us just what's going on?"

"I think we'd all better get out of here, folks," Walter said, moving them along. "When the authorities find out about this, they aren't going to be all that pleased."

Ellegon flew off toward the north, now so high he was only a dark speck against the blue sky.

*Free.*

"Karl, why?" Doria asked.

He slipped one aim around her waist, the other around Walter's as they walked away. "Because I never felt this good in my Whole. d.a.m.n. Life."

*Free.*

That was faint now; did he hear it, or just imagine it?

It really didn't matter.

Not at all.

*Free.*

CHAPTER TEN:.

The Inn of Quiet Repose.

We may live without poetry, music and art; We may live without conscience, and live without heart; We may live without friends, we may live without books; But civilized man cannot live without cooks.

a"Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Earl of Lytton.