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Martyn & Havelok
(evening, Day 10)

/snip from Shane's post)
Ê ÊÊ The shaft streaked towards the oncoming dragon, striking the
beast in the dead center of it's nose.Ê Thanks to his scales, only
the head of the arrow pierced Havelock's nose, but the sudden pain
startled the dragon and he reared up, forgetting how near to the
ground he was.Ê As his rear legs caught, the gray tumbled end for
end.Ê Banks was again caught up in a jumble of limbs as the dragon's
tumble collected him and with a splash deposited them on the edge of
Lake Arial.Ê With his left leg quickly going numb, Banks sat up to
see his appendage disappearing under on scaled limb.
Ê ÊÊ "Get off me!"Ê Banks cried.Ê The dragon swung it's head around
and glared.Ê *It really does look funny with that arrow sticking out
of it's nose,* Banks thought.Ê "I said get off me!"Ê The dragon just
sat there.Ê Then Banks did something he probably shouldn't have
done.Ê He reached out and swatted the arrow.Ê Havelock reared back
and roared in pain and Fex suddenly got the image of char broiled
assassin.
/end snip/

    It took Martyn a couple of moments to get down the cliff-face, using
the
same rope that the assassin had anchored at the top.  When the rope ran
out,
he managed to find the necessary handholds to get him the rest of the way
down.  He hurried over to Mr'dith, who was just getting up.  "Come on, he
mustn't get away!"

    "Not much worry about that," said Mr'dith, pointing over to the edge
of
Lake Arial.  "I think your dragon's done our work for us."

    The two of them hurried over to see Havelok glowering down at the
pinned
assassin.  *Good job, old boy!" Martyn said, giving Havelok a
congratulatory
thump on the back.

    [One of us had to,] the gray dragon answered.  [Now, about this arrow
sticking out of my nose...]

    Martyn reached up and gave a good yank, pulling the arrow free.

    [Hey, be more careful!] Havelok complained.  [Hmph, some thanks I get
for saving your reputation by catching this one for you...]

    *Now look here, if you think you're going to take all the credit for
this!] Martyn stopped himself, realizing that there were more important
matters to deal with at the moment.  *Get up slowly and carefully,* he
told
the dragon.  

    Havelok did so, eliciting a round of swearing from the assassin as
the
weight was lifted off his leg.  Together, Martyn and Mr'dith hauled him
to
his feet.  Martyn made sure not to give the man any chance to make a
break
for it.  He'd proven already that he was a highly capable professional,
just
as Martyn had figured him to be.  He'd make the most of any opportunity
that
came his way, and Martyn didn't aim to see that he got one!

    "Who are you?" Martyn asked the assassin.  "Who sent you here?"

    "Good questions," the assassin replied.  "Maybe someday you'll know
the
answers to them.  But not tonight."

    Martyn and Mr'dith exchanged glances.  "You'll have a long time to
think
on it," Martyn assured the assassin as they started to move him toward
the
warren proper.  "At least till dawn tomorrow, which is when they'll
probably
hang you."  Although even that wasn't certain, at least until he could
find
someone with the authority to make a decision as to the assassin's
disposition.

    *Havelok, ask Queri where her rider is,* he said.  

    [She can't come, she's still trapped by the landslide,] Havelok
replied.
 

    Martyn sighed.  *Well, tell the queen that as soon as her rider is
available, we shall need her attention on this matter for just a bit.*

    "Warrenlady Rhiannon is...indisposed," Martyn said, and then glared
hard
at the assassin.  "And no, you black-suited popinjay, I do *not* mean
she's
dead, as you probably hope."  

   As he looked up, it seemed that every dragon in the warren was
glowering
down on them, many of them roaring their rage at seeing the killer of
their
kind being paraded through the warren.

    "They don't look happy," Martyn said uneasily.  He and Mr'dith began
to
move faster, forcing the limping assassin to keep pace.

(Tag Shane or Chris - do they get Banks to a nice, quiet cell without
incident, or does something happen along the way? :)

NRPG: Just a short one to let everyone know I'm not dead..  I have
another
post in the works to deal with the Martyn/Lakoda situation, and that one
will
hopefully be out in a few days.

Submitted by:

John

Martyn & Havelok
Marrid/Xylian Warrens



      


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