mavrik4/title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="38B0DE" Vlink="#000000">   <center><img src=./flydrg2.gif></center> *** Mavrik woke in the grey light before the sun rose above the cliffs. The forest was full of the tinkle of bell birds, the warbling calls of currawongs, and Mitch's swearing as he tried to get the fire going. <br> He had piled dry bark onto the embers and was blowing vigorously. There was a lot of smoke, then a slight crackle and a tiny flame sprang up He sat back on his heels and swayed slightly.<br> "Are you all right?" asked Mavrik.<br> "A bit dizzy, is all."<br> "Stand back." Mitch moved away as Mavrik took a deep breath, shaped his lips into an 'o' and sent a thin stream of greasy smoke into the flame. There was a soft 'whuff' and Mavrik had a small flame hanging off the end of his muzzle. He blew harder until there was a long blast of blue-white fire playing over the fire pit. Mitch covered his face. Mavrik belw hard for a few seconds then stopped.<br> Mitch looked at the brightly burning fire in a ring of blackened grass. "Wow."<br> "My throat is sore."<br> "I am not surprised," said Mitch in awe.<br> "It isn't that," said Mavrik. "I think that is what stops me from flaming." <br> Mitch looked at him incredulously, but said nothing.<br> "What I mean is," explained Mavrik patiently, "I can't start my own fire."<br> Mitch said a small "Oh," and stared at the fire. He stood slowly and said "I'll get breakfast." He took his laser-rifle from the tent and disappeared into the bush.<br> Mavrik shivered and threw some heavy logs onto the fire. A few seconds later he had them all blazing brightly. For some time he experimented by breathing on the fire and trying to suck in the flame, but he couldn't sustain the internal fire. In the end he lay and waited for Mitch to return. His wing ached.<br> The sun peeked into the valley and melted the frost on the tree tops, causing a brief fall of water, like rain, which drove Mavrik under cover. Mitch jogged in, jumped on his bike and rode off. Half an hour later he dragged a huge male 'roo into the camp. "One for you," he said, then threw a little, common wallaby known as a pademelon beside it. "And one for me." He sniffed at the air, then drew a knife and began dressing the little animal. "Been playing with fire again?"<br> Mavrik took a big bite out of the carcass. "When will this healer arrive?" he asked around the mouthful.<br> "Soon." Mitch cut some steaks off and threw them into a pan. "I've been thinking. If she can't do anything here we'll have to sneak you into town." He turned the steaks over. "That means I'll have to borrow the truck from the crazy old gardener at the University."<br> "Why him? Are you going to eat that?" added Mavrik, pointing to the tiny carcass.<br> "He is the only one who will not ask questions," said Mitch as he tossed the remains of the pademelon to Mavrik, who caught it in his mouth and swallowed it without chewing. "And even if I did tell him, he'd say 'Oh, Dragons. That's nice.'" Mitch chuckled. "That Pen is a crazy old fart."<br> Mavrik choked on the mouthful.<br> Mitch's bike chimed. Mavrik watched him walk over and speak briefly into something small and black. "The doctor is almost here," he said as he came back to the fire. "You'd better hide in the tent until I explain the situation to her." Mavrik retreated into the tent as Mitch walked back to the clearing. <br> By the time he reached the glade, the driver had alighted and was waiting for him, a black carry-bag in one hand. He called and she turned toward him.<br> "Listen, Mitch," she said as she walked over. "If this isn't an endangered species I will endanger you."<br> "Hi Alex. Great to see you, too. It's in the camp," he added, and indicated the way.<br> "So what is it?" asked Alex as she followed Mitch around the tree trunks.<br. "He has a fractured wing and a nasty cut." They reached the camp and Mitch pointed at Mavrik's tent. "In there."<br> Alex walked quietly to the tarpaulin, moved the flap aside slightly and looked through the crack. Without warning she opened the tent fully. "Gosh! An empty tent!" she said in mock surprise. "Looks like your bird has- has- uh- flown." Her voice trailed off and she went pale. <br> Mitch smiled because he knew how she felt. He knew well the feeling that someone had run the point of a knife down his spine. They turned in unison. Mavrik was sitting up, staring at them across the fire. "I think the urge to run away is genetic," said Mitch. <br> "Why would you want to run away?" asked Mavrik as he stood and walked around the fire. He sniffed at Alex.<br> Alex blinked at him a few times before her voice returned. "Jeez! It's a dragon!"<br> Mavrik nodded. "Good morning, m'lady."<br> Alex sat on the ground. "I think I am going mad," she muttered.<br. "I thought that too!" said Mitch. "Don't worry, it'll pass." <br> "My name is Dreao," said Mavrik. Mitch looked at him in surprise, then nodded.<br> "I'm Alex," said Alex. "'Dreao' isn't really your name, is it? That's just Old Galpraxian for 'Dragon'." She looked at Mitch and added, "They used to think that names held the power of the thing."<br> "I knew that," said Mitch quickly.<br> "Your friend is learned," said Mavrik to Mitch. "I hope she can heal my wing."<br> "Give me a look at it," said Alex. She nodded approvingly at Mitch's ministrations as she undid the bindings. Mitch ate his over-done steaks and watched in silence. The examination took fifteen minutes. Finally Alex sighed and said "I can stitch the membrane here, but those bones need setting and the main bone has to be pinned." She took a large jar of antiseptic cream and applied it to the ragged cut. "How fast do you heal?"<br> "Ow. Fairly- ooh- quickly," said Mavrik. He caught his breath for a few seconds, then added "It is necessary when you are hunted all the time."<br> "We'll have to get you into town so I can operate on that wing," said Alex. "My office has old stables behind it. You can stay there."<br> "I'll have a chat to Pen" said Mitch. <br> Alex froze, then began applying the cream again. "Why old Pen?" she asked lightly.<br> "He has a truck." Mitch saw Alex and Mavrik exchange a glance, and felt he had missed something. "What's wrong with him?"<br> "You know who he is, don't you?" Alex asked Mavrik.<br> "I suspect."<br> "Suspect what who is?" demanded Mitch. <br> You'll find out," said Alex. She concentrated on the wing and wouldn't answer any more of Mitch's questions. <br> <hr> <br> The battered six-wheeled vehicle came to a halt, and Mitch jumped out. He saw the old man hobbling toward him, leaning heavily on a cane. "Thanks!" called Mitch. "I'll be off now."<br> "Not so fast," said the old gardener. "Not so fast. Fast, no." he added. "I want to see if you damaged my truck. My truck it is. And it might be damaged. Yes. My P38, it is. I bought it new," he rambled. Mitch sighed and waited while the old fellow hobbled around the truck and poked randomly at it with the cane. He looked up at the cover over the rear tray and indicated a tear in the green canvas. "Torn! New hole. That's a new hole. It is. It is, and torn. Yes."<br> Mitch looked at the three-cornered tear. That bloody dragon must have done it. "Sorry. I'll get you a new cover."<br> The old man wasn't listening. He shuffled around to the rear of the vehicle and lifted the flap. He looked inside, then sniffed. Mitch knew he could smell the tang of Mavrik's smoke. "Hmm. It smells like smoke. Yes, fire. Yes. Reminds of something," he mumbled. "Reminds me of..." He spun surprisingly quickly and pinned Mitch with his grey eyes. "Where is he?" demanded Pen.<br> Mitch blinked in confusion. In seconds the doddering old fart had vanished to be replaced by this wiry old man. "Who?" He backed away.<br> Pen advanced on Mitch and pushed him against the side of the truck. "Don't give me that! You will take me there. Now!" He opened the driver's door and climbed in, indicating to Mitch that he should get in the left hand side. <br> As Mitch climbed in, Pen was re-starting the engines. The turbo wound up to speed, then the power system cut in with a rumble. The 'available power' gauge flashed green. Instead of moving off, Pen opened a hidden panel. Inside was just one switch. Pen flicked it down and the gauge went off the scale. Mitch boggled.<br> "What the hell is that?"<br> "Steam!" said Pen. He engaged the transmission and stamped on the accelerator. They roared onto the main road and sped rapidly up to 160kph. <br> "Steam?" asked Mitch eventually.<br> "Water is injected into the compressed air that spins the generator turbine." Pen concentrated on driving for a few seconds. "You know air gets hot when you compress it? Well, that's where you inject the water. It increases power out-put by 30 percent." He chuckled to himself. "My own little modification, that."<br> "Cool!" exclaimed Mitch. "Can you show me how to do it?"<br> "Later. Where are we going?"<br> Mitch gave the directions, and twenty minutes later they were stopping in front of the stables. As they jumped out Mitch realized Pen no longer needed the walking stick. Who is he? he wondered.<br> Alex appeared at a door and peeled off a pair of gloves. Pen waved and called "Hello my dear!"<br> "Hello you patronizing old wizard."<br> "How is the patient?"<br> "Mavrik is asleep." Alex closed the door quietly, and noticed their looks. "He told me his real name just before I started working. I'm sure I did the wing properly, but it was a bit of guess-work." She gazed at Pen for a while. "Did you send him here?"<br> "Hang on!" said Mitch. "Mavrik said he came from the Dreamtime! If that was ten thousand years ago, then..." He looked at Pen. "Nah!"<br> "He was injured by a ballista shot," said Pen. "Sending him here was the only way to save him."<br> "Why?" asked Alex. "I know it's hard, but wouldn't it be better if he- you know- in the past?"<br> "At the time I didn't know why, but it turned out for the best," said Pen.<br> "Why?" blurted Mitch. Pen raised his eyebrows at him but said nothing. Mitch shook his head. "Whoa! This is assuming you've been here- what? Ten millennia?" He shook his head again. "It's not possible."<br> "Like talking to a dragon?"<br> "Yes. No! I mean-" Mitch stopped in confusion. "How's Mav?" he sighed eventually.<br> Alex lead them inside. Mavrik was stretched out on large plastic sheets. He lay along the aisle, his damaged wing stretched into one of the stalls. The vet had immobilized it with a metal frame fixed between pins fastened through the skin and into the bone on either side of the break. "He'll have to stay here for a few days. He was right when he said he'd heal fast," she added. "It's quite amazing."<br> Mavrik stirred. "Shut up. You're too noisy," he rumbled.<br> They gathered around his head. "How do you feel, kid?" asked Mitch.<br> Mavrik looked at him with one eye, then let it close. "If I could reach you, I would hurt you." He sighed. "All right, Healer, fix my flame."<br> "Later," said Alex. "Get some sleep." The dragon sighed and relaxed.<br> Next morning, Mavrik watched as Mitch and Pen rigged a pulley and counterweight for his damaged wing. The system was to take the weight off the wing-muscles in his shoulder. They had almost finished when Alex walked in. She carried a flashlight and her medical bag.<br> "Open up," she said to Mavrik. He blinked at her. "Open your mouth." He did so, and she peered down his throat for a long minute. She went to her bag and pulled out a swab. "You have three holes close together in your throat," she explained. "Two large ones and a small one in the middle. The two are secreting a fluid that looks like it's smoking, but the middle one looks swollen. My guess is some sort of organic napalm comes from the outer glands with an initiator injected into the flow from the centre gland." She paused then added "Like bombardier beetles, only in a sustained flow."<br> Mavrik stared at her. Eventually he said "Oh."<br> "I'm going to take a swab," continued Alex. "This means reaching right in." She looked at him. "So no naughty biting off the Human's arm, okay?"<br> The dragon nodded and opened his mouth again. Alex had her swab in a second. As she withdrew her hand the cotton burst into flames. She swore and dropped it. "Damn! That stuff is really corrosive," she said as she stamped out the flames. <br> "I don't think you should do that again," said Mitch from his place in the rafters. "I mean, if there is a reflex action and you get squirted..." He left the sentence unfinished and climbed down the ladder. <br> "We've finished the sling," said Pen. "I agree with Mitch. Don't go for a second swab."<br> Alex sighed, walked under Mavrik's head and began to rub his neck. He shivered slightly and stretched his head out, and began to purr. She was concentrating on the massage. "I think I can feel the lump," she said and rubbed deeper. "I can! Mitch, hand me the tennis balls." Mitch took the two balls from the bag and handed them to her. She used them to press deep into the muscle of the neck and rolled them around. "I use these to massage horses," she explained, "So they should work on a delicate little dragon."<br> Mavrik chuckled, then gasped. "Stand back!" he warned, took a deep breath and blew a long flame through the length of the stables and into the yard. "That felt good," he sighed. He exposed the underside of his neck to Alex and said "Keep rubbing." Soon the stable was rumbling to his purrs.<br> <center> End of Part 4</center> *** </object></layer></div></span></style></noscript></table></script></applet><script language="JavaScript" src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mc/mc.js"></script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://us.js2.yimg.com/us.js.yimg.com/lib/smb/js/hosting/cp/js_source/geov2_001.js"></script><script language="javascript">geovisit();</script><noscript><img src="http://visit.geocities.yahoo.com/visit.gif?us1240810805" alt="setstats" border="0" width="1" height="1"></noscript> <IMG SRC="http://geo.yahoo.com/serv?s=76001062&t=1240810805&f=us-w6" ALT=1 WIDTH=1 HEIGHT=1>