Dragonback 01 Dragon and Thief Read Online Free PDF

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and bottom, disappearing around toward his back. Like a tuxedo
cummerbund that hadn't been put on straight, he thought, or maybe the
formal sash he'd sometimes seen military leaders wearing. There was
texturing to it, too, he saw. A golden fish-scale pattern, with a
sliver of red at the edge of each scale.
    The same pattern as the vanished dragon.
    A horrible thought struck him. Pulling the shirt free from his
jeans, he slid it all the way off his right arm so that it was hanging
on his left arm and shoulder. Twisting his head around, he looked down
at his right shoulder.
    To find himself gazing directly into the dragon's face.
    "Ye-oup!" he yelped, jerking his head back and jumping three feet
to his left.
    It was like trying to jump away from his own body, and about as
successful. The picture of the dragon didn't disappear or slide off or
anything like that. It was still there, as if it had been painted on
him.
    Then, to his utter astonishment, the face rose slowly out of his
skin, like the top of an alligator's head rising up through the surface
of the water. The long upper jaw opened slightly, giving him a glimpse
of sharp teeth—"Don't be afraid," a soft, snakelike voice said.
    Jack screeched loud enough to hurt his own ears. His tangler was
in his left hand, though he had no memory of having drawn it, and with
all his strength he slammed the short barrel down on the dragon's head.
    But the beast was too fast for him. It sank flat onto his skin
again, and Jack's screech turned to a howl of pain as his attack
succeeded only in bruising his own shoulder. Ignoring the pain, he
struck again and again, stumbling sideways in a useless attempt to get
away. Through the noise of his own panicked babbling, he was distantly
aware that there were two different voices shouting at him.
    He ignored them. Voices didn't matter. Nothing mattered but to
somehow get this thing off him.
    He was still flailing around when his foot caught on something and
he toppled over onto his side.
    Or rather, he should have toppled over onto his side. But even as
he tried to get his arm around to break his fall, the feeling on his
skin shifted, and something somehow broke his fall, setting him more or
less gently onto the broken control board he'd been tumbling toward.
    But gentle landing or not, the sudden fall snapped him out of his
mindless attack on himself. Gasping for breath, he half sat, half lay
there, his shoulder throbbing with the multiple blows he'd just
brilliantly hammered down on it. In his left ear, he could hear Uncle
Virge's voice shouting from the comm clip on his shirt collar,
demanding to know what was happening.
    In his right ear, the snakelike voice he'd heard earlier was
speaking again.
    "Everyone . . . shut . . . up," he ordered between gasps. "You
hear me? Everyone just shut up ."
    Both voices went obediently silent. Jack took a few more breaths,
trying desperately to calm down. His efforts were only a limited
success. "All right," he said at last. "You—Voice Number Two—the one
who isn't Uncle Virge. Who are you?"
    "My name is Draycos," the snake voice replied from somewhere
behind him, the sound tingling strangely against his skin.
    Jack twisted around to look, but there was nothing there. The
dragon head had disappeared from his shoulder, but out of the corner of
his eye he could just see the tip of the snout further around on his
back. "I am a poet-warrior of the K'da. Who are you?"
    "I'm Jack Morgan," Jack said, his voice starting to shake again.
Now for the big question. " Where are you?"
    "Tell me first how you came to be aboard my ship," Draycos said.
"Are you an enemy of the K'da and Shontine?"
    "I'm not an enemy of anyone," Jack protested, scrambling back to
his feet. "I saw your ship go down, and I came to check it out. That's
all."
    "Did you see our attackers?" The voice, Jack noted uneasily, moved
with him, still tingling his shoulder.
    "Well . . ." Jack hesitated, wondering how much to say. "We saw
the