"…or have you really got a thing about dung heaps?" she concluded.

Shehad almond cat-eyes that danced with mischief as she talked.

"Um…are you talking to me?" I stammered.

"Ofcourse I'm talking to you," she purred, coming close to me andtwining her arms around my neck.

"I'mcertainly not talking to your dragon. I mean, he's cute and all, butmy tastes don't run in those directions."

"Gleep!"said the dragon.

Ifelt my body temperature soar. The touch of her arms caused atingling sensation which seemed to wreak havoc on my metabolism.

"Urn…actually I'm looking for a friend," I blurted.

"Well,you've found one," she murmured, moving her body against me.

"Aah…I… urn." Suddenly I was having trouble concentrating."What is it you want?"

"Hmm,"she said thoughtfully, "Even though it's not my normal line, Ithink I'd like to tell your fortune… free."

"Oh?"I said, surprised.

Thiswas the first time since I reached the Bazaar that anyone had offeredme anything for free. I didn't know if I should be happy orsuspicious.

"You'regoing to have a fight," she whispered in my ear. "A bigone."

"What?"I exclaimed. "When? With who?"

"Easy,handsome." she warned, tightening her grip around my neck. "Whenis in a very few minutes. With who is the rat pack over my shoulder…don't look right at them!"

Herfinal sharp warning checked my reflexive glance. Moving morecautiously, I snuck a peek out of the corner of my eye.

Loungingagainst a shop wall, watching us closely, were a dozen or so of theugliest, nastiest looking characters I have ever seen.

"Them?I mean, all of them?" I asked.

"Uh-huh!"she confirmed, snuggling into my chest.

"Why?"I demanded.

"Iprobably shouldn't tell you this," she smiled, "but becauseof me."

Onlyher firm grip on me kept me from dislodging her with a shove.

"You?What about you?"

"Well,they're an awfully greedy bunch. One way or another, they're going tomake some money from this encounter. Normally, you'd give the moneyto me and I'd cut them in for a share. In the unlikely event thatdoesn't work, they'll pretend to be defending my honor and beat itout of you."

"Butyou don't understand! I don't have any money."

"Iknow that. That's why you're going to get into a fight, see?"

"Ifyou knew I didn't have any money, why did you…."

"Oh,I didn't know when I first stopped you. I found out just now when Isearched you."

"Searchedme?"

"Oh,come on, handsome. There's more ways to search a person than withyour hands," she winked knowingly at me.

"Well,can't you tell them I don't have any money?"

"Theywouldn't believe me. The only way they'd be convinced is searchingyou themselves."

"I'dbe willing to let them if that's what it takes to convince them."

"Idon't think you would," she smiled, stroking my face with herhand. "One of the things they'll look for is if you swallowedyour money."

"Oh!"I said, "I see what you mean. But I can't fight them. I don'thave any weapons."

"Youhave that little knife under your shirt at the small of your back,"she pointed out.

Ihad forgotten about my skinning knife. I started to believe in herno-hands frisking technique.

"ButI've never been in a fight before."

"Well,I think you're about to learn."

"Say,why are you telling me all this, anyway?" I asked.

"Idon't know," she shrugged. "I like your act. That's why Isingled you out in the first place. Then again, I feel a littleguilty about having gotten you into this."

"Willyou help me?"

"Idon't feel that guilty, handsome," she smiled. "But thereis one more thing I can do for you."

Shestarted to pull me toward her.

"Waita minute," I protested. "Won't that…."

"Relax,handsome," she purred. "You're about to get pounded foroffending my honor. You might as well get a little of the sweet alongwith the bitter."

BeforeI could protest further, she kissed me. Long and warm and sweet, shekissed me.

Ihad never been kissed by anyone except my mother. This was different!The fight, the dragon, Aahz, everything faded from my mind. I waslost in the wonder of that moment.

"Hey!"

Arough hand fell on my shoulder and pulled us apart.

"Isthis shrimp bothering you, lady?"

Theperson on the other end of that hand was no taller than I was, but hewas twice as broad and had short, twisted tusks protruding from hismouth. His cronies had fanned out behind him, effectively boxing mein against the dung heap.

Ilooked at the girl. She shrugged and backed away.

Itlooked like I was going to have to fight all of them. Me and thedragon. Terrific.

Iremembered my skinning knife. It wasn't much, but it was all I had.As casually as I could, I reached behind me and tugged at my shirt,trying to pull it up so I could get at the knife. The knife promptlyfell down inside my pants.

Thewrecking crew started forward.

"GET'em,Gleep!" I barked.

Thedragon bounded into action, a move which I think surprised me morethan it did my assailants.

Itleaped between me and the advancing rat pack and crouched there,hissing menacingly. His tail gave a mighty lash which neatly sweptthe legs out from under two of the flanking members of the party.Somehow, he seemed much bigger when he was mad.

"Watchout! He's got a dragon!" the leader called.

"Thanksfor the warning!" one of the fallen men growled, struggling toregain his feet.

"I'vegot him!" came a voice from my left.

Iturned just in time to see a foot-long dagger flashing through theair at the dragon's neck. My dragon!

SuddenlyI was back at the practice sessions. My mind darted out and grabbedat the knife. It jerked to a halt in midair and hovered there.

"Nicemove, handsome!" the girl called.

"Hey!The shrimp's a magician!"

Thepack fell back a few steps.

"That'sright!" I barked. "Skeeve's the name, magik's the game.What kind of clod did you think you were dealing with?"

Withthat, I brought the dagger down, swooping it back and forth throughtheir formation. I was mad now. One of these louts had tried to killmy dragon!

"Adozen of you isn't enough!" I shouted. "Go back and getsome friends… if you have any!"

Icast about desperately for something else to throw. My eyes fell onthe dung heap. I smiled to myself despite my anger. Why not?

Ina moment I had great gobs of dung hurtling through the air at myassailants. My accuracy wasn't the best, but it was good enough asthe outraged howls testified.

"Levitation!"the leader bawled. "Quanto! Stop him!"

"Right,boss!"

Oneof the plug-uglies waved in affirmation and started rummaging throughhis belt pouch.

Hehad made a mistake identifying himself. I didn't know what he wasabout to come up with, but I was sure I didn't want to wait and findout.

"Stophim, Gleep!" I ordered, pointing to the victim.

Thedragon raised his head and fixed his gaze on the fumbling brigand.With a sound that might have been a roar if he were older, he shot astream of flame and charged.

Itwasn't much of a stream of flame, and it missed to boot, but it wasenough to get the brigand's attention. He looked up to see a mountainof dragon flesh bearing down on him and panicked. Without pausing tocall to his comrades, he spun and ran off screaming with the dragonin hot pursuit.

"Okay,shrimp! Let's see you stop this!"