Then the horses became unruly. "Methinks they scent our quarry," said Eudoric.
When the riders themselves could detect the odor and the horses became almost unmanageable, Eudoric and Jillo dismounted.
"Tie the nags securely," said Eudoric. " 'Twould never do to slay our beast and then find that our horses had fled, leaving us to drag this land cockadrill home afoot."
As if in answer, a deep grunt came from ahead. While Jillo secured the horses, Eudoric laid out his new equipment and methodically loaded his piece.
"Here it comes," said Eudoric. "Stand by with that torch. Apply it not ere I give the word!"
The dragon came in sight, plodding along the trail and swinging its head from side to side. Having just shed its skin, the dragon gleamed in a reticular pattern of green and black, as if it had been freshly painted. Its great, golden, slit-pupiled eyes were now keen.
The horses screamed, causing the dragon to look up and speed its approach.
"Ready?" said Eudoric, setting the device in its rest.
"Aye, sir. Here goeth!" Without awaiting further command, Jillo applied the torch to the touchhole.
With a great boom and a cloud of smoke, the device discharged, rocking Eudoric back a pace. When the smoke cleared, the dragon was still rushing upon them, unharmed.
"Thou idiot!" screamed Eudoric. "I told thee not to give fire until I commanded! Thou hast made me miss it clean!"
"I'm s-sorry, sir. I was palsied with fear. What shall we do now?"
"Run, fool!" Dropping the device, Eudoric turned and fled.
Jillo also ran. Eudoric tripped over a root and fell sprawling. Jillo stopped to guard his fallen master and turned to face the dragon. As Eudoric scrambled up, Jillo hurled the torch at the dragon's open maw.
The throw fell just short of its target. It happened, however, that the dragon was just passing over the bag of black powder in its charge. The whirling torch, descending in its flight beneath the monster's head, struck this sack.
BOOM!
When the dragon hunters returned, they found the dragon writhing in its death throes. Its whole underside had been blown open, and blood and guts spilled out.
"Well!" said Eudoric, drawing a long breath. "That is enough knightly adventure to last me for many a year. Fall to; we must flay the creature. Belike we can sell that part of the hide that we take not home ourselves."
"How do ye propose to get it back to Liptai? Its hide alone must weigh in the hundreds."
"Vie shall hitch the dragon's tail to our two nags and lead them, dragging it behind. 'Twill be a weary swink, but we must needs recover as much as we can to recoup our losses."
An hour later, blood-spattered from head to foot, they were still struggling with the vast hide. Then, a man in forester's garb, with a large gilt medallion on his breast, rode up and dismounted. He was a big, rugged-looking man with a rat-trap mouth.
"Who slew this beast, good my sirs?" he inquired.
Jillo spoke: "My noble master, the squire Eudoric Dambertson here. He is the hero who hath brought this accursed beast to book."
"Be that sooth?" said the man to Eudoric.
"Well, ah," said Eudoric, "I must not claim much credit for the deed."
"But ye were the slayer, yea? Then, sir, ye are under arrest."
"What? But wherefore?"
"Ye shall see." From his garments, the stranger produced a length of cord with knots at intervals. With this he measured the dragon from nose to tail. Then the man stood up again.
"To answer your question, on three grounds: imprimis, for slaying a dragon out of lawful season; secundus, for slaying a dragon below the minimum size permitted; and tertius, for slaying a female dragon, which is protected the year round."
"You say this is a female?"
"Aye, 'tis as plain as the nose on your face."
"How does one tell with dragons?"
"Know, knave, that the male bath small horns behind the eyes, the which this specimen patently lacks."
"Who are you, anyway?" demanded Eudoric.
"Senior game warden Voytsik of Prath, at your service. My credentials." The man fingered his medallion. "Now, show me your licenses, pray!"
"Licenses?" said Eudoric blankly.
"Hunting licenses, oaf!"
"None told us that such were required, sir," said Jillo.
"Ignorance of the law is no pretext; ye should have asked. That makes four counts of illegality."
Eudoric said, "But why—why in the name of the God and Goddess—"
"Pray, swear not by your false, heretical deities."
"Well, why should you Pathenians wish to preserve these monstrous reptiles?"
"Imprimis, because their hides and other parts have commercial value, which would perish were the whole race extirpated. Secundus, because they help to maintain the balance of nature by devouring the giant snails, which otherwise would issue forth nightly from the forest in such numbers as to strip bare our crops, orchards, and gardens and reduce our folk to hunger. And tertius, because they add a picturesque element to the landscape, thus luring foreigners to visit our land and spend their gold therein. Doth that explanation satisfy you?"
Eudoric had a fleeting thought of assaulting the stranger and either killing him or rendering him helpless while Eudoric and Jillo salvaged their prize. Even as he thought, three more tough-looking fellows, clad like Voytsik and armed with crossbows, rode out of the trees and formed up behind their leader.
"Now come along, ye two," said Voytsik.
"Whither?" asked Eudoric.
"Back to Liptai. On the morrow, we take the stage to Velitchovo, where your case will be tried."
"Your pardon, sir; we take the what?"
"The stagecoach."
"What's that, good my sir?"
"By the only God, ye must come from a barbarous land indeed! Ye shall see. Now come along, lest we be benighted in the woods."
The stagecoach made a regular round trip between Liptai and Velitchovo thrice a sennight. Jillo made the journey sunk in gloom, Eudoric kept busy viewing the passing countryside and, when opportunity offered, asking the driver about his occupation: pay, hours, fares, the cost of the vehicle, and so forth. By the time the prisoners reached their destination, both stank mightily because they had had no chance to wash the dragon's blood from their blood-soaked garments.
As they neared the capital, the driver whipped up his team to a gallop. They rattled along the road beside the muddy river Pshora until the river made a bend. Then they thundered across the planks of a bridge.
Velitchovo was a real city, with a roughly paved main street and an onion-domed, brightly colored cathedral of the One God. In a massively timbered municipal palace, a bewhiskered magistrate asked, "Which of you two aliens truly slew the beast?"
"The younger, hight Eudoric," said Voytsik.
"Nay, Your Honor, 'twas I!" said Jillo.
"That is not what he said when we came upon them red-handed from their crime," said Voytsik. "This lean fellow plainly averred that his companion had done the deed, and the other denied it not."
"I can explain that," said Jillo. "I am the servant of the most worshipful squire Eudoric Dambertson of Arduen. We set forth to slay the creature, thinking this a noble and heroic deed that should redound to our glory on earth and our credit in Heaven. Whereas we both had a part in the act, the fatal stroke was delivered by your humble servant here. Howsomever, wishing like a good servant for all the glory to go to my master, I gave him the full credit, not knowing that this credit should be counted as blame."
"What say ye to that, Master Eudoric?" asked the judge.
"Jillo's account is essentially true," said Eudoric. "I must, however, confess that my failure to slay the beast was due to mischance and not want of intent."