Dragon Magic by Andre Norton Page B

fortune by Jehovah.
    But why do we speak of kings gone, brother? You must hunger and thirst, and this food is good. I have stood where you stand in this dark hour, and yet I still live. By the Lord God’s favor, I have suffered no great ill, and have even won to some authority.”
    Sherkarer listened. Whether he could believe was another matter. It seemed that this Daniel meant good, and there was a deep hunger in him which made him tremble a little when he looked at the food. Still, he did not reach for the bowl, but looked searchingly at Daniel.
    “Why do you come to me?”
    “Because you are one taken from his home by war, even as I was.
    And—” He hesitated, and then spoke what Sherkarer thought to be the truth. “They say that you came with the dragon that has been given to the priests of Bel, and that you know much of it.”
    Sherkarer now took the food. He could more readily believe that it was brought in payment for information than because this stranger had merely shown general good will.

    “I know of the lau,” he answered shortly, determined that what he did not know he would invent, this being his only weapon against the city and its people.
    “Lau—” Daniel repeated. “So do you call it in your tongue? Here they name it ‘sirrush’—dragon. Men liken it to those demons seen only in evil dreams. Though there is an old, old tale that once such did abide in the river marshes, known to the priests of Bel, but that was in the far past.
    “Now that Cha-paz has brought this sirrush-lau to the temple, it is taken to be a mighty omen in favor of Bel. It will give his priests even greater power—”
    Sherkarer had been busy spooning the stew in the bowl into his mouth.
    It was good, far better fare than any he had had since the fall of Napata.
    But he was listening, too, for it is through the eyes and ears that one learns. A spiderweb of facts can tie up the lion of action; not to know is bad, not to strive to know is worse.
    “Soon comes the time,” Daniel was continuing, “when the great king Nebuchadnezzar himself must surrender all power to Marduk-Bel for a day, receiving it back only if the god chooses. To bring forth the sirrush-lau at such a ceremony will give the priests even more control.”
    “You speak of these priests and their god,” Sherkarer interrupted, “as if they were not your priests, or your god.”
    The young man smiled. “There may be the chains of slavery on your wrists, brother, but no bonds lie upon your mind. No, all within Babylon know that I do not bow knee to Marduk-Bel, but serve the true God.”
    “Apedemek?” Sherkarer did not believe him.
    Daniel shook his head. “The Lord God Jehovah, who made strong covenant with my people. We bow not in the temples of idols and false gods. And even here the Great King has listened to our words and has begun to seek for greater light than he can find on these cursed altars. But with the coming of this monster Marduk-Bel’s priests wax stronger.”
    “The teeth smile, but what lies in the heart?” Sherkarer returned. “I eat by your favor, stranger, but wood may remain ten years in the river and still not become a crocodile. I do not see that I should take up sword in your war. What matters it to me what god this king calls upon?”
    Still Daniel smiled. “You are weary and all is strange to you, even as it was when they brought us from Judea into Babylon. Perhaps I have been in too great haste in this matter. But you, even more than Cha-paz, know the nature of this sirrush. And the priests”—he lost his smile now, wearing the grim face of a warrior—”talk of giving a man as sacrifice to it. Do you not think that the first such offering might be you?”
    “Thunder is not yet rain.” Sherkarer tried to keep his voice steady.
    Some things he did know about the lau, and it could be that these priests could carry out such a sacrifice, though perhaps not just in the manner they intended. He was tired, and more than a