The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell Page A

matter. This is just a dream.”
    “No!” Mari shoved the bottle into his hands, anger and frustration giving her a little extra strength. “I already told you that I’m not going to abandon anyone if I can help it. There’s no way I’ll let you die for me!”
    “I will do what I will,” he responded with a deathly calm.
    “Drink it!”
    “No Mechanic can give me orders.”
    “Do what you want, then, but I won’t drink that water!” She turned to walk onward, torn between anger at his stubbornness and distress at the Mage’s inexplicable willingness to sacrifice for someone else. “Just drink your share and let’s go.” Not waiting for him to answer, Mari took a step.
    Then paused.
    The Mage took a couple of steps to stand beside her. “What is wrong?”
    “Listen.” They did, and the sound she had heard gradually became clearer. The clop of shod horse hooves on the packed surface of the road they were following, coming slowly closer from behind. “Is it the bandits?” Mari whispered.
    Mage Alain reached out to grab her arm and push her into motion. Mari followed him off the road a short distance, where they lay down to watch. She yanked her pistol from its shoulder holster, checked the clip of ammunition, pulled back the slide to load a round and clicked off the safety. She noticed that the Mage watched her actions with uncomprehending eyes.
    As the sound of hooves grew closer it became apparent that there were a lot of horses approaching, moving at a slow and steady pace that could be maintained for hours. It took a long time for the horses trudging along the road to reach them, a long time spent staring into the darkness and wondering if the end would come quickly after all at the hands of bandits instead of gradually as her body failed in the heat. But if they avoided being spotted by the riders on the road, then they would be overcome by the heat before the next day ended.
    We’ll die either way. Those people on the road are our only chance to live, if they’re not bandits.
She made a decision, and as the riders came near, their shapes hard to see clearly in the dark, Mari stood up and took a few wobbly steps forward, leveling her pistol at the figures on horseback. “On the road!” Mari called in a dried- out voice that nonetheless seemed to echo across the silent land. Worried that she might sound like an exhausted and frightened girl, Mari put every ounce of Mechanic command that she could muster into the words she spoke. “Halt in the name of the Mechanics Guild!”

Chapter Five
    Alain did not know whether Master Mechanic Mari had made a conscious decision to die quickly or had simply begun hallucinating. He had noticed a couple of times when she seemed to be carrying on conversations with others who were not present, but given his own experiences with physical stress Alain did not hold that against her.
    However,this time when she acted he had no choice but to rise and stand near her. If he still allowed himself emotions, Alain would be very unhappy with this Mechanic. Even though he had been surprised that she had kept asking his opinion, he had already become used to it, making her sudden action doubly annoying. As worn out as he was, Alain had no idea what kind of spells he could manage right now, but he felt certain they would not be sufficient to deal with the number of riders he could see. If Mechanic Mari valued his opinion so much, why had she decided to enter into a fight to the death without at least saying something to him beforehand?
    She was a Mechanic, so it been foolish of him to expect her to act wisely. But she had seemed to be wiser than to confront so large a threat with her one weapon.
    The riders had come to a halt, faces turned toward Alain and the Mechanic. For a moment, the only sound came from the small movements of the horses shifting restlessly on the road. Alain noticed Mechanic Mari’s extended arm wavered noticeably, but her weapon stayed aimed toward the