He made up his mind, picked up his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. A few steps carried him across the room and from there out into the corridor.
As he strode past the doorway that led into the common room, Gavião looked up. He saw Galvin walking swiftly past the doorway, his feet striking the stones of the corridor harder than was strictly necessary, and sighed. He'd seen the fight between his charge and her Second brewing all day long, but Callas had assured him that she could handle him. It looked as if she'd been wrong, and their discussion hadn't gone well at all. He assumed Galvin was heading down to the stables, and returned to the messages and maps he was currently dealing with. He'd go check on Callas in a little while, but he'd give her some time to calm down first.
Galvin exited the temple, thinking about stopping by to see Daffodil. He decided that in the mood he was in, he'd just upset her, though. And he knew that Dream was stabled near Daffodil, and he didn't really want to hear anything that Dream had to say at the moment; Dream could be incredibly snarky when he felt like it. Galvin headed down the road to the gate, about a mile distant.
St. George's Lance, currently shrunk down to hand-size and stuck in a pocket, whispered in its dry, ancient voice in his mind, "Blue Great Wyrm, one mile distant, not moving." Galvin frowned. Coincidence? The only blue Great Wyrm that Galvin knew about was Nikodemus, who was currently supposed to be at the other end of Europe. "Well, he's not moving. I bet I can get to the gate and he won't even notice," muttered Galvin to himself. He picked up the pace, stretching his long legs.
The Lance kept whispering, but he tuned it out in favor of thinking about the fight that he'd just had with Callas. If I didn't love her so much, I swear I'd strangle her. He understood the reasons she'd done what she did, but her lack of trust in him grated. You'd think, after all this time, she'd know she could trust me...well, I would have tried to talk her out of it, but she could have at least have done me the favor of telling me what was going on!
Also, I do have to admit that that the Armand thing truly rankles. He'd truly lost his temper over that, probably without reason--he knew Callas well enough to know that she'd never fall for whatever pretty blandishments the flamboyant gold dragon had in his arsenal, and he knew that the accusations he'd leveled at her earlier in the evening were rather unfair. Irrationally, though, he felt as if Armand was intruding on territory that had previously been exclusively his. He knew that Callas hadn't had any romantic entanglements while she was a trainee, in large part because she hadn't trusted people well enough to get that close to any of them. But as Headmistress, she was going to have to play these games with people, the sort of thing he truly despised.
He was worrying at that thought in his mind when he came to the gate. He looked up at the stones illuminated by the waning moon. He realized that the Lance's voice had gotten more insistent in his mind over the past few minutes, and he'd been too busy woolgathering to pay any attention to it--what was it saying?
"Blue Great Wyrm, thirty yards distant, closing."
Well, that puts a different complexion on my evening. Galvin slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the Lance, ordering it to stay small for the time being. A moment later, a man with the craggy look of a Scottish highlander broke out of the brush near the gate. The man paused, turning his head, and the moonlight betrayed his empty left eye socket. It was Nikodemus, all right, and alone Galvin was no match for him, he knew. His heart sank. He attempted to move quietly towards the edge of the stone circle, but a word from Nik brought him up short.
"Galvin DuBois. Tonight is my lucky night, it seems. One rabbit slipped away from me, but another one falls into my lap. A much juicer one at that, Headmaster's Second. What are you doing out here, Galvin? Did your little Headmistress send you out here all alone?" He advanced slowly on Galvin. "Or maybe you had a little Headmistress-to-Second disagreement? You smell like anger, boy, and I'm guessing that nobody at all knows you're out here, or you wouldn't be by yourself."
"I don't see that it's really any business of yours, Nikodemus. I've no quarrel with you at the moment. Go your way, and I'll go mine."
Nik's eye narrowed. "Brave words for a mere human, all alone. You may have no quarrel with me, but I have one with you, boy. And I'm not about to let you slip out of my hands." He reached for Galvin and Galvin slid away from him, leaving him grasping nothing but air. "We can play that game too, boy." Nik's outline shimmered and expanded, blue scales swiftly overtaking human skin, great wings blotting out the moon.
Galvin ordered the lance to unfold to its full length, and he set it on his shoulder. Without a horse, the lance was more difficult to wield, but he'd do what he could--the lance was thrumming with eagerness to hurt the dragon standing before him. He lunged towards Nik, piercing the soft skin on his belly. Nik's surprised scream told him that Nik had thought he'd wait to be attacked before attacking back. The more fool he! thought Galvin grimly as he withdrew the lance and moved forward once more, attacking the vulnerable joints on the back legs.
Nik shook his head. He set himself and snaked forward towards Galvin, who had retreated a few yards looking for another opening. He missed Galvin with both sets of clawed hands, but his aim was true with his great jaws, closing them around Galvin's left shoulder. Galvin felt muscles tear and his collarbone give way with a snap, cursing as bright pain coursed through his upper body. He brought the lance around again, wrenching himself out of Nik's grip, and opened a large wound on Nik's exposed neck.
Nik hissed and swung his head away from Galvin, turning more swiftly than any creature that big ought to be able to. His wing lashed out, catching Galvin's midsection on its outside edge.
Galvin flew backwards, hitting one of the gate stones hard. The side of his head impacted with the stone with a crack, and he crumpled at the base of the stone, blood running from his nose.
Nik lowered his head and sniffed at Galvin, who was breathing shallowly. His voice rumbled deep in his chest. "Oh, good, you're still alive. You need to stay that way just a little longer, boy. Live bait works better than dead, any day. Though I'm sure you'll die before the moon sets again, so a few more hours of life may not mean that much to you."
He reached out with one clawed hand and grasped Galvin's body, lifting him gently from the ground. "I think you and I will go to Arumaga's glacier, in the north of Finland. It would be a pity if we were interrupted before I want to be found, and the weather up there is the best guard I know. Besides, who the hell would look for me north of the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter?"
He looked down and saw the lance, which had fallen from Galvin's limp hand. "Look, the boy's dropped his little toy. Dangerous toy, that is. Well, it's mine now." He picked it up with his other hand, and then crouched and leaped, hurling himself into the sky and beating his wings against the crisp air.
He shaped a message in his mind, directing it towards Morgan le Fay. "Morgan, I've lost track of Teryl, I don't think she headed to Madrid at all." He imagined Morgan's angry shriek and was glad he was nowhere near Versailles. "However, I have captured a much better prize. More later." If Morgan knew he had the Headmaster's Second of the Temple of Epona, she'd insist on imprisoning him in Versailles. Nikodemus had a much better idea. Diplomacy was very tiresome and took far too long. Better to lure Callas and the rest into a place where he could kill them and eliminate that annoyance for once and for all.
A little while hanging in the ice cave he had in mind would probably sweeten Galvin's attitude, as well. Or maybe just break his spirit. That shoulder would be mighty painful if he had to put weight on it, it would be. And with any luck, the cold would kill him before the rest showed up. He chuckled to himself, imagining the looks on their faces when they realized that the person they'd come to save had perished hours earlier.
Away he winged, bearing north, leaving Madrid behind him.
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