About Live by the Sword: A Dragonwalker Story

by Lee Benoit
35 pages / 7800 words
Ebook zipped file contains - html, lit, Adobe and Sony optimized pdf, prc, epub

David Espada's life is a mess. Blinded during the experiments that produced Endicott's dragon dogs, and still stinging from a particularly nasty betrayal, David has no business pursuing the town veterinarian -- until David's beloved guide dog Drake finds himself on the outside of some poisonous lawn chemicals and a visit to Doc Wilson becomes a matter of life and death.

Thayer Wilson's life is a mess, too. He helped heal the dragon dogs when they were abducted and damaged and knows he shouldn't be interested in the blind psychologist who helped bring the dragon dogs into existence. Even more complicated, Thayer's becoming fiercely devoted to Bug, a local kid with a miserable home life who helps out around the clinic.

Three damaged humans, and the dragon dog who leads them all to the life they need --welcome to the town of Endicott, a small town with a scaly, winged twist, where romance flies on a diet of kibble!

Sample

David let Drake lead him back and forth across the sidewalk in front of the veterinary clinic. Normally David wasn't much of a pacer, not since the laboratory accident that left him blind, but he trusted his Golden Retriever implicitly, and Drake seemed to feel the need to keep moving. David hoped the activity didn't speed the poison through his companion's system, and he was grateful Drake wasn't worse off.

Drake stopped when voices reached them from the bayside corner of the road, and David turned, relieved to recognize one of the voices as that of his acquaintance, Thayer Wilson, Endicott's only vet and David's best hope for Drake.

"David!" Thayer's voice was hazelnuts and chocolate, and even worried as he was for his dog David smiled at the sound of it. Thayer sounded happy to see him. But Thayer wasn't alone, and so David answered cautiously.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Wilson. I was hoping you'd see Drake as a walk-in. I'm afraid he's--

Shifting. That's what Drake was doing. David tightened his grip on Drake's harness and tried to keep up as the big Golden winged his way in Thayer's direction. But Drake didn't stop where Thayer stood. David smelled the lavender and vetiver scent of Thayer pass to his left and heard a delighted shriek from about the level of his solar plexus.

"You can let him go, David," Thayer's voice said, sounding amused. "Drake won't hurt Bug and Bug won't let Drake go far."

Doing what Thayer commanded came as naturally as anything to David, and soon he heard the child's -- who named a child Bug anyway -- laughter as Drake applied slurping licks.

"Good with dragon dogs, is he?" David asked, mostly to get Thayer to speak to him some more.

"The best." A broad, warm hand wrapped around David's arm above the elbow and Thayer guided him matter-of-factly toward the clinic. "So, what brings you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."

That was something David liked about Thayer. The man didn't change the way he talked around David, said words like ‘see' and ‘look' without that little flinch of hesitation so many others had. It was almost as if Thayer understood the words as metaphorical, the way David did.

"Mrs. Paul had a lawn crew in this morning and said she saw Drake lapping at one of their canisters. I don't know if he swallowed pesticide or herbicide, but he vomited about an hour ago and I figured we'd best come in. I hope you don't mind."

"We'll take care of it, David." The hand on David's arm gave a gentle squeeze that David felt in his chest. "Come on, boys," Thayer called to Bug and Drake.

The little boy fretted once he heard that Drake might be sick. Evidently he was one of Endi's dragon dog outreach kids and remembered, as David did, the horror of Endicott's flying dogs being kidnapped by the shadowy research group that had engineered them. David had met Thayer while helping to treat the dogs. He wasn't a medical doctor, but David had -- to his shame -- been part of that misguided research project. He'd also been its victim. He didn't know how helpful he'd been, but his offer and efforts to help had been penance of a sort.

He still felt awkward around Thayer, knowing the veterinarian was aware of David's part in bringing the dragon dogs into existence. That feeling melted, however, as he sat with young Bug in the waiting room while Thayer administered a dose of activated charcoal.

"I know you," the boy said. "You're Endi's friend."

"I hope so," David replied. He didn't know much about interacting with children. "So are you, I take it."

"Oh, yeah," Bug said. "I'm on the outreach team and I'm learning all about dogs and I wanna be a vet someday if--"

The chatter came to an abrupt stop and David felt the boy fold in on himself like a day lily at sunset. He couldn't say why, but the sudden quiet saddened him. "You have a way with Drake. I think you'd be an excellent vet."

David felt the boy shrug beside him. "Nah," he said. All the sunshine had left his voice. "Probably just work at the cannery like my dad."

Ah. David might not know much about children, but he knew about parental expectations. "My father wanted me to follow in his footsteps, too. He was a doctor."

"So're you," Bug said. "I heard Endi introduce you as Dr. Espada."

David smiled in the direction he imagined Bug's face was. "But I became a psychologist, not a medical doctor. My father was very disappointed in me."

"My dad's always disappointed in me," Bug said softly. He rested a small, soft hand on David's. "Did your dad get over it?"

David swallowed past a lump in his throat. If he'd suffered under his father's high expectations, it seemed Bug suffered low ones. "I wish I could say he did," David said after a moment.

"Maybe you're better off without him." Bug said with a tremor of conviction David suspected had nothing to do with David and his father.

The door to the exam room opened. "He's all set," Thayer said. He didn't comment on Bug practically holding hands with David, and Bug didn't move. Somehow, David felt proud of the touch.

Drake's nails clicked on the tile floor. He must have shifted again during his treatment. Thayer went on. "He should be fine with lots of water and some sleep. How about we walk you home?"