Read Online A Covenant of Justice by David Gerrold - Free Book Online

his belt and stepped cautiously forward; he scooped up one of the cannons, grunting at its weight. “Holy shit. This thing could probably poke a hole in a small moon!” He pointed it at the guards. “Take off your armor now.” He unlocked the safety on the weapon. It made a terrifyingly loud click. He punched the arming circuit. The weapon emitted a high-pitched whistle as it charged itself anew.
    â€œIf you fire that in here,” cautioned the Dragon Lord, “you’ll risk punching a hole in the hull of the ship.”
    â€œI doubt that,” said Sawyer, “or you wouldn’t have issued these weapons to your troops. Dragons do not have a reputation for either caution or intelligence. Take off your armor, all of you.”
    â€œA Dragon never takes off its armor,” said the Dragon Lord, “and certainly not in front of a human.”
    â€œI wonder what the other Vampires will say when they hear that your refusal caused the death of Lady Zillabar.” Sawyer fired a single precise shot. The sound of it crackled in the air like an explosion. And when the other Dragons looked around, Captain Lax-Varney tottered on his feet, a smoking hole sizzling in the exact center of his chest. Lax-Varney collapsed to his knees clutching himself in pain, then laboriously struggled erect again. “No problem,” he said, waving off help. “No problem. He has scorched my armor, nothing more.” And then he collapsed again to the floor, this time to remain motionless. He looked dead. None of the other Dragons paid him any heed. They had already discarded him. Perhaps his death would satisfy the needs of honor. But probably not. The rest of them would probably have to die as well.
    Sawyer reset the targeting on the weapon. “I’ll fire the next shot at full power. At this range, who knows what effect that’ll produce? I admit to considerable curiosity.”
    â€œYou can’t succeed, you know,” advised the Dragon Lord.
    â€œI have died five times over, m’Lord,” Sawyer responded with a courteous nod. “At this point in life, my only interest lies in seeing how many others I can take with me the next time the opportunity arises. I should dearly like to have you accompany me to hell. Not every human arrives with a Dragon escort.” He gestured with the rifle. “The armor, now.”
    â€œNever.”
    â€œThen you’ll have the Lady’s death-stain on your name!”
    â€œThen I’ll go down in history as the greatest Dragon of all.” The Dragon Lord spread his legs wide apart. Still keeping his gaze focused on Sawyer, he hung his head low. His huge jaws parted and a terrifying rumble came issuing from deep in his throat. The sound had a terrifying edge, menacing and guttural. The Dragon Lord’s eyes had taken on a quality of madness.
    Sawyer had heard stories about the Dragon roar of madness, he’d never actually heard it until now: the Dragon’s death-warning. A Dragon would take the posture and let himself succumb to his emotions. He would stand and roar and build up his rage until it consumed him fully. When a Dragon did this, he became invulnerable to fear, to pain, to wounds of all kinds. When the rage finally overpowered him, he would attack and keep attacking until he destroyed the target of his rage or it destroyed him.

Breakout
    Sawyer knew he had to act quickly. He had to dissuade the death-rage before it erupted into a blind killing frenzy. He’d already seen an ordinary Dragon in action; he had no desire to witness at first hand the furies of the Dragon Lord. He cried, “Dishonor! Dishonor! Death-rage now will dishonor your name, your family, the Dragons, the office of Dragon Lord! Death-rage will dishonor all dragons everywhere. Death-rage brings dishonor now!” He glanced back to the others.
    â€œYou shouldn’t have asked him to take off his armor,” Tuan said.
    â€œNow you