Dream a Little Dream Read Free Page B

lizzzard!”
    Mich grew annoyed. He ‘d had just about enough. He unsheathed his saber and brought it to bear on the throat of the first troll. “Touch either, and you will die.” When that didn’t faze them, he added: “Slowly.” The trolls knew what would happen if Mich tried to cut them, but nevertheless they did feel pain and did not enjoy being cut to ribbons. Slow death meant that their reconstitution and revenge would be agonizingly delayed. They especially hated being threatened, believing that that should be a one-way process.
    One of the trolls pounced on him, knocking his sword away, while another screamed, “Get the lizzard!”
    All at once, the trolls pounced on the little basilisk and began stabbing at him with their daggers. Snort’s resilient scales protected his body from the knives, but didn’t help much with the heavy clubs that pounded his head and tender nose. Snort felt a troll sink his teeth into his floppy bat-wing ear. He howled with pain.
    Mich tried to shake off the trolls so he could help his friend, but the disgusting little creatures were strong for their size, and with three of them holding on to him he could not shake himself free.
    Snort was bleeding now and was getting agitated. One of the trolls made the mistake of biting his tender tail tip. Snort couldn’t help it. He bawled with pain and exhaled a stream of white-hot fire. He melted the offending troll into green glop and used a hind foot to scrape dirt into the mess so that it was unable to reconstruct right away.
    The other trolls backed off, because they did not appreciateeffective resistance. They joined the attack on Mich. Snort could not fire at them for fear of burning Mich as well.
    Mich could not move. He screamed as one of the monsters slashed his face with his own sword. He realized belatedly that he had been a fool to underestimate the little monsters. He had been contemptuous of them, and that was about to get him killed.
    The next thing he knew, all the trolls were gone. In their place was a putrid smell, fading as a breeze wafted it clear. What had happened? Had they suddenly dived for cover?
    Mich blinked his eyes, peering around. There was no sign of the rancid beasts. Just the white unisus standing there. Then he understood.
    Heat had dissolved the trolls into nothing by pointing his dangerous, ridged horn at them. The unisus had delayed as long as he could before acting. Although his friend needed his help, Heat still did not enjoy killing the trolls. They couldn’t help it if they were part of the lowest rung of the ladder of society.
    “Thank you, friend,” Mich said, recovering his wits and his sword.
    You’re welcome, Heat thought regretfully.
    Once a year, Heat was able to generate a laser that could vaporize almost anything in an instant. The good thing was that his laser was selective. He could use it to kill whomever he wished and however many he wished, all at once. It built up slowly in his body, and after it was used, it took another full year to recharge. It was quite possible for Heat to destroy the whole world. He was not an evil creature, fortunately, and used his powers only when the need was dire. He hated to destroy lives, even those of trolls. He also regretted expending his charge on something relatively insignificant, instead of saving it for a truly impressive feat. Suppose the next attack was by ten large dragons, or there was a massive avalanche threatening them, and Heat was unable to help?

    Mich was grateful that Heat had used his power to save him once again, but guilty for not being able to handle the situation himself. Had he had the sense to tackle the trolls rationally, he would have kept his sword out of their reach and used it to cut off their toes, fingers, noses, eyeballs, and ears. That would have distracted them, because such small appendages couldn’t reconstitute into anything dangerous, while handicapping the trolls so that they would not be able to fight