Date: Mon, 4 Nov 1996 00:54:10 +0000 From: Christopher Vaughan Subject: INT: Lancomb's Adventure RESERVED: Lancomb, Aderyn, and Sanchez The last rays of the sun cast the distant sky into pastel reds, blues and yellows. The flat, Kansas farmlands were silhouetted before the coral sky. Lancomb looked at the horizon, sadly. His mind kept slipping back to his more youthful days - and - Aderyn. "The sky, she is beautiful, tonight, no?" Lancomb sighed, rings of smoke rising from his long snout to merge into the black cloud at the top of the barn. "If you say so," he said, breathlessly before craddling his head on his forelimbs. "Ay! Don' tell me you are theenkin' of 'er, again?" Lancomb watched Sanchez move about in the shadows of the barn. Sanchez was tall and lean, with a hawk nose. He always wore a sombrero - which made him stand out in Republican Kansas. Lancomb often warned him he was jeopardizing his missions when he wore the hat. "Et is the only thing I 'ave, senor. Et reminds me of home," Sanchez would say. "Yes," Lancomb said, "I am thinking of her, again. I can't close my eyes without seeing her beautiful, red face. It's a terrible thing, being immortal, Sanchez. I will live forever with her face in my mind." "Not necessarily. A knight could hunt you down and kill you..." "Don't be an idiot, Sanchez. I keep telling you, there are no knights anymore. They all died off hundreds of years, ago." "Et is a shame, senor." Lancomb sat bolt-upright and scratched at his wing with his hind foot. "Ah - cramp - cramp. Oh - I miss my cave. It had so much room for me to stretch out, in..." "Ef you 'ad eaten those men, they never would 'ave told other people about et. Now they have tours. Can you believe that? People go and tour your cave while you are forced to live, here, in an old barn." Lancomb blew a fire ring and played with it in his paw. "No matter," he said, "time and tide wait for no one. It was time for me to move on." He looked over at his bookcase and shrugged. "At least I have all these wonderful books." "Si. The cave was not a good place to keep them. The dampness rotted their pages." "I just need an adventure, Sanchez." Lancomb laid his head down, again. The sun had disappeared beneath the horizon and the Kansas sky filled with bright stars. He looked for Draco as he drifted off into a lonely sleep. _____________________________ Chris Vaughan space.cowboy@worldnet.att.net