Orion in the Dying Time by Ben Bova

stood behind him, strangely decked with necklaces of animals' teeth.
    There was no sign of a battle in this village. No sign even of a struggle. None of the men were wounded. As far as I could tell, all the people who had been there when I had left were still there.
    "Tell me what happened," I said to Kraal. His face twisted into a miserably unhappy grimace.
    "It was her or us," Reeva snapped. "If we did not give her to them, they would kill us all."
    "Tell me what happened," I repeated, anger simmering in my blood.
    "The dragons came," Kraal said, almost mumbling in his shame and regret. "And their masters. They said they wanted you and the woman. If we gave the two of you to them, they would leave us alone."
    "And you did what they asked?"
    "Anya did not fight against it," Reeva said, her tone almost angry. "She saw the wisdom of it."
    "And you let them take her without a fight?"
    "They were dragons, Orion," Kraal whined. "Big ones. Six of them. And masters riding them."
    Reeva pushed past him to confront me. "I am the priestess now. Anya's power has passed to me."
    I wanted to grab her by her scrawny throat and crush her. This was the reward for all that Anya had taught her. My suspicions about little Reeva had been right. She had not been seeking protection; she had sought power.
    Looking past her to Kraal, I said, "And you think the dragons will leave you alone now?"
    He nodded dumbly.
    "Of course they will," Reeva said triumphantly. "Because we will provide them slaves. We will not be harmed. The masters will reward us!"
    My anger collapsed into a sense of total defeat. All that Anya and I had taught these people would be used against other humans. Instead of building up an alliance against Set, they had caved in at the first sign of danger and agreed to collaborate with the devils.
    "Where did they take Anya?"
    "To the north," Kraal answered.
    The bitterness I felt was like acid burning inside me. "Then I'll head north. You won't see me again."
    "I'll go with you," Chron said.
    Reeva's dark eyes flashed. "You will go north, Orion. That is certain."
    From behind the row of mud huts strode two reptilian masters. The crowd parted silently to let them advance toward me.
    They looked like smaller replicas of Set. Almost human in form. Almost. Clawed feet. Three-fingered taloned hands. Their naked bodies were covered with light red scales that glittered in the mottled sunlight filtering through the tall trees. Slim tails that almost reached the ground, twitching constantly. Reptile faces with narrow slashes for mouths and red eyes with vertical black slits for pupils. No discernable ears and only a pair of breathing holes below the eyes instead of noses.
    I whipped the dagger from its sheath on my thigh and Chron leveled his spear at the two reptiles.
    "No," I said to the youngster. "Stay out of this."
    Then I saw two dozen spear points leveled at me. Most of the men in the village were staring at me grimly, their weapons in their hands.
    "Please, Orion," said Kraal in a strangled, agonized voice. "If you fight, they will destroy us all."
    The treachery was complete. I realized that Reeva had convinced Kraal to go along with the enemy. He was the tribe's leader, but she was now its priestess and she could twist Kraal to her whims.
    Then I heard the crunching sound of heavy footsteps through foliage. From beyond the miserable little huts reared the heads of two dragons, meat-eaters, fighters.
    The pair of masters stepped past Kraal and Reeva to confront me. They were my own height, which put them a full head above the tallest villager. Their scaly reptilian faces showed no emotion whatever, yet their glittering serpent's eyes stirred deep hatred within me.
    Silently the one on my right extended a three-fingered hand. Reluctantly I handed him my dagger. I had won it on the plain of Ilios, before the beetling walls of Troy, a gift from Odysseus himself for battle prowess. It was useless to me now, in this time and place. Still,