text: Getting fourteen distinguished professors of biology and medicine assembled, plus dozens of students and several reporters, was a matter of two hours' work. Finding a place to do the vivisection was not so easy. Llredh refused to be at anything but his full size in front of his students. (Or, refused to be in a shape that cyoziworms could even remotely attack in the presence of cyoziworms, I really think.)
  
  "Let's use the Lecture Hall of the Balanced Parallelograms," said Tarcuna after a while. "Llredh can look in through the window."
  
  "That's not a suitable place for surgery," said Prof. I-don't-remember. "It's not sterile."
  
  "I did this operation before," I reminded him. "Starting on the Boulevard of the Orange Pine Trees, and ending on the roof of a bank. I'll be using so much healing that sterility won't matter."
  
  Bicker-bicker-bicker, went the surgery professors.
  
  "You've seen them change size with your own eyes, you've seen them breathe fire and lightning and darkness on television. Why are you arguing about their healing powers?" asked Tarcuna.
  
  Just because they can distort the laws of physics doesn't mean that they can also distort the laws of biology, went the surgery professors.
  
  Poke with the smallish but very sharp claw!, went Arilash.
  
  Scream and bleed!, went Dr. Smends, the most arguesome surgery professor.
  
  "Observe this fine injury — a textbook example of a sucking chest wound in its early stages," lectured Arilash. "Dr. Smends, would you not agree?" Dr. Smends was perhaps less eloquent than he had been a moment before, though not actually any less noisy. "Other honored professors?" They concurred that it was, indeed, as she had specified. At least, one might well take their rush to perform first aid and/or escape as agreement. "No, don't bother to treat it yourselves." Arilash brushed them aside with her tail. "My assistant will demonstrate the use of astral magic to distort the laws of biology." She looked to me.
  
  "Assistant, nothing. Your superior in matters of healing," I said, because fiancée points. It wasn't hard to heal. Arilash had carefully sliced flesh, but not broken bone. I looked at the professors. "Any questions?"
  
  Yes, they had plenty of questions, mostly along the lines of "How did you do that?" and "How could we learn to do that?" and "How can you be so violent so casually?" To which the answers are, "Astral magic" and "We are not going to give hovens any astral magic!" and "Because we can heal so easily."