Dragon and Soldier is a 2004 science fiction novel by Timothy Zahn[1] and the second book in his Dragonback series.

It follows the human Jack Morgan and his dragon-esque partner Draycos as they set off on an unsuccessful investigation.

[3] To identify which, among the various mercenary armies operating in the Orion Arm, coöperated with Draycos' most-recent attackers, Jack enlists in the mercenary force 'Whinyard's Edge', to investigate whether they, or any of their rivals, were participants in the ambush; but when Jack's burglary of their records is interrupted by that of fellow-recruit 'Alison Kayna', both burglars, and their four closest acquaintances among the new recruits, are betrayed by their officers to the rival organization 'Shamshir'.

Thereafter Jack plans to investigate the slave-trade supplying all the mercenary societies with 'Brummgas' (a troll-like species), in hope of there finding the desired information.

[4][5] In the epilogue, Alison Kayna investigates Jack's possessions; but the results are unseen until the sixth book of the series, Dragon and Liberator.