"(ebook) Anthony Piers - Xanth 23 - Xone Of Contention" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

"Uh, okay." he agreed.

The picture lost animation. It was just a picture, again instead of a video.

He turned and walked on down the hall, looking at the other pictures. The> were of various fantasy scenes, each painted on a large leaf. One was a fanc\ castle, with a moat around it and fruit trees beside it, labeled CASTLE ROOGNA. Another was a monstrous gulf, labeled GAP CHASM. Another was a group of centaurs. That made him pause. The males were

20

muscuUu in their human aspects, with large bows slung across their backs, while the females wereЧextremely well endowed They wore no clothing on their bodies, not even halters. Fascinating! But he wasn't ready to tackle anything like that, so he moved on until he came to a scene oi a deep, quiet forest. There was a squirrel in the foreground. ordinary except ior one thing: it had wings. A flying squirrel, of course.

That should do. But how did he gel into that body, even in illusion? There didn't seem to be any instructions. Breanna had assumed he knew how, forgetting how "slow" he was about such things. Think himself into it, as she had suggested?

"I am a squirrel." he said tentatively. Nothing happened. "A winged squirrel." Still nothing.

He stared into the picture, pondering. Did he need to hum-whistle to invoke the magic9 He tried that, and the picture seemed to shimmer and expand, but he still wasn't in it. The winged squirrel was still there, with a dark trail wending into the background.

Then, irrelevantly, he remembered a song. It was about a young man who faced a difficult trip through a forest, yet he anticipated it with joy. He began to hum it, thinking the words. "Though the path is long and dark, rocky steep and narrow/Though the wood is dark and cold, this brings me no sorrow." Because in that woodland lived his darling loved one. Edsel was married, but he still liked romantic situations. He pictured Pia in that wood, as lovely as she had been at sixteen.

Then he was in the scene. The forest was suddenly huge around him. He took a step, faltered, and spread his wings for balance. He was the flying squirrel! Could he really fly? It seemed worth a try.

He faced in the direction of a glade, spread his wings, ran on his hind feet, flappedЧand was airborne! He pumped his wings frantically, trying to maintain balance while gaining elevation, but overdid it and stalled out. He dropped, landing on his tail. No damage done, fortunately.

But his clumsy effort had attracted attention. Suddenly a monstrous shape was entering the glade. It was a fire-breathing dragon!

Edsel panicked. He got all four feet under him, folded his wings, and scooted for the nearest underbrush. A jet of flame passed over his head, and he realized that the dragon had expected him to take flight, so had aimed high. But because he was really a land-bound creature, he had stayed on landЧand maybe saved himself a frying.

However, the dragon wasn't through. It was reorienting, and this time it wouldn't miss Brush would not protect him from that flamethrower

XONF OF CONTENTION 21

Edsel scrambled for the nearest tree, getting behind it just as the flame set the brush on fire.

How could he escape? He peered up the trunk of the tree. The top seemed worlds away, and he didn't trust his claws to hold on, for all that he was a squirrel. The dragon could toast him long before he got out of range. He heard the ground shaking is it tramped toward the tree

He would have to make a break for it on the ground. Maybe il he ran toward the dragon, that would surprise it, and he could get by it and beyond it before it could turn around. Then maybe he could find a hole in the ground or something.

A giant foot crashed down on one side of the tree. Edsel turned to the other sideЧand there was the dragon's awful snoot. He was trapped before he even got started.

"I want out of here!" he cried. And there he was back in the hall, standing before the picture, which now showed a dragon crouching by a tree. His heart was pounding. That had been one close escape.

If this was illusion, he wasn't sure he would care to try the reality. He'd better tell Breanna the deal was off. He walked down the hall toward her Leaf.

Then, bothered by something, he turned back to the picture. The dragon was now looking around, evidently having lost the squirrel. That was what Edsel had wanted to know: that the squirrel had escaped. He had not led it into a frying or chomping. He turned away again, relieved.

As he approached the Leaf, it came to life. "Oh, there you are," Breanna's face said. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Not exactly," he said, abashed.

"I thought maybe you'd try the one with the mermaids in the pool. I hear they can be very friendly with human visitors."