"02 Myth Conceptions (e)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asprin Robert)

He responded by taking an affectionate swipe at
me with his tail as he bounded past. Fortunately for
me, the gesture went wide of its mark, hitting the inn
with another jarring thud instead.

So much for my most authoritative tone. If our
two faithful charges were any more obedient, I'd be
lucky to escape with my life. Still I had to stop them.
Whoever came up with the immortal quote about
waking sleeping dragons had obviously never had to
contend with a sleeping demon.

I studied, the two of them chasing each other
through the weeds for a few moments, then decided
to handle this the easy way. Closing my eyes, I envi-
sioned both of them, the dragon and the unicorn.
Then I superimposed the image of the dragon over
that of the unicorn, fleshed it out with a few strokes
of my mental paintbrush, then opened my eyes.

To my eyes, the scene was the same, a dragon and




Robert Asprin

4

a unicorn confronting each other in a field of weeds.
But, of course, I had cast the spell, so naturally I
wouldn't be taken in. Its true effect could be read in
Gleep's reaction.

He cocked his head and peered at Buttercup, first
from this angle, then that, stretching his long serpen-
tine neck to its limits. Then he swiveled his head until
he was looking backward and repeated the process,
scanning the surrounding weeds. Then he looked at
Buttercup again.

To his eyes, his playmate had suddenly disap-
peared, to be replaced by another dragon. It was all
very confusing, and he wanted his playmate back.

In my pet's defense, when I speak of his lack of
agility, both physically and mentally, I don't mean to
imply he is either clumsy or stupid. He's young,
which also accounts for his mere ten-foot length and
half-formed wings. I fully expect that when he ma-