"David,.Peter.-.Sir.Apropos.3.-.Tong.Lashing" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

when he looked at me with a sort of cold, calculating intelligence. At such
times, he had an almost human look to him... except I suspected he was
considerably smarter than most humans I'd encountered in my lifetime. In my
dreams he would speak to me, making lacerating observations about me or the
various choices I made in my existence. In real life, however, he remained mute.
All preconceptions for Mordant, however, were eradicated when, at one point in
our sojourn through Wuin, he had opened his mouth and spoken with pure, clear
diction. It had come in the midst of a conversation I'd been having with
ShareeЧone in which I was actually claiming that I had come to believe Mordant
was a reincarnation of my departed motherЧand I had just accused Sharee of
sending me the dreams with Mordant as a way of trying to warn me of... well, I
didn't know of what.
Sharee, of course, had completely denied it. She pointed out that there was
nothing in her history to indicate she had any sort of powers of the mind. A
stray squall or passing tornado, yes, those might be laid at her door. But games
being played by the sleeping mind were outside her normal realm.
We stood there on a desolate piece of land that really wasn't all that different
from the rest of the desolation. Flat, unyielding terrain, tufts of small bits
of green giving their all to survive, and most likely losing that all. High,
high above us, carrion eaters circled lazily. I endeavored to ignore them. I
figured that looking at them would only encourage them.
"Bloody well right I'll deny it," she said. "You've got to start thinking for
yourself, and stop ascribing everything in your life to me."
Feeling in a slightly tongue-in-cheek mood, I turned to the drabit as if seeking
an ally in the discussion. "Do I have to do that, Mordant?" I inquired.
And without hesitation, Mordant replied, "Absolutely."
As you can well imagine, we stared at him, thunderstruck. For long moments, it
seemed as if the world had stopped turning. Sharee's horse even backed up,
looking concerned over the fact that the animal nearby had suddenly begun
speaking. I wondered wildly if the horse was going to start conversing as well.
Perhaps say something such as, "Shut up, you fool! They're not supposed to know
we can speak! You'll ruin it for all of us!"
I had never encountered an animal capable of speech before. The closest I'd ever
run into were animal/human hybrids, such as the repellent Harpers Bizarre, or
the feral but ultimately tragic Bicce. But Mordant was... well, a pet,
basically. Although he seemed like a curious combination of reptilian and avian
features, nevertheless he was fundamentally identifiable as a sort of dragon
offshoot. An animal, pure and simple. So for him to begin chatting with us left
us both flabbergasted. Sharee and I exchanged looks, trying to figure out if we
were delusional.
"Did... you just speak?" I asked.
Mordant looked at me with vague contempt. "What do you think?"
"That I'm dreaming? Owwwww!" I suddenly shouted, looking daggers at Sharee as I
grabbed my upper arm. "You pinched me! What did you do that for?"
"To prove to you you're not dreaming," she said with an expression she no doubt
thought was mischievous, but I simply found irritating.
"I was willing to figure that out for myself."
"I could bite you, in case there's any doubt," offered Mordant.
"Not necessary." I glanced once more at Sharee, who seemed irritatingly amused.
"Are you doing this somehow? Some sort of weaver's trick? Projecting your voice