"Gordon R. Dickson - Dragon Knight 07 - The Dragon and the G" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

could still seem to be a fearsome opponent. Many among them might no longer care what
happened to them; but the fear of something other than human, instilled in them from birth, might
override even their desperation and hatred. If, for instance, something equal to the boomps
sounded from the woods around themтАж

"Theoluf!" he shouted.

"Yes, m'Lord?" came the prompt answer of his squire from behind himтАФ everybody was coming
up behind him today, for some reason.

"Take overтАФI'm going out. Keep a runner beside you at all times to send with any necessary
message to the Lady Angela."

"Yes, m'Lord."

"I'm going to fly out of the Castle." Jim's emphasis on the word "fly" meant that he would be
changing shape. "Watch and tell me what those outside do. If any run off into the woods"тАФ
Malencontri, like all castles, was surrounded by an area cleared of trees and shrubs, so attackers
would have to come out into the openтАФ"looking as if they're deserting, be ready to tell me how
many and where. Stand away from me."

Theoluf and the nearest men backed off to give him room for a much larger body, and Jim
changed into his alternate shape as a very large, very fierce-looking dragon. He dived over the
battlements and down upon the men below.

The desperation and hatred of those men might have made them immune to the paralyzing fear of
the supernatural and magical that had been fed them as children; but it had done nothing to dull
their survival instincts. They scattered out of the line of Jim's apparent attack like chickens under
the dive of a hawk on their yard.

Jim, of course, had no intention of attacking even one of themтАФlingering to fight here, once they


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 Dickson, Gordon R. - Dragon Knight 07 - The Dragon and the Gnarly King (v1.0) (html)proofed

had recovered their wits, would be sure death even for the strongest of dragons. So he pulled out
of his dive at the last minuteтАФ making a fine noise as his wings caught the air like a parachute-
and he began to explode skyward on their full climbing power.

That power was considerable. He went almost straight up, like a fighter plane of his own later
century; but it was necessarily limited by the energy stored in him. He was like an opera singer
who could hold a high note for an amazing length of time, but when his physical limit was
reached, no more was possible.

Still, that much took him up until he was a small airborne shape in the sky over their heads.
Breathless, he extended his massive wings, tilted them to the flow of the air current he had just
passed through, and, like a latter-period sailplane, began his effortless soaring.

He had ended up soaring westward, toward Castle Smythe, home of his closest friendтАФand literal