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

"It's meтАФGarnacka, m'Lord!" said the young dragon. He had already transferred to Jim's air
current and been sidling closer, with little pumps of his wings, until he was no more than fifty
feet away. He sailed along side-by-side with Jim for a few minutes of silence, evidently feeling
his name ought to explain everything about his being here.

When Jim said nothing, Garnacka lowered the volume of his voice self-deprecatingly. "Actually,
I'm Garnacka, because I was named after my grandfather. But everybody calls me Acka."

"What do you want, Acka?" asked Jim.

"Well, m'Lord," said Acka, and paused again. He was looking as winning as possible, like a
young dragon about to ask one of his parents for something which he was almost sure would be
answered by a thunderous roar of "Certainly not!" Dragons did not use the same facial
expressions as human beings. Acka's four protruding young fangs were pressed tight back against
the otherwise-closed crocodile-like lips, his eyes were very bright, and his ears were erect,
wiggling slightly at the tips, ingratiatingly. "Pray forgive me for intruding upon you, m'Lord."

Language like that was absolutely unnatural for a dragon. Acka had to have learned it from
Secoh, who in his turn had learned it from the servants, when he came visiting Jim at Malencontri.

"That's all right," said Jim, as pleasantly as he could, but very distinctly. "WhatтАж doтАж youтАж
want?"

"I just wanted to tell your Lordship," said Acka, "that you can call on me at any time. You don't
need to wait to have Secoh go and find me or any of the other dragons. If you just call or send a
message directly to me, I'll be there right away, before anyone else!"

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


"Good. I will," said Jim. "Thank you, Acka. Good-bye."

"Under any circumstances," said Acka, earnestly. "No matter how dangerous it is, you can count
on me. If you can just get me by magickтАФwhy don't you do that? It would save time all around."

"I'll think about it," said Jim. "Now, farewell, Ackal"

"Farewell, my Lord," said Acka, sideslipping away regretfully. "Honored to have talked to youтАж"

Jim watched him go. Acka had dropped to a lower air current but one still running westward. The
Cliffside Eyrie which was Acka's home was in the opposite direction. He was adventuring even
farther than MalencontriтАФin the middle of the day when most mature dragons would be heading
for the coolness of their tunnels and caves.

Probably, he was showing off how fearless he was. Oh, well, Jim's own route was curving away
from the youngster's, now; and he had no actual authority over Acka anyway. The other would
soon get tired of whatever game he was playing, once Jim was out of sight, and go home.