"Kushner,.Donn.-.A.Book.DragonUC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

all dragons. Perhaps she would remain in the molten rock,
growing larger and fiercer, until one day she would break the
rock and earth above her and rise, larger than the British Isles,
and destroy the world.

But, for the present, Nonesuch had to return. The tunnel
was much narrower now than at the entrance. Somehow he
turned around, forcing his head past his tail - a maneuver he
would not have thought possible before - and slowly and
sadly made his way to the surface.

CHAPTER IV

THE END OF THE
GREAT DRAGON




THUS, NONESUCH WAS LEFT
IN POSSESSK)NOFANEMPTY

cavern and a heap of treasure. He knew -
his grandmother had told him often enough
Ч that he was supposed to guard this trea-
sure. It had been collected by his ancestors
as far back as anyone could remember,
though he himself had added nothing to it
except a reliquary, a glass-and-gold box
containing the dirty white bone of a saint.
This had been stolen from a church together
with the communion plate, then cast aside
in a forest by the superstitious robbers who
feared it might bring a curse on them. None-
such had found it, sniffed at it, recognized
the gold in it, and carried it back to the
cavern.

His grandmother shook her head.' 'Holy
objects, now!" she had muttered. "Next
we'll be turning this cavern into a shrine!''
But she let the reliquary be added to the
rest of the treasure.

At first Nonesuch did guard the family
treasure. He crouched over it, snarling. Any-
one entering the cavern would have found
a very warm welcome. But no one came. In
the world outside the cavern, they were not
thinking of the dragons' hoard. A time of