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

dragons, he would have eaten his nil and
grown again. But, once having started to
grow smaller, he was unwilling to stop until
he saw a clear reason to do so.

When he was only fifteen feet long,
Nonesuch became aware of his first source
of danger. His cousin, Cauchemar, began
eyeing him with unusual interest. Cauche-
mar's eyes shone and his mouth watered
unpleasantly. He had always turned up in
unexpected places before, but now this
seemed to be happening more often. When
Nonesuch was only two-thirds the length
of his cousin, Cauchemar became bolder.
Till now, he had kept strictly to his own
side of the hill and had never entered None-
such's family cavern. He still did not cross
the cavern's threshold, but he waddled or
slithered past it every day, more slyly arro-
gant each time.

Nonesuch began to suspect that his cousin was planning
to add cannibalism Ч and of a close relative at that! - to
his other crimes. But the violent times prevented this from
happening.

Since the destruction of Grimsby Castle, social order had
almost disappeared from the surrounding world of men. Small
groups of peasants huddled together in clusters of brushwood
huts, guarding themselves and their flocks as best they could
with crude weapons and farm implements. Around them ranged
bands of cruel brigands, some of whom were waiting for the
harvest before they descended on their prey. Sometimes the
peasants would call for help from travelling homeless knights
or men-at-anns. They would exchange food and goods for
protection. But the character of the "protectors" was such
that, as one chronicler of the times wrote,' "The poore sheepe
did not knowe whych was worse, the shepherdes or the
wolves."

In the ruins of the castle itself now lived a robber band
named "The Undergrowthe." Led by the bold, hard-drinking
Black Miles, they specialized in robbing travellers on the way
to the coast from Salisbury. There was good business here,
since at this time many of the more prosperous townspeople
were trying to resettle abroad, or in the Isle of Wight, which
was still relatively peaceful.

The robbers had put together enough stores and weapons