"Rawn, Melanie - Dragon Star 2 - Dragon Token" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

and the bird replied, To the Court of the Father of Winds, whose children of course we are as creatures of the Air. AH things that fly are, you know.'

"Now, the dragon was quite amazed. 'Why wasn't I included in this invitation?' he asked. 'After all, I can fly. All dragons can.' The bird fluttered from the dragon's head to his tail, inspecting him, and said, 'But you have no feathers. Worse, you have no colors. Look at me!' And he preened his gorgeous plumage, all red and white and gold.

"The dragon looked, and sure enough, no feathers. Worse, his hide was all one dull shade, neither gray nor black nor white, sort of like ashes, and very boring. He thought about all the birds he'd ever seenЧnot too many, actually, as few birds like the Desert heat the way dragons do, but he'd seen enough to know that all birds had colored feathers, be it only plain brown. He was terribly humiliatedЧand I can tell you from my experiences with Azhdeen that humiliation is not something a dragon likes at all.

" 'I can fly,' he said defiantly, rising up into the air. 'And I'm going to ask the Storm God why I have no colored feathers like you birds.' " Pol took another sip of taze. "Keep on with the story, Papa!" Rislyn pleaded. "I'm getting there, I'm getting there," he laughed. "The dragon flew with the birds way up into the Veresch, where the Storm God held a great court every spring for the creatures of the Air. It was called the Convocation of Wings. All the birds and insects would fly around him, and sing and chitter and hum as their voices allowed, and such fluttering and buzzing was never heard in all the world as at this court. Even worse than the Rialla at Dragon's Rest. They all flew from rock to rock and tree to tree, showing off their flying skills and their beautiful feathers or their thin, iridescent wings. But they all instantly hushed and hovered in one spot when the dragon showed up.

" 'What's this?' asked the Storm Father, startled that this lovelyЧif noisyЧdance had been interrupted. The

dragon landed before the throne and bowed, and said, 'If it please your highness, I too am a creature of the Air. I can fly, just like birds and insects. And I've come to ask your highness why, of all the winged creatures, only dragons have no color.'

"Well, the Father of Winds stared at him a long moment, stroking his great white beard made of ice, and then said, 'Come with me, Dragon. It's a rather private story.' And they went into an enormous cave. It was very dark and cold and damp inside, for of course the Storm God has no influence over Fire. The dragon shivered a little, and waited for an explanation.

" 'It's not my fault,' the Storm God said irritably. 'While we were making the world, the Goddess and I, and deciding weighty questions like where to put the rivers and mountains, and how many eyes a horse ought to have, I found I couldn't make things the colors I wanted to. Have you ever tried painting with Water? All you get is blue or green. As for AirЧcan't be done. Doesn't stick, you see, not even to the brush. So I had to concede . , . umm . . . certain things to the Goddess, for it is she who holds Fire in one hand and Earth in the other. If I wanted a certain red, I had to trade for a little rust to mix with Water for the proper color. Don't even ask about what I had to give up for yellow. I like yellow. When I think of what that piece of Fire cost meЧwell, never mind. The point is that by the time we got around to dragons, I'd lost all patience. So you don't have any color to you, and I'm sorry for it, but what could I do?'

"The dragon blinkedЧstill shivering in the damp, dark caveЧand said, 'If I asked her nicely, do you think she might oblige me? I'm not greedy. Just a tint of something here and there. Nothing elaborate.' The Storm Father shrugged. 'You can try.'

"The dragon thanked him and flew off to find the Goddess. She was in her summer home in the very middle of the Long Sand. This was country more to the dragon's likingЧnice and hot, with plenty of sunshine. He approached the Goddess, and bowed to her, and told her what the Storm God had told him. Then he said, 'If

it please your highness, may dragons be gifted with colors?'

"The Goddess smiled and replied, 'And what makes you think you're not?' All at once there was Fire all around him, such as he hadn't seen since his own hatching. And within the Fire were colors. Hundreds of them, thousands, and so beautiful that the dragon positively gasped.

"The Goddess said, 'What my dear Lord of Wind and Water neglected to mention was that in order to paint the rest of the world with colors I gave him, he bargained away just a little of his mastery of the Air. And because I'd already gifted dragons with FireЧthat was another bargain, made much earlier, I won't bore you with the details of how we fought over itЧI claimed the Air beneath the wings of every dragon. So you're not his, you're mine. Only you can see such colors as these.' And the Fire swirled like a million rainbows.

"The dragon watched for a time, enchanted. But then he grew sad. 'I thank you for the gift, gracious Lady, and I'm glad to be one of your creatures. I didn't half like being so closely related to every flapping sparrow and whirring beetle. But no one knows it, you see.'

"The Goddess considered. 'I seem to have committed an oversight. Very well, thenЧeach dragon may choose two colors. Tell all your fellows to come to me here, and with Fire I'll paint them in colors to mark them as my own. But only two colors each, mindЧnothing gaudy or flashy like some of those feathery things. Really, at times my Lord has the most terrible taste.'

"The dragon bowed very low, and when he flew up into the sky again to tell the other dragons of this stupendous gift, he found that he had indeed been painted by the Goddess' Fire. Instead of dull, boring old ashy-gray, he was a rich shade of russet, with magnificent golden underwings.

"Well, knowing dragons as you do, you can guess what happened next. He had only to fly past the others and they instantly wanted to be just as gorgeous as he was.

The Goddess was very busy for quite some time, painting colors onto hundreds and hundreds of dragons.

"And while she was doing it, the dragons realized that they understood the language of color the way no other creature could. For the very first time they could really talk to each other, using this new speech. And now that they could talk to each other in this wonderful manner, they had a lot to say. So no dragon lived completely alone ever again.

"At last all of them gathered above the Long SandЧ gold and black and brown and russet and-bronze and slate-blue and every other color dragons are, with all the beautiful shadings under the wingsЧand displayed their beauty in a vast arch like a rainbow of dragons. And not just the colors of their wings but the colors of their thoughts all merged together. The Goddess was very happy that she'd finally gifted her dragons with color."

Pol finished his taze and waited for his daughters' reactions. As a bedtime story, it was a total failure; both were wide awake. After a moment or two, Jihan stirred and met his gaze.

"I like that one, Papa. I could see all the dragons in the Desert sky, and all the colors."

"Like Sunrunners," Rislyn added.

"All together," continued Jihan. "Like at Stronghold."

"Just about," Pol said.