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

He jerked upright in his saddle. The late afternoon sunshine was warm, oddly soft for winter, and the steady rhythm of hooves had nearly lulled him to sleep. "What? What is it? More Merida?"

"No, of course not." Riyan sounded amused. "I was just thinking about what you said. Using the Desert. Did you have anything in mind?"

Pol's turn to smile. So that's what he's been chewing over, he thought. Riyan had been silent ever since starting for Feruche. Pol had waited him out through fifty measures of sand, stone, and occasional salt flats with a patience possible only because a battle had been won. Not the most important one, but at least the taint of defeat was scoured from his tongue. He was no longer in such a hurryЧeven though he'd decided to ride ahead with an escort of cavalry and the three Cunaxan brothers. That they were Meiglan's brothers was something he didn't think about too much.

"Sand, dragons, gold," he mused. They rode at the head of the column, out of earshot, or he would never have mentioned that last. "Interesting weapons."

"Very," Riyan agreed. "We've seen what creative use of the terrain can accomplish. I doubt you could buy off the Vellant'im, so I can't see what good the gold can do us. But they are scared of dragons."

"One of them isn't." And Pol explained how Elidi had behaved at SkybowlЧand what had happened to her at Stronghold as reported by a horrified Meath the next morning. "When I took a look for myself, they were yanking out her talons and teethЧkeepsakes, I suppose," he finished bitterly.

"Poor little thing," Riyan murmured. "You see the implications."

"I've been too angry to think much about it," he admitted. "But I'll find whoever did it, Riyan. Find him and butcher him the way he did her."

"But do you know what this means?" he insisted. "Dragons talk with each other. There's proof now. You say Azhdeen talked to youЧ" He interrupted himself with a sigh. "We have to find a better word for it one of these days."

"It does tend to give the wrong impression," Pol agreed. "Go on."

"Elidi got the information from Azhdeen and flew off to Stronghold. That's important. But what's really intriguing is that dragons care about their humans. They're indifferent parents to their own offspring. They share rearing among all adult dragons. But they care about us."

Pol mulled that over, rubbing his thigh to ease a muscle cramp. He'd been in the saddle two days past forever. "Maybe they're just possessive. I always get the feeling that Azhdeen considers me his property. Morwenna was Elidi's, and taken from her."

"But the way you described her howlsЧand Elisel hovering around SionedЧit argues for something else. Something more."

"Not a parent-child relationship. And certainly not friendly equals."

Riyan nodded ruefully. "You know what it reminds me of? A child with a favorite toy."

Pol gave a start, then began to laugh. "Goddess. That's exactly what it is! I had a stuffed greentail bird when I was little, velvet with real feathers sewn on, and polished sand-jade eyes. I talked to him all the time, played with him, wouldn't go to bed unless he was thereЧand Goddess help anybody who so much as put a finger on him. He was mine."

"And not to be shared. And that's how the dragons see us."

"So I'm Azhdeen's walking, talking, breathing stuffed

toy, am I?"

"It's just how Sadalian treats me." He paused. "Do you think Elidi went to Stronghold for vengeance?"

Pol narrowed his gaze. "If you're asking whether one of us should volunteer to play dead and then see what the dragon does, no thanks."

"I'd never do that to a dragon! No, I was thinking that if they perceived a threat to their humansЧ"

"Чthey might attack?" He considered it, but only for a moment. "They're too vulnerable. Think what damage a volley of arrows could do, or one of those stone-throwing arms. And the Vellant'im don't seem afraid of dragons anymore."

"Maybe. But I'd probably wet my trousers if I saw a flight of angry dragons coming at me." He shook his head. "No, you're right. We can't use them. Not that way."

"So we're back to sand. More specifically, what's on it. Tell me how I can use Feruche."