"James McCann - Kith 1" - читать интересную книгу автора (McCann James)

Rafgard smiled wide. тАЬThat I would. Not an easier test has ever been asked!тАЭ After
all, so the youth thought, what harm could come of meeting a beast that only exists in the
nightmares of children?
 Kith тАУ 3 тАУ


CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER ONE

тАж
тАЬтАШTO IT
BE, OR NOT TO BEтАЩ IS NOT SO MUCH A QUESTION, AS IT IS A
DEMAND.тАЭ
Genesis 6:2-4

тАЬBloody тАШell!тАЭ was all Rafgard could think to say as the dragonтАЩs head opened its
eyes and stared at him. He wondered what trouble he had found himself in this time, the
key words being тАЬthisтАЭ and тАЬtime.тАЭ
As the beast leapt from beneath an ocean of wealth it revealed such a massive body
that the youthful student who had woken it felt his heart stop. The dark creature stretched
its serpentine body, showering the cavern in coins and knocking down many of the
stalagmites. Rafgard curled beneath his shield to ward off the golden maelstrom,
wondering if it would hold against the sky that had begun to fall.
He closed his eyes and wondered why, when he had first seen the lizard-like head
sitting atop the bounty, he had thought it only a head. Why hadnтАЩt he considered that
beneath the treasure might lay such a giant beast? Rafgard flinched when it roared, and
opening his eyes he ran for a better vantage point to avoid the deadly snapping tail.
The dragon puffed out a chest the same hue as the golden hoard around him,
breathing deeply of the dank, musty air. It bore its midnight breath down upon the entire
cavern, scorching much of the valuable treasure. Rafgard let his training take over and
lifted his shield to direct the flames away. The shower seemed endless, and as his shield
grew hot to the touch much of the gold about him melted to make it appear that he had
stepped inside a living volcano. But Rafgard knew he hadnтАЩt. After all, he was smart
enough to know better than to venture inside a volcano.
When the dragon at last exhausted its lungs, Rafgard glared at it, which still shook off
centuries of sleep, and pondered how he could have been so daft as to assume this legend
was false.
His smoking shield had burned through his leather gloves, but bracing himself against
the pain he yanked his sword from its scabbard. It felt awkward. He had, after all, only
completed two of his six years at the Academy. The first he had learnt stances, the second
he had trained to use a shield and this year heтАЩd learn swordplay. But even without that
skill Rafgard figured an awkward blade would aid him more than a perfected stance.
The monster reared like a cobra, smashing the ceiling with its spine. A piece twice as
large as any full-grown man broke loose and smashed the dragon over its crown,
incensing it further. Obviously the mountain had formed after the creature had given in to
slumber, its surprise apparent in the roar it let out as it slithered until its head loomed just
before its prey. The young student met the beast man to eye and conceded how much
more pleasurable being crushed by the ceiling would have been than to be this towering
infernoтАЩs dinner.
Membranes opened and closed as it studied him, and a long bone that grew on its