"Andre Norton - Breed To Come - uc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

had, but could any living creature die and then live
again? Perhaps the Demons were not rightly living
creatures such as the People, even the Rattons. Some-
dayЧsomeday he would go to Gammage to leam
more.

But not today, not until he had proven himself,
shown all the Five Caves that the blood of Gammage
was not to be ill-considered. And he would waste no
more time in spying on the dead lairs of Demons ei-
ther!

Furtig swung out of the tree, dropping lightly. This
was the outpost of a small grove which angled back to
become an arm of the forest country, the hunting ter-
ritory of the Five Caves. Furtig was as at home in its
shade as he was in the caves.

He stopped to tuck his hunting claws more tightly
into his belt so that no small jangle would betray his
passing, and then flitted on, his feet making no sound
on the ground. Since he wanted to make speed he
went to all fours, moving in graceful bounds. The Peo-
ple stood proudly upright when it was a time of cere-
mony, thus proving that the Demons who always
walked so were no greater, but in times of need they
fell back upon ancestral ways.

11

BREED TO COME

He planned to approach the caves from the north,
but at first his course was west. That would take him
by a small lake, a favorite feeding place of plump
ducks. To return with an addition to the cave food
supplies was always the duty of a warrior.

Suddenly a whiff of rank scent brought Furtig to a
halt, crouching in the bushes. His hand whipped to
his belt, reached for the claws, and he worked his
hands into them with practiced speed.

Barkers! And more than one by the smell. They
were not lone hunters like his own people, but moved
in packs, centering in upon the kill. And one of the
People would be a kill they would enjoy.

Courage was one thing, stupidity another. And
Furtig's people were never stupid. He could remain