"Meredith Ann Pierce - Firebringer 1 - Birth of the Firebringer" - читать интересную книгу автора (Pierce Meredith Ann)

and the sound of bushes crashing. Jan could almost believe it was a real gryphon blundering downslope.
Tek sprang away, into the trees, so swift Jan almost lost her in a blink, for she ran silent, and gave no
warning cry.
Jan shook himself He felt elatedтАФit had worked! Satisfaction slithered through him as he emerged from
the trees and mounted the lookout knoll. He heard Dagg circling the crest of the ridge, giving cries now
like an injured tercel, now like an angry formel. No sound came from Tek, and the princeтАЩs son
wondered if his friend was even aware yet of her pursuit. He hoped so. He needed the lookout kept
away long enough for him to watch the storm.
Jan stood on the crest of the knoll. The clouds before him were sweeping in fast. He felt the cool,
muggy air beginning to lift, a faint breeze teasing along his back. It grew stronger suddenly, blew, smelling
of rain. The thunderheads rolled, black foaming waves that scudded toward the sun. Unseen lightning
illumined them in glimmers, like mosslight glimpsed beyond cavern bends.
Thunder sounded in a low growling that crashed all at once like a hillside falling. Jan felt the concussions
against his body, and threw back his head to let the thick, cold, wet wind buffet him. He watched the
shadow of the storm travel over the Pan Woods below him till a bank of cloud extinguished the sun. The
world went gray. Bird-foot lightning gripped the sky.
The clouds loomed high, almost above him, over the Vale. As he gazed up into their wild, dark roiling,
it seemed to Jan he could seeтАФalmost seeтАФsomething. The sweep of them was like stars turning, like
billowing grass, like mighty flocks of birds wheeling, like unicorns dancing, likeтАжlikeтАж. He could not
say what it was like. He only knew that when he gazed at the storm and lost himself, feeling the whirling
turbulence of its power, his heart rose, carried away, soaring, and all the world rode on his brow.
Below him, a few lengths down the slope, Jan heard a whinny from Dagg suddenly and knew that his
friend was caught. Above the muting of the wind, Jan heard DaggтАЩs shouts of laughter, his protestations,
and now TekтАЩs voice, stinging with anger. Jan snorted and shook his head, only half listening. A dark
exhilaration still fired his blood as he watched the dance of storm clouds swallow up the sky.
A pair of hunting eagles, huge ones, dipped out of the clouds far in the distance over the Pan Woods.
They were in his sight for only a moment, stooping swiftly into the cover of the trees. He caught only the
poise of their wings crooked for the dive and their size, great enough to carry off a young pan between
them.
Just before they reached the trees, a blaze of lightning flashed. The deep green of the foliage reflected
off their tawny bodies for an instant, turning the near one greenish, the far one almost blue. They plunged
into the forest then. Jan lost them amid the canopy of trees.
Almost at the same moment, the sound of breaking brush distracted him. He turned in time to see Tek
shoving Dagg out of the trees into the clearing of the knoll. Dagg was laughing so hard he staggered. The
half-grown mare clamped the nape of his neck in her teeth and hauled him back as he made halfheartedly
to bolt. She stood taller than either he or Jan, and had been initiated a full two years ago. Her young
beard was already silky on her chin.
тАЬGryphonsтАФsave me!тАЭ shouted Dagg, struggling some, but laughing harder. тАЬI told you it wasnтАЩt my
game. Ouch! Not so hardтАФit was JanтАЩs. The whole of it was JanтАЩs.тАЭ
тАЬI know that very well, Dagg son-of-Tas,тАЭ replied his captor through clenched teeth. She released him,
and Dagg collapsed to the carpet of fir needles at the woodтАЩs edge. He rolled there, hooting. тАЬI have
heard of the games you two are so fond of.тАЭ She turned now toward Jan. тАЬAnd you, prince-son. By
Korr, you at least should know better.тАЭ
Jan tossed his head, laughing in his teeth, and shrugged. His fatherтАФno, he would not think of Korr.
The prince was far below, seeking shelter in the Vale from the coming rain, and Jan was free of him for a
little while at least. Free. He sprang down from the lookout knoll and trotted to Dagg, eyeing the hairless
patches on his friendтАЩs neck and flank.
тАЬAre you hurt?тАЭ
Dagg groaned, laughing still. тАЬHale enough. She champs hard. By the Beard, Jan, you should have
seen her when she realized I wasnтАЩt some storm-riding gryphon.тАЭ