"The Dream Thief" - читать интересную книгу автора (Abé Shana)

CHAPTER FIVE

I n the realm of the drákon, as in the realm of human men, there are hunters, and there are prey.

We, of course, excel at hunting. It is who we are: that hard carving wind, that swift and fatal talon through a hammering heart. We are the fog draped in circles around the forest pines; we are the golden eye of the sun, shining terrible and bright upon the earth and its lesser beings. We hunt because we breathe. Animal or mineral, diamonds or blood, if we desire it deeply enough, it will be ours.

This is nature. These are our Gifts, and we are entitled to them as surely as a lion is entitled to his roar, or a mouse to her hoard of autumn seed.

But the Others forever come and upset our balance and try to cheat nature. They lie and slink and steal from us, because they know in their bones they can never truly touch our splendor. They’re weak and jealous-but not helpless. It is the most jealous of creatures who can blossom into the most dangerous.

On the unfortunate occasion when the drákon become prey, it is always the Others who cast us there.

This is what happened to Amalia and her consort as they drew closer to our homeland.