[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
He had thought that Keman would have him sit over the dragon's
shoulders, just behind the neck and in front of the wings but instead, Keman
had him position himself behind the wings and just in front of the
hindquarters: He saw why, now the muscles of the forequarters were constantly
in motion, and he might well have gotten unbalanced or even tossed off by a
sudden movement while here, the muscles scarcely moved at all.
Which was just as well, because there was no way for him to strap
himself on. No saddle, no straps, nothing but his own legs and the stiff
spines in front of him.
His legs were clamped to the dragon's torso as tightly as he could
manage. He had the feeling that when he reached the ground, his legs were
going to ache for a week.
Triana's lands were west of Cheynar's, west and a little south. There
was a swamp between her lands and the wilderness that bordered Cheynar's a
swamp that not even Keman had wanted to venture into. Then to the south was
Dyran's land, and the desert that bordered his property and Lord Berenel's.
And to the west beyond the desert
Dragon lands. Real dragons. I'mridinga real dragon& sort of . He
thought for a moment about all the children's tales he'd been brought up on,
the stories of dragons and the stories of taming one to ride.
And he thought about how his arms and legs already ached from holding
on, and how one of the flattened spines of Keman's crest was digging into
Never mind.
And the way Keman moved was not exactly pleasant, either. Valyn had
always assumed that flying would be smooth.
Hah.
Keman's normal movement in completely still air was with a series of
lurches as his wings beat. This was complicated with sideslips and drops as he
Page 251
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
hit turbulence and thermals and punctuated by a few 'very few blessedly smooth
moments when he glided for a bit, resting his wings. If Valyn had been
inclined to motion sickness, the trip would have been an unmitigated disaster.
And if there had been areal storm instead of the rain-drip they'd been
getting, Valyn would have been torn off the dragon's back before they'd flown
a league.
If they'd had any idea how much dragon-ridinghurt and how little it
would take to induce him to take to a horse with a proper saddle. Or a grel.
Even abad-tempered grel&
No one would ever be tempted to make a romance out of dragon-riding,
once he'd tried it for himself.
Valyn risked a look ahead and saw a sprinkling of multicolored lights
against the dark of trees and tree shadows. More, he spotted a slender,
pink-tinted finger of light rising gracefully from the dark bulk below. That
could only be the illuminated tower Triana had erected for her last party, the
one with the enormous, cushioned platform at the top that was little more than
one gigantic bed, surrounded by windows and roofed with a skylight&
Valyn flushed, even though there was no one here to see him. Things
had happened at that party he hadn't even told Shadow. In many ways, Triana
and Dyran were a great deal alike.
But that tower alone showed how unlike Triana was from the rest of
the elven lords in the ways that counted. Nearly every other lord Valyn knew
lived in manors entirely closed off from the sight of the natural world. It
was as if they were trying to create theirown little worlds, untouched by the
reality outside their doors. Triana's villa was glass from floor to ceiling,
and she often went up in the tower even when she was alone, to watch a storm,
the stars, or the clouds float peacefully overhead.
Or so she told me.
Keman stopped lurching, and began a long, gliding descent; his goal,
that same tower, or near it. He would land outside the manor, and Valyn would
walk in, talk to Triana
Hopefully she was between parties
and that would settle once and for all whether or not they had a
sanctuary. Hopefully, they did. He hadn't lied when he said Triana might well
offer them shelter out of sheer spite, or just for the thrill of it. What
hehadn't said was how unpredictable Triana was. If she was in a bad mood their
arrival might well lighten it, because it would alleviate her boredom.
On the other hand, she might just have Valyn thrown out without even
listening to him.
Valyn emerged from his thoughts when he realized that the ground was
coming up very quickly and he hadn't the vaguest idea of how a dragon landed.
He ducked his head desperately, and clung on with every fiber, as Keman
suddenly backwinged like a falcon at the end of a stoop, huge membranous wings
flailing the air with a sound like thunderclaps, blowing dead leaves and other
debris in front of him.
He landed with a lurch that threw Valyn forward; and unable to stop
himself, the elven lord rolled over Keman's shoulder and landed on his rear in
the grass, with athud that did very little for his pride or dignity.
Page 252
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Before he could say anything, though, there was a writhing next to
him that made him turn away for, in the shapehis stomach was in, watching
Keman shift forms might well be the final insult. When he turned back, there
was a large very large cow gazing at him with dark, solemn eyes.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]