Читать книгу Faculty of Dragon Riders - Dmitry Nazarov - Страница 3

I’m flying! For real!

For nothing that it’s not on the dragon, but in its paws, but I’m flying!

So inopportunely I remembered the conversation at the front stairs of the Dragon Academy…

– Your song is sung, Wilt! Siena tossed me as she majestically descended the last step.

I pretended not to hear. Fellow students, who, like me, were waiting for the curator, pricked up their ears. Although it is not customary in the Dragon Academy to reveal one’s title and family name, everyone knew perfectly well that Siena was the daughter of the Count of Llor, one of the richest people in the kingdom.

The expensive stretchy riding suit and cute feathered hat looked amazing on her, and Siena knew it very well. Lifting her chin majestically, the count’s daughter gave me an appraising look and continued, coming closer:

– I overheard a conversation between the rector and curator Laeri quite by accident. If you don’t manage to ride the dragon today, then tomorrow you pack your things and go to your… uh… what is it called… the outback from which you crawled out?..

Eh, if she knew the name of this «backwoods», she would not say so!

Your song is sung, Wilt, Siena mimicked in her mind. Maybe sung, but I saddled the dragon!

Okay, okay, not saddled, you can even say that they saddled me… oh, no. That sounds completely wrong! But what can you do?

After that ill-fated conversation, we went to practice, we were given route sheets and a pendant with a laorte – a naturally grayish stone, the final color of which determined the success of the practice. But here’s the problem! My portal arch turned out to be faulty and threw me out not just anywhere, but in the mountains of the Eternal Ridge, in the territory of Drakmar – the lands of intelligent dragons! To be more precise, on the lands of the Lord of Darkness.

And who is to blame that the wild dragon, who flew at my call to save me from the clutches of a saber-toothed tiger, is not trained in the intricacies of communicating with dragon riders?

No, when he dived down, all such a powerful, black, huge dragon, I was sure that he would come down, respectfully bow to me, I would recruit him with my strength, put on a saddle and fly into the sky!..

Take off, so to speak. Some defective wild dragon got caught. He didn’t bow, didn’t respond to my strength, but grabbed it in his paws and soared into the sky! I thought it would devour it as it is – it would devour it. But no, he’s doing pretty well. There was only one problem: when he grabbed me, I did not have time to grab the backpack more comfortably, and half of the things spilled out of it, and I pressed the rest to myself with my hands.

Eat or not eat? That’s the question.

But I won! Ula, so to speak. The daughter of the Count of Llorsky himself!

– Yeah, Siena will be happy when I don’t come back, – I nervously grunted, having previously created an air dome around me that protected me from gusts of cold wind. – He will tell how I ran away, afraid of being expelled.

The dragon, as if having heard me, opened its paws. What… harmful! I screamed piercingly, being in free flight, but soon I was picked up again, and the dragon (with a suspiciously reasonable look!) turned around and bared his teeth.

Well, he can’t understand me, can he? He’s wild!

– What demon? I screamed indignantly.

The impudent dragon muzzle turned around for the second time and growled, saying, shut up, little man! I shut up. It’s a wild dragon, right?

Even the laorte on my chest changed color to black, which meant that I was able to summon a wild dragon, bend it to my will! There is no doubt about it. Laorte only takes on the color of a dragon when tamed, and sentient ones cannot be tamed!

But then why am I clutched in my paws, and not sitting on the wide back of a wild one?..

And who said that expectations should match reality?

– Troll bad luck, – I sighed.

The dragon let out a piercing roar. I would have covered my ears if not for the backpack, which also had to be held by my hands. But what if the laorte malfunctioned, and I didn’t tame the dragon at all, and now they just take me to some nest and feed the dragons?

The black dragon arched its neck and looked at me, angry, fierce. No, tamed dragons definitely don’t look like that! He growled again and I cringed. She began to draw symbols with her fingers, trying to start the beacon, but it did not work in the territory of Drakmar. At all!

But I didn’t have long to fly. Soon I was thrown out into the clearing.

No respect for girls. Everything must be taught to these wild ones! Well, nothing, in my reliable hands he will quickly correct himself, and he will also bow.

I rolled on the ground, hitting every possible part of my body painfully and scattering the remains of my belongings from my backpack along the way. The dragon landed beside me, its powerful wings folded, and slowly circled around me in an arc.

Cautiously, she got up, staggering, but did not take her eyes off the dragon. Strangely, I somehow tamed him. He looks at me angrily, displeased, as if I stole something from him. Suspiciously intelligent dragon. Well, he can’t be smart! Laorte only reacts to wild dragons, only wild dragons can be tamed by riders. Then what… is going on?

The dragon roared and I recoiled. He came closer – tall, huge, majestic. With skin growths on the muzzle, piercing black eyes, long spikes on the nape. He inspired fear and awe with all his appearance. I wanted to get down on one knee and take at least an oath of allegiance. What strange thoughts, really?

The dragon growled again and sniffed at me. I froze. Are they really going to eat?

– Shh, – I whispered, pushing aside my fear and holding out my hand. The lizard froze, and I very slowly put my hand on the outstretched muzzle and lightly stroked the scales. The hand is still in place, it seems they are not going to bite. – Good dragon. Beautiful.

I didn’t flatter him. The dragon was really incredibly beautiful. She took another short step forward, standing close to her. I used my gift – tamed it, sent soothing waves, gently stroking the black scales. The dragon seemed to fall into a trance, looking at me in surprise and at the same time incomprehensibly. Does it work out?

But I definitely rejoiced early. The dragon jumped suddenly. I didn’t even have time to get scared, as he breathed black smoke on me. It wasn’t a true flame, was it? Because the wild don’t have it…

– You are some strange wild one, – I said aloud.

Even more anger lit up in the dragon’s eyes (how much more?!), he growled, clicked his huge teeth right next to my face, after which he abruptly recoiled. If he turns into a human form now, I will definitely faint! Well, it can’t be a reasonable dragon, they would never have picked up some little man, and the laorte would not have caught fire!

She froze in anticipation of further actions, but… The dragon only growled, as if calling me to something, and then spread its huge wings and, pushing off the ground, took off. I closed my eyes to protect myself from the rising dust.

– Hey, where? But what about dragon etiquette lessons? – shouted after.

However, I’m kidding. In fact, I was glad that I didn’t become a giant lizard’s dinner tonight. Even with practice, I did it! So they don’t count. But that’s for now. When the dust settled, I could only see a black dot in the sky.

Hmm, we didn’t have a mission to deliver the dragon to the academy, did we?

– Strange day, strange practice, – I muttered and looked around the clearing, which was all strewn with my things.

She began to collect the remains of modest belongings, thinking over a plan of action.

And I didn’t expect him to come back.

– No, no, no, get out! I muttered as I saw the dark dot in the sky getting closer. – Just try… No!

I took off running. Yes Yes! The fearsome dragon rider was running at full speed across the clearing, hoping to escape from the clutches of a wild dragon!

Along the way, I released the net and switched to magical vision. Almost jumped for joy! From everything it turned out that there was a portal arch very close by, literally behind this rock, in the gorge!

Well, if it was not possible to subdue the dragon, you must at least get rid of it painlessly. Eh, live in peace, not burdened with knowledge of etiquette!

He was already very close. The shadow of the dragon hovered over me, but he could not catch me: the gorge covered me. Running up to the arch, I frantically began to enter the coordinates of the academy, pouring in a generous portion of magic, and then applying the academic access key, which was the inside of the laorte pendant. A moment – and the arch lit up.

Without thinking twice, I stepped into the portal with a clear conscience.

She even coped with the task – the laorte has become a black onyx!

But the ancestral ring-artifact – the only thing that she inherited from her mother – remained in the clearing in front of the saber-toothed tiger, completely devastated. I had to redirect its reserve, use internal flows for other purposes than the artifact itself, in order to escape from the predator. I thought about filling the ring later and resuming my own disguise, but now…

He will find me. Find exactly.

Eh, why worry now? I’ll think of something else.

And yet what kind of strange dragon?..

Ardaan the Onyx, Lord of Darkness

It just can’t be! This… even in my head does not fit!

Thought I’d break it. I will destroy. It was so easy to squeeze with paws, break a ridge, bite into a fragile body with claws. But something kept me from doing it. I continued to fly towards Dartania with her clutched in my paws, and thought, thought, thought. And got angry. Very angry. I flew out to hunt, but I could not imagine how all this would turn out.

little man! Called! Me! How dare you?! How could you?..

There was only one answer to that question, but I desperately didn’t want to think about it. No, it just couldn’t be, it just couldn’t be.

She still dares to be unhappy! I decided to teach her a lesson by letting her fly freely – not for long, just enough to get scared.

– What demon?

She was scared, how could she? He growled, and the little man fell silent again, only pursing her lips in displeasure. For some reason, he focused special attention on the lips…

What am I even thinking about? He flew another mile and, going into a turn, unclenched his paws: the little man fell into a clearing. It seems I didn’t calculate the distance. Did she hit?

But what’s the difference between demons?

Where did she even come from in the mountains of the Eternal Ridge? No one without the permission of the dragons could go there. None.

But she did. She almost died from the fangs of a saber-toothed tiger. Once again, an unjustified wave of anger rose up in me.

Having landed, I approached the girl without changing my hypostasis. She looked bewildered, with an admixture of fear and… admiration? For some reason, from the realization of the last feeling, the dragon inside me purred contentedly. She looked into my eyes, not thinking to look away, and then decided on impermissible insolence… touched me! No one in their right mind would dare to do such a thing, and then… she was trying to tame my dragon.

And for me to fail, she partially succeeded. Managed to tame this traitor. He was like an affectionate kitten, ready to stand in front of the little man on his hind legs, and I could not pacify him, withdraw him. Only at the last moment was he able to get out of the strange networks that the girl spread.

I need to cool down. Ventilate. And only later return to it. It soared sharply into the sky, pushing off the clearing with its paws. I wanted to crash. Preferably the head of one little man, but at the same moment I could not harm her. It was as if everything inside me opposed such a decision.

What is going on?..

Still, something drew me to her. I couldn’t stay away from her for long. A bad feeling came over me. No, it did happen…

Groaning, I flew back. But I had no idea that the girl…

Run away from me!

Surprise quickly turned to anger. Want to play?

Let’s play…