Читать книгу Faculty of Dragon Riders - Dmitry Nazarov - Страница 5

Why did you change your mind so suddenly, Dan?

The ice dragon’s gaze darted in my direction. We were accommodated in the office of the quarters allocated to me in the teaching wing of the Dartan Academy. Llaid – the Lord of Ice and part-time the most insensitive dragon – sat opposite in a chair and waited with anticipation for an answer.

– I’m curious too, – Jar, Lord of Fire, entered the conversation. Smiling broadly, he sat down on the edge of the table and leaned towards me, inhaling the air deeply. – Seems to be a matter of personal interest!

– I give a year of diamond mining in the domain of Ice that a girl is involved here, – Llaid chuckled, carefully following my expression.

I remained unperturbed, continuing to smile slightly at my friends. This girl… she was pissed off. Specifically pissed off. But at the same time, there was something attractive about her.

– Oh, a human girl, apparently, – Jar added. – Is someone interested in the little man?

It was useless to argue with them.

– I decided to have some fun, – he admitted defeat, leaning back in his chair. – Is it forbidden?

– Tell me, – Jar pushed and materialized a bottle of wine in his hand. – I wanted to open it for my anniversary, but here the case is better: Ardaan Onyx got carried away with a little man! I thought you despised the human race.

– So it is, – Llyde nodded, smiling thinly – infuriated when he turned on his excessive insight. He got a mate.

– A couple? – Jar exclaimed and immediately removed the bottle of wine, materializing cognac in its place. – Then you should not drink, but get drunk…

– Stop, – I waved. – I will sever the connection with the ritual as soon as it begins to manifest, so that I will never have anything to do with this little man again. I’m definitely not going to associate my life with her.

– Sure? Llyde asked seriously. – This is your first pair. Suddenly, among the dragons, you won’t meet anyone?

– Don’t be pessimistic, – Jar rolled his eyes. – He will still have everything. However, a couple of little men – it’s funny. It is worth conveying this to Astel…

God forbid she should know about it! I’m here on official business and nothing else. True, I will combine business with pleasure: I will play with this gullible little man, and then break the connection.

You can break her heart. She’s not a dragon,» Llyde reminded me, and I narrowed my eyes.

He, too, once did the same with a little man. For a long time.

– Don’t care. She shouldn’t have been in the Eternal Ridge Mountains at all, so it’s her own fault. You could say it fell into my clutches. And even dared to tame my dragon!

– Oh, so it’s a little rider? – Jar guessed, exchanging glances with Llaid. – It’s even more interesting! Who will saddle whom first, hmm?

I growled softly, and the normally calm Llyde laughed. How can I explain to them that nothing in this little man can attract me? In principle, no one can attract me. They are lower creatures. I just want to have some fun. Don’t I have a right? Moreover, I combine business with pleasure.

– Tell me, did you find anything here? – returned to the original topic of conversation.

– Nothing, – said Llyde. – All is clear.

– They cover their tracks well, – Jar confirmed. – But we do know that that dragon was no accident.

Of course not. Someone is doing secret experiments. And our task is to find who exactly. But to do this carefully, because in fact we do not have any authority: we have long ago refused responsibility for wild dragons, therefore, even now we have no right to interfere, no matter what happens. But this case cannot be left open: who knows what consequences this may lead to?

This wild one has destroyed several portal arches in the mountains. And that takes a lot of magic…

Right in the office, a dark funnel with green flashes began to form. Soon the space was cut, and a dark-haired man with a green gleam in his eyes stepped into the office. He held a book in his hands, and a bleeding cut remained on his cheek, which the demon had not yet had time to heal with magic.

– A little late, – he said, and tremblingly stroked the spine of the book, – jumped into a parallel world for this beauty. It was not easy to find it, but I managed.

– It must have been difficult to steal it, too, – Jar commented, hinting at the deep scratch on his cheek.

– Ah, that’s… rubbish. – The master didn’t even say a word, the demon grinned. – That’s when he finds out about the loss, then you should worry.

Llyde and I chuckled at the same time. Once upon a time, Rivadavir tried to steal a book from my library in much the same way, but was caught. I would not have been able to defeat him alone if Llaid and Jar had not been nearby. From then on, our friendship began.

Demons are creatures of the subtle world, legends are composed about them and they are feared. Lesser demons feed on people’s fears and look different, while higher demons are strong magicians who are not averse to entering into contracts with people on favorable terms for them. They are able to jump from one world to another, interacting with creatures from different worlds. But among them there is a special kind – collectors who look for especially valuable specimens.

Rivadavir was one of the strongest demons in his world, and he was also a collector. Collector of rare books. And therefore an almost limitless source of information.

So what’s the urgency? the demon asked, walking closer to the table, but at the same time continuing to carefully press the book to him.

– I need you to learn something from your sources, – I got straight to the point.

The demon raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked first at Jar and then at Llaid.

– I hope I don’t have to open someone’s treasury for this?

– It all depends on the circumstances, I replied with a grin.

Reeve smiled broadly.

– Then I’m in business.

– Girls-and-and, de-e-girls-and-and, – Clara said enthusiastically, sitting down at our table, – now I’ll tell you so-o-o-o!

– Don’t languish, – Adin said. Even Harriet looked up from her pudding and looked interested.

You don’t even know what I’m going to say! When I was in the library, don’t even ask me what I forgot there, I overheard one conversation. Attention, – Clara leaned lower to the table, making a dramatic pause, – we will have a dragon to teach!

– The Dragon?! the girls at the table exclaimed almost simultaneously.

– It can’t be, – said Siena, who was sitting at a distance, but could not help but hear Clara: she spoke in a whisper, but in such a whisper that everyone could hear. – Why would a dragon teach with us? – They will never stoop to teaching people.

– No, no, – Clara chuckled. – I don’t know how much the king paid the new teacher in the Department of Diplomatic Relations with Dragons, but now he will teach all students a course in Dragon Etiquette.

Again, so inopportunely remembered yesterday’s words spoken in the heat of the wild dragon. Here are some coincidences!

– A new item is already on our schedule. The leadership of the academy felt that we really lacked this, – harriet nodded, who was the first to know about all the changes, being the head girl.

– Oh, I don’t know what will happen there, but I hope dancing! Lots and lots of dancing,» Clara rolled her eyes dreamily.

– Dragon and lead people dancing? – Sienna snorted. – You are imagining, Clara.

– Think as you wish, – the classmate shrugged calmly. – We’ll find out tomorrow. The schedule has already been changed and tomorrow the first pair will be Dragon Etiquette.

– That’s true, – Adin confirmed unexpectedly. – Alicia and I already know.

– How do you know? Clara frowned.

I remembered yesterday’s unexpectedly forced trip to the rector’s office and one unimaginably arrogant and self-confident man, before whom I appeared in a terribly embarrassing form!

– We know everything, – the friend shrugged.

Of course, no one believed her, so, as soon as breakfast was over, students crowded in the main hall at the notice board, on which the student schedule was. Judging by the many surprised exclamations, the schedule did indeed include Dragon Etiquette.

Yes, what is it! And why precisely etiquette?

– What are you thinking about? Adin asked. Do you remember the handsome teacher? I told you he was a dragon. In the twilight it was impossible to see the eyes, they say, they are with flashes, you drown in them when you look.

Here’s how? Then my strange reaction to the dragon yesterday is understandable. And I was already thinking… so, what was I thinking? Nothing, period!

– True, intelligent dragons in other states mask the color of their eyes, making them nondescript gray, so that no one will know which clan they belong to.

I knew about this feature. I saw dragons once, a long time ago. A long time ago.

Let’s go, Adin. Master Orand doesn’t like being late.

The friend nodded, and we hurried to the stairs to the second floor. We entered the auditorium first. Master Orand was already in his place, but he did not even look at us, reading some report. We sat down at the first desk, watching the auditorium slowly fill up.

The bell sounded, only then the master looked up. There was a third-year streaming lecture today, and there were almost no seats left in the audience.

– Good afternoon, students, – the teacher greeted us. – First of all, I would like to congratulate the Dragon Rider Faculty for successfully passing their individual practice: as far as I heard, only two failed. This is an excellent result. Congratulations!

The girls were embarrassed under the approving look of the teacher. Master Orand looked no more than thirty years old, and how old he really was – who knows? A powerful mage with an enviable track record. At one time he was an ambassador to the Dark Lands, and after that he took a position as a teacher at the Dartan Dragon Academy.

Our academy included several important faculties: the faculty of healing and care of dragons (including the treatment of people from dragon mutilations and curses), the faculty of dragon riders, the faculty of Dragon Links, and the most important faculty of Combat Magic. The militants stood to protect Dartan from dragons, the most powerful magicians with great potential were accepted here.

The academy was supervised personally from the capital of the Dartan kingdom, so this educational institution is strategically important, where titles do not matter. Important – personal characteristics and the level of the gift.

Master Orand was also from the «militants» and served as dean of the Faculty of Combat Magic. With us, he taught only one course – «Protection from the wild».

So where did we end up last time? he mused aloud, and Siena’s graceful hand shot up immediately.

– We stopped at a wave shield, but we haven’t got to know it in practice yet, – she said after a nod from the master.

– Exactly. And today I will tell you in which cases it is necessary to use it, and in which it should be avoided. Get your pencils out and write…

Somewhere in the middle of the lecture, the students began to get distracted, and a surprised whisper went through the audience. Adin and I were sitting closer to the exit, so it took us a while to figure out what was going on.

– What’s interesting there, Lexi? – Master Orand called to one of the students sitting by the window.

– They brought a new wild one, – the guy said, – but he is some kind of violent one. Beaters try to pacify him, but something does not work out.

I craned my neck, trying to see what was going on in the backyard of the academy: there were pens with wild dragons that were needed for training. The students began to whisper louder and all as one looked towards the windows.

– I’m sure the teachers from the Dragonrider faculty will definitely tame him, – said the master, amplifying his voice with magic and thereby calling the audience to silence. Now back to the wave shield. When it’s completely useless…

No, no, but the students looked out the window until the end of the lecture: fortunately, the dragon was no longer there, apparently, they managed to put it in a pen. Why did they bring a wild wild to the academy? Usually we are given the calmest for training: no one wants to risk the lives of students.

The bell sounded, calling for the end of classes. We all exhaled happily and stretched, after which we began to collect things. I expected to slip in one of the first, so I hurried to the exit.

– Student Wilt, please wait, – Magister Orand called.

Strange, but for some reason I remembered yesterday’s incident in the rector’s office and Master Dan’s hands, pressing me inappropriately close to the male body. Cheeks flushed. I tried to drive away the uninvited picture, convincing myself that Master Orand did not want to talk about the promiscuity of one particular student.

Yes, master? I asked as I approached the pulpit.

– I heard you tamed a black dragon? – Wow, this is considered almost impossible, – Magister Orand said in surprise, leaning on the pulpit.

I told you that he is not going to talk about yesterday’s incident at all!

– Why? I asked, adjusting my backpack on my shoulder.

Too bad I lost my ring yesterday. My father gave it to me for my eighteenth birthday, he said that my mother wanted it that way. But now is not the time to get upset. The main thing is to survive! And the dragon tamed, which is important. So, I’m not so «defective».

The students slowly left the auditorium, paying little attention to us.

– The Onyx clan is the strongest, so all the black wild dragons – their distant descendants – also have an unbending will. There are very few of them and they are stronger than their wild counterparts. Although they are not intelligent, but the blood of the rulers is enough to make them an order of magnitude higher than the rest of the wild ones.

– Strange, but we were not told about this feature, – I said. – Yes, and before I did not ask such a question, although now I understand that there have never been black dragons in the pens of the academy.

– That’s right, – the Master confirmed. – The more surprising is your case. Maybe you are special. You cannot tame simple wild dragons, but the strongest ones are welcome. You know, there is such a phenomenon in magic – archmages are more difficult to give simple spells, but they can work real miracles. And if you are something like an archmage among horsewomen?

I didn’t even know what to answer to that. No matter how pleasant it may sound, but still I did not consider myself any special. But she could not tell the master about the true level of the gift. Not now.

– I think you need training to unlock your potential, – the master said thoughtfully. – What do you say? I can take care of you. For example, twice a week.

On the one hand, it was impossible to show your potential – they can track it, but I really wanted to understand why the wild ones do not want to obey me. I have been struggling with this problem for the third year and could not understand what was the matter. The wild ones didn’t touch me, they froze when I released magic, but as soon as I tried to saddle them, they bucked, not one of them allowed to be touched.

On the other hand, individual lessons with Magister Orand may come out sideways to me, because Siena has been wooing him for years. He will see me next to him and will definitely live out of the light. To be honest, Master Orand was a prominent man for whom all the girls from my faculty were dying. But he did not even think of enjoying female attention, he always behaved aloof and, it seemed, the only thing that interested him was magical science.

– Thank you, Master Orand, – she made her final decision. But I have to refuse. All my free time is spent studying and working out punishments.

– Is that how? the teacher was surprised. – I don’t even know what to say… Well, my offer stands if you change your mind.

– Thank you, Master, – I repeated.

Oh, did I miss the opportunity? Who knows, who knows, but my motto is not to despair! If one door closes, another will open.

– By the way, what about your laorte? – Is he already pale? the master asked, and I just now remembered the amulet, which was supposed to be handed over to the supply manager in the evening.

Pulling on a leather cord, I pulled out a dark stone, braided with thin metal wire. She frowned. It hasn’t lost a bit of color!

– Strange, – I muttered, confused.

– What I was talking about. Perhaps you have really great potential, only it affects stronger individuals. So, having tamed the dragon, you still hold power over it.

Interesting discussion. It’s worth thinking about it. Just what should I say to the caretaker? After all, he will have to give the laorte, and with such a color he will not accept it.