Читать книгу Shade’s Children - Гарт Никс, Garth Nix - Страница 11

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Ella:	Why do I always have to do these?
Shade:	You’re the oldest. You know the most.
Ella:	You’re older – and you could just generate the images anyway.
Shade:	But you’ve actually been out there. The others respect you.
Ella:	Do they? They’re frightened of me, perhaps. Except for Drum…
Shade:	That’s because you are single-minded. Most of them don’t realise that this is not a permanent refuge… that one day the Overlords will find us.
Ella:	Yes. I know.
Shade:	Well, we must prepare as best we can. Now, try not to sound bored when you’re doing this. Just matter-of-fact. Start in three… One… two… three…

Touch the screen to begin. Thank you.

This is Lesson A41 of the First Series. Pay attention. There will be an exam following this session.

The subject of this lesson is the organisation of the Overlords’ creatures. The five basic creature types used by the Overlords in their battles are Screamers, Trackers, Myrmidons, Wingers and Ferrets. These creatures are always found in groups.

If you cannot accurately identify these creatures, then go back and study Lesson A2.

The following simple verse will help you remember the number of creatures in a group and the name we give the group.

Screams scream singly, all alone;

Trackers track in trios of three;

Ferrets follow in fangs of five;

Myrmidons march in maniples of seven;

Wingers fly in flights of nine.

It is important to know how many creatures there are in a group, because there will never be less than this number in any given area. If you see one Myrmidon, there will be six more somewhere nearby. If you see one Winger, the other eight will be in sight of the first.

Only Myrmidon Masters and certain special creatures will be seen alone. These are covered in Lesson A42.

Now, I will repeat the verse…