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.But he couldn't help it; he kept seeing her bound, gagged, tortured Finally he had his answer as to why she hadn't appeared, when one of the two men who seemed to be in charge of this group, a big man in a gray desert-coat over his scarlet tunic, passed by his picket, measuring a few pinches of some kind of powder into a fresh skin of water.A drug He altered his ears, making them keen enough to hear a gnat breathe, as the man pushed aside the flap of the tent and went in.He heard Shana's voice thenit sounded dazed and sleepy."H'llo," she said, slurring the word."I'mawful tired.Sorry.""Do not apologize for weariness, child," another man replied."You must sleep as long as you need.But drink, first.The desert air is dry, and you must drink often.""Thanks" said Shana, and then she said nothing more.Both men emerged, looking very satisfied with themselves.The second man was dressed all in crimson, with crimson braid decorating his clothing, but otherwise he was unremarkable.His hair and eyes were brown, he was bearded, and he was a head shorter than the first man.He laughed softly, as if to himself, just as he passed the grel-picket.Keman couldn't help himself; he snapped at the man as he walked by, but the man simply reached out and brought his fist down hard on Keman's nose.Ayeee! His bellow matched the cry of pain in his mind.The only time Keman had ever experienced pain like that was when Rovy was on his back, digging his claws into Keman's shoulders.The young dragon went to his knees, still bellowing in surprise and hurt, as the man passed on, taking no notice.Ohhe thought, tears of pain coming to his eyes, as he moaned involuntarily.Fire and Rain, that hurt! He thought his nose was brokenBut as the pain died, he discovered that the man had done no such thing.His nose was perfectly all right; it wasn't even bleeding.He had just discovered the grel's one point of weakness.It was a lesson he wasn't likely to forget in a hurry.The picket line had been left alone in the dark, and Keman was once again trapped with his own thoughts and fears.So the men had drugged Shana, and were keeping her drugged and collared.Why wasn't she afraid, he asked himself, yearning towards the tent.Why hadn't she wondered why she couldn't see thoughts anymore?Then it occurred to himshe had no reason to suspect that these people were dangerousor even human.She had every reason to suppose that they were just more of the Kin, probably playing a drama-game.Page 131Mother had never told her that the elven lords and the humans still existed.In fact, Mother had given her every reason to think that they had either died out in the Wizard War or lived so far away that the Kin would never see them.None of the other adults ever talked to her, and the only dragonets that told her about humans had been ones she'd never believeRovy and Myre.She had learned to write from books the Kin wrote in elven tongue, and those were never histories of anyone but the Kin.They had kept her blind.Even if she suspected these people weren't Kin, she was so drugged now she had probably lost the thought entirely.She wouldn't want Kin to know what she could dolike see thoughts.She might not even have bothered to try reading thoughts, not if she was drugged.And even if she hadshe'd told Keman how her powers faded for a bit after she killed that ground squirrel.She might just think that they had faded again.What am I going to do? How can I get us away from here when I can't even warn her that I am here?It was a very long night, spent mostly without sleep.The sun rose, silvering everything the first rays touched, sending long, blue shadows across the flat sands.A single bird cried; Keman didn't know what kind it was.That was the only break in the silence.Keman was exhausted.He'd never spent a sleepless night before.He yawned, and shifted his weight restlessly, wondering what was going to happen next.One of the humans came out of his tent; a much smaller tent than the one Shana was in.He dropped another ration of grain before each of the grels, then bent again to fling a pack-saddle on him.He started; then, without thinking, bucked it off.The human tried again; he bucked just as hard.This time when he launched it into the air, it landed quite a distance from the picket line.The human muttered something under his breath, and went after it.He manhandled it back to the picket line and heaved the saddle onto Keman's back, with a repetition of the entire sequence.This went on for some time.Finally, when Keman was really beginning to enjoy himself, another human, an older one, came up beside the boy.This one stared at him for a moment, and he noticed the human balling his hand into a fist.Abruptly he became a model of docility, letting the boy fasten the cinches without complaint, then kneeling and permitting the humans to load a variety of packs and baskets of goods onto his back.He had learned his lesson and he saw no particular need to repeat it.By that time all the other beasts were loaded, and Keman rose to his feet again.Just as he got himself and his load balanced, and looked around, a human scout returned, riding a horse with a bird on a special perch on the saddlebow.Shortly after that, the tent-flaps opened, and the two men who had been in there before came out with Shana between them.Keman's stomach churned with anxiety.She was clean, dressed in a new scarlet tunic, and wore a collar like the others.But she stumbled, rather than walked; her eyes were glazed, and she was dazed and plainly only half-aware of her surroundings.Page 132The two men helped her into the saddle of the beast whose load Keman had been gifted with, and tied her there.The grels were lined up, and tied one behind the other in a long string.Shana was on the end; only three beasts behind Keman.So very nearand yet, he could do nothing about her or their situation.He was just as trapped as she was, because he refused to leave without her.And he couldn't help her.As the drovers goaded all the beastsincluding himinto getting on the move, he bellowed with the rest of them.But the reasons for his crying were as different as his mind was from theirs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.But he couldn't help it; he kept seeing her bound, gagged, tortured Finally he had his answer as to why she hadn't appeared, when one of the two men who seemed to be in charge of this group, a big man in a gray desert-coat over his scarlet tunic, passed by his picket, measuring a few pinches of some kind of powder into a fresh skin of water.A drug He altered his ears, making them keen enough to hear a gnat breathe, as the man pushed aside the flap of the tent and went in.He heard Shana's voice thenit sounded dazed and sleepy."H'llo," she said, slurring the word."I'mawful tired.Sorry.""Do not apologize for weariness, child," another man replied."You must sleep as long as you need.But drink, first.The desert air is dry, and you must drink often.""Thanks" said Shana, and then she said nothing more.Both men emerged, looking very satisfied with themselves.The second man was dressed all in crimson, with crimson braid decorating his clothing, but otherwise he was unremarkable.His hair and eyes were brown, he was bearded, and he was a head shorter than the first man.He laughed softly, as if to himself, just as he passed the grel-picket.Keman couldn't help himself; he snapped at the man as he walked by, but the man simply reached out and brought his fist down hard on Keman's nose.Ayeee! His bellow matched the cry of pain in his mind.The only time Keman had ever experienced pain like that was when Rovy was on his back, digging his claws into Keman's shoulders.The young dragon went to his knees, still bellowing in surprise and hurt, as the man passed on, taking no notice.Ohhe thought, tears of pain coming to his eyes, as he moaned involuntarily.Fire and Rain, that hurt! He thought his nose was brokenBut as the pain died, he discovered that the man had done no such thing.His nose was perfectly all right; it wasn't even bleeding.He had just discovered the grel's one point of weakness.It was a lesson he wasn't likely to forget in a hurry.The picket line had been left alone in the dark, and Keman was once again trapped with his own thoughts and fears.So the men had drugged Shana, and were keeping her drugged and collared.Why wasn't she afraid, he asked himself, yearning towards the tent.Why hadn't she wondered why she couldn't see thoughts anymore?Then it occurred to himshe had no reason to suspect that these people were dangerousor even human.She had every reason to suppose that they were just more of the Kin, probably playing a drama-game.Page 131Mother had never told her that the elven lords and the humans still existed.In fact, Mother had given her every reason to think that they had either died out in the Wizard War or lived so far away that the Kin would never see them.None of the other adults ever talked to her, and the only dragonets that told her about humans had been ones she'd never believeRovy and Myre.She had learned to write from books the Kin wrote in elven tongue, and those were never histories of anyone but the Kin.They had kept her blind.Even if she suspected these people weren't Kin, she was so drugged now she had probably lost the thought entirely.She wouldn't want Kin to know what she could dolike see thoughts.She might not even have bothered to try reading thoughts, not if she was drugged.And even if she hadshe'd told Keman how her powers faded for a bit after she killed that ground squirrel.She might just think that they had faded again.What am I going to do? How can I get us away from here when I can't even warn her that I am here?It was a very long night, spent mostly without sleep.The sun rose, silvering everything the first rays touched, sending long, blue shadows across the flat sands.A single bird cried; Keman didn't know what kind it was.That was the only break in the silence.Keman was exhausted.He'd never spent a sleepless night before.He yawned, and shifted his weight restlessly, wondering what was going to happen next.One of the humans came out of his tent; a much smaller tent than the one Shana was in.He dropped another ration of grain before each of the grels, then bent again to fling a pack-saddle on him.He started; then, without thinking, bucked it off.The human tried again; he bucked just as hard.This time when he launched it into the air, it landed quite a distance from the picket line.The human muttered something under his breath, and went after it.He manhandled it back to the picket line and heaved the saddle onto Keman's back, with a repetition of the entire sequence.This went on for some time.Finally, when Keman was really beginning to enjoy himself, another human, an older one, came up beside the boy.This one stared at him for a moment, and he noticed the human balling his hand into a fist.Abruptly he became a model of docility, letting the boy fasten the cinches without complaint, then kneeling and permitting the humans to load a variety of packs and baskets of goods onto his back.He had learned his lesson and he saw no particular need to repeat it.By that time all the other beasts were loaded, and Keman rose to his feet again.Just as he got himself and his load balanced, and looked around, a human scout returned, riding a horse with a bird on a special perch on the saddlebow.Shortly after that, the tent-flaps opened, and the two men who had been in there before came out with Shana between them.Keman's stomach churned with anxiety.She was clean, dressed in a new scarlet tunic, and wore a collar like the others.But she stumbled, rather than walked; her eyes were glazed, and she was dazed and plainly only half-aware of her surroundings.Page 132The two men helped her into the saddle of the beast whose load Keman had been gifted with, and tied her there.The grels were lined up, and tied one behind the other in a long string.Shana was on the end; only three beasts behind Keman.So very nearand yet, he could do nothing about her or their situation.He was just as trapped as she was, because he refused to leave without her.And he couldn't help her.As the drovers goaded all the beastsincluding himinto getting on the move, he bellowed with the rest of them.But the reasons for his crying were as different as his mind was from theirs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]