"Mercedes Lackey & Larry Dixon - Mage Wars 03 - The Silver Gryphon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

another form of hunting, after all; you did not kill creatures that were of no threat or use to you in the
forest, so why do so in the sea? So now the fleets used only baited lines, allowing for the release of fish
that were too young or unwanted. It took longer, and was more work, but that was a small matter
compared with the fact that it ensured feeding the next generation, and the ten after that.
Ten generations to come. That's always the concern—the generations to come. Plan and
work for ten generations' benefit, Amberdrake says. Even if we wear ourselves to wingsails and
bones doing it!
Such thoughts tended to come to everyone at White Gryphon from time to time. Among the young,
like him, they came to mind at least once an hour; in times of even harder work, they arose every few
minutes. It was only natural, after all, that a day of bright sun and promise would hold a virile young
gryphon's attention better than going over Patrol charts and Watch rosters with an elder gryphon, even
one as likable as old Aubri.
I have places to go, things to do. I'm almost positive of it.
The landing platform that Tadrith had chosen was not untenanted, a factor that had played some little
part in his choice. Not that he was vain, oh no! At least, not much. But there were three perfectly
handsome young gryphon ladies spreading their wings to catch some sun on that platform, with their
mothers in oh-so-casual attendance on the off-chance that a young bachelor might show some interest.
He knew all three of them, of course; Dharra was a year older than he and a mage, Kylleen a year
younger and still serving with the fleet, and Jerrinni a fellow Silver. She was already working with a
partner on unsupervised assignments, and he particularly wanted to impress her if he could. She was by
far the most attractive of the three, being of the same goshawk type that he was. But that was not the
only reason for his interest in her; she was also his senior in the Silvers and her comments to her superiors
might edge him up a little toward his long-delayed promotion to unsupervised assignments.
I wear the badge, but I am not yet allowed to bear the responsibilities the badge represents.
He did not have to glance down at his harness to see that badge, made in the form of a stylized gryphon.
The Silver Gryphons, so named for that silver badge they wore, served in every kind of military and
policing capacity that fighters, guards, scouts, and constables had in the old days. And in addition to
those tasks, the gryphons in the Silvers—especially the young ones still in training—made themselves
useful in a variety of other tasks.
Or to be more precise, their leaders assigned them to those so-useful tasks. Like hauling cargo, or
carry-nets full of fish, or hoisting supplies, meat from the herds, and the fruits of the fields down from the
top of the cliff, for instance.
Or sitting through boring meetings.
I have a hundred things that need to be done, Or as Father would say, "places to go, people
to be." He makes a joke of it, but I live it, more than he ever did even after all of his adventures
and missions and roles. Even more than he did at the Eclipse Ceremony.
He sideslipped and caught another thermal, one that would place him precisely where he wanted to
be.
The thought of his father, as always, made him flinch internally. Not that Skandranon was a bad
father—oh, no! He was an excellent teacher, provider, and friend. He was a fine father, but he was a
very difficult person to have as a father. Trying to live up to the image of the Black Gryphon was...
difficult and vexing. He may be a living legend, but it makes being his son a living hell.
But the platform and its attractive occupants loomed up before and beneath him, and Tadrith
allowed himself a touch of smug satisfaction. He prided himself on his aerobatics, and most especially on
his control. His mother Zhaneel was the gryphon who had been most revered for her flying finesse, and
he had studied her techniques more than his father's. At least the Great Skandranon can't do this as
well as I can....
Tadrith banked in over the platform and pulled up, to stall in midair and then fall, wings cupped, to
land standing on one foot, then two, and from then to all fours without any sound louder than the creak of
the platform accepting his weight. The gryphon ladies all gazed on in approval, impressed by his display