Dragonlance Bohaterowie 02 Ostrze Burzy Berberick Nancy Varian
Alastair J Archibald Grimm Dragonblaster 02 Weapon of the Guild
Dragonlance Elven Nations Trilogy 03 The Qualinesti
Bianca D'Arc Dragon Knights 5 Wings of Change
Anne McCaffrey Pern 04 Dragon Singer
Jordan Penny Gorć…cy temat
Guy N Smith Sabat 3 Cannibal Cult
Barrett Gail Naleśźć™ do Ciebie
Loius L'Amour Comstock_Lode_v1.0_(BD)
Dunlop Barbara Gorć…cy Romans 959 Gra pozorów
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
gravity, he plummeted towards the French dragons, roaring furiously. The
tremendous volume rattled Laurence s bones even in the face of the wind; the
dragon in the lead recoiled, shrieking, and entangled the head of the second
in its wings.
Temeraire flew straight down between them, through the bitter smoke of the
enemy gunfire, the British rifles speaking in answer; several of the enemy
dead were already cut loose and falling. Temeraire lashed out and carved a
gash along the second dragon s flank as they went past; the spurting blood
splashed Laurence s trousers, fever-hot against his skin.
They were away, and the two attackers were still struggling to right
themselves: the first was flying very badly and making shrill noises of pain.
Even as Laurence glanced behind them he saw the dragon being turned back for
France: with their advantage in numbers, Bonaparte s aviators had no need to
push their dragons past injury.
Bravely done, Laurence called, unable to keep jubilation, pride out of his
voice, as absurd as it was to indulge in such sentiments at the height of so
desperate a battle. Behind him, the crew cheered wildly as the second of the
French dragons pulled away to find another opponent, not daring to attempt
Temeraire alone. At once Temeraire was winging back towards their original
target, head raised proudly: he was still unmarked.
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Novik,%20Naomi%20-%20Temeraire%2001%20-%20His%20Maje
sty's%20Dragon.html (185 of 215)22-12-2006 15:57:34
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Novik,%20Naomi%20-%20Temeraire%2001%20-%20His%20Maje
sty's%20Dragon.html
Their formation-partner Messoria was at the transport: thirty years of
experience made her and Sutton wily, and they too had won past the
line-of-battle, to continue the attack on the already-weakened
Page 155
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Pêcheur whom Temeraire had injured. A pair of the smaller Poux-de-Ciel were
defending the Pêcheur;
together they were more than Messoria s weight, but she was making use of
every trick she had, skillfully baiting them forward, trying to make an
opening for a dash at the Pêcheur. More smoke was pouring from the transport s
deck: Sutton s crew had evidently managed to land a few more bombs upon it.
Flank to larboard, Sutton signaled from Messoria s back as they approached.
Messoria made a dash at the two defenders to keep their attention on her,
while Temeraire swept forward and lashed at the
Pêcheur s side, his claws tearing through the chain-mesh with a hideous noise;
dark blood spurted.
Bellowing, instinctively trying to lash out at Temeraire in defense, the
Pêcheur let go the beam with one foreleg; it was secured to the dragon s body
by many heavy chains, but even so the transport listed visibly down, and
Laurence could hear the men inside yelling.
Temeraire made an ungraceful but effective fluttering hop and avoided the
strike, still closely engaged;
he tore away more of the chain-mesh and clawed the Pêcheur again. Prepare
volley, Riggs bellowed, and the riflemen strafed the Pêcheur s back cruelly.
Laurence saw one of the French officers taking aim at Temeraire s head; he
fired his own pistols, and with the second shot, the man went down clutching
his leg.
Sir, permission to board, Granby called forward. The Pêcheur s topmen and
riflemen had suffered heavy losses; its back was largely cleared, and the
opportunity was ideal; Granby was standing at the ready with a dozen of the
men, all of them with swords drawn and hands ready to unlock their carabiners.
Laurence had been dreading this possibility of all things; it was only with
deep reluctance that he gave
Temeraire the word and laid them alongside the French dragon. Boarders away,
he shouted, waving
Granby his permission with a low, sinking feeling in his belly; nothing could
have been more unpleasant than to watch his men make that terrifying
unharnessed leap into the waiting enemy s hands, while he himself had to
remain at his station.
A terrible ululating cry in the near distance: Lily had just struck a French
dragon full in the face, and it was scrabbling and clawing at its own face,
jerking in one direction and then the next, frenzied with the pain.
Temeraire s shoulders hunched with sympathy just as the Pêcheur s did;
Laurence flinched himself from the intolerable sound. Then the screaming
stopped, abruptly; a sickening relief: the captain had crept out along the
neck and put a bullet into his own dragon s head rather than see the creature
die slowly as the acid ate through the skull and into the brain. Many of his
crew had leapt to other dragons for safety, some even to Lily s back, but he
had sacrificed the opportunity; Laurence saw him falling alongside the
tumbling dragon, and they plunged into the ocean together.
He wrenched himself from the horrible fascination of the sight; the bloody
struggle aboard the Pêcheur s
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Novik,%20Naomi%20-%20Temeraire%2001%20-%20His%20Maje
sty's%20Dragon.html (186 of 215)22-12-2006 15:57:34
file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Novik,%20Naomi%20-%20Temeraire%2001%20-%20His%20Maje
sty's%20Dragon.html back was going well for them, and he could already see a
couple of the midwingmen working on the chains that secured the transport to
the dragon. But the Pêcheur s distress had not gone unnoticed:
another French dragon was coming towards them at speed, and some exceptionally
daring men were climbing out of the holes in the damaged transport, trying to
make their way up the chains to the
Pêcheur s back to provide assistance. Even as Laurence caught sight of them, a
couple of them slipped on the sloping deck and fell; but there were more than
Page 156
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
a dozen making the attempt, and if they were to reach the Pêcheur, they would
certainly turn the tide of battle against Granby and the boarders.
Messoria cried out then, a long shrill wail. Fall back, Laurence heard
Sutton shouting. She was streaming dark blood from a deep cut across her
breastbone, another wound on her flank already being packed with white
bandage; she dropped and wheeled away, leaving the two Poux-de-Ciel who had
been attacking her at liberty. Though they were much smaller than Temeraire,
he could not engage the
Pêcheur while under attack from two directions: Laurence had either to call
back the boarding party, or abandon them and hope they could take the Pêcheur,
securing its surrender by seizing its captain alive.
Granby! Laurence shouted; the lieutenant looked around, wiping blood from a
cut on his face, and nodded as soon as he saw their position, waving them off.
Laurence touched Temeraire s side and called to him; with a last parting slash
across the Pêcheur s flank that laid white bone bare, Temeraire spun away,
gaining some distance, and hovered to permit them to survey. The two smaller
French dragons did not pursue, but remained hovering close to the Pêcheur;
they did not dare try to get close enough to send men over, for Temeraire
could easily overwhelm them if they put themselves in so exposed a position. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
