Unconquered Sun (37 page)

… But Prinze did not listen to these philosophical tirades any more. It silently lifted from a floor beheaded by a sword in a helmet with a plume, saying that it was the officer, and, so "the former person". A continuous helmet hid his face, but is attentive oshchupyvav it, Prinze found the hidden button.

The front part of a helmet with easy hum spread up and Prinze saw his face. A beautiful, courageous, noble face, a strong-willed chin, the thin sharply outlined nose, a high forehead. However, eyes are not visible, they are closed. But Prinze touched his centuries and lifted them fingers up. And from his breast the squeezed groan - a damnation was distributed!!! Instead of eyes - some shining plates.

Prinze's shoulders began to shake from sobbings, he pressed to the breast beheaded also fell on knees.

Whom was this person? How he was called? In what of twenty millennia he lived? From what city or the village of the Commonwealth was a sort? Whether it had a wife, children, parents? Or perhaps he did not manage to marry and he had a bride from whom it was separated by the ruthless Invincible Sun?

The stream of uneasy thoughts as persuasive midges crowded in Prinze's head. He felt insufferably sorry for the people who became metal tell-tales, toys, "sweeties" in hands of these heartless magicians and he did not understand only one - as people came to such destiny? And how it is suffered by the vsemiloserdny and all-seeing Creator? All fairies say that they also are original performers of his will! But really the Creator created "the most beloved creation" for such here destiny?!

- You mature, very quickly you mature, my little prince … Simply not on days, and on hours … - the Voice was again distributed in his head.

- Leave me alone, a monster! - weepingly cried out Prinze.

- Well-at-at, not it I and a monster, - at all without taking offense, the Voice answered. - At least, not such, as some …

- And about this person I can tell you that he lived sixteen thousand years ago, in the small village near the Great Lakes, served as the huntsman at one of kings of the Commonwealth. On hunting found my mirror in the wood and became my servant. It had a wife, the small child and parents. What their destiny - I do not know. Well with hunger they definitely did not die - now it is physically impossible. And the wife, by the way, quite could marry another - people have it pretty often …

- All right, give the head, it will be attached back and tomorrow will be as the newcomer. Let's go, I will show you the weapon more purely than it. These are, one may say, simply palace guards. For approach I have something much more interesting …

The prince felt how the metal hand took him for a shoulder and sharply lifted up so the chopped-off head dropped out of his hands and swept on a floor.

- Your Highness, I ask for me. Its Perfection orders to lead you to a hangar No. 2, - the gold hand took it for an elbow, and Prinze willy-nilly had to obey …

3.

The following hangar was more former time in three. Walls and ceilings - same mirror. But the most interesting was another here …

All hangar was forced by some big gold cars standing in many rows. Having got accustomed, Prinze saw that a floor was marked by multi-colored lines, and each car stood in the, allocated for it place.

When Prinze approached closer, he saw that these cars not that other as … huge gold dragons! The most real dragons about whom he read in fairy tales.

Arose some scraps of memoirs in the head and he remembered that on his such dragon, it seems, and delivered here …

Huge, in five human Rostov, with huge webby wings, a big mouth, utykanny sharp teeth, huge green eyes. However, now eyes were closed. Bodies of giant monsters were covered by gold scales.

- They are mechanical, work at special fuel, to identical real drakony fire on the chemical composition. It is a source of their main thing traditional for ancient dragons, the weapon. In general, by and large, are a flying mechanical flame throwers. But very powerful - their flame melts even granite. And specially trained golems operate them.

Z-001 approached the closest dragon and pressed the button imperceptible in appearance in a side. The part of scales silently drove off aside and in a side a certain similarity of a ladder appeared. The golem dexterously on it got and the panel rose on the place again. Then he began to press something on a neck of a dragon, to pull some levers. At last, inside at it something hooted, and from back part the pillar of a hot flame escaped. Eyes of a dragon opened and lit by emerald fire, from nostrils tumbled down a caustic smoke.

- Well as, we will sweep with a breeze, and? - the naughty voice in Prinze's consciousness was distributed. - Give, quicker! Unfortunately, all squadron we will not be able to remove outside - them at me about five hundred. Damned fairies constantly spy on me and I would not like to find myself ahead of time. But even one this beast will show you a lot of interesting. Let's go! - The prince was pushed under shovels by invisible force and he at full speed ran to a dragon.

When he scrambled on his back, saw that on a back of a dragon there are well equipped seats. It was dredging in a back where it was possible to sit down and even absolutely quietly to put also legs. At sidenyev there were handles which it was possible to hold in flight.

As soon as Prinze sat down as Z-001 pulled one of levers on itself, and the roar of a flame became even stronger. The flame began to escape also from belly part of a dragon. It began to rise slowly up, waving the big gold wings.

- Wings are necessary, of course, just like that, for appearance, really it moves at the expense of the heated gases …

But Prinze did not listen to her lecture about the device of drakony engines, just because he all the same could not understand it. But he was all eyes down, looking as the earth from under legs promptly departures. Far below he saw a set of long lines of the same gold dragons becoming less and less …

And then he looked upward and saw how the mirror ceiling promptly approaches them.

"Oh! Now k-a-a-a-ak we will crash into it!" - Prinze thought and instinctively pulled in the head in shoulders.

But once it reached almost the ceiling as in a flash it also silently drove off aside, and the dragon flew in some stone tunnel at the end of which the piece of the blue sky was already seen.

Some more moments and dragon took off on freedom.

At Prinze took breath from cold mountain air, from the huge speed which was gained by a dragon and wild height. Even the Gold Tower appeared somewhere away below. And from all this he joyfully, at full blast, laughed. His laughter was repeatedly reflected from neighboring rocks by a loud echo.

- Where we fly? - prosmeyavshis, Prinze asked.

- Let's make small landing operation around a congestion of cave dev. These are the largest monsters of the Rocky Mountains - interesting to hunt them. Here you will see - it will be interesting! - and gold hand bells began to sound in Prinze's head again.

4.

The cave at a fast stream in northern, wildest spurs of the Rocky Mountains, differed in nothing from all others. Round, dark …

Huge, more human growth the young cave bear just directed to it. He only just began to live independently and therefore, perhaps, thought that this cave just approaches to arrange here the den.

However, at the mouth of a cave its some time was overcome by doubts. No, he did not feel a smell of other bear. But something here was obviously not pleasant to it …

He long sniffed the big black moist nose, moved with round ears, but could not expose a cave in any dirty trick. And in appearance it was quite attractive - air dry, warm there … It eventually solved doubts of a bear and he crossed a cave threshold. And in vain …

Because right there, from a dark ceiling on it tens of thin, but elastic sharp-clawed feelers with damp black suckers directed. In a flash they entangled it a dense network, painfully stuck into a powerful bear body and tightly stuck to it. The bear without restraint raised a howl, having a presentiment of death. Wildly rolling the small brown eyes poured by blood, tried to beat feelers with the powerful paws with long claws knives which one are capable to break the ridge even to a lion, gnawed them teeth. But on the place of the torn-off tens of feelers there were all new and new, and with each sucker and a claw, injecting the portion of poison into bear blood, its resistance became weaker and weaker. At last, the giant body of a cave bear became soft and feelers victoriously began to lift it somewhere upward, in the black den. This time the meal promised to be plentiful.

However as soon as carcass of a bear disappeared under a cave ceiling as air hooted from a roar of a flame and directly at the mouth of a cave the huge gold dragon seemed. It hanged, vomiting puffs and the heated gases, and at this time from the lower part of its belly the gold plate fell one end by the earth. One by one on it as on a peculiar bridge, the belly of a gold monster was left by four big gold boxes, something reminding huge bugs, only without the heads - convex, smooth, without uniform gap or a chink. They moved on the wheels hidden somewhere under a trunk and were one and a half human growth high. After them there were gold golems, number on five on the car, with fiery swords and beam tubes in hands, but without boards. For fight with this opponent they were useless.

Having approached the mouth of a cave, they were divided into two identical groups and took positions at edges. The dragon who hanged at the earth flew up to an opening and let out in a row five long streams orange, strongly giving sulfur, a flame.

Wild squeal was distributed from a cave and from where from above the unfinished corpse of a bear fell to a floor. The poor animal was almost completely exhausted from within. Whole was only a skin yes of a bone …

Then the dragon sharply handed over back, and went a landing into action. One by one in a cave all four "bugs" flew, behind each of which the golems attributed to them ran with swords and tubes atilt. Having run in a cave, arrows, without stopping, began to scorch without stopping up. The plate in the top part of armors of "bugs" silently opened. From an opening seemed same, as well as at golems, the tube, but is more than a caliber - it let twice more often and three times more powerful charges. "Bugs" joined firing of infantrymen.

Shrill squeal, appear, forced to shudder all neighboring mountains. From a cave ceiling some green foamy liquid from above dug. Getting on armors of golems and "bugs", it corroded them as acid. Two golems to whom a lot of this liquid fell especially already failed. But the others continued to scorch up.

Then on them hundreds of same thin feelers directed that tore to pieces an enormous cave bear. And here sword-bearers went into action! They began to cut these feelers to the right and on the left with the light swords while shooters and "bugs" continued to fire. From the opened valves in sides of "bugs" seemed long, sharp as razors, blades which began to rotate without restraint on different axes and trajectories, chopping feelers in tens.

All floor of a cave was filled in with streams of green blood which corroded a stone so in it big holes were already formed. In one of such holes filled up to the top with green swill, having stumbled, couple of shooters fell. Having convulsively moved, they calmed down. Their gold bodies quickly became dirty-green and from them the fetid poisonous smoke went. And in several moments they without the rest were dissolved in green swill.

At last, feelers after all managed to seize couple of golems and, having broken them into pieces in strong blows against walls, to drag off upward.

And then the command to recede was given. Hiding for a turtle, in a full order the escaped golems departed. However, the last bug, desperately shooting back, after all got into a hole with acid and disappeared in it irrevocably.

But it was not all. Feelers were too enraged impudent for a short while on the den chosen by them that it is so easy to release attackers! For those two thousand years that they lived here, any victim did not leave them yet!

But also counted a landing on it! Without restraint shooting back and cutting to the right and on the left feelers, they step by step receded further and further from a cave, and then as if on command ran up in the parties.

From a cave after them, at last, the owner of predatory feelers seemed …

At Prinze slightly hair did not bristle for horror. He all this time sat in the cabin on a back of a dragon and with huge interest watched fight and even a little bit sympathized with a creature in a cave. But what he saw now … He did not see it even in dreadful dreams!

After hundreds of thin feelers, snakes creeping on the ground from a cave their owner seemed. It somehow squeezed through the mouth of a cave, narrow for it, though it was in ten human Rostov in the diameter.

The first association which arose at Prinze at the sight of a monster, - that it is a huge sphere. Only shaggy, sklizky, dark. This sphere just teemed with feelers which on it is mute was as much how many, say, at a cat of hair. Only unlike hair, these feelers were extended in any length and greedy reached for the victim the vile black claws and dirty wet suckers. And on a sphere there were black beads of a set of the eyes looking on-nasekomyemu cold and rapaciously.

The monster moved at the expense of feelers which stuck suckers and claws into the earth and tightened for themselves all body. Other part of feelers continued to pursue the escaping production.