"Boyer, Elizabeth - Thrall And The Dragon's Heart" - читать интересную книгу автора (Boyer Elizabeth)

"It's about time, too," Pehr declared. "Late again, you dolt. Why can't youЧ"
He was about to take the ungenerous offering from the stooping, skinny figure of the draug that brought them their food every day when Brak suddenly launched himself from the corner, falling upon the creature and pummeling it in a fury. Pehr was too astonished to do more than smother its shrieks with a wadded cloak while Brak pounded it insensible.
"What do you think you're doing?" he whispered in a scandalized squeak as Brak shoved the draug into a corner and snatched up their supper to stuff into his pouch.
"Escaping, you idiot. Now come along or I'll leave you here!"
"A fine way for a thrall to talk. Wait just a moment, I'm coming with you. Is that draug coming around?" Pehr eyed the draug nervously as he pulled on his boots. "Brak, look! It's old Skalgr. I wonder what he was about, disguising himself as our draug?"
"More mischief, no doubt." Brak led the way out of their cellar and up some earthy stairs; a short dash through a longhouse, and they were outside.

Chapter 9

They crept along the turf wall in the darkness, crouching behind heaps of dismantled draugar or firewood as the Myrkriddir screamed overhead in great excitement. Pehr and Brak exchanged a rueful look, thinking their freedom was apt to be short-lived if their escape had been detected so soon.
"I knew this was the night," Brak whispered exultantly.
"All we have to do is follow her. We'll go to one of the old safe hilltops when we need protection."
"BrakЧI think you've lost your wits," Pehr retorted, cringing as several Myrkriddir took flight from the nearby roof.
"The next time the gate opens, we'll make a dash for it," Brak said. "Maybe they'll think we're only scavengers."
"BrakЧ" Pehr began in protest, but Brak whirled in the other direction.
"Someone's coming!" Brak whispered. "If it's a draug, we'll have to take his skull off. Get ready!"
A dark figure crept toward them, hugging the wall as more Myrkriddir and draugar noisily assembled in the open ground inside the longhouses. The creature stooped low and slithered directly after Brak and Pehr. At an unspoken signal, they rose up and seized it and bore it down underneath them, smothering any cries it might make. Brak laid hold of its crown and jawbones and gave a mighty wrench, but was disappointed of the desired effect. His quarry gave a muffled, indignant yell and threshed around furiously. Then Brak realized he was wrestling with a living creature, not a shriveled dead one. He took a swift look at the fellow's face in the moonlight and exclaimed in disgust, "It's only Skalgr!"
"Let's kill him," Pehr suggested, releasing his hold reluctantly.
Skalgr collected himself, coughing and wheezing and chuckling. "I was coming to help you escape," he whispered. "A clever disguise, wasn't it? You didn't need to beat me so thoroughly, however."
"What are we going to do with him?" Pehr demanded. "The moment we turn our backs on him, he'll yell to the heavens where we've gone. We'll have to kill him, or at least tie him up where he won't be found for a while."
"There's no time," Brak replied urgently. "They're opening the gate again for these draugarЧsearching for us, no doubt. We've got to get out with them, now or never." He grabbed a handful of Skalgr's cloak. "We'll have to take him with us and get rid of him later."
They bolted out of the shadows barely in time to tack themselves onto the end of the stream of draugar shuffling out at the gate. None of the draugar or Myrkriddir gave them a second glance. When they were well outside the gate and descending the winding ramp, they took the first opportunity to dive into the surrounding rocks and crevices.
"Very well done, fellows!" Skalgr exclaimed. "I'm proud to know such excellent skulkers and escapers. It would have been easier if you'd let me help you, which I was going to do, in my own time."
"Hush!" Pehr said. "Here come Myrkjartan and Skarnhrafn! I never once supposed a thrall could make an effective escape. I wonder if we shouldn't give ourselves up before Skarnhrafn comes searching with those eyes in that helmet of his."
"Why, whatever would you want to do that for?" Skalgr inquired. "They have no idea you're even missing. It's Ingvold they're after. She worked the lock on her door somehow and nipped out and over the gate just like a goat into the granary. You wouldn't see Myrkjartan looking so grim for a pair of mere Sciplings."
Myrkjartan came spurring down the ramp, with Skarnhrafn loping behind. The necromancer's horse plowed to a halt, prancing and pawing with as much impatience as its rider.
"Skarnhrafn, hurry yourself! She's getting farther away each moment you dawdle and delay. After her, you fool, and don't come back without her. Bring her to me, Skarnhrafn, if you want to keep that helmet and its powers!" Myrkjartan gestured angrily at the draugar gathering around him. "Not here, you mindless lumps of dustЧgo search for her! Away, Skarnhrafn! Find Ingvold!"
Skarnhrafn's rivet holes blazed with a burst of light. "I hear your command, my lord, and I shall do it. I swear to bring the girl back, with every atom of dust in this carcass." He slapped himself proudly on the chest with an eruption of dust and spurred his draug horse into the air with a horrendous shout.
Myrkjartan and the draugar began scouring the battlefield, turning out the scavengers and harrying them from place to place. Skalgr urged Brak and Pehr to follow him, and they fled northward in advance of Myrkjartan's depredations. The lights of Hagsbarrow were soon behind them, along with the dismal howling of the scavengers, so Skalgr permitted a brief halt to rest and look around.
"Brak, you still have your dowsing pendulum, don't you?" he asked, rubbing his hands. "See if you can dowse her out, my boy. She isn't far ahead of usЧif she's still afoot, that is."
"Let's hope we don't encounter her if she's still looking for a horse," Pehr growled apprehensively.
Brak attempted to compose himself sufficiently for dowsing. His thoughts were over-lively with reflections of Skarnhrafn and Myrkjartan and Hjordis, and the pendulum refused to indicate anything.
"We can't wait any longer," Skalgr finally said. "Don't be cast down, Brak; we all fail now and again. If I'm not mistaken, we're on a ley-line this instant, and perhaps Ingvold will find a safe place and wait for us. I told her we'd be directly behind her as she was working that lockЧ with only a little help of mine."
"You helped Ingvold escape?" Pehr demanded. "I don't believe it. Brak, you'd better not believe it either."
Skalgr shook his head vigorously. "You'll see, then, if you'll just follow me." Beckoning impatiently for them to follow, he led the way at a jerky trot from shadow to shadow. Pehr brought up the rear, grumbling about the last time they had trusted him to lead them and what had happened.
The moon was a watery gleam just beneath the horizon when Skalgr pointed out a higher hill with a ring of stones on its crest. Panting and wheezing, he whispered, "She'll be there waiting for us, but we'll be safe in the old ringЧ I hope. I've got a few spells that might do us some good. We'll just hide here a while and try to see her." He edged into the shadow of a large boulder, darting wary glances on all sides. Pehr also looked as if he intended to take no more chances with his feet.
"There's not much more timeЧ" Brak began in exasperation, but Skalgr suddenly laid hold of him and hauled him into the protection of the boulder with astonishing strength. Silently he pointed toward the hill, making all sorts of frantic gestures.
A darker silhouette stood on the side of the hill, near the base. All Brak could see were the pricking ears of a horse and a shapeless bulk crowned with a distinctive helmet. Brak swallowed his protests hastily and crouched lower as the helmet slowly turned in their direction. He could see tiny points of red light around the seams as Skarnhrafn watched a moment, then turned the horse toward the far side of the hill and silently disappeared.
"She must be here," Skalgr whispered hoarsely with great glee. "And you see Skarnhrafn's afraid to go up there. He knows the magic still lingers in these old places. Now wait a moment, Brak, what are you doing? Let's not be hastyЧ"
"We're going up there," Brak replied, rising to a stoop. He shook off Skalgr's restraining hand and moved carefully to another shadow, ignoring the intense whispered arguments that followed him. When he was about halfway up the hill, Skalgr and Pehr joined him. Skarnhrafn circled the hill below them, silent and dark, occasionally uttering a hollow chuckle or moaning to himself, a sound that made Brak shudder. When he went out of sight again, they rose and hurried upward to the stone ring. It seemed empty. They circled it, looking for Ingvold in the shadow of each stone.
Brak saw her first and dashed ahead. She was crouching beside a stone, her eyes fixed on the moon, which had just cleared the horizon.
"Ingvold!" he gasped. "Are you all right? Is HjordisЧ doing whatever she does?"
Ingvold looked at him a little wildly. "It's too late. You shouldn't have come after me. Run awayЧflee from me and my curse, if you value your life." She walked away from the ring a few steps, saw Skarnhrafn waiting, and reluctantly returned to the stone. "She's not strong yet; the moon isn't high enough. You've got time to save yourselves if you hurry, Brak, so why don't you go?"
"Isn't there something we can do? Skalgr, come here, you old cur, and tell me there's something we can do to stop Hjordis from taking her." He dragged the old wizard forward impatiently.
Skalgr composed his rumpled clothing and looked at Ingvold for a moment. "Well, there may be time," he said slowly. "She seems to have most of her own will left, so far. If we can awaken the magic in this ring, we might thwart Hjordis' curse. Or at least postpone it for a while."
He didn't sound hopeful. "Let's take her to the center of the ring and try it anyway."
The moon emerged from a nest of clouds on the horizon and began its climb into the sky. Ingvold gasped, as if in pain. "It won't workЧit's too late!"
She resisted weakly as they led her to the center of the ring, where her strength seemed to dissolve and she collapsed, much to Brak's consternation.
"She'll be all right, it's nothing," Skalgr assured him in a very worried manner. "What we've got to do now is runЧ no, Pehr, I don't mean run away, you great ninny. I mean run around this ring, or dance, if you're in the mood. Sometimes three circuits is enough to start it, and sometimes nine is the magic number. Come along, let's get started before the moon gets any higher."
"Not me," Pehr growled. "This is absurd. I won'tЧ"