"Claremont, Chris & Lucas, George - Chronicles of the Shadow War 02 - Shadow Dawn - part02" - читать интересную книгу автора (Claremont Chris)

mist into instant chaos. The campfire blazed as though it had been fed
oxygen through a bellows pump and a magnificent shower of sparks
spiraled their way toward the heavens.
On the boundary where firelight blended with darkness, Elora
stood alone. Of the townsfolk, the Veil Folk, there was no sign, save
perhaps for some fast-fading sparkles that might be mistaken for way-
ward sparks from the fire. The spirits were gone. Only the living re-
mained atop the knoll.
Elora was breathing hard and her skin gleamed with the exertions
of the night. She had to be exhausted but in no way did she look tired.
Rool started toward her, a query poised on the tip of his tongue to ask
if she was all right, if there was anything he could do, only to realize
that she was looking past him and that the night had suddenly grown
far more bright and warm.
On its bluff, the tower burned. The stout stone battlements acted
like a chimney, air being drawn in through the open doorway and the
various embrasures to superheat the flames beyond white-hot. From
the intensity, Rool knew that it would consume everything within its
walls and very likely the walls themselves.
Whatever the High Elves had planned for this valley had perished
with them. Now every vestige of their presence was being erased.
The land, the village, its people, were healed.
The valley was whole again.






AJ2 T C R

UGUAY FARALORN.,- THE DAIKINI SAID BY WAY OF
introduction, accompanied by an elegant bow far more suit-
able for an imperial court than this frontier lean-to.
"I'm Elora," she told him, returning his smile with a some-
what more weary one of her own.
He had height on her, which was nothing new among
Daikini, but his shoulders weren't that much broader. His
body was slim-hipped, lean as a rapier, and he moved with
such a lazy ease that she suspected he possessed a formida-
ble strength as well. His features were no more classically
handsome than his body, yet the overall effect was quite
pleasing to the eye. His mouth was wide, the nose above had
been broken, and Elora couldn't help wondering what had
happened to the fellow responsible because this was a man
who didn't suffer such assaults lightly. His face was textured,
especially around the eyes, in ways that told her he laughed