"Cook,.Rick.-.Wizardry.03-04.-.Cursed.And.Consulted" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cook Rick)

just `soon.' We've got to be able to go into the forests to cut wood
and gather food."

"You wish it done soon. I say it will be soon. That is enough."

"Fine, but we need . . ." Wiz was talking to empty air. The being
had vanished, leaving Wiz and his companion alone in the gently
glowing chamber. Slowly and inexorably the light was dying, a
none-too-subtle hint that the meeting was over.

"Well, then . . ." Jerry Andrews put his palms on the opalescent
table and heaved himself up from the low chair. He had lost weight
in the year or so he had been in this world, but he still outweighed
Wiz by nearly 100 pounds just as he overtopped him by a head.

"Next full moon," Wiz agreed and got up as well.

I hope they will be here then, he thought as he followed Jerry
through the fading light of the corridor and out into the clear frosty
air outside the hill. There was no door or other obvious exit. One
step they were within the enchanted hill and the next step they were
outside, with the forest looming up behind them and the gently
glowing magic barrier that cordoned off this place in front of them.

Reflexively they both inhaled deeply. There was nothing wrong with
the air inside, but the air outside seemed sweeter. The smell of
freedom, Wiz decided. It was just a few more steps along the
moonlit path and they were past the barrier and back in the forest
that belonged to men.
* * *

"Mortals drive us from the forest," the troll king's voice echoed off
the walls of the cavern. "We cannot hunt where we did."

Meaning you can't hunt mortals, King Tosig thought sourly. Well,
what did you expect, you silly nit? You go around eating people,
even mortals, and naturally they'll object. The burning in his
stomach was stronger and he knew he would be up all night,
walking the floor and drinking ground chalk.

He understood the trolls' problem in a general way. For time out of
mind trolls had roamed the marches of the human realms,
devouring human travelers and occasionally daring to attack mortal
farms and villages. Then three or four seasons ago a new
magician had arisen among the humans. Brought from outside the
World, or so the story went.

At first this alien wizard had only used his power in human quarrels.
But before long his vastly more powerful magic had begun to
spread among mortals. Suddenly the humans had respectable