"Cunningham, Elaine - Forgotten Realms - Starlight And Shadows Trilogy 02 - Tangled Webs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cunningham Elaine)

Liriel was equally dumbfounded. Oh, she knew that some elves lived in water, and she wasn't particularly surprised to encounter one. What amazed her was that he did not attack.

From her earliest days Liriel had heard tales of the bitter enmity all the fair races of elves held for the drow. Defeated and forced underground many hundreds of years ago, the drow could expect nothing but cruel death at the hands of the faerie elves. Why then the hesitation in this one's hands and the curiosity in his eyes?

A sleek gray form sliced through the water toward the distracted sea elf. Liriel shook off the moment of immobilizing shock and hurled her harpoon. The weapon tore past the elf, less than a handbreadth from his mottled face.

The water directly behind him exploded into a churning mass. The harpooned shark struggled and thrashed, but moved inexorably upward as Ibn hauled on the line. Although Liriel would have dearly loved to witness the mate's surprise, she had another problem to consider. A second sea elf, this one with long hair plaited into kelplike strands, swam to his comrade's aid. The elves flanked her, spears poised for attack.

Clutching the Windwalker, Liriel called upon her innate drow magic to conjure a globe of darkness. Black water instantly enveloped all three elves. The drow used the impenetrable darkness-and the moment of surprise--to make her escape. With the speed and agility for which drow were famed, she twisted in the water and darted to one side. Not quick enough. A sharp tug jerked her head painfully back as a spear tore through the strands of her floating hair.

Liriel's first impulse was to kill both of the sea folk. Indeed, a dagger was in her hand before the thought had fully formed. Put the first male elf, the curious one, had not attacked. Of that Liriel was certain. He did not look like one who would throw and miss. And she had been virtually unarmed, unable to turn aside a thrown spear. Fyodor would not have attacked under those CIrcumstances either. There was something in the elf's eyes that reminded Liriel of her friend's steadfast honor.

The drow found that she had no desire to finish the battle. Her lungs burned with the need for air. She swam toward the starlight, keeping careful distance from the still-struggling shark, and leaving the sea elves to their own domain.

Aboard the Elfmaid, all was going exactly as she'd hoped. Ibn was at the winch, cranking furiously. He glanced up when Liriel climbed over the rail, but his face gave away nothing of surprise or disappointment. Suddenly, the drow felt weary of intrigue. She accepted the blanket Fyodor offered her and then strode over to the first mate. Pulling a dagger from her leg strap, she quickly slashed the rope that tethered the wounded shark to the ship.

"Don't waste your time," she said in response to Ibn's incredulous stare. "I don't mind killing a shark, but I don't think I'd care to eat one. The thing reminds me a little too much of some people I know."

Her remark caused a passing Hrolf to pull up sharply. "Sharks? Now you're hunting sharks, lass?" He looked the shivering drow up and down. "And in these waters! A strong man could die of the cold. Why did none of you warn her?" he bellowed, looking to his mate for an answer.

Liriel brushed aside the question. "Hrolf, I'm afraid the ship might be under attack. I saw two faerie elves, waterbreathing males. There might be more."

"Sea folk? Here?" the captain asked with obvious surprise. The drow nodded. "We fought."

"You fool female!" Ibn exploded. He bore down on Liriel, shaking a clenched fist. "You've bought us trouble, that's sure."

Hrolf waved the man into silence. "Did you hurt them, lass?"

"She did not."

The words were spoken by a new voice, definitely male but high in pitch and soft as the wind. There was no sign of the speaker, but Hrolf's face lit up.

"Xzorsh!" the captain cried happily. It was an odd word-a click followed by a sibilant zzorshhh-but it flowed off Hrolf's tongue with familiar ease. The captain snatched up a rope ladder and draped it over the side of the ship. "Come aboard, lad, and welcome you are!"

Liriel's eyes widened as the green-haired sea elf climbed aboard. She knew Hrolf to be a rogue, but could he be on good terms with one of the wicked sea faerie? Obviously so. The stranger bowed low to the captain, his webbed hands spread palms-up before him as if to indicate he was unarmed.

"I come with a warning, Captain Hrolf," the elf said in grave, melodious tones. "There is a disturbance in the lower seas. The deep dwellers are rising, forcing lesser predators into bold and desperate attacks. Did you not see the sharks?"

"Some of us did," Liriel said, tossing a quick, arch glance at the first mate.

"I know you sea folk aren't fond of sharks," Hrolf commented, "but they're no threat to the ship. And the creatures from the depths come near the surface every spring." "Not all do," Xzorsh said soberly. "No vurgen has been seen near this area in my lifetime, yet since the last new moon I myself have seen three."

Hrolf stroked his beard thoughtfully. "That is odd," he admitted at last. "Vurgens are rare."

"Well, I've certainly done my part," Liriel put in dryly. Her remark surprised a bawdy chuckle from Hrolf, but his face abruptly sobered as he returned to the matter at hand. "Giant gulper eels, lass," the captain explained, "big enough to swallow a man whole and mean enough to bash small ships to driftwood with their spiked tails. Vurgens are bad business-make no mistake about that-but they're worse omens. Seems as if they come up only when theyre chased by something even bigger."

"That is my fear," Xzorsh agreed. "Sittl has gone ahead to warn the sea folk community nearby."

"Sittl." Liriel folded her arms and glared at the sea elf. "That would be the male who tried to skewer me, I suppose." "Don't take it personal, lass," Hrolf advised cheerfully. "The sea folk believe that your kin had something to do with their loss of magic-seagoing elves don't have any, to speak of-which naturally puts drow on their list of things to look out for. And that's what Xzorsh and Sittl do. They look out for the sea folk who live hereabouts."