"Dragonlance - Deathgate Cycle 05 - The Hand of Chaos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Deathgate Cycle)

"We needn't have worried, boy," he said, smacking the dog's wet and shaggy flank. "At least they're safe."

The animal grinned, shook itself.

The fleet of mensch submersibles was drawn up in a more or less orderly line in the harbor. The sun-chasers bobbed on the surface. Mensch lined the bows, pointing and shouting, leaning over the rails, jumping into the water. Numerous small boats plied back and forth between ship and shore, probably ferrying the dwarves, who could not swim. The humans and elvesЧfar more at home in the waterЧwere directing the work of several huge whales, pushing crudely built, heavily loaded rafts into the harbor.

Eyeing the rafts, Haplo glanced down at the wooden plank that he'd dragged up with him. That's why they'd broken up the submersibles. The mensch were moving in.

"But... where are the serpents?" he asked the dog, who lay, panting, at his feet.

Nowhere in sight, apparently. Haplo watched as long as he could, driven by the need to escape this world and return to the Nexus and his lord, yet constrained by the equal need to reach that world alive. Patience, cautionЧhard lessons to learn, but the Labyrinth was an excellent teacher.

He saw no sign of serpent heads looming out of the water. Perhaps they were all under the surface, boring the holes into the foundation of the Chalice through which the seawater was pouring,

"I need to find out," Haplo said to himself in frustration. If the snakes knew he was free and was planning to flee Chelestra, they'd stop him, if they could.

He weighed the alternatives. Taking time to talk to the mensch meant delay, risked revealing his presence to them. They'd welcome him with joy, want to hang on to him, use him. He didn't have time to fool with the mensch. But not taking the time to find out what was going on with the serpents might mean an even greater delayЧperhaps a deadly one.

He waited several moments, hoping for some sign of the snakes. Nothing. And he couldn't stay on this damn wall forever. Deciding to trust to opportunity, Haplo plunged back into
the water. The dog, with a wild bark, splashed in beside him.

Haplo swam into the harbor. Hanging on to the wood, he kept himself low in the water, steered clear of the flow of traffic. He was well known by sight among the mensch and wanted to avoid them as much as possible. Clinging to his plank, he peered closely into the dwarven boats. It was in his mind to talk to Grundle, if he could find her. She had more sense than most mensch, and, though she would undoubtedly make a fuss over him, he figured he could extract himself from her affectionate clutches without too much difficulty.

He didn't find her, however. And still no sign of any serpents. But he did come across a small submersibleЧused to rescue dwarves who had the mischance to fall into the waterЧ secured to a post. He drifted near, eyeing it intently. No one was around; it appeared to have been abandoned.

A whale-driven raft had just arrived on shore. Numerous dwarves were gathered around, preparing to unload its cargo... Haplo guessed that the crew of this submersible were among them.

He swam over to it. This was too good to pass up. He'd steal it, sail to Draknor. If the serpents were there... well... he'd deal with that when the time came...

Something large and alive and slick-skinned bumped into him. Haplo's heart lurched. He gulped in his breath and a mouthful of water at the same time, started to choke and
cough. Kicking himself backward, away from the creature, he struggled to breathe and readied himself to fight.

A shining head with two beady eyes and a wide-open, laughing mouth popped out of the water directly in front of him. Two more heads shot up on either side of him, four swam about him in rollicking delight, nosing him and prodding him.

Dolphins.

Haplo gasped, spit out water. The dog attempted a furious bark, which proceeding highly amused the dolphins and nearly drowned the dog. Haplo dragged its forelegs up onto the plank, where the animal lay panting and glaring.

"Where are the dragon-snakes?" Haplo demanded, speaking in the human tongue.

Previously, the dolphins had refused to talk to him or have anything to do with him. But that was when they'd assumed him to beЧrightly enoughЧon the side of the serpents. Now their attitude toward him had changed. They began to squeak and whistle in excitement and a few started to swim off, eager to be the first to spread the news around the mensch that the mysterious man with the blue-tattooed skin had reappeared.

"No! Wait, don't go. Don't tell anyone you've seen me," he said hastily. "What's going on here? Where are the dragon-snakes?"

The dolphins squeaked and gabbled. In seconds, Haplo heard everything he wanted to know and quite a lot that he didn't.

"We heard that Samah took you prisoner..."

"The snakes brought poor Alake's body back to..."