"Dragonlance - Kang's Regiment 01 - The Doom Brigade - Margaret Weis & Don Perrin" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

Except the holy symbol wasn't there.
Kang scratched his head. He turned the bag inside out. No symbol. Lifting the bag to his nose, he sniffed. His snout wrinkled.
Dwarf. Some dwarf had been inside his footlocker, had stolen his holy symbol!
Kang growled. He might have known. His friendly feelings toward them vanished. Confound those hairy little bastards anyway! His sole comfort was the thought of what Takhisis would do to the wretched thief who had dared lay hands on her icon.
Kang stomped about, fuming and kicking things for a bit. He needed that holy symbol. How could he approach his Queen without it? His rampage carried him to the stand on which he kept his armor. He paused.
There, on his breastplate, was a medallion with the Queen's symbol, the five-headed dragon. The medallion wasn't holy. It marked his rank as commander. It hadn't been blessed by the dark clerics, as had his other symbol. One might say, though, that it had been consecrated in another manner. It had, on many occasions, been splashed by the blood of Her Dark Majesty's enemies.
Kang pried the symbol off the breastplate, spent a few moments polishing it, then carried it over to his makeshift altar. He lit the candle and chanted a prayer to the Queen to gain her attention. Next, he sprinkled a pinch of the gray powder over the fire. The flame flared. Blue sparkles burst in front of Kang, dazzling his eyes. He continued to intone the holy prayers. Lifting the medallion in his hands, he imagined the wings of the Many-Colored Dragon bearing him off into dark realms....
A bang at the door and Slith's voice yelling for him jolted Kang from his hypnotic state.
"What? Is it time already?" Kang yelled. The candle had burned down a good two inches.
Slith spoke through the door. He knew~better than to burst in on his commander's visits with their Queen. "Sir, the regiment is ready for your inspection. At your leisure, sir!"
Kang grunted in satisfaction. The past eight days had been mind-numWngly dull, the routine the same every day. See to the cracks in the wall, see to the sheep, see to the few plants struggling for life in their gardenЧ-plants which Kang was more man half-convinced were weeds anyway. Maintain training, maintain discipline, settle quarrels over the dwarf spirit rations. And then, at night, get good and drunk.
But today Kang felt alive again. He carefully snuffed out the candle, took a moment to thoughtfully regard his new holy symbol. It appeared to have pleased Takhisis, to judge by the euphoric feeling that now filled him. Gratified; he placed the medallion back on his breastplate. He started, by habit, to put the bag with the powder back in the footiocker. He stopped, glowering, and searched his room for a better hiding place. A loose floorboard provided the answer.
Kang lifted the board, scraped a hole in the dirt below, and dropped the pouch into the hole. Replacing the board, he stood and rubbed his knee joints, stiff from crouching for so long. He took mental stock of his magical spells. They were as he had requested, all ready for his use.
"AH right, Slith, let's go look over the troops!" Kang said, opening the door.
Slith grinned, saluted, added an enthusiastic, "Yes, sir!"
Kang wasn't the only draconian who enjoyed these raids.
The two officers marched out in front of the headquarters building to find the entire regiment formed into ranks, awaiting inspection.
The three squadron commanders came to attention and brought their commands to attention. The Headquarters Troop stood to the right of the line, indicating seniority. They, too, came to attention.
"Two hundred ready for inspection. Only sentries and three lame are not present, sir," Slith announced.
Kang nodded. The same three had been in their makeshift hospital for over a year now, having been injured when a beam fell from an unfinished roof. All suffered back injuries. The lame draconians did leatherwork, repaired torn straps on the armor and tooled new belts, sword sheaths and such. The work gave them something to do to make them feel useful, occupied their time. Kang visited them often to keep up their spirits, but still the crippled draconians tended to be low and depressed.
In the old days, the three would have been dispatched, thrown off a cliff or slung into a river, where theif bodies could do no damage to anyone. Draconians are blessedЧor cursed, depending on how one viewed itЧwith the ability to wreak havoc on an enemy even after death. When Kang himself died, his bones would explode, killing anyone in the immediate vicinity. Baaz corpses turned to stone, encasing any weapon used to attack them and thereby rendering an enemy weaponless. ASivak changed shape when he died, assuming the form of the person who killed him, making it appear that the slayer was the victim. Many an enemy army, seeing the field littered with what they mistakenly believed were their own dead, had fled the battle.
When the three crippled draconians had learned the serious extent of their injuries, they had expected to be killed. Kang had decreed otherwise. He'd granted them life. He always wondered, seeing them sitting on wooden stools, looking longingly out on the parade ground where they'd never march again, if he'd done them any great favor.
"Sir..." Slith gave Kang a gentle nudge.
Kang shook the unpleasant thoughts from his head. This was a day of battle. His good mood returned.
Kang and Slith toured the ranks, inspecting every dra-conian. Each stood at attention, each wore the same harness and the same sword as Kang. The Second Squadron also carried short steel bars on their back braces, used when lifting bridge sections, indicating that they were bridge builders.
The bars were useless here, but they were always worn, because, they were a mark of honor and (brought back memories of better, more glorious times. The sight always heightened Kang's good humor. This regiment had been bis first combat command, under Lord Ari-akus, years ago. He recalled the time his draconians had built a bridge over a raging river, working on it while under attack from elves and silver dragons. The bridge had been a marvel. As it turned out, the bridge was never used. The entire army had retreated, instead of advancing over it. Still, Kang had been proud of his accomplishment and that of his men.
He stopped in front of the commander of the Second Squadron, a Bozak.
"Ready for action today, Irlih'k?" Kang asked, his voice booming through the compound.
"Yes, sir!" The Bozak saluted.
Kang had given the Bozak the title Irlih'k, Bridge Master, the title Kang himself had held when he had commanded the squadron.
Of course, the title was all for show. They weren't likely to be building bridges for an army any time soon. But Kang insisted that they maintain the skills which had once earned them acclaim. Every few months, he divided the squadron into teams and had them build bridges across a dry gorge which ran near their village. The team whose bridge was completed first and could bear the weight of the entire regiment was awarded an extra ration of dwarf spirits.
Kang and Slith finished inspection with the Support Squadron, and then the commanders marched back in front of the regiment.
Kang faced forward. "You look as fine today as you did the day I took command! Well done. Tonight's raid should be a good one. With luck, we'll drink a toast to the dwarves tonight before we go to bed! Drink a toast to mem with their own blood!"
A cheer went up from the entire regiment. Of course, they wouldn't realty be drinking dwarf blood, not like the old days. But dwarf spirits amounted to the same thing and were much more palatable.
"Brigade! Officers, fall out. Second-in-commands, prepare for battle!"
The officers saluted. Kang returned the salute. Excitement surged through the draconians. It was an hour before sundown.
Yethik saluted. "Sir, my boys are ready to head out with the wagon and ox team. Are you going to send an escort with us?"
"Have Gloth provide you with a section of troops," Kang said, "Keep yourselves under cover. If the dwarves spot you, they'll know we're going to raid. For once, I'd like to take them by surprise."
Yethik dashed off to find Gloth and start the wagons rolling. Kang turned to his second-in-command.
"Well, Slith, I think this raid will be a good one. I have the feeling that tonight the Dark Queen is taking a special interest in us."
Slith laughed and rubbed his clawed hands together. "The men haven't been this keyed up for a white, that's for sure."
"Which is one reason I want you up front with Irlih'k and the Second Squadron," Kang said. "I don't want anyone getting over-zealous and cutting off a head when bashing will do. We've got a good titling going here with the dwarves. We don't want to spoil it."
"Don't worry, sir. If there's a whip to crack, I'll do the cracking!"
Slith's long tongue rolled out of his mouth. He sucked it back in with a slurp. Not only was the Sivak quite skilled at enforcing discipline, he thoroughly enjoyed his work.
"Wait until an hour after dark," Kang continued, "and then move out with the Second Squadron. I'll bring up the First Squadron and get into position with the wagon. If you run into trouble, have Irlih'k fire off a light spell. We'll come running."
Slith saluted and went off to find an unfortunate trooper to yell at until it was time to go.

Chapter Six