"Dragonlance - The War of Souls 01 - Dragons of the Fallen Sun - Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis 1.0" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

about half a mile when it occurred to him that he did not hear
other hoof beats. Glancing around, he saw that he was proceed-
ing alone. None of his men had followed.
Furious, Magit turned and galloped back to his command. He
found half of his patrol dismounted, the other half looking very
ill at ease; sitting astride horses that stood shivering on the road.
"The dumb beasts have more brains than their masters," said
the minotaur from his place on the ground. Few horses will allow
a minotaur to sit upon their backs and fewer still have the
strength and girth to carry one of the huge minotaurs. Galdar was
seven feet tall, counting his horns. He kept up with the patrol,
running easily alongside the stirrup of his commander.
Magit sat upon his horse, his hands on the pommel, facing his
men. He was a tall, excessively thin man, the type whose bones
seem to be strung together with steel wire, for he was far stronger
than he looked. His eyes were flat and watery blue, without
intelligence, without depth. He was noted for his cruelty, his
inflexible-many would say mindless-discipline, and his com-
plete and total devotion to a single cause: Ernst Magit.
"You will mount your horses and you will ride after me," said
Talon Leader Magit coldly, "or I will report each and every one of
you to the groupcommander. I will accuse you of cowardice and
betrayal of the Vision and mutiny. As you know, the penalty for
even one of those counts is death."
"Can he do that?" whispered a newly made Knight on his first
assignment.
"He can," returned the veterans grimly, "and he will."
The Knights remounted and urged their steeds forward, using
their spurs. They were forced to circle around the minotaur,
Galdar, who remained standing in the center of the road.
"Do you refuse to obey my command, minotaur?" demanded
Magit angrily. "Think well before you do so. You may be the pro-
tege of the Protector of the Skull, but I doubt if even he could
save you if I denounce you to the Council as a coward and an
oath-breaker."
Leaning over his horse's neck, Magit spoke in mock confi-
dentiality. "And from what I hear, Galdar, your master might
not be too keen on protecting you anymore. A one-armed mino-
taur. A minotaur whose own kind view him with pity and with
scorn. A minotaur who has been reduced to the position of
scout.' And we all know that they assigned you to that post
only because they had to do something with you. Although I
did hear it suggested that they turn you out to pasture with the
rest of the cows."
Galdar clenched his fist, his remaining fist, driving the sharp
nails into his flesh. He knew very well that Magit was baiting
him, goading him into a fight. Here, where there would be few
witnesses. Here where Magit could kill the crippled minotaur
and return home to claim that the fight had been a fair and glori-
ous one. Galdar was not particularly attached to life, not since the