"Dragonlance - The War of Souls 03 - Dragons of a Vanished Moon - Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

There came a thundering crash on the door, as of a heavy minotaur shoulder bashing into it.
Tas shut his eyes, so that he wouldn't hear what was going on utside the door. "Fizban made me say the spell standing on my
head backwards. It was a bright, sunny day. We were in a green meadow, and the sky was blue with these little puffy white clouds, and the birds were singing, and so was Fizban until I asked him politely not to. . . ."
Another resounding crash and a sound of wood splintering.
Thy time is thy own.
Though across it you travel.
Its expanses you see.
Whirling across forever.
Obstruct not its flow.
Grasp firmly the end and the beginning.
Turn them forward upon themselves.
All that is loose shall be secure
Destiny be over your own head.
The words flooded Tasslehoff's being, as warm and bright as the sunshine on that spring day. He didn't know where they came from, and he didn't stick around to ask.
The device began to glow brightly, jewels gleaming.
The last sensation Tas felt was that of a hand clutching his. The last sound Tas heard was Conundrum's voice, crying out in panic, "Wait! There's a screw looseЧ"
And then all sound and sensation was lost in the wonderful and exciting rushing-wind noise of the magic.
3

The Punishment for Failure
The kender is gone, Mina," Gaidar reported, emerging from the Tower.
"Gone?" Mina turned away from the amber coffin that held the body of Goldmoon to stare at the minotaur. "What do you mean? That's impossible? How could he escapeЧ"
Mina gave a cry of anguish. Doubling over in wrenching pain, she sank to her knees, her arms clasped around her, her nails
digging into her bare flesh in transports of agony.
"Mina!" Gaidar cried in alarm. He hovered over her, helpless, baffled. "What has happened? Are you wounded? Tell me!"
Mina moaned and writhed upon the ground, unable to answer.
Gaidar glared around at her Knights. "You were supposed to be guarding her! What enemy has done this?"
"I swear, Gaidar!" cried one. "No one came near herЧ"
Mina," said Gaidar, bending over her, "tell me where you are hurt!"
Shuddering, in answer, she placed her hand on the black hauberk she wore, placed her hand over her heart.
"My fault!" she gasped through lips that bled. She had bitten down on them in her torment. "My fault. This . . . my punishment."
Mina remained on her knees, her head bowed, her hands clenched. Rivulets of sweat ran down her face. She shivered with fevered chills. "Forgive me!" she gasped, the words were flecked with blood. "I failed you. I forgot my duty. It will not happen again, I swear on my soul!"
The spasms of wracking pain ceased. Mina sighed, shuddering.
Her body relaxed. She drew in deep breaths and rose, unsteadily, to her feet.
Her Knights gathered around her, wondering and ill at ease. "Alarm's over," Gaidar told them. "Go back to your duties." They went, but not without many backward looks. Gaidar supported Mina's unsteady steps.
"What happened to you?" he asked, eyeing her anxiously. "You spoke of punishment. Who punished you and for what?"
"The One God," said Mina. Her face was streaked with sweat and drawn with remembered agony, the amber eyes gray. "I failed in my duty. The kender was of paramount importance. I should have retrieved him first. I . . ." She licked her bloodied lips, swallowed. "I was so eager to see my mother, I forgot about him. Now he is gone, and it is my fault."
"The One God did this to you?" Gaidar repeated, appalled,
his voice shaking with anger. "The One God hurt you like this?"
"I deserved it, Gaidar," Mina replied. "I welcome it. The pain
inflicted on me is nothing compared to the pain the One God
bears because of my failure."
Gaidar frowned, shook his head.
"Come, Gaidar," she said, her tone chiding, "didn't your father whip you as a child? Didn't your battle master beat you when you made a mistake in training? Your father did not strike you out of malice. The battle master did not hit you out of spite. Such punishment was meant for your own good."
"It isn't the same," Gaidar growled. He would never forget the sight of her, who had led armies to glorious conquest, on her knees in the dirt, writhing in pain.
"Of course, it is the same," Mina said gently. "We are all children
of the One God. How else are we to learn our duty?"
Gaidar had no reply. Mina took his silence for agreement.
"Take some of the men and search every room in the Tower. Make certain the kender is not hiding in any of them. While you are gone, we will burn these bodies."
"Must I go back in there, Mina?" said Gaidar, his voice heavy with reluctance.