"Kerr, Katharine - Westlands 02 - A Time Of War v1.1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

СTrees hug water, lad. Following this river should be a battle, not an easy stroll. Someone cleared this bank, and not so long ago, either, or second growth would have taken it over.Т
СWell, maybe so. I hope they donТt mind us using the road.Т
СSo do I.Т
Thinking about what might happen to them if they ran into hostile natives made Jahdo nervous enough to sharpen his eyes. As the river began turning east, he found himself studying the bank as they walked. Here and there he found brown traces of crumbling horse-dung, and the rare hoof-print, too, cut so deeply that the rains hadnТt washed it away.
СDo you think thatТs dung from ThavraeТs horses?Т
СIt sounds too old from the way you describe it,Т Meer said. СSo it more likely came from horses belonging to the natives. Hum. If they drive stock through here, clearing the bank would make sense.Т
СI wonder if they be the same people from the old tales? The ones who helped the ancestors escape.Т
СThose were the Children of the Gods,Т Meer snapped. The lore says so.Т
СBut what would gods want with real horses?Т
Meer had to chew over this piece of heresy for a long time before he answered.
СPerhaps your helpers were indeed horseherders, as your lore says, but acting under the direction of the gods or their children, as our lore says. That would make sense, all nice and tidy, like.Т
СVery well, then. If they are the same people, then we donТt have to worry. The tales talk about how decent they were, feeding the ancestors and giving them knives and mules and stuff so they could farm up in the Rhiddaer.Т
СHum. Goes to show, then, that they were guided by the gods for purposes of the divine wills.Т
СWhy?Т
СWell, any ordinary folk would have enslaved the ancestors all over again.Т
СThe tales do say that these people were against keeping slaves, on principle, like, just like we are. They thought it was dishonourable and just plain rotten.Т
Meer snorted in profound scepticism.
СNot likely that anyone would believe such a thing, is it?Т he said. СWell, not to insult your tribe or suchlike.Т
СOh, never mind.Т Jahdo had always heard the grown men say that trying to change a Gel daТThaeТs mind about anything was like trying to stop a fire mountain from spewing. СEveryone be different.Т
Round noon they came to an enormous meadow, ringed with rotting tree stumps, which gave credence to their theory that the mysterious horseherders had cleared some of this land. After theyТd unloaded the stock and let them roll, and Meer had prayed, they unpacked a scant dinner and settled down to eat. Although they still had a good amount of cheese, hard tack and jerky left, theyТd used up half of their supplies, and Jahdo was beginning to worry about what theyТd eat on the way home. Meer, of course, was convinced that the gods would provide for them when the time came.
Jahdo had just finished his meal when he heard a strange sound, a rasping bird-call, up in the sky.
СWhatТs that?Т Meer said. СSounds like a hawk.Т
Jahdo looked up.
СIt is, truly.Т
Far above them, silhouetted against wispy clouds, the bird was circling the meadow. From the backward sweep of its wings and its colour, dark grey on its back, a very pale grey on its belly, Jahdo could tell that it was a falcon of some variety or other. Even though it soared high, he could see its slender grey legs and the mottling on its breast so clearly that, he realized suddenly, it had to be enormous. As he stared up, the bird suddenly flapped and flew, just as if it knew he watched. Yet he thought little of it at first. Toward evening the falcon, if indeed it were the same bird, reappeared to hover above them as they made their camp. Again, when Jahdo stood for a better look, it flew abruptly away.
On the next day Jahdo kept watch for it, and sure enough, in the middle of the morning it reappeared, flying in lazy circles and holding its place even when he stopped walking to scrutinize it. With a call to Meer to hold for a moment, he shaded his eyes and studied the bird, which seemed to be flying lower than it had the day before.
СMeer, hereТs an odd thing! Way above us thereТs a falcon, circling round, like, but itТs the biggest falcon IТve ever seen. ItТs way too big for a peregrine, which is sort of what it does look like.Т
СHow big, lad? This could be important.Т
СWell, huge, actually.Т He paused, trying to gauge distances and size. СYou know, IТd swear it were as big as a pony, but that canТt be right. ItТs all the clouds and stuff, I guess, making it hard to see. I mean, not even eagles do grow so big.Т
Meer howled, a cry of sheer terror, and flung both hands in front of his sightless eyes. With a flap and a screech, the falcon flew away.
СIt be gone now,Т Jahdo said. СWhat be so wrong?Т
СBad geas, lad, bad bad geas! DonТt you understand? ThereТs only one thing a bird that large could be!Т
СBut there canТt be a bird that large. ThatТs what I did try to say.Т
СHah! You donТt understand, then. I should have known you didnТt, when you didnТt sound afraid. A mazrak, lad, thatТs what it must be. The most unclean magician of all, a shapechanger, a foul thing, using a cowardТs magic.Т
СHuh? You mean someone who can turn themselves into a bird?Т
СJust that. If a mazrakТs spying upon us, then things are dark indeed.Т
Jahdo quite simply didnТt know what to say. While theyТd been travelling, Meer had been teaching him lore, just as heТd promised. The bardТs tales had introduced him to an entirely new world, one where the gods moved among men and demons fought them, where spirits roamed the earth and caused mischief, where magic was a necessary part of life, as well, to fend all these presences off or to bend the weaker ones to your will. Automatically JahdoТs hand went to his throat to touch the thong-full of talismans that hung there. He would have laughed all the tales away if he hadnТt seen with his own eyes the being called Evandar disappear. As it was, he was prepared to believe almost anything.
СWell, it were an awful huge hawk,Т he said.
СOf course it was. Mazrakir canТt shrink themselves or suchlike. They can only change the flesh they have into another form. ItТs only logical that their totem animal, the one they change into, I mean, would be about the same size they are.Т
СThere be other ones than birds?Т
СSome are bears, some wolves, some horses. All kinds of animals, depending on the nature of the mazrak.Т Meer turned his head and spat on the ground for luck. СBut itТs bad geas to even talk about such things. LetТs move on, lad. And weТd best travel ready to duck into the forest, where spying hawks canТt follow or see.Т
СAll right. And can we sleep in the woods, too?Т
СWeТd best do just that, indeed.Т
The very next morning Jahdo became a believer in the power of mazrakir to bring bad luck. Just at dawn he woke, sitting bolt upright and straining to hear again the sound that had wakened him. From far above it came again, the shriek of a raven, and a huge one, judging from how loud it squawked. In his blankets nearby, Meer rolled over and sat up.
СJahdo, what?Т
Jahdo rose to a kneel, peering through the tree-leaves overhead. He could just sec a black shape flapping off, a bird as a large as a wolfhound at the least, thwacking the air with huge wings.
СIt be another one,Т he burst out. СMeer, another mazrak.Т
Meer whimpered under his breath.
СIt be gone now,Т Jahdo went on. СI hope it doesnТt come back.Т
СNever have I echoed a hope so fervently!Т Meer considered for a moment, then pushed his blankets baek with a huge yawn. СIТm tempted to try travelling through the forest edge, out of sight, like, but the footing will be too hard on the horses. Besides, if we lose the river, weТre doomed.Т