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

СOvertones, odd hesitations, a peculiar timbre. He sounds enraged, but at the same time, he reeks of fear.Т Meer paused, considering. СI can barely put it into words, itТs such a subtle thing. But heТs an ominous man, in his way, an ominous man.Т
Jahdo shuddered. Yet once again the buried memory tried to rise, bringing with it a cold shudder. He caught his breath with a little gasp. Meer turned an inquiring ear his way.
СGeese walking on my grave,Т Jahdo said. СO ych, I wish I hadnТt said that.Т
СMore likely the evening breeze, lad. I wouldnТt take it as an omen.Т
Later, as Jahdo was falling asleep, he remembered that Meer had found him clever. In spite of the trouble this opinion had got him into, he was pleased.
It took three more days of their slow journeying before they left settled country behind. The road climbed steadily, and the last few farms they passed nestled in hills where sheep, not cows, grazed the sparse pasturage between huge grey boulders. What trees there were, scrubby pine and second growth alders and suchlike, hugged the narrow valleys, leaving the hill tops to grass and the wind. As the road diminished to a rocky path, Meer began to worry about the horse and mule, stopping often to run a huge hand down their legs to check for swellings and strains. He told Jahdo how to pick up their hooves and look for tiny stones or thorns that might have got stuck in the soft frogs. Although Jahdo was afraid of getting a kick for his trouble, as long as Meer was holding their halters or even simply touching them, the horse and mule stood still and docile.
СIf either of these creatures comes up lame, lad, weТre in for a miserable time of it.Т
СI do see that, truly. Well, IТll be real careful and take good care of them.Т
The next day early they left the Rhiddaer behind, not that there was a formal boundary or cairn to mark the border. It was just that Jahdo happened to glance back from the top of a hill and realize that he could see nothing familiar - not a farmhouse, not a shepherd, not a cultivated field nor a coppiced wood - nothing to mark the presence of human being or Gel daТThae, either. For a long moment he stood looking back west and down across the low hills to catch a glimpse of the valley, all misty in the blue distance, where heТd spent his entire life. He felt torn in half between missing his family and a completely new sensation, a wondering what lay ahead, not behind, a sudden eagerness to see the new view that would lie east of these hills.
СJahdo?Т Meer called. СSomewhat wrong?Т
СNaught, truly. Just looking behind us. Meer, youТd better let me lead the way now. This be a road no longer, just sort of a trail. I donТt think your staff will be enough of a guide.Т
СWell and good, then. Lead on. And please remember, lad, that youТre my eyes. YouТve got to tell me everything you see.Т
СI will then.Т
Remembering to keep up a running commentary for the blind bard turned out to be difficult. At first Jahdo had no idea what information would be useful to him, and he tended to describe distant vistas rather than the footing just ahead. Thanks to MeerТs constant and sarcastic comments, he did learn fast that a lovely view of trees in a valley wasnТt half so valuable as news of a rock blocking the path.
The path, such as it was, wound along the sides of hills and ran, basically, from one grassy spot to the next, which confirmed JahdoТs guess that it was a deer trail. It was a good thing they were heading directly east; without the sunТs direction to guide them, they could easily have circled round and round the broken hillsides and steep valleys. Water, at least, ran clean and abundant in a multitude of little streams and springs. Here and there they came to a deeper stream, roaring with white water at the bottom of shallow but steep ravines. It was one of those, in fact, that nearly proved fatal.
Late in the afternoon, as they skirted the edge of a fast-moving stream, Jahdo was so intent on telling Meer where to walk that he lost track of his own feet and stepped too close to the ravine edge. The moment his foot hit he felt the damp soil crumble under his weight. He tossed the muleТs lead-rope back toward the animal just in time to avoid pulling Gidro after him.
СMeer!Т he shrieked. СIТm falling!Т
The sky spun blue and bright, and the roar of the water far below seemed to fill the world as he went over, twisting, flailing, grabbing out at empty air. With a smack he hit a wall of pain and lay gasping for breath on a little ledge. Above, what seemed like miles and miles above, he heard the frightened mule braying and Meer yelling his name, but though he fought sobbing for air he could not speak or call out. My ribs be broken, he thought. IТll never be able to walk. IТll have to die here.
All at once he realized that the sounds from above had stopped. His first panicked thought was that Meer had left him behind, but he realized almost immediately that the Gel daТThae needed him too badly for that. His second panicked thought was that Meer was going to fall over the edge himself.
СMeer!Т he managed to force sound from his burning lungs at last. СCareful! The edge be soft!Т
СJahdo! YouТre alive! Thank every god! Lie still, lad, lie still and get your breath.Т
Jahdo did as he was told, letting the pain subside as he listened to odd scrapings of sound above him. Suddenly MeerТs face appeared at the cliff edge. Jahdo realized that the bard was lying on his stomach and feeling for the edge with one hand. In the other he held a rope.
СMake noise,Т Meer called out.
СYou be right above me.Т
СHah! Thought I heard you panting down there.Т
If Meer had heard him breathing, no matter how noisily, over the sound of the white water below, then, Jahdo decided, his hearing must have been amazingly keen. When Meer tossed the rope, the end spiralled down and fell across his chest. Jahdo grabbed it with one hand and carefully felt round him with the other. He had just the room to sit up, and as he did so, he realized that while he ached from bruising, nothing was broken.
СI be whole enough, Meer!Т he called out. СAnd I do have the rope.Т
СSplendid, splendid. Tie that end round your waist, lad, not too tight, now. YouТll need to ride her up like a sling. IТve got the other end on GidroТs pack saddle.Т
With the mule pulling and Jahdo walking up the steep side of the ravine, he got to the top easily enough, but scrambling over with the rim so soggy and soft was something of an ordeal, because his back and shoulders ached like fire. At last he was crawling on solid ground. By grabbing GidroТs pack saddle he could haul himself up to his feet. Meer inched back from the edge and sat up into a crouch.
СMy thanks,Т Jahdo said. СYou did save my life.Т
СAnd my own as well, eh?Т Meer felt the front of his shirt and began brushing off mud and grass clots.
СI do thank you anyway. You could have fallen and broken your neck, trying to save me.Т
СI feared your motherТs curse worse than I did dying. A motherТs curse follows a man into the Deathworld, it does. And I thought weТd lost you for sure, lad. What happened?Т
СI did step too close to the edge, thatТs all. This soft dirt, it be a jeopard, Meer. ItТs needful that you do test every step with that staff you carry.Т
СAnd so I shall from now on. Here, do you see a good place to camp? How late it is? I feel a powerful need to rest, I do.Т
СWell, the trail runs downhill from here, and I see some trees and grass down over to our left.Т
СDownhill, does it? Huh, I wonder if thereТs mountains ahead. Can you see any, off on the horizon?Т
СI havenТt yet, not even from the top of a hill. I did never hear any stories about mountains between us and the Slavers. I think thatТs why the ancestors could escape. They never would have survived in mountains.Т
СTrue. Huh. Another thing I wonder. This city, where Thavrae was heading, I mean, is it northeast or southeast?Т
СYou donТt know?Т Jahdo heard his voice rise to a wail.
СIТm afraid I donТt. The loreТs a bit sketchy when it conies to details like that. Well, weТre in the hands of the gods. In them lie our true hope and our true safety. Let us pray for guidance.Т
Although he never would have dared to voice such a thought, Jahdo decided that heТd rather put his trust in a man whoТd travelled there and back again. Yet, much to his surprise, not long after they did indeed receive a sign from the gods - or so Meer interpreted it.
For the next few days they travelled slowly, stopping often to let Jahdo rest his sore back. Although he soon realized that out of sheer luck heТd broken nothing, he hurt worse than heТd ever hurt in his young life. Sleeping on the ground did nothing to ease his bruises, either. At times, thinking of his warm mattress at home would make him weep. At others, he would simply wish that he had died, there in the fall, and put himself out of his misery. Yet, of course, he had no choice but to keep travelling. Going back would have hurt as much as going forward, after all, and he learned that, much to his surprise, he could endure a great deal and still cope with the work of tending animals and making camps, to say nothing of a hard walk through broken country.
On the fourth day it rained, a heavy summer storm that boiled up from the south. Although they were soaked within a few moments, they took shelter from the wind in one of the wooded valleys. Meer insisted that they unload the stock for a rest while they waited out the rain in this imperfect shelter.
СThey might as well be comfortable, anyway,Т Jahdo said. СEven if we canТt. I hate being wet. I do feel all cold and slimy, and my bruises from that fall, they do ache in this damp. My boots be wet inside, even. This be miserable, hainТt?Т
СI take it, lad, that youТve not spent much time in wild country.Т
СWhy would I?Т
СNo reason, truly. YouТre not Gel daТThae. Our souls belong to the wild places of the world, you see, and deep in our souls, all of us yearn for the northern plains, the homeland, the heartland of our tribes.Т
СBut I thought you did live in towns, like we do.Т
СOf course, so that we may better serve the gods here in the latter days of the world. But in our souls, ah, we yearn for the days when we rode free in the heartland. Our warriors make their kills to glorify its memory, and singers like me make our music in its honour.Т