"Bill Fawcett & Brian Thomsen - Masters of Fantasy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fawcett Bill)

"Lonely?" Alain said, tactfully.
Sted laughed.
:Thinking of another experiment to try, Chosen?: Vedalia asked innocently.
Alain spluttered, but held his tongueтАФnot the least because he was thinking that very thing. And none of
his sibs would be around to tease him and cross-examine him about it afterwards, either.
But when they finally came out of the woodsтАФabruptly, for the trail ended on a rocky cliff-face that
dropped steeply down to the gray-green waters the lakeтАФany tentative plans he might have been making
vanished abruptly.
The little village that they were making for was built in a river-valley cutting through the cliff, making a
narrow and gravel-strewn perch for the Evendim longhouses he'd heard so much about, and a harbor for
the fishing boats. The boats should have been out this time of day; instead, they were pulled up on the
gravel beach, and the place was in an uproar. They must have been expected, because the moment they
came into view, someone spotted them and set up a shout.
Shortly the two Companions were surrounded by what seemed to be every ambulatory person in the
entire village. The anxiety in the air was as thick as the smoke from the fires where great racks of fish
were being smoked and preserved. Alain hung back, sensing that someone a great deal senior to him was
who was called for at this moment, but he needn't have bothered with such diffidence. It was clear that
the villagers knew the senior Herald here, and two of the more prosperous-looking men fastened
themselves to Companion Lovell's reins and began babbling a confused tale of raiders. . . .
Alain couldn't make head or tail of it, but Sted seemed to have no trouble. Then again, this was his
circuit, and he knew these people. To Alain's ears, their accent, thick enough at the best of times,
rendered excited speech incomprehensible.
Then Vedalia came to the rescue.
:Some sort of bandits or raiders have destroyed the next village up the coast,: Vedalia supplied. :The
indications are that the bandits came in by water rather than overland, which is something new, and did


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 - Chapter 2

so while the men were out fishing. The men returned to find their houses burned out, their women and
children gone, and anyone older than forty or younger than four dead in the ashes.:
Alain felt the blood drain from his face. This was over and above a mere raid. This was an atrocity. And
why kill anyone they didn't take? Unless it was to prevent the survivors from telling something?
:The folk here just got warning from the men, who took their boats up and down the coast to warn
everyone else. They're afraid to go out fishing now.:
But if they didn't, it wouldn't be long before they were all starving. Without fish, there was nothing to eat
and nothing to trade to the farmers farther inland.
:Exactly soтАФ: Vedalia shut up, as Stedrel began speaking calmly, confidently, and his manner soothed
some of the agitation. Alain paid close attention; this was a master at work.
"This happened yesterday? Is there any attempt at pursuit?" he asked.
"Half the menтАФbut it's a big lakeтАФ" said one of the men at Lovell's reins, waving at the water.
Big lake? That was an understatement. Even from the top of the cliff it had been impossible to see the
other side, and the curve of the shore was imperceptible.
"Defenses first, then," Sted said firmlyтАФturning attention to that without making it obvious that he felt
the captives were beyond help.
:They are. There's nothing we can do for them,: Vedalia said glumly. Alain bit his lip; his heart wanted
to launch some sort of rescue, but how? With no troops, and no shipsтАФout on a trackless expanse of
waterтАФ
:The only way to track them might be to FarSeeтАФneither of you have that Gift.: