"Raymond E. Feist - Riftwar Legends - Honoured Enemy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

side. He had to know. With only sixty-five of his men left, four of the wounded having survived
the night march and still needing to be carried, it was a deadly situation if the moredhel were
still in the area.
He caught the scent of Tinuva. It was strange, there was something vaguely different about the
scent of elves, not a perfume, but it seemed to carry a warmth, a vitality of life with it, like
the first morning of spring. He felt the elf's breath.
'They're here. Moredhel,' Tinuva whispered, his voice drifting so gently it could not have been
heard more than half a dozen feet away.
Dennis nodded. 'How many?'
Tinuva weighed the question for what seemed to Dennis a long time. The elves' sense of time was
far more stately than humans'. After a long while, he said, 'At least two hundred, maybe more.'
'Are you certain?' asked Dennis.
'No,' replied the elf. 'But do you see any moredhel bodies out there?'
'No,' conceded Dennis.
'Any dead or wounded they carried off. They would have had to come in numbers so overwhelming that
the garrison and the Tsurani were quickly overrun, else we would see more sign of them. Look.'
Dennis looked to where the elf pointed and not understanding, finally asked, 'What am I looking
for?'
There are no broken moredhel arrows. They have cleared this area of their passing. They don't want
us to know they've been here.'
Gregory nodded. Pointing to the smoking char that had been the stockade, he said, 'That's sort of
difficult to ignore, my friend.'
Tinuva said, 'But if you found it in the spring, might you not think the Tsurani had overrun the
fort and left behind this memento?'
Dennis didn't hesitate. 'No, the Tsurani would have claimed this position. To the north is the
abandoned mine road that leads into the mountains. To the east are the marshlands and mountains.
With the Tsurani controlling Mad Wayne's and most of the land west of here ... From here they
could raid south behind our lines until we drove them out.' Suddenly Dennis felt a stab of alarm.
'The Dark Brothers are still close by!' he hissed quietly.
'They're probably tending their wounded and waiting for the snow to stop before they return to
dispose of the Tsurani dead,' Gregory said in a hoarse whisper. 'I don't think they know we are
here though,' He glanced skyward as the snow slackened.
'Don't risk your life on that thought, my friend,' Tinuva said, again his voice was a drifting
shimmer barely heard.
'Circle,' Dennis whispered.
Dennis slid back down from boulders. Spying Alwin, he gestured for him to remain in position,
indicating that the three of them would circle around the fort and that moredhel were in the area.
After nine years in the field, the Marauders had a sophisticated system of hand signals to cover
most situations. Alwin signed that he understood and would comply.


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Having approached the fort from the west, Dennis started north, following the direction of the low
ridge. The realm of the moredhel was to the north, though it didn't necessarily mean that was the
direction they had attacked from. Besides, the next major trail, the one that connected Brendan's
Stockade and Mad Wayne's Fort, entered at the north-west corner of the clearing. Perhaps there
would be signs there that could help unravel the mystery.
As he drifted along the ridge, staying low, he kept the remains of Brendan's Stockade in view. Yet