"Raymond Feist - Saga 2 - Magician - Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

A Strike Leader rushed to the Force Leader's side,

We were, fair queen,
Two lads that thought there was no more behind
But such a day to-morrow as to-day,
And to be boy eternal.

ЧSHAKESPEARE, The Winter's Tale,
Act I, Scene 2

OJVг
SLAVE

The dyyig slave lay screaming.

The day was unmercifully hot. The other slaves went
about their work, ignoring the sound as much as possible.
Life in the work camp was cheap, and it did no good to
dwell on the fate that awaited so many. The dying man had
been bitten by a relli, a snakelike swamp creature. Its
venom was slow-acting and painful; short of magic, there
was no cure.

Suddenly there was silence. Pug looked over to see a
Tsurani guard wipe off his sword. A hand fell on Pug's
shoulder. Laurie's voice whispered in his ear, "Looks like
our venerable overseer was disturbed by the sound of
Toffston's dying."

Pug tied a coil of rope securely around his waist. "At
least it ended quickly." He turned to the tall, blond singer
from the Kingdom city of Tyr-Sog and said, "Keep a sharp
eye out. This one's old and may be rotten." Without
another word. Pug scampered up the bole of the ngaggi
tree, a firiike swamp tree the Tsurani harvested for wood
and resins. With few metals, the Tsurani had become clever
in finding many substitutes. The wood of this tree could be
worked Uke paper, then dried to an incredible hardness,
useful in fashioning .a hundred things. The resins were
used to laminate woods and cure hides. Properly cured
hides could produce a suit of leather armor as tough as
Midkemian chain mail, and laminated wooden weapons
were nearly the match of Midkemian steel.

Four years in the swamp camp had hardened Pug's
body. His sinewy muscles strained as he climbed the tree.
His skin had been tanned deeply by the harsh sun of the

4 MAGICIAN