"Flint, Kenneth C - Gods of Eire 02 - Champions of the Sidhe UC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flint Kenneth C)

animals.

All were dressed as warriors, in ragged tunics and cloaks, and heavily armed with spears, swords, and leather shields.

The frightened woman looked up at them in horror as she pulled herself from the mud and stumbled away to join a huddled group of others penned against the earthen wall of the ringfort by the menacing band.

BRES RETURNS 7

From within the round, wattle-sided house, a figure emerged. His head appeared to have been split from the top of the skull to the bridge of the nose by some massive wound that had healed to leave a deep trench ridged by thick scar tissue on either side. On both sides of the gap, the ba)d skull bulged up as if two heads had tried to form. Goggling eyes were set far out atop each bulging cheek like those of a frog. The mouth was tiny, shaped in a high bow, with a deep cleft that ran up into the wide, single nostril of the flat nose.

With obvious enjoyment he watched the frightened woman stumble away. He strode out into the center of the compound and looked around him at the ringfort's interior.

It was a small enclosure. The wrapping earthen bank with its crowning ring of upright stakes embraced only four of the round, thatched homes. It was clearly a very poor settlement, and its two-score inhabitants were near starvation.

The warrior looked them over appraisingly. There were a few scrawny men, some worn and haggard women, and a few wretched brats with swollen bellies who peeped out fearfully from the shelter of their mothers' bodies.

"Phaw!" he exclaimed disgustedly. "What a sorry catch we've got here. No food among 'em. No shiny little bits for us. And none of these women are worth our time. Seems a waste of effort even to kill them."

"There's no need to kill us," one of the captive men said pleadingly, moving forward from the group. He was a tall man with a lean face that had once been handsome. But years of hardship had ravaged him, and years of oppression had left him without pride. He begged for the salvation of his people. "Please, My Chieftain! We've never caused the Fomor any trouble. We've always paid our tribute to you."

"And I suppose you're not fallin' in with those rebels at Tara?" the Fomor leader said, smiling skeptically.

"Rebels?" the man repeated blankly. "No. We know nothing about a rebellion. Please, believe me!"

"Captain!" called a dog-faced warrior, coming out of one of the huts. He held up a battered sword in a thick paw. "Look here! We found these in a souterrain under this house!"

"A hidden escape tunnel?" the captain said, and turned a baleful look upon the hapless man. "And weapons?"

"They're for our defense from animals," the man tried desperately to explain. "We have to have something. The bearsЧ" "Bears!" the captain spat out contemptuously. He took a

8

CHAMPIONS OF THE SIDHE

swift step forward and swung out with a sudden blow of his fist that caught the man on the side of his head, dropping him heavily to the muddy earth.

"The bears will be eatin' of all your bony carcasses this day," the captain promised. He drew a heavy longsword from its sheath and lifted it to strike.

From the huddled group a wail of terror went up. A young boy pushed forward. A woman tried to stop him but he tore away and flew upon the warrior, grabbing his sword arm to drag it down.

Angrily the captain shook the attacker off and the boy was flung down into the mud beside the man.

"Filthy whelp!" the captain grated and lifted the sword again. "Now you'll be first!"

"I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd not do that," said a voice behind him.

II

THE CHAMPIONS