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

SURPRISED BY IT, the captain whirled about. Just inside the gateway through the outer wall a new figure now stood.

In dress, he seemed a warrior. He wore a simple tunic of white with a cloak of brilliant green. At his hip was sheathed a sword whose hilts were richly worked in gold and set with glinting stones. Still, in looks he seemed more of a boy. His body, while tall and well muscled, had the slenderness and suppleness of youth. The face was boyish, too, lean and boldly featured in chin and nose, with clear blue eyes sparkling behind high arching brows of pale gold. His fair hair swept back in thick casual waves.

He was altogether a fine and pleasant-looking young man, and he smiled on the monstrous clan before him in a most innocent and engaging way.

"Just who are you?" the captain demanded harshly, eyeing the newcomer suspiciously.

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"My name is Lugh Lamfada," he stated in a matter-of-fact voice.

"Lugh Lamfada?" the Fomor officer repeated with some surprise. "The one that they call Champion of the Sidhe? But, you are just a boy!"

"That may be," the other said lightly. "Still I am here to give help to these people."

"You're going to help them?" the captain asked, smiling. He seemed vastly amused at the idea.

"I want you to take your warriors away from here and leave these people alone," the young warrior went on. "I'm asking you in a friendly way now, for I've no wish to see you come to harm, unless you allow me no other choice."

Now the captain laughed outright, joined by the others in a harsh chorus of derisive laughter.

'And are you challenging us, boy?" he asked, stepping toward Lugh. "You, alone?"

"I didn't say that I was alone."

"No, he surely didn't say that!" another voice sang out brightly.

The Fomor turned again to face this new voice. It came from a very strange individual now perched precariously atop the logs of the ringfort's palisade.

He was a loose-jointed and gangly sort of fellow dressed in the baggy, striped clothes of a clown. A tattered and filthy brown cloak was draped in heavy folds about him and battered leather shoes flapped on his enormous feet. He had a tangled mass of straggling yellow hair and beard that couldn't mask a sharp jut of nose and a wide, idiotic grin. He was casually juggling three small apples and swinging back and forth on the posts. His movements were so awkward that it seemed certain he would topple from his seat at any moment.

"Gilla Decaire is my name," he said in a breezy way. "And I'm pleased to meet you all, so I am. Even for so short a time of livin' as you're likely to have." He nodded toward the opposite side of the fort. "Now, would you be wantin' to meet another friend?"

From across the courtyard there came a splintering crash. Once more the Fomor were forced to wheel about. Directly opposite the clown, three of the logs that formed the palisade had suddenly shivered and then toppled back, sheared off at

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CHAMPIONS OF THE SIDHE

their base. Through the created opening stepped another man, the wide space barely adequate to allow passage of his body. For he was a gigantic being, tall as well as broad. With a great barrel chest and thick, sinewy arms and legs, he was like an ancient tree that has survived centuries of storm to become the stronger, if more battered and gnarled. His round, weathered face was cheery, red-cheeked, his eyes aglow with pleasure, his wide mouth smiling. In broad hands he hefted the immense, gleaming battle-ax with which he had severed the three logs in a single blow.

"It is the Dagda!" cried one of the Fomor warriors. "My Captain, he is one of the de Danann's greatest champions!"

The others of the band seemed equally impressed, but their officer examined the newest arrival skeptically.

"So, this is the famous Dagda!" he said. "He's much older, and much fatter, than I expected." He looked from the champion to the other challengers, now forming a triangle about his men. "And is that all of you? Just you three?"

A Fomor warrior in the group behind the captain raised his spear suddenly to make a cast at Lugh. But from the sky swooped a large black form.