"Kate Forsyth - Eileanan 01 - The Witches Of Eileanan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Forsyth Kate)

"I do no' believe that for a moment. Where did ye hear that?"

"In the Whitelock Mountains, on my way through. The dragons have been raiding the herds; I
heard men were taken as well. They certainly killed soldiers, for I saw the bodies on my way, and it
could be nothing but dragons with those wounds."

There was an expression of intense interest on Meghan's face. "Indeed? So the dragons are
violating the Pact. That is interesting. I wonder we have no' seen them."

"I thought I saw a dragon the other day," Isabeau said, excitement filling her. "It was just a shadow
passing across the moons. I thought I was imagining."

"I have no' heard o' the dragons raiding herds syne Aedan's Pact, four hundred and more years
ago." Meghan looked as if she was making swift calculations, and a small smile had sprung up on
her face. "Maya will find she has bitten off more than she can chew if she challenges the dragons on
their own ground. Fancy sending a group o' Red Guards against Dragonclaw!"

"There has been talk o' creatures o' all kind. One thing is interestingтАФthey've been killing wolves,
particularly in Rurach. I heard that from a pedlar in Whitelock too. Apparently the wolves have been
attacking regiments o' the Red Guards, and they've suffered heavy losses; also, I heard, the wolves
have been raiding the herds o' the Banr├мgh's supporters, which is interesting."

"They're killing wolves?" Meghan said slowly. "But. . . surely no'. She canna believe ..."
 "I saw the wolves myself. It was when I was on my way, in one o' those villages near the source o'
the Wulfram. They had six o' them, strung up on poles. They were crowing like a bunch o' farmyard
roosters: "Aye, will my lady no' be happy with us! Aye, will we no' be heroes when we get back!" It
made me sick to my stomach."

"But I thought Tabithas was gone. I have had no word o' her since she disappeared after the
Burning."

"No one has," Seychella said softly.

The mention of Tabithas the Wolf-Runner made Isabeau sit upright. Like many of her clan,
Tabithas NicRuraich had had a wolf as her familiar, a great gray beast that, like his mistress, had
been more comfortable in the forests and mountains of Rurach than in the gardens and courtyards of
the Tower of Two Moons. Meghan often smiled when telling how the sight of Tabithas' wolf
lounging near her foot had caused many a recalcitrant prionnsa to blanch and tremble, when
moments before they had been proud and cold as a glacier.

"That's no' all o' it. The villagers be talking about some strange new horror that seems to work in
Maya's favor. It can hardly be seen but it's gray and has wings and its gaze casts a spell on people
so they canna shout or run. It steals bairns from their beds, particularly those with Talented
bloodlines, and in Bl├иssem they say anyone who mutters against the Banr├мgh is found dead, a smile
o' ecstasy on their face."

"A Mesmerd? Surely no'. .."

"What is a Mesmerd?" Seychella spat the syllables out like bitter fruit.