"Maggie Furey - Shadowleague 1 - The Heart of Myrial" - читать интересную книгу автора (Furey Maggie)

Another turn of the trail brought them to the source of the roaring, and
Veldan gasped with dismay. For once, even Kaz was without a glib
comment. On the left-hand side where the track curved sharply, a break in
the escarpment led down into a narrow gorge that sloped, steep and
seemingly arrow-straight, to the bottom of the ridge. That gap was the
luckiest thing that had happened to her in a long time, Veldan thought wryly.
The torrent, cascading from the watershed above, took the straightest route
down, and left the trail to form a new river that filled the bottom of the gully
with churning brown floodwater. Veldan stepped back, swallowing to clear
the ringing in her ears. This close, the roar was deafening.
тАЬWell, the good news is that we werenтАЩt swept away,тАЭ Kaz said laconically.
тАЬBut the bad news is that we have to wade through this deluge from here on
upтАжтАЭ
тАЬPox on it! Will this bad luck never leave us?тАЭ To her horror, Veldan found
her sight obscured by a misty haze as her eyes filled with tears of angry
frustration. To make matters worse, she knew that her old selfтАФthe one who
had existed before her recent brush with death, would have taken these
difficulties in her stride. Maybe Cergorn was right after all, she thought. IтАЩm
not ready yet. ThereтАЩs no way I should have taken this mission. Her
reasoningтАФthat she must get back into action as soon as possible, or she
would lose her nerveтАФseemed feeble and futile now.
тАЬCome on, sweetieтАжтАЭ KazтАЩs voice was surprisingly gentle, and Veldan
realized with a guilty pang that he was concerned about herтАФand had
probably been worried ever since she had volunteered them for this
assignment, so soon after their last disastrous journey. The firedrakeтАЩs
words, as always, braced her. тАЬWe Loremasters spit in the eye of bad luck,тАЭ
he reminded her. тАЬThe fates wonтАЩt shit on us forever. So long as we donтАЩt let
this string of calamities beat us, our fortunes are bound to change.тАЭ
Dear Kaz. What would I do without him? Veldan kept her thought strictly to
herself. Their odd relationship was strong enough to prosper without such
overt displays of sentiment. тАЬVery philosophical,тАЭ she told him. тАЬNow I
know weтАЩre really in trouble.тАЭ
Kaz flicked his forked tongue lazily across his jawsтАФhis firedrake version
of a leering grin. тАЬYour call, BossтАФyou want to try for it, or shall we go
back down?тАЭ


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THE HEART OF MYRIAL - SHADOWLEAGUE 1 - MAGGIE FUREY

Veldan shrugged. тАЬWe try.тАЭ In truth, they had no choice. There was no other
way across these mountainsтАФ if they retreated, they had failed. There
remained one slim chanceтАФthat Dragon and drake would be strong enough
to breast the floods, and they could somehow gain the crest of the ridge
before AethonтАЩs strength gave out completely.
Pull yourself together, Veldan. We can do this. The Loremaster wiped rain
out of her eyes and made a careful assessment of the situation. About twenty
yards beyond where she stood, the cliffs closed in and the trail narrowed
again. The pent-up floodwaters poured through the constricted space with
considerable force, and she knew that Aethon would find it difficult to