"David Gemmell - Winter Warriors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

interior.

'I'm going to buy a farm,' said the youngster, Cassin. 'On the Sentran Plain. Dairy farm. I've
always loved the taste of fresh milk.' Orendo's weary eyes glanced up at the slim young man and he
said nothing.

'What's the point?' countered Eris, a thickset bearded warrior with small dark eyes. 'Life's too
short to buy hard work. Give me the whorehouses of Drenan and a fine little house high on the
Sixth Hill. A different girl every day of the week, small, pretty and slim hipped.'

A silence grew among them, as each remembered the small, pretty girl they had murdered back in the
city of Usa. 'Looks like we're clear of snow today,' said Cassin, at last.

'Snow is good for us,' said Orendo. 'It covers tracks.'

'Why would anyone track us yet?' asked Eris. 'No-one saw us at the merchant's house, and there's
no roll-call until tomorrow.'

'They'll send Nogusta,' said Orendo, leaning forward to add a chunk of wood to the fire. It had
been a cold night in the hollow and he had slept badly, dreaming awful dreams of pain and death.
What had seemed a simple robbery had become a night of murder and shame he would never forget. He
rubbed his tired eyes.

'So what?' sneered Eris. 'There's three of us, and we're not exactly easy meat. If they send that
black bastard I'll cut his heart out.' Orendo bit back an angry retort.

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Instead he rose and stepped towards the taller, heavier man.

'You have never seen Nogusta in action, boy. Pray you never do.' Stepping past the two younger men
Orendo walked to a nearby tree and urinated. 'The man is uncanny,' he said, over his shoulder. 'I
was with him once when we tracked four killers into Sathuli lands. He can read sign over rock, and
he can smell a trail a hound would miss. But that's not what makes him dangerous.' Orendo
continued to urinate, the water coming in slow, rhythmic spurts, sending up steam from the snow.
He had endured trouble with his bladder for over a year now, needing to piss several times a
night. 'You know what makes him dangerous?' he asked them. 'There is no bravado in him. He moves,
he kills. It is that quick. When we found the killers he just walked into their camp and they were
dead. I tell you it was awesome.'

'I know,' came the tomb-deep voice of Nogusta. 'I was there.'

Orendo stood very still, a feeling of nausea flaring in his belly. His water dried up instantly
and he retied his leggings and turned very slowly. Eris was lying flat on his back, a knife
through his right eye. Cassin was beside him, a blade in his heart. 'I knew they'd send you,' said
Orendo. 'How did you find us so fast?'

'The girl lived,' said Nogusta.

'I thank the Source for that,' said Orendo, with a sigh. 'Are you alone?'