"Glass,.James.C.-.Shanji" - читать интересную книгу автора (Glass James C)

a new kill in the night, and brought a flutter to her heart. She came
out onto a meadow and circled, quickly finding the first cluster of
fungus she'd passed by, lacy strands glowing blue like magical
spiderweb on needle-carpet beneath a young Tysk.

She brushed away the needles, and pulled the entire plant from
soft soil, putting it carefully in her bag so as not to break any of its
fragile tendrils and lessen full flavor. She picked a second clump at
the end of the meadow, where a steep ridge began, then followed
the trail upwards among stands of trees clinging tenaciously to
weathered, crumbling rock.

At the summit of the ridge was a grand view both east and west:
mountains as far as the eye could see in one direction, the yellow
glow of the Emperor's domed city in the other. Toregene did not
pause there, but hurried on, for the summit was barren and her
silhouette visible for miles around. Exposed at the summit for only
a moment, she now felt a prickling sensation at the back of her
neck, a sudden sense of urgency in returning home to report what
she'd seen.

She descended to a skree-covered saddle and looked west to see
a flickering point of light set between two spires pinching at the
night sky like a thumb and forefinger. The signal fire beckoned her
home to the ordu placed in the canyon behind the spires, still an
hour's walk away. She wondered if Temujin would be awake to
greet her.

She traversed the second summit on the west flank, following the
faint groove of a trail made by mountain goats, skree shifting and
chattering beneath her feet. Ahead of her, a dark shape suddenly
appeared, crouched on the trail, eyes glowing yellow in starlight.
Shizi.

Toregene froze where she stood, withdrawing her blade from the
sheath at her side, feeling the rush of blood and adrenaline bring
The Change upon her.

Her vision brightened, and she saw the big cat clearly, hunched
over the carcass of a small goat on the trail. She felt the ache of
incisors thrusting forth in her mouth, the sudden tension around her
eyes. The shizi crouched as if to spring at her, then sat upright with
sudden recognition. Toregene growled softly, a low rattle coming
from deep within her, then held out her single steel claw and waved
it towards the west. "I will pass through here," she said. "Take your
kill with you, and go."

The cat paused only an instant, then grasped the dead goat's neck
in its mouth, dragging it easily off the trail and down the skree slope
to a log which lay there. Only after it was settled watchfully did