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

Toregene move again, treading softly past the pool of blood on the
trail, the blade still in her hand.

As her enhanced vision began to fade, she looked back to see that
the animal had begun to feed again. The throbbing of her pulse
lessened, tension leaving her mouth and eyes as she squinted
again at the trail, adjusting once more to her normal night vision.
She returned her blade to its sheath, and hurried on.



She descended to a series of bluffs leading to the knife-ridge
which made a great arc to where the signal fire had been placed.
By the time she reached the second bluff, Toregene's fear had not
totally disappeared, and she still had the feeling she was being
watched. She tried to blank her mind, but failed. Now she was leg-
weary, her feet sore from treading on sharp skree, and Temujin's
face was suddenly in her mind, his wry smile, finely-arched nose
and laughing eyes, the long braid of black hair that fell over his
chest when they made love.

She held that vision, and plunged ahead down a grassy slope to
the final bluff before the ridge. But the disquieting feeling still would
not go away, as if there were a watchful presence nearby, and
Toregene wondered briefly if the shizi had a mate which was now
following her. She avoided the center of the bluff, and crossed
near the trees lining its edge, picking up her pace with sudden
apprehension.

A twig snapped, and she turned to see three dark shapes rushing
towards her from the trees.

She turned to run, the final ridge only meters away, but she was
tackled from behind, landing on her stomach with an explosion of
breath and a terrible weight on top of her. Lights danced before her
eyes as her arms were pulled roughly behind her, and she felt the
bite of leather thongs on her wrists. Rough hands secured her
ankles as well, then seized her shoulders and flipped her over on
her back as she gasped for breath.

Toregene found herself looking up at the grinning faces of three
soldiers of the Emperor. Two stood over her, the third kneeling at
her feet and holding her blade in his hand. Young men, eyes
glittering dangerously, yet amused. The one with the knife leaned
over and dragged the flat of the blade across her throat.

"Look what we've found; a changeling bitch all alone, and far from
home on such a cold night. I think we've caught ourselves a little
spy."