"Julia Gray - Guardian 02 - The Jasper Forest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

their beckoning gestures were unequivocal this time. They wanted Terrel to go
to them.
Their faces were set in serious expressions, not mocking or threatening, and
Terrel wondered why, if they were really so anxious to help him, they could
not simply move to his side. It would only take them a matter of moments to
paddle their way across the intervening distance, but for Terrel it might as
well have been a full mile of open water. In all the time he had been adrift,
he
had not once tried to influence the raft's course. In the open sea that would
have been pointless; the strong swell had been impossible to fight, and one
direction had been as good as another. Now that he was in relatively calm
waters, and was in desperate need of purposeful motion, be had neither the
strength nor the means to achieve it. Even if he'd had a wooden blade, like
the strangers, he would have had difficulty lifting it, let alone using it to
any effect. Moreover, the square raft was crudely built and moved awkwardly,
unlike the streamlined canoes. It was hopeless. He closed his eyes again, and
gave himself to the ghosts.
"He's not listening,' Olandis said.
Or he is, but can't do anything about it.'
The brothers fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts.
t'The tide's turning,' Aylen said eventually. 'It can't be. It's too soon.'
Olandis glanced at the sky, t on this occasion there were no answers to be
found there.
'It's the Dark Moon,' his younger brother said. "Farazin said it's not where
it's supposed to be.'
'But that's impossible,' Olandis objected. 'Cutter
'Cutter's a fool,' Aylen interrupted. 'Who would you rather believe? In any
case, the tide is turning. Look.'
They both knew what this latest development meant. The currents within the
maze could be treacherous in themselves, and if the brothers stayed too long
and were ought by the ebb tide in full spate, together with the flow from the
river, they'd be in danger of being swept out into the ocean. If that
happened, it was possible that
they'd never get back. Their lightweight boats were built for inland
waterways, not the open sea.
'At least we might be able to fight it.' Olandis pointed out. 'He won't stand
a chance.'
'I know,' Aylen agreed soberly.
'We could go round to the far side. Catch him when he drifts out of the
lagoon. If we time it right, we should be able to reach him and get back.'
'And if we don't?'
'We've got to do something.''
'All right,' Aylen conceded reluctantly, 'but there's something I want to try
first.'
Terrel was dreaming of a beautiful crystal city that rose into the sunlight
from the depths of the ocean. He was making his way towards it, knowing that тАФ
in a sense -he would be going home, when he realized to his horror that his
longed-for sanctuary was under attack. Glowing meteors were raining down from
a hostile sky, wreaking untold havoc among the delicate facets. He tried to
move more quickly, to get there before the onslaught destroyed everything, but