"Tara K. Harper - Wolfwalker 2 - Shadow Leader" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harper Tara K)

SHADOW
LEADER
Tara K. Harper




A Del Rey Book
BALLANTINE BOOKS тАв NEW YORK
A Del Rey Book
Published by Ballantine Books

Copyright ┬й 1991 by Tara K. Harper

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copy-
right Conventions. Published in the United States of America by
Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York,
and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Lim-
ited, Toronto.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 91-91811

ISBN 0-345-37163-1

Printed in Canada

First Edition: May 1991

Cover Art by Edwin Herder
In memory of Brent E., who taught me how to finesse a
climb, and showed me that one of the greatest challenges is
that of facing your fears.
Chapter 1




In gray tones, speak the wolves;
The whisper of their hunt is soft.
But when the poison masa walks
Even the wolves flee the woods.


Aranur staggered to a stop and caught his breath. The
rustlings behind him grew louder, and the coils of the poison
masa were already creeping along the branches overhead. He
half straightened and threw a glance over his shoulder. If those
sucker vines got any thicker. . . With a curse under his breath,
he pulled his long knife from his beltтАФhis sword would be
useless if he became tangledтАФand shoved himself away from