"Tara K. Harper - Wolfwalker 5 - Silver Moons, Black Steel" - читать интересную книгу автора (Harper Tara K)

blade.тАЩ ItтАЩs too soon, if you ask meтАФjust look at this approach. IтАЩm the one
who knows these trails, but did they listen to me? Not by the hair of a
stickbeast.тАЭ The stocky man did not bother to keep his voice low any
longer. тАЬFools we are, to sit up here. Addled like winter poolah.тАЭ
For a long moment, Talon held his breath. It did not calm his growing rage,
and he thought he might crack apart in the ice of his own fury if he tried to
breathe again. Slowly, he twisted to regard the other man. There was
something so menacing in TalonтАЩs posture that even in the gloom, Jervid,
who had opened his mouth to speak again, broke off and became very still.
Talon turned back to the village.
At his side, Sojourn nodded almost imperceptibly in approval, and Talon
felt some of his tension ease. The muttering behind him was quiet.

file:///K|/eMule/Incoming/Tara%20K.%20Harper%20-%2...ker%205%20-%20Silver%20Moons,%20Black%20Steel.html (28 of 439)22-12-2006 2:33:23
Silver Moons, Black SteelтАФHarper, Tara K - Wolf 05


Four minutes, and the sun shifted up to hug the jagged skyline. Far below
the mountain ridge, the town was swallowed in darker relief. Talon found
himself closing his eyes. He felt oddly frozen, caught between dark and
light. A year ago, he would not have thought twice before trying to save one
of his riderтАЩs lives. Even a month ago, things had been different. There was
that bollusk stampede, when Sojourn had been knocked from his dnu. Talon
had barely hesitated before racing in and catching the man up. He had
nearly gone down himselfтАФthe effort had torn his shoulder again where the
muscles were weak as paper. But a ninan ago, Wakje had been trapped by
fire in a barn, and Talon had stared through the flames at the other man as if
weighing his life before charging through to reach him. It was as though
Talon no longer had the conviction that these ridersтАФhis riders, his own
men and womenтАФwere worth the trouble, and that was a guilt that ate at his
guts like acid.
The dull pound in his temple wore on, and the din of the Gray Ones cut at
his ears. It took him a moment to realize that he was fingering the pouch at
his belt. Deliberately, he withdrew his hand. It had become a challenge to
hold off taking the medicine as long as he could. That, and the pain would
come harder later, and he would need the herbs more then.
He glanced over his shoulder at the two dozen riders who squatted like a
curse on the hills. He resisted the desire to look at the outvillage guard who
was now silent at his post. The warning bellтАФtoo heavy to saw downтАФhad
been wedged still, its clapper carefully wrapped with moss, and it hung
silently while the guardтАЩs corpse sprawled close. The manтАЩs death had been
cleanтАФHarare was nothing if not efficientтАФ and the body now lay half
obscenely against the bole of a nearby tree, its legs spread and its face as
slack as an empty waterbag. The skin around the guardтАЩs lips and eyes had
already whitened; the blood that had not spilled out to soil the ground had
begun to settle and swell out the lower half of the body. The thought
persisted that the man had died carelessly, and TalonтАЩs anger at the sloppy
guard disturbed him. Rage, every dayтАФit was now a regular meal. Or had
he simply been sick so long that he was now sick of othersтАЩ blood?
He signaled curtly to the riders around him. тАЬGear check.тАЭ