"Elizabeth Haydon - Symphony of Ages - Threshold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haydon Elizabeth)

Cantha shook her head too. тАЬNot lost. Deliberate in its movements.тАЭ

тАЬHoay!тАЭ Sevirym called, jogging toward the jetty and waving his arm in the swirls of floating black ash
from the bonfires. тАЬHoay! Here!тАЭ

Nothing but the sea wind answered them.

They stood in the heavy mist for what seemed a half hour or more, until finally Anais spotted a dim light
making its way over the waves in their direction, bobbing up and down near the waterтАЩs surface.

тАЬTheyтАЩve launched a longboat,тАЭ he said, pointing out the approaching glow. тАЬA lantern lights its prow,
low to the water.тАЭ

тАЬThe shipтАЩs a two- or three-masted schooner,тАЭ Jarmon reported. тАЬBrigantine, mayhapтАФI canтАЩt make it
out. Big monster, she is. Must have dropped anchor just outside the seawall. CanтАЩt say as I blame her.
WouldnтАЩt want to navigate this harbor in the fog now that the light towers have gone dark.тАЭ

тАЬSevirym, light a brand and wave it,тАЭ Hector called as he walked to the end of the jetty. He strained to
see through the smoke and mist, but caught only occasional sight of the tiny lantern that bobbed nearer on
the wide bay.

тАЬMadness,тАЭ Jarmon muttered under his breath as Sevirym climbed to the top of the massive wall of
sandbags that they had erected along the coastline and held the firebrand aloft for light. тАЬIt has been more
than two full turns of the moon since the last oneтАФwhy is a ship coming now? Can they not see the rising
steam? It must reach well into the sky; how can they miss that from the open sea?тАЭ

тАЬPerhaps they have the same sort of eyes as Sevirym,тАЭ Anais suggested. тАЬLet us wait and see.тАЭ

They watched in impatient silence for a long while, then simultaneously made their way down the long
pier through the brightness of the fog that had swallowed Hector, who waited at its end.

The light from the lantern on the longboatтАЩs prow was now in close sight, its radiance diffused by the
glow of the sun in the steam that blanketed the coast. Over the sound of the waves slapping the pier they
heard a ragged voice calling.

тАЬHoay!тАЭ

Farther out in the harbor, a score of voices picked up the hoarse cry.

тАЬHoay! Anyone there? Hoay!тАЭ

Before the eyes of the five companions, twinkling lights appeared, spread in an arrowpoint formation
behind the first beacon. A longboat guided by a boatswain and steered by four rowers emerged from the
fog, followed a moment later by five others that followed it.

In the first boat a man was standing; they could see his shadow begin to take on form and definition as
the longboat neared the pier.

тАЬHoay! I am looking for Sir Hector Monodiere! Be any of you he?тАЭ