"Richard A. Knaak - Dragonlance - Lost Histories 4 - Land of the Minotaurs" - читать интересную книгу автора (Knaak Richard A)

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Land of the minotaurs

Dragonlance Lost Histories Vol 4

by Richard A Knaak

Chapter 1 A Balance to Maintain

Nethosak had obviously prospered in the past few years and yet to Hecar there was a hint of something
poisonous in the air, as if the grand, imperial city of his people had somehow begun to spoil at the core.

Perhaps the stories are true, then, thought the tall minotaur. Perhaps the travelers were not exaggerating
after all when they said that the empire had become corrupted, though even they had been at a loss to say
exactly how.

The imperial capital of the minotaur empire had not only more than recovered in the eight years since
the fall of the Dark Queen, it had swelled in both grandeur and might.

Even three years ago, when Hecar and his sister had last bid farewell to it, Nethosak had not looked so
masterful.

Nethosak was a city of immense marble structures, great buildings whose entrances were flanked by
columns carved in the shapes of triumphant minotaur warriors. Many of these were clan houses. The
house of Orilg, to which Hecar belonged, was, fortunately for him, situated far on the other side of the
city. The houses here were of lesser clans. Nearby were shops, trade buildings, and many smithies, for
weaponry was in constant demand in an empire bent on expansion. All of the buildings appeared clean
and new, though many were centuries old.

Minotaurs tall and short, dark and light, hurried along, ignoring the lone figure who stood to the side of
the orderly, nearly unblemished street. The lane was covered in stone not unlike a pearly marble, so that
it looked almost as though the structures around Hecar were melting into the path. Very little garbage
littered the street and, even as he watched, a gully dwarf with a collar around his throat scurried to pick
up what he could. Hecar's people had finally found a use for the dirty, childlike creatures.

The watcher's mouth curled into a sour smile. Such a wonderful folk his kind were. Three years away
from them had made Hecar see the minotaurs as others did, and he was not pleased by this insight.

In the distance, other, taller buildings jutted toward the sky. The tall, wide edifice with the arched roof
was the palace of the emperor. Up close, it very much resembled the clan houses, save for the great roof.
Marble columns, a long series of wide steps, a few windows on the upper levelsтАж and the same blank,
colorless walls that marked nearly every building in Mithas and Kothas. Having lived in the woodlands,

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