"Naomi Kritzer - Turning the Storm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kritzer Naomi)

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TURNING THE STORM

She is called musician, rebel, soldier, legend. After months of leading an uprising
against the treacherous religious order of the Fedeli and the ruling Circle of Mages, young
Eliana is known throughout the land. Striking from the blighted wastelands, her army of
reformers has grown in numberтАФadding liberated slaves to its ranks. Driven by their
beliefs in the Old Way, Eliana and the soldiers of the Lupi stand on faith alone.
But faith won't save the Lupi from traitors in their midstтАФor from the magical fires of
the mages. Seeing her soldiers reduced to ashes around her, Eliana takes a desperate
gamble: she steps down from command. Then, armed with stolen orders to attend one of
the musical ensembles within the Imperial enclave, she disguises herself as a boy, takes
up her violin, and heads straight into enemy territory. And now the girl-turned-generale
adds another title to her rank: spy.


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The Fires of the Faithless


"We have to retreat," Giovanni said. "Get back to the wasteland now, Eliana. Trust me
on this one!"
And I would have, but that was when the fires came down.
I grabbed for my whistle, blew retreat, retreat, retreat. The first wave had not hit the
area nearest me, but I could see flames rising farther in the woods. White sparks
streamed toward the sky like fleeing stars, and I heard screams of agony. "Oh, my God,"
I said. "Lucia. Lucia.'"
Giovanni took off at a run; I didn't see to where. I turned, and in the twilight I could
see a handful of figures on the hill behind us, clasping hands, silhouetted against the
darkening sky and the bright burning forest.
I counted. Five magesтАФthat was all it took. Five of them.
 As I watched, they turned toward us, scanning the field we'd camped in. Over my head
I saw the fire spring into life like a billowing gold cloud. The color darkened to red, and the
cloud slowly unrolled. As the edge of the cloud touched the tops of the trees, they burst
into bright white flames.
The cloud of fire paused for a moment, and I could almost feel the mages taking a
collective deep breath. Then the flames flashed down toward me and I closed my eyes
tightly, knowing that in an instant I would feel my flesh burning around me.
And there was nothing I could do about it...