"Mercedes Lackey - Bard's Tale 3 - Prison of Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

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PRISON OF SOULS
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in
this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or
incidents is purely coincidental.
Copyright ┬й 1993 by Mercedes Lackey and Mark Shepherd
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or
portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
The Bard's Tale characters and descriptions are the sole property
of Electronic Arts and are used by permission. The Bard's Tale is a
registered trademark of Electronic Arts.
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
ISBN: 0-671-72193-3
Cover art by Larry Elmore
First printing, November 1993
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Printed in the United States of America



Chapter I
"Let's begin," Naitachal said, casting his black cloak to
one side and raising his practice sword in salute. "And
see if you can get through this drill without tripping
over yourself." He smiled, softening the sarcasm just a
little. Few ever saw a Dark Elf smile and survived to
tell about it; but Naitachal's smile meant only what
any human's would, and it warmed his cold blue eyes
in a way that no other Dark Elf could match.
His apprentice Alaire returned the salute with his
practice sword, and stifled a sardonic reply.
This time, Master Naitachal, you'd better watch out,
Alaire thought as he checked his footing on the coarse
gravel. I've been practicing while you were away!
They faced each other on the small practice field of
the Dark Elf's modest estate. Alaire was a head taller
than his mentor, but Naitachal had decades of experi-
ence. Both were slender, rather than heavily muscled.
At high noon the sun shone directly from above, a dis-
advantage to neither swordsmen.
The contest began, a graceful dance of flesh and