"Tim Lebbon - Dusk 02 - Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lebbon Tim)

her. And now that the Mages were here, Noreela had no room for alternative beliefs. She was lucky; few
people ever spent time with their deities of choice.

They flew on, heading northward for Conbarma and the landing site for the Krote army. The Mages let
nothing distract them. Noreela was a banquet spread below them, waiting to be plundered and pillaged
just as they had dreamed about for three hundred years. Lenora could see larger towns now as they went
farther north, splashes of illumination across the shadowed land, and twisting ribbons of light where
caravans traveled the surrounding countryside. She would have so loved to land, take on one of these
groups and show them the true meaning of fear. Since the battle for Conbarma, the whole land had
changed, and she craved the feel of an enemyтАЩs blood on her skin once more. But the hawk carried them
on, its dead tentacles trailing behind them, gas sacs still gushing to keep them afloat, and Lenora knew
that the Mages had a more encompassing revenge in mind.

There would be slaughter, and blood would be spilled. But first they had an army to welcome.




IT HAD BEENdusk when they left the machinesтАЩ graveyard, and when they sighted the Bay of
Cantrassa below them, Lenora guessed that it should be dusk again. They had been gone for almost two
full days, and she hoped that her warriors had prepared Conbarma for the arrival of the Krote ships.
They would be only days away, perhaps even now passing the northernmost reaches of The Spine. Time
was moving on, and war was close.

As SтАЩHivez guided the hawk down to follow the coastline to Conbarma, Lenora found herself eager to
dismount. She craved some time away from her masters. She was tired, her skin was burned by the cold
wind and she felt dizzied by the power she had been close to for so long. The Mages exuded a force that
sent LenoraтАЩs tired mind into a spin. They were like holes punched in reality, so alien that even she, their
servant and lieutenant, could barely endure their presence.

For a while, the voice of her daughterтАЩs shade whispered in her mind. Lenora shook her head and Angel
glanced back, the MageтАЩs eyes a piercing blue against the twilit sky.

тАЬConbarma,тАЭ SтАЩHivez said, the word like broken glass against skin. He spoke so rarely that Lenora had
forgotten his voice.

She leaned sideways and looked down at the sea to their right. The surging waves swallowed the death
moonтАЩs yellow light and spread it like a slick of rot. To their left she saw the port of Conbarma nestled in
its own natural bay. She was glad that the fires of the battle had been extinguished.

SтАЩHivez delved deeper into the dead hawkтАЩs neck and brought it down, curving into a glide that would
take them to Conbarma from the sea. They passed just above the waves. The hawkтАЩs trailing tentacles
skimmed the water, throwing up lines of spray, and by the time they reached the harbor there were
several hawks aloft, their Krote riders armed and ready to repel an attack.
Lenora managed a smile. How their moods would change when they saw what this thing brought in!

SтАЩHivez landed the hawk on the harborтАЩs edge. He extracted his hands from its dead flesh and flicked
fat and clotted blood at the ground. Lenora wondered whether he saw the symbolism in this, but she
guessed not. Angel had always been the one for that.