"Eric Van Lustbader - Sunset Warrior 5 - Dragons on the Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lustbader Eric van)

away from him as if he would become contaminated by it. Without a word of explanation, he slowly
unwrapped the cloth until all the layers had fallen away. He offered it up for the Dai-San's inspection.

Ojime caught the quick reaction in the Dai-San's face before he bent down, sniffing the thick gray object.
To Ojime's surprise, the Dai-San's head jerked quickly back.

'It is fresh!' His voice, though a whisper, thundered in Ojime's ears.

'Fresh.' Qaylinn nodded. 'Yes.'

The Dai-San took a step backward. It happened so quickly that Ojime missed the motion. One instant,
the Dai-San was in one place, the next he was in another. Astonishing!

With a whisper of polished leather and beaded silk, the Dai-San drew his enormous sword, Aka-i-tsuchi
. Its long blue-green blade shone in the last of the day's light just as if it were noon outside instead of
dusk. The Dai-San held the blade horizontally, the point almost touching the layers of sueded leather as
they lay open like the petals of some alien flower. Slowly, the tip slid along the leather, then beneath the
gray object until it rested on the blade. Then the Dai-San lifted it away. Was it his imagination, Ojime
wondered, or did the Rosh'hi heave a sigh of relief?
The Dai-San regarded the thing with intense interest. 'It is the tongue of a Makkon.'

'A Makkon, yes.' Qaylinn nodded. 'One of the Chaos beasts that were the outriders for the Dolman.'
The Dolman, ruler of the creatures of Chaos, had attempted to take control of the world some years ago.
A pitched battle had been fought, culminating with the Kai-feng at the citadel of Kamado. The Dai-San
was intimately familiar with the Dolman. They were linked in a curious and particular manner, since it had
been the Dolman's decision to invade this world which led to the creation of the Dai-San, the savior of
mankind, he who had defeated the Dolman.

'But all the Makkon are dead,' the Dai-San said. 'There were four and they all died.'

Qaylinn shook his head. 'What you hold on your sword, Dai-San, is a Makkon's tongue. It is fresh,
unpreserved. It is proof that either one Makkon lived somehow orтАж" His voice petered out, his words
hanging in the air.

'Or there are more than four.'

'Yes.' The Rosh'hi refolded the layers of leather, set them aside. From the pocket of his robe he threw
five small items across the floor. 'I have cast the foot bones of the snow-hare, Dai-San, and they tell of a
new attempt by the forces of Chaos to enslave our world.'

'The Dolman-'

'Exists no more,' Qaylinn said. 'You made certain of that when you sundered it with your magic
dai-katana. But Chaos did not die when the Dolman ceased to exist. It was thrown into disarray and
torment, and we wished to assume that it would remain leaderless and, therefore, without threat to us.
Now the bones of the snow-hare have told us the truth. There is a new leader in Chaos, and it means to
succeed where the Dolman failed.'

'I knew my work was not yet done,' the Dai-San said.