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

'I wonder whether it ever will be, my friend,' Qaylinn said.

The Dai-San flipped the tongue into the air, caught it on the talons of the scaled, six-fingered glove, made
from the hide of a Makkon. 'Where was this tongue found?'

'On a Kintai clipper during a routine inspection,' Ojime said, pleased that the tactical phase of the
discussion had begun. Since the Dai-San's return to Ama-no-mori, the islands had been opened up to
trade. 'A keen-eyed tariff assessor spotted a nervous crewman and ordered the ship searched from stem
to stern. The tongue was found secreted within the crewman's sea-chest.'

'I would question this crewman,' the Dai-San said.

Even being asked questions by him was painful, and Ojime sucked in his breath before he said, 'I am
afraid that is impossible. The crewman took his own life.'

'Are you certain this is the way it happened?' the Dai-San asked. 'Your men are still unused to outsiders.
They are notorious for over-reacting.'

Ojime noticed the Dai-San's gaze meet Qaylinn's, and he found himself deeply envious of their
relationship. 'Absolutely certain,' he said stiffly. 'There are half a dozen witnesses.'

'All men under the tariff assessor's command, I will warrant,' the Dai-San said.
'Why the Makkon's tongue was being brought here we have no idea,' Ojime said, desperately trying to
deflect the Sunset Warrior's wrath. 'But we did discover where it came from: the Great Rift.'

'That is a long way from here,' the Dai-San said. 'Beyond the Mu'ad desert of Iskael, the country of my
bond-brother, Moichi Annai-Nin.'

'Upon the summit of the sacred mountain of Sin'hai,' Ojime affirmed. 'We need you to beat back this new
threat, Dai-San. We believe that something or someone is using the depths of the Great Rift to break
through from the dimension of Chaos.'

The Dai-San nodded. 'Who knows, perhaps the Great Rift itself is the tunnel built by the new forces of
Chaos. I will go there immediately.'

He turned to depart but Qaylinn's voice stopped him in his tracks. 'There is something else the snow-hare
revealed.'

The Dai-San turned his baleful gaze upon the two men. 'Tell me.'

'Yes, Dai-San.' Qaylinn recognized an order as well as did the minister. 'There is an agent - a human
agent whom the Chaos forces are using to help them gain a foothold in our world.'

'Have you a name?'

'Yes.' Now, to Ojime's astonishment, the Rosh'hi actually appeared to quail beneath the burden of his
message. In the face of his cowardice, Ojime spoke.

'The bones of the snow-hare were cast and there can be no mistake,' he said quickly, before he, too, lost
his nerve. 'The agent, the traitor, Dai-San, is your bond-brother, Moichi Annai-Nin.'