"George R. R. Martin - In the House of the Worm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

into the moving blackness below them.

There was a smell. Strong, thick, and sickly sweet.

"Where are we?├втВмтАв Riess whispered.

"The Chamber of the Last Light,├втВмтАв Groff said brusquely. ├втВм┼УOr so it is called in the lore of the bronze
knights. But groun hunters call it the grounwall. This is the last and deepest place where the old sun can
peer in. The White Worm created it to keep the grouns from the burrows of his children, some say."

Annelyn walked to the rail of the bridge. ├втВм┼УInteresting,├втВмтАв he said casually. ├втВм┼УAre there no other
ways for the grouns to climb up, then?"

"No more,├втВмтАв Groff told him. ├втВм┼УOnce. But bronze knights sealed them with bricks and blood. Or so it
is said."

He pointed his ax toward the shadows on the far side of the bridge. ├втВм┼УAcross."
The span was narrow, barely wide enough for two men to walk abreast. Annelyn stepped forward
hesitantly, reaching out to the guardrail for support. It came away in his hand, a small piece of metal
tubing, eaten through by rust. He looked at it, stepped backward, then chucked it away, off into the
liquid.

"The damp,├втВмтАв Groff said, unconcerned. ├втВм┼УThe bridge itself has rust holes, so be careful where you
step.├втВмтАв His voice was stern and inflexible.

So Annelyn found himself edging forward again, step by careful step, out above the sloshing blackness
into the abyss of dim red light. The bridge creaked and moved beneath his feet, and more than once he
felt something give as he set down a tentative foot, so he was forced to pull back quickly and step
somewhere else. Riess came after him, holding the useless rail tightly whenever there was a rail to hold.
Groff cheerfully walked on the places the others had tested.

Halfway across, the bridge began to sway├втВмтАЭslowly at first, then with greater speed. Annelyn froze,
clutched for the rail, and looked over his shoulder at Groff.

The bronze knight swore. ├втВм┼УThree is too much,├втВмтАв he said. "Hurry!"

Not daring to run, Annelyn began to walk as quickly as he could, and as he did so the swaying got
worse. He walked even faster, and behind him he could hear the others. At one point, there was a
sudden snapping and a crunch, followed by a screech of pain. Then he ran, all but jumping the last few
feet to the stone semicircle that anchored the bridge on the far side of the chamber. Only then, safe, did
he turn back. Riess had hit a rust spot; his right leg had plunged right through the metal. Groff was helping
him out. ├втВм┼УHold it steady,├втВмтАв the bronze knight shouted, and Annelyn went back to the stone
precipice and steadied the shaking bridge as best he could.

Soon Groff joined him, supporting a limping Riess. The leather he wore had saved him from serious
injury, but the jagged metal edges had still cut into his leg, and there was some blood.

While Groff tended to him, Annelyn looked about. The stone platform on which they stood was ringed
by dark shapes, great square boxes that stood along its edge like a row of rotten teeth. He went to one.
It was metal, scarred by rust and disuse, and studded by a dozen tiny glass windows, behind which was