"Ann Maxwell - Concord 2 - A Dead God Dancing" - читать интересную книгу автора (Maxwell Ann)

obeyed its rider and matched strides with SyzaтАЩs mount.
Lhar shouted over the sound of wind and hooves, but Syza could not hear him. His anger blazed
through her tightly held mind. He saw the instant negation which swept over her face, sensed the force of
her resistance ... and felt the cold reluctance of her mind-touch.
*TтАЩMero found shelter, 20┬░ right.*
SyzaтАЩs whistled commands split the air. Drifsen deflected the herd toward the right. Then TтАЩMeroтАЩs
mind, cool and machinelike as always, told Lhar of trouble ahead. Lhar allowed his taman to overtake
the pack animals as he relayed information to Syza.
*Cliff before shelter. Narrow path at end of boulder field. Slow drifs or theyтАЩll be killed.*
More whistles sent the drifsen ahead of the herd. Just as Lhar managed to turn the pack taman
toward the cleft, the leading edge of the storm enveloped them. In an instant, ground and sky melded.
Abrasive wind scoured even the thick-furred taman, driving them before its irresistible power. The pack
taman turned their backs as one to the storm and slowed to a walk, bodies heaving, coughing when even
their bristled nostrils failed to filter all the grit from the air.
It was no longer possible to lead the animals. Instinct decreed that they turn their rumps to the force
of the storm. If their gold-coated leader wanted to expose his head to the cutting wind he would do so
alone. Nor would they be driven. Lhar would force one to walk at an angle to the wind, only to have it
swiftly turn back the moment he concentrated on another. He could either drift with them before the
storm or tie them together and try to lead them at an angle to it.
Under normal conditions, roping the taman one to another would have taken only moments. But
wind-driven sand made vision painful. Lhar counted to himself as he tied the taman one to another. He
was working on the eleventh rope when a blast of wind yanked it from his hands. The rope leaped and
the knotted end cracked against his cheekbone. The jagged cut spilled blood which the wind spattered
over his eyebrows and hair. In moments his face was matted with a mixture of blood and grit. The twelfth
rope was slippery with blood.
Lhar waited for his dizziness to pass. One side of his face sent searing messages to his brain. One eye
pounded with the magnified rhythm of his heart. Calmly, he began to work with the pain. His body took
on the relaxed tension of mental effort. He did not deny the validity of the bodyтАЩs warnings. He
acknowledged the pain fully, then damped down its urgency. When he resumed normal consciousness,
TтАЩMero was patiently repeating his efforts at mindtouch.
*The drifs are safe. Syza is out looking for you. Said you were hurt.*
Lhar readjusted his hood and scarf. *How long ago did she leave?*
*Four and one-half standard minutes.*
*Hold mindtouch.* Lhar widened his mental awareness, letting his senses lift, float, and seek
TтАЩMero. He felt a distinct pull toward his left. As he had suspected, the stormтАЩs direction had shifted
while he was roping the taman together. *IтАЩll find Syza. Hold mindtouch for bearing.*
The grit had thickened. During some gusts Lhar barely could see past his tamanтАЩs ears.
*Syza.*
*Here.* Reluctantly.
Lhar let his awareness float again until he sensed a presence like an ice sculpture, burning with green
flame. She was directly between him and TтАЩMero. Lhar kept contact as he urged his mount toward
herтАФand was nearly jerked out of the saddle as the guiderope he held snapped taut. The taman, though
securely roped together, still had no intention of exposing their heads to the storm. He tied the lead rope
to his saddle and once again urged his taman forward. With glacial reluctance, the string of animals
confronted the wind.
*Go back, Syza.*
*No.*
For the first time he sensed an emotion other than distaste in her contact. Danger.
*The storm will break soon.*
 Lhar squinted at the pulsing waves of wind-driven rock dust, felt again the abrasive, implacable edge