"Boreal Moon - 02 - Ironcrown Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

When youТve finished activating the Gateway, crush the moonstone medallion and the book cover. Tell Lord StergosЧno one elseЧwhat happened here today. He, not you, is the proper one to pass on news of the troveТs destruction to his brother Conrig.
Snudge felt his anger fade, leaving a mounting fear. УYouТre not the Green Man. Who are you?Ф
I am the One Denied the Sky, the lowliest of the Likeminded, but despite that, designated to lead the New Conflict. Someday I hope I may tell you my tale. But that cannot happen until there is an ending.
УAnЕ ending?Ф
Bespeak your young friend, Vra-Mattis. Have him inform the warriors that he has lost the trail of Scarth Saltbeck. They must all return to Elktor with you now.
УDo you intend to let Scarth escape? What happened to the other thief, Felmar, and the second book?Ф
Both wretched men had roles in the New Conflict. Felmar is dead and Scarth will not live much longer. You may also tell this to Lord Stergos. The second book need not concern you. Eventually, it will also be destroyed.
УWhat about Kilian Blackhorse? Is he also a participant in your Conflict?Ф
Yes. And so is Beynor ash Linndal of Moss, who has returned to this island to commit heinous sins. But ask me no more questions. Do the things IТve requested of you, Snudge. You must, if itТs all to come right in the end. Otherwise the Pain-Eaters will triumph. Farewell.
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He took off his gauntlet and pressed the carving of the tiny door to the disk with his bare hand. As before, the irascible inhuman voice boomed on the wind, asking what he wanted.
CAD AYТANRUDAY?
УGO TUGA LUVKRO AN AY COMASH DOM.Ф May the Cold Light grant me power.
The pain was tentative as the terrible being asked who he was. KO AN SO?
He told the truth that was not the truth, praying that Ansel and the Source were right. УSNUDGE.Ф
An icy spear plunged into his breast, but stopped short of his heart. He endured, suffered, waited while the Great Light pondered his request to share power and pay the price. They were fickle beings, fond of deadly jests, as likely to slay a supplicant as to bestow their awful gifts. But once again, Snudge was one of the fortunate.
THASHINAH GAV. We accept.
УMO TENGALAH SHERUV.Ф Thank you.
He was struck down then, as before, only to come to his senses later with the memory of horror causing hot tears to pour from his eyes. The agony had been much more severe than that he experienced during the activation of Concealer. Giving thanks for his survival, he lay there until his face dried and the sound of hoof beats vibrating in the ground under his ear warned him that the others were returning.
He sat up. It was bright dawn, with the dark clouds all fled to the east. The small oblong carving glowed faintly green when he opened his clenched fist. The sigil was perforated, like Concealer, and fit easily on the same golden neckchain. He tucked the two stones away, feeling them warm and alive against the flesh of his chest. Then he got to his feet, took up the sledgehammer, and smote the book cover and its moonstone disk again and again, until they were so pulverized that no man could ever tell what they had been.
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When Garon deemed the evening light too faint for safe travel, he called for the men behind him to halt. It was perhaps two hours until midnight. The clouds, tinctured faintly with crimson and violet, had lifted and the rain was over.
KilianТs party had attained a flattish triangle of land covered with grass and alpine herbs, several acres in extent, that jutted out over the depths of the gorge like the prow of a rockbound ship. On two sides the dropoff was almost sheer; the third abutted the shoulder of a hulking mountain. Shrubs and a few gnarled pine trees had taken root among the large rocks closest to the path, and a ring of fire-blackened stones revealed that someone had previously used the place as a campsite.
УWeТll stop here,Ф the young Brother told the alchymist, after he and his pillion rider, Niavar, had dismounted. УLater on, it may get windier than weТd like, but now that the rain has let up it shouldnТt be too uncomfortable. I grazed sheep in this little meadow betimes. With my dog keeping guard, I never lost one over the precipice, but it wonТt be safe for the horses to graze free. WeТll tie them up by the trees and cut grass for them.У
Raldo, who had suffered some bad bumps earlier when his mount wrong-footed and he tumbled off, was appointed cook so he would not have to move about too much. Cleaton took charge of the horses, and Niavar was sent to a nearby cascade with a canvas bucket and leathern bottles for water. Garon and Kilian prowled the flower-dotted open area, cutting grass with their keen-bladed hunting knives and gathering whatever dead plant material might be coaxed into burning.
УIf you look beyond this south-facing cliff,Ф Garon remarked to the alchymist, Уyou can see part of the way weТve come. The lake is at the horizon. Double Waterfall is visible if you follow the course of the river back to the great rock cleft. The eroded section of trail where Raldo fell lies beyond that ridge of very dark rock.Ф
Kilian approached the edge of the precipice and scanned the striking panorama. УWeТve climbed very high today, but not traveled as far from the lake as I hoped. What do you estimateЧseven or eight leagues?Ф
Garon shrugged. УCloser to five as the raven flies, I fear. The two near disasters slowed us considerably. ItТs a miracle that RaldoТs bay didnТt slide down into the ravine when he misstepped. WeТll have to poultice the beastТs right front fetlock, but heТll be fine. I wish I could say the same about Brother Butterball. The man must be a mass of bruises. By tomorrow, heТll hardly be able to move.Ф
УIt could be a problem,Ф Kilian said.
УWe wonТt have an easy time of it crossing into Didion. In some spots, weТll have to climb on hands and knees, hoping the horses can follow along after us. A disabled man will find the going hard. If the track turns truly foul, we may have to leave our mounts behind altogether.Ф
УMmm. Will we be able to find food?Ф
УI have a shortbow and arrows to take hares and marmot-squirrels. There are also plenty of snow cocks, although their flesh is sometimes unpalatable. Beyond the divide, where the climate is wetter and there are alpine bogs, thereТll be elk and red deer. We wonТt starve.Ф
УWhat about creatures who would eat us?Ф The chiseled features of the alchymist wore an expression of academic curiosity.
УThe great brown bear is all we have to fear, my lord. Tundra lions donТt live in the eastern Sinistrals, and the lynxes and wildcats are too shy to bother humans.Ф Garon paused, smiling dismissively. УSome say that small enclaves of Green Men make their homes in the mountains further to the west, and they may be the demons who give Roaring Gorge its fearful reputation. But IТve never seen a trace of the little devils myself, nor has any member of my clan.Ф
УWell, IТll give our route a careful scry as we proceed. And since we have attained an admirable vantage here, I believe IТll attempt a cautious windsearch right now, seeing what lies ahead of usЧand behind as well. The two Brothers coming from Gala to join us may already have set out along the gorge path.Ф
УIТll take the grass youТve cut to the horses,Ф Garon said. УItТll be a while before Raldo gets supper ready. After IТve gathered fuel for the fire, IТll give him a hand.Ф He added KilianТs sheaf to his own and meandered back to the camp.
The alchymist seated himself among a heap of lichen-scabbed rocks at the cliff-edge, pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and sent out the slenderest possible thread of windsight. It swept those portions of the gorge path ahead that were not obstructed by thick rock. The track continued to climb towards the jagged northern skyline. About two leagues beyond the camp was a vast tumble of slabs that they would have to negotiate in the morning. In one part of the rockfall, the way seemed totally impassable, but that might have been an illusion of perspective. Kilian devoutly hoped so.
When he could no longer scry the forward route, he turned his attention to the way theyТd come. The sections visible to his mindТs eye were empty of both human and inhuman beings. Finally, he scrutinized the portion of the shepherdТs track they had not traversed, which skirted the lakehead and led to the Mountain Gate of Elktor.
Rain still fell on the city and the region east of it. No search parties were abroad outside the walls, and there was no unusual activity apparent within. The cottages and huts scattered among the nearby hills were shuttered and locked against the short summer night, their domestic animals safe in folds or byres.
Kilian extended his windsight further to the east, along a moorland track where mist obscured the countryside, and in time discovered a dilapidated hovel with a tiny plume of smoke coming from its roof opening. Two sleek mules were tethered outside of it. The stone walls made scrying the interior difficult, but he was able to discern two covered human forms lying asleep on the floor.
He frowned. They had to be benighted travelers, taking refuge from the rain. It was impossible for him to see their faces, but one of the bodies was much larger than the otherЕ Surely they werenТt Felmar and Scarth! Why would they have taken the track leading away from the gorge? No, the sleepers had to be other men. Still, it might be wise to scry them out more closely early tomorrow morning and make sure.
Kilian rose and stretched his aching muscles. It had been several years since heТd ridden, and his legs would have to readjust to the saddle. A pity the waterborne part of their journey to Didion had been so brief! Idly, he scried the grounded cattle transport. It was as they had left it, bound to be discovered sooner or later, but with nothing left aboard that could point conclusively to them. By the time that the boatmen were missed and their connection to the abandoned vessel established, he and his men would be so deep in the mountains that pursuit would be impossible.
Tomorrow, heТd try to bespeak Felmar and Scarth. HeТd have to make a stab at contacting Beynor, too, unless the young Mosslander invaded his dreams tonight. The ambush of Honigalus was scheduled to take place only a few days hence, and Kilian was keen to know how matters were progressing with his co-conspirator and the Salka.
Interesting times lay ahead.
УSupper!Ф Raldo croaked. The tantalizing scent of grilled sausages wafted through the dusk. Kilian smiled and trudged over the meadow to where the others were gathered around the fire.
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He slept well that night, even though the ground was hard and rocky, and his dreams were inconsequential rehashings of his days as a Privy Council member under King Olmigon, uninterrupted by Beynor. When he awoke, he sat up with a start of alarm, not remembering where he was, thinking heТd heard Zeth AbbeyТs rising bell. But the only sounds were the snores and wheezes of his companions, quiet movement among the horses, a distant rushing noise from the torrent in the gorge below, and the thin sweet song of some alpine bird. Pink-and-gold beams of dawnlight glorified the east where clouds still lingered. The sky above Roaring Gorge was almost clear and duck-egg green. The crisp, chilly air would likely warm quickly once the sun came up.
Kilian threw off his blanket and rose. Like the others, heТd slept fully dressed. Thinking to perform another windsearch, he crossed the dew-spangled meadow to the southern edge of the projecting precipice. Before attempting the more difficult task of scrying the path, he let his sight range to the moor beyond Elktor. The travelers whoТd sheltered in the stone hut had roused his curiosity. The distance between Elktor and Beorbrook Hold over that track was only thirty leaguesЧless than a dayТs journey on horseback. So why had the men spent the night in an abandoned croft, rather than organizing their trip more prudently? Could they be brigands?
To his surprise, he found no mules tethered there. A well-caparisoned knightТs courser had inexplicably taken their place, and stood munching the trampled grass. The hut itself was empty except for a few odds and ends of equipment. Outside its front door, a sledgehammer lay beside a medium-sized rock.
The track was empty for leagues in both directions, so Kilian turned his talent to the area between the dwelling and the mountains. Immediately, he scried a troop of more than twoscore mounted men, milling about a small, hooded rider who sat a horse much too large for him. They were knights and men-at-arms, and the central figure wore the robes of a Brother of Zeth. As Kilian watched in consternation, the adept gave a hand signal and the entire troop set out at a fast trot in the direction of the hut.