"02 - Torment" - читать интересную книгу автора (McGough Scott)

PART ONE:

Cabalist



CHAPTER 1



The sun was setting by the time Chainer returned to the

salt flats outside the city. He welcomed the sight of his

home but did not relax.

A small armed party stood on the path between Chainer

and the city gates. Chainer recognized one of the shapes as

human and another as an aven bird warrior, but the other

two were indistinct. All Chainer could tell from a distance

was that one was tall and the other was short or crouching.

The human and the aven were dressed in the brilliant white

robes of the Order. Chainer slowed his pace but did not

stop. The Order were a passel of militant moral fanatics

who sought to impose their rules on all the citizens of

Otaria. They considered all Cabalists criminals and the

Cabal itself to be a blight on society, despite the fact

that it thrived all across the continent. Civilized

Otarians everywhere did business with the Cabal. They

willingly and repeatedly attended Cabal spectacles,

borrowed Cabal money, and begged for Cabal protection. As

far as Chainer was concerned, the Order only offered the