"Dennis L. McKiernan - Mithgar - Eye of the Hunter" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKiernan Dennis L)

May 29-31, 4E1980: Days of joy and despair, for Riatha came .
. . And this is what she said ...



And in a glade in the Boskydells a millennium later, two dammen sat
at picnic, there in the early summer Sun. And one had a secret to give
the other. . . .
". . . and so it was that Riatha brought the news to my ancestors,
Lacey," said Faeril, looking up from the diary.
"After the Elfess left, Tomlin and Petal moved from the Weiunwood,
coming here to the Seven Dells and bringing their brood, for Riatha had
warned them that a great darkness was gathering in the north, and she
would have them move to a place of safety.
"They came here to have the protection of the Thorn-ring,
surrounding the Land as it does. But little did they know that the
Spindlethorn would be breached during the Winter War.
'"Hai! As it turned out, the Weiunwood was the safer place to be
after all. Even so, they all survivedтАФPetal, Tomlin, Small Urus, Little
Riatha, Silvereyes, and BearтАФthough many others did not.
"The Winter War: that was what the Elf queen Rael had seen as a
great darkness gathering in the north, that was the threat which crashed
upon the world back then: Modru sought to conquer the world, and he
used the Dimmendark as his greatest weapon."
"Tuckerby Underbank!" exclaimed Lacey, naming the great hero of
the Winter War. "He saved all." A frown came upon her face. "But
what's that got to do with anything, Faeril?"
Faeril smiled at her companion. "Just this: Years past, Tomlin and
Petal made a pledge to run Stoke to earth and to slay him, foul creature
that he was. That pledge was renewed by Small Urus and Little Riatha,
the firstborn bucco and dammsel. And they had trained in the weapon
skills of their parents: sling and bullets for the buccoes and"тАФFaeril
hefted the bandoliersтАФ"throwing knives for the dammsels.
"Eventually Small Urus married, and so, too, did Little Riatha. And
their firstborns in turn renewed the pledge and took up the weaponry
skills: slings for the buccoes of Small Urus, knives for the dammsels of
Little Riatha.
"Some thirty or so generations have been born since that long-ago
time, and the descendants of Tomlin and Petal are scattered to the
winds, moving elsewhere, marrying, having children; each generation in
turn scattering farther, marrying, having children, who in turn scattered,
down through time . . .
"But although firstborn damman after firstborn damman has been
born, still all renewed the pledge, all were trained in the skill of throwing
knives . . . just as the firstborn buccoes of firstborn buccoes were
perhaps trained in the sling.
"Too, Petal had written a journal, a record of the pursuit of Stoke. It
became a tradition for the firstborns to copy that record, just as I copied
the one made by my dam, and she hers, and so on back to the time of