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

actually feel the earth shudder gave her pause. And words from a
thousand years back rose up in her mind and her heart raced, for she
knew that when they reached their goal they would be at a place where,
now and again, the world shook even more violently than these faint
echoes from afar. And that would be soon now, for they were but a day
or so from their destination: the Great North Glacier, a wide, deep river
bound forever in ice, imperceptibly flowing out of the Grim-wall. And
though it lay only a day or so away, time was of the essence, for she
knew as well that in the dark of the night the Eye of the Hunter now
streamed overhead, and an eld prophecy stood due, the augury of a
seer cast more than a millennium past. Faeril shivered at the thought.
Aravan raised up his hand, reaching for the top of the standing wall,
falling a foot or so short. "Not very tall, this guardpost, yet the land
about is lower. A platform atop or mayhap a tower would give a place
to stand and yield warning enough should foe draw nigh."
Gwylly cast back his hood and looked up and about, his red hair
tumbling out, the coppery color in sharp contrast to his eyes of green.
"Foe?" The Warrow gestured out toward the storm-swept plains. "What
foe? It's deserted out there."
Aravan smiled down at the Wee One. "Look not to the empty plains,
my Waerling. Instead, thine eye should be turned toward the Grimwall,
for there it is that the Foul Folk dwell, there in the mountains ahead. And
it is that which this post once guarded against: Spaunen. For those were
the days before Adon's Ban, and the R├╗pt ranged far and near, and this
land was at risk. Yet the Great War changed all, and now the Foul Folk
remain in the grasp of the Grimwall, nigh the places where they take
shelter when the Sun rides the sky."
 Gwylly knew that Aravan referred to the Great War of the Ban,
when Gyphon had sought to challenge Adon for dominance over all. In
the struggle Gyphon had been aided by the folk of NeddraтАФthe
underworldтАФand by minions on MithgarтАФthe Kistani, the Hyranians,
some Renegade Dragons, and a few Wizards, as well as by Foul Folk
and others. In contrast, Adon had been aided here on Mithgar by the
Grand Alliance of Men, Elves, Dwarves, and War-rows; and some even
claimed that the UtruniтАФthe Stone GiantsтАФhad been part of the
Alliance as well.
In any event, the struggle had been mighty and the balance in doubt,
yet at the last the Alliance had prevailed, and Modru, Gyphon's
lieutenant upon Mithgar, had been defeated and the rebellion collapsed.
As punishment, Adon set His Ban upon the Foul Folk, signalled by a
blazing star where none had been before, a star which burned brightly
for weeks, a star which faded and was nevermore seen. Yet during the
time that the Ban Star burned, the Foul Folk began to suffer from a
sickness whenever they stepped into the light of day; and the longer the
star burned, the more deadly became this sickness, until in the end the
touch of daylight upon one of the Spawn would bring on the Withering
Death; even the briefest exposure meant a deadly collapse, the victim
turning into ashes in mere moments.
All Foul Folk suffered Adon's Ban, and other creatures as well,
including some DragonsтАФthose that had sided with GyphonтАФnow