"Paul McAuley - The Book of Confluence 01 - Child of the River" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mcauley Paul J)

Ananda was behind Lob now, and jabbed at his legs with
his trident. Enraged, Lob turned and swung the staff at
Ananda, and Yama stepped forward and kicked him in the
kneecap, and then in the wrist. Lob howled and lost his balance
, and Yama grabbed the staff when it clattered to the
ground. He reversed it and jabbed Lob hard in the gut.




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Lob fell to his knees in stages. "Fight fair, " he gasped,
winded. His little eyes blinked and blinked in his corpulent
face.
"Fight fair, " Lud echoed, and got off the anchorite and
pulled a knife from his belt. It was as black as obsidian, with
a narrow, crooked blade. He had stolen it from a drunken sailor,
and claimed that it was from the first days of the Age of Enlightenrnent
nearly as old as the world. "Fight fair, " Lud said
again, and held the knife beside his face and grinned.
Lob threw himself forward then, and wrapped his arms
around Yama's thighs. Yama hammered at Lob's back with
the staff, but he was too close to get a good swing at his
opponent and he tumbled over backward, his legs pinned
beneath Lob's weight.
For a moment, all seemed lost. Then Ananda stepped forward
and swung his doubled fist; the stone he held struck
Ahe side of Lob's skull with the sound of an axe sinking into
wet wood. Lob roared with pain and sprang to his feet, and
Lud roared too, and brandished his knife. Behind him, a tree
burst into flame.
"It was all I could think of, " Derev said. She flapped her
arms about her slim body. She was shaking with excitement.
Ananda ran a little way down the road and shouted after the
fleeing twins, a high ululant wordless cry.
Yama said, "It was well done, but we should not mock
them."
"We make a fine crew, " Ananda said, and shouted again.




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The burning tree shed sparks upward into the night, brighter
than the Galaxy. Its trunk was a shadow inside a roaring pillar
of hot blue flame. Heat and light beat out across the road. It