"Michael Moorcock - The Runestaff 3 - The Sword of The Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moorcock Michael)

through even to this retreat.

To Hawkmoon and Count BrassЧperhaps to
D'Averc, Bowgentle and Oladahn, tooЧthe idea was
not so threatening. There were times when they would

have welcomed an assault from the world they had
left.

While Count Brass studied the landscape and sought
to divine its secrets, Dorian Hawkmoon would ride at
speed along the lagoon trails, scattering herds of bulls
and horses, sending the flamingoes flapping into the
sky, looking for an enemy.

One day, as he rode back on a steaming horse from
one of his many journeys of exploration along the
shores of the violet sea (sea and terrain seemed without
limit), he saw the flamingoes wheeling in the sky,
spiraling upwards on the air currents and then drifting
down again. It was afternoon and the flamingo dance
took place only at dawn. The giant birds seemed dis-
turbed and Hawkmoon decided to investigate.

He spurred his horse along the winding path through
the marsh until he was directly below the flamingoes,
saw that they wheeled above a small island covered in
tall reeds. He peered intently at the island and thought
that he glimpsed something among the reeds, a flash of
red that could be a man's coat.

At first Hawkmoon decided that it was probably a
villager snaring duck, but then he realized that if that
had been so the man would have hailed himЧat least
waved him away to ensure he would not disturb the
fowl.

Puzzled, Hawkmoon spurred his horse into the wa-
ter, swimming it across to the island and on to the
marshy ground. The animal's powerful body pushed
back the tough reeds as it moved and again Hawk-
moon saw a flash of red, became convinced that he
had seen a man.

"Ho!" he cried. "Who's there!"

He received no answer. Instead the reeds became
more agitated as the man began to run through them
without caution.