"Douglas Niles - Forgotten Realms - Viperhand" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

but orders for her death had instantly gone forth. Somehow she had escaped all
his agents of murder-priests. Jaguar Knights, and finally even the drow
Spiral!, who had been slain by Poshtli and Halloran. Erixitl still lived, and
while she lived the Ancient Ones' machinations remained in peril. She must
die!
Then the mastery of Maztica would be assured.
Erixitl had never tasted anything sweeter than the water from the lonely
desert pool. The macaw squawked, approvingly she thought, from one of the palm
trees as the three humans and the horse slaked their thirst in the shallow,
clear pond.
They collapsed in the shade of the palm trees and said nothing for a time as
the sun sank toward the horizon and long shadows stretched across the little
vale. The clear sky offered no sheltering cloud, and the desert heat still
baked them. For now, it was enough to live, to know that their throats would
not crack from lack of moisture, or their lungs parch from the dry air.
"We'll head north from here," Poshtli said after a while. "That should bring
us into the south of Nexal, away from the surrounding cities. I'm sure we can
carry enough water to make it that far."
"What then?" asked Halloran. Erix noted that his command of the Nexalan tongue
grew with each passing day. Though she had learned his languageтАФaided by
magicтАФthe trio conversed in Nexalan, which they all understood.
"We will see my uncle, Naltecona," explained the warrior.
18
VlPEHHAND
"I expect that he will grant his protection, though there is no way to be
certain of that. Some of his advisors will surely urge your harm. After
Ulatos, bad blood will flow hot among the warriors."
The defeat of the nation of Payit by the forces of the Golden Legion had
included a bloody rampage by the invading forces. The legion had attacked the
Payit at their capital city of Ulatos. It had been the first, but probably not
the last, violent conflict between the legion and the warriors from a nation
of Maztica.
"But Halloran didn't aid his comrades at Ulatos!" objected Erix. "He saved me
from them!"
"The great Nattecona will hear this, and we must have faith in his wisdom,"
answered Poshtli.
"I'll take that chance," said Hal. "For one thing, it seems we have few other
choicesтАФsave constant flight. It runs against my nature to flee my enemies
rather than to face them."
"Well said," Poshtli agreed. "Though we do well to choose a battle on our own
terms."
"Agreed." Halloran nodded. "When it comes, it can't be any worse than some of
the other fixes I've gotten myself into over the years. I've had battles
against pirates and desert nomads, been surrounded by ogres ..."
"Ogres?" asked Poshtli. "What are these 'ogres?"
Halloran looked at him in surprise. "Well, they're fierce and hugeтАФkind of
like humans, but bigger and dumber, and very savage. They're monsters, of a
type similar to ores and trolls. Dont you have creatures like that in
Maztica?"
Poshtli shook his head. "These monsters, manlike but savage, do not exist