"Douglas Niles - Druidhome 2 - The Coral Kingdom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

eastern horizon.
These hours, when the mist still lingered among the trees and the flowers glistened with fresh dew, were
the captain's favorite time to ride. Llewyrr gardeners who had begun to work their fields waved as the
silver knight on her white mare rode past.
She came to the trout farm and turned Talloth from the trail, riding among the clear pools that dotted this
large glade in the forest. Several Llewyrr, breeders and netmen, looked up from their tasks. They were
opening a sluicegate to fill a newly excavated pool.
Brigit observed the brilliant fish darting back and forth in their clear pools. One pond held trout of purest
golden color, each more than a foot long; another contained even larger fish, striped with the full spectrum
of a rainbow. The fish would be introduced into the streams and lakes, ensuring that they remained a viable
food source and a beautiful part of the natural scenery of Synnoria.
After a few minutes, Brigit rode on, passing other Llewyrr who were hauling buckets full of fingerlings
to the stream. Then, in a few moments, the full peace of the forest surrounded her again. She continued up
the valley, intending to ride all the way to the Fey-Alamtine gate.
Then she stiffened. A sound came to her, and Talloth halted instinctively. Hoofbeats approached down
this same trail. In moments, she saw a flash of white in the woods, and then Brigit identified the form of one
of her knights.
The sister shouted at the sight of her captain.
"Humans! They approach from the west, up the Vale of Clouds!" The knight's shout of alarm sounded a
jarring note in the pastoral sunrise. Brigit recognized the rider as Colleen, one of the border patrol. The
pounding gallop of the white horse drowned out most of Colleen's voice, but the urgency in the young
scout's demeanor was apparent to Brigit even from a half mile away.
The captain spurred Talloth, and the mare leaped forward. In a few moments, they met and Brigit reined
in, taking the bridle of the scout's horse. The young Llewyrr rider, her blonde hair tossed raggedly by the
wind in her ride, gasped for breath while Brigit gestured to her to collect herself.
"I saw them myself," Colleen reported after a moment. "Humans, about six of them. They ride
horsesтАФtwo of the steeds are as white as Synnorian mares!"
"They climb the western valley?"
"The Vale of Clouds." The young sister nodded. She wore the mottled greenish tunic of a scout over her
silver breastplate. Her helmet was lashed to the saddle of her horse, while a deep hood attached to her
cloak could quickly be pulled up to cover her white-blonde hair.
"They'll pass the boundary and turn aside," Brigit announced, more calm in her voice than she actually
felt.
It disturbed her, this sudden appearance of humans at the borders of Synnoria so soon after she had
resolved to be especially vigilant against intrusion. "Still, it's best if I have a look at them. Lead on!"
Colleen reversed her gelding and galloped back up the trail, Brigit close behind. The two sister knights
rode without taking notice of the wonders around them. Even though the bright flowers and verdant woods
were familiar sights, they rarely failed to attract the attention and delight of the Llewyrr who passed among
them. But now the elfwomen remained still, intent upon the potential for intrusion.
But those surrounding wonders were splendorous indeed. Waterfalls trilled from the slopes to either side,
while a clear brook collected their spumes and carried them with laughing enthusiasm toward the blue
waters of Crystaloch. Columbines, daisies, and fleabane all blinked among lush, windblown grasses, each
type of flower blooming in a dozen different shades of brilliant color. Tall pines, their long-needled sprouts
blanketing the forest in a soft, blue-green hue, waved from the slopes above them.
The Llewyrr on their white horses followed a narrow track that generally traced the streambed up the
valley bottom. Much of the ride took them through sun-speckled meadow, or among the few pines growing
on the valley floor. After several miles, however, Colleen veered to the left, her gelding plunging between
two tall pine trunks onto an almost invisible track in the woods.
The winding path climbed steeply, and the two riders ducked their heads beneath many overhanging
limbs. The strong horses bounded over the tangled ground, laboring hard, carrying the two elves steadily