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

Without thinking, Brigit pushed Colleen to the side, diving behind her companion as the ground behind
themтАФthe place where they had just stoodтАФshook to the impact of a monstrous body. Looking upward in
horror, the captain of the knights saw two tentacles reach toward the panicked mare. They seized Talloth's
forelegs and pulled, dragging the steed to the ground. One of the tentacles, heavier than the rest, bashed
against the mare's neck.
Brigit saw blood spurt and heard the gurgling death of her loyal war-horse, but she forced the pain and
grief from her mind. They had to move!
"RunтАФfor all you're worth!" she ordered, bouncing to her feet with the fleet scout at her side. The two
elves dashed across the field toward the dark line of the stream, which here flowed between steep banks
that were slightly higher than an elf.
They heard a thudding noise behind them again, and then they reached the streambed, flinging
themselves from the bank to land in the shallow, gravel-bedded stream.
"This way!" Brigit darted to the left, hearing Colleen behind her. The water barely rose to their ankles,
and they sprinted nearly as quickly as they had before.
But not quickly enough. A shadow loomed over them, blocking out the bright sun, the fiery orb that was
so yellow, so cheerful that it certainly must be mocking them, Brigit thought in despair. The huge, rounded
beast towered above them, reaching forward with tentacles too numerous to count.
Colleen collapsed with a groan of despair, sobbing. Brigit shook her head angrily, ignoring the thunderous
voice of hopelessness. Instead, she raised her sword in both hands and prepared to meet the monster
squarely.

*****

The High Queen told none of her companions of the goddess's omen, the proud wolf who had spoken to
her in the darkest hours of the night. Hanrald mentioned, in the morning, that he had seen the queen sitting
beside the dying fire, but that was all. The vision had been for her alone.
Now she pondered the meaning privately as they progressed farther up the valley that, to the best of her
memory, would lead them somewhere near Synnoria.
"Are you sure the terrain was this rough?" asked Alicia as, afoot, the companions led their horses higher
up the steep, twisting draw. The formerly wide vale had compressed into this ravine in a remarkably short
period of time.
"To tell you the truth, it seemed that we rode our horses the whole way," Robyn admitted. "I can't
imagine we could have come out this way."
"And look how quickly this stream has dwindled away," observed Hanrald, who had been leading the
party up the narrow gully. "There was a lot more water in it a mile back, and yet I haven't seen any
tributaries entering the stream since then. How do you explain it being a mere trickle here without the
addition of more water?"
"This whole range responds to a detect magic spell," said Keane disgustedly, after examining their
surroundings with yet another magical inspection. "I can't tell where any specific effect exists."
The mage disliked walking even more than he loathed riding, and the rugged terrain of this morning's
march had done little for his morale. Now he slumped to sit on a boulder, holding the reins of his
swaybacked gelding.
"And look." Brandon pointed at the sky, where the sun lay off their right shoulders. "We no longer go
east. We've curved to the north somewhere along the way."
"That's funny. The valley seemed pretty straight to me, even though it was a little steep," Alicia noted
with surprise. The hair at the back of her neck prickled upward as she realized that they had been deceived
by sorcery.
"No doubt we'll be turned into frogs or something equally hideous if we take a few more steps,"
grumbled Pawldo, looking around nervously. He paused, as if waiting for someone to urge him forward.
"It seems pointless to continue up this gully," agreed Robyn, with an appraising look at the steep climb