"Douglas Niles - Forgotten Realms - Moonshae 03 - Darkwell" - читать интересную книгу автора (Niles Douglas)

coughlike grunt, then another. Before him lay the former heart of the grove.
Recendy the bear had somehow sensed that this was the center of its corruption
and had thus avoided it. But even the suspicion of the exciting spoor in the
wind was enough to compel him there.
Genna? Hope swelled within the bear's breast. Was that not his mistress,
standing there in the distance, staring at him? He sniffed at the air,
lumbering closer. The scent was that of the Great Druid, he thought, but
somehow different.
Blinking in confusion, Grunt struggled to focus his dim eyesight. He saw the
short, rounded body, recognized the gray hair pulled tightly back from the
face. He saw no smile upon that face, and the human's posture seemed stiff and
unnatural.
Yet his eyes could not be wrong. He slowed as he reached the woman and grunted
happily, leaning into her expectantly. The bear was surprised when she did not
scratch his ears. What was wrong? Grunt looked at the round, wrinkled face
curiously.
And in an instant, he recoiled in fear. Cringing low, the bear looked up at
her like a whipped puppy, puzzled and pained by the look in her eyes.
She raised her arm, pointing, and Grunt obeyed. His huge body moved toward the
black water, where once the crystalline Moonwell had reflected the blessing of
the goddess. Quivering, he approached the water.
The bear turned once to look back at his mistress, his eyes pleading. She
pointed again, and he dropped his head obediently. His muzzle touched the
surface of the Darkwell. And then his life was gone as he gave it,
unwittingly, to Bhaal.
24
DARKWELL
Chauntea, as a goddess, was close in spirit to the Earthmother, though far
removed in aspect. While the great mother's life lay in the earth itself, in
the hallowed ground of the Moonshaes, Chauntea's being dwelled upon the joyous
plane of Elysium, far removed from the worldof mortals.
The Earthmother's followers were the Ffolk of the Moon-shae Isles, led by
their druids. Chauntea's believers came from across the planes, and even in
the Forgotten Realms were spread among the many nations of the world. The
tenets of the Earthmother's faith held that nature was sacred, and maintaining
the balance of all things became the druidi-cal creed. Followers of Chauntea
held that the land should be farmed, that the growth provided by nature should
be harnessed for the greater good of man.
Yet even despite their differences, the goddesses both were beings of health
and growth, cherishing the plants and animals, working to protect the humans
who held to their faith.
Now Chauntea sensed the power of the Earthmother waning. She also felt the
looming presence of Bhaal. As that dark god moved into the power vacuum being
created, Chauntea also began to move. Though she lacked Bhaal's awesome might
and implacable evil, she was a being of great resource in her own right.
Now those resources would be tested.
25
LONG LIVE THE KING
For the first time, the wind seemed to be against them. It blustered from this
direction and that in capricious gusts. To all sides stretched the sea, a gray