"Andre Norton - Brother To Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

JOFRE COULD SEE THOSE STRUGGLING SHADOWS ONCE he was within the
mouth of that noxious way. There was slime underfoot and he adjusted to that danger.
Backed against one of those oozing walls was a tall figure and moving in a concentrated
attack three smaller ones. Jofre shifted the thong of his pack and went into action.

No steel here, unarmed tactics, he decided in a flash of thoughtтАФthere was too good a
chance of the victim being brought down in a mixed conflict. The side of his hand
chopped between neck and shoulder of the nearest of the rat pack and even above the
drums he could hear a cry of pain as the fellow reeled away. Something metal dropped
from the attacker's hand to ring on the fouled pavement as he clutched at an arm now
swinging uselessly.

"Yaaaaaah sannngтАФ" The cry came from Jofre unbidden as he whirled to strike out
again, this time with a lifted knee which sent the second assailant backwards. But their
victim took a hand now. There stabbed out of the dark a spear of light no thicker than
Jofre's thumb. It struck the reeling man, then snapped to the left and showed for an
instant a face rendered grotesque by a wide, near toothless mouth.
Both of those the ray had touched slumped. The man Jofre had first tackled was already
careening down the alleyway, slipping twice and howling as he went.

"My thanks, Night wanderer." The words were oddly accented and Jofre stiffened. With
all his need for caution he had betrayed himself with that battle cry. This other was
addressing him by the name given by lowlanders to his kind.

Now the shadow which was the stranger stood away a little from the wall, stumbled, and
would have gone down had not Jofre, without thinking, caught at a shoulder to steady
him.

"You are hurt?" he demanded.

"I amтАФbruisedтАФin my self-confidence as well as my flesh, Night wanderer. That there
would come a day when such as that could move in on one of the Zoxan clanтАФ alas, one
is indeed led to face shame."

"If you need shelterтАФ" Jofre began. He was not oathed to this stranger but neither could
he walk away and leave him to be food for another pack of rats.

"Night wanderer, unless you have some mission of your own, I would welcome
companyтАФat least into the outer ways of this festering pit," the other replied frankly.

His forward move was a lurch and Jofre was again quick to steady him. There was
something wrong about the arm the other had half raised to regain his balance; it was
short, too shortтАФwas this stranger maimed?

Not only was he seeming short of part of an arm but he was plainly limping as they made
their way out into the crooked street. The spacers were gone and for the moment there
seemed to be no one else nearby.

Jofre turned his head to survey the stranger he was aiding. Only long training kept him
from betraying full astonishment. He had heard that other species not akin to his own