"Andre Norton - WW - Horn Crown" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

such to be seen.

The rain had stopped hours ago, and the clouds
cleared. This sky was a background for many clusters and
sweeps of sparkling light -- but they were all new! Where
had our journey through that Gate taken us? To the sight,
this land about us was just such earth, grass, bush and
tree as we had always known. Only the stars were differ-
ent. We were in a land which would support us, but we
were very far from where we had been bom.

I lay shivering at the sight of the unknown stars which,
more than just passing through the Gates (much as we
had been warned that those would influence us), brought
home to me that we were indeed exiles and that we had
now only our own strengths to carry us on, our own
weaknesses to fight. Which lay the more threatening be-
fore us? I thought of the sea, of Garn's choice, and part

of me felt excitement and a wish to explore the new. An-
other part of me searched for a shield against that same
new and the dangers it might hold -- until I dropped at
last from the chaos of my thoughts and fears into sleep.

2.

Behind us lay the wide valleys, which now held the
people of Farkon, of Siwen, of Uric, Dawuan, and to our
right still pounded the sea as our company grew smaller
and smaller. We could take heart only that the land did
remain empty, though there were in plenty the remains of
those who had gone before us, even at times stretches of
ancient road which we followed with greater ease. Quaine
and three of the Sword Brothers scouted ahead, pointed
out those places of the unknown; some they would coun-
sel avoiding, mistrusting the emanations.

There were towers, stretches of pavement surrounded
by pillars, piles of rough stones, even monoliths, about
which we cautiously edged. I was ever curious as to the
manner of folk which had labored to set such stones one
upon the other, wondering at the purposes which had led
them to such labors.

The largest and most fertile of those sea-fronting low-
lands were now behind us. We had been twenty days on
our northward crawl. Twice it had been necessary to
strike inland for near a day's journeying to find a ford
across rivers, which, to our thankfulness, were lazy
enough of current -- at least at that season -- to allow us