"Jody Lynn Nye - The Old Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

nevertheless, they were an integral part of the same woman. True, her
mass of thick, frizzy dark hair pulled back with a leather thong was
shot with white, and her muscular arms were getting a little flabby
around the triceps, but how did anyone dare to doubt her identity?

"More what?" she snarled, sticking out her jaw. It was still an
impressive jaw.

The skinny, bearded man backed up a hasty pace. He wasn't so
much to look at, himself. Probably fifty, ten years older than Mev, a
hand's-breadth shorter, and he had the pathetic, pale complexion of a
man who went outside only when he had to. He blinked watery blue
eyes at her.

"I'm looking for you, because I need to hire a fearless adventurer."

"Still fearless," Mev said, with a shrug, "but I retired years ago."

The man pursed his lips in amusement, and looked past her at the
arena, where Kitra was receiving the congratulations of her
companions, the ones who could still walk.

"I see," he said, "but I need you. I am the Wizard Folminade. I
serve the Duke of Kelevlund."

"Sorry, friend. There are other qualified warriors. I keep in touch
with a number of my old colleagues. I'll give you their names. Ask
around. Try the bars in any big city." She started away.

"No," the man insisted, hurrying after her. Mev sized him up with
an eye. He was puny. If he got fresh, she could break him in two with
one hand. "It's you I need. There's gold in the deal for you. Lots of
gold. A lifetimes worth."

Mev eyed him with speculation. It was the first thing he'd said that
had made any sense. "All right. Come back to my house and we'll
talk."

While Kitra sat on the floor and played siege with her dolls, the
stranger outlined his mission.

"Haste is an issue," he said. "You are familiar with the Amulet of
Zgrumn?"
 The very word hummed with power on the air in the little cottage.
Mev felt the stirring of old campaigns in her memory. She nodded.

"I never came across it, but I've heard of it. It'll heal your ills if
you can pronounce its name correctly. Changed hands a hundred
thousand times. Is that the one?"