"Andrew J. Offutt - Cormac 05 - Sword of the Gael" - читать интересную книгу автора (Offutt Andrew J)

son of Conal Crimthanni of the Briton wife of that Niall who was High-king over all
Eirrin and gnawed at the heels of the Romans even so far as the land of the Gauls...тАЭ
тАЬCormac.тАЭ
тАЬ...and him the descendant of those worldspanning giants of old who sailed their
high-prowed craft over all the seas of the world and came even here to...тАЭ
тАЬCormac,тАЭ Wulfhere repeated.
The murmuring Gael twitched, then jerked as though aroused from sleep. His
hand dropped automatically to sword-pommel. He looked at the big Dane, and
Cormac blinked.
тАЬWhy stand we here, when someone time out of mind has put this nice little
house here for the cooling of our heels?тАЭ
The nervous men about him over-reacted by laughing uproariously.
They started forward, with Cormac suggesting, in a mutter that hardly disturbed
the compression of his lips, that they stay not bunched. In that he was right, for
when they were within fifty paces of the towering pair of columns flanking the door
of that ancient keep, the arrows came.
Bow-loosed shafts came singing like angry wasps, but it was from the
roundshields and surrounding stone they rattled, all save one. Wulfhere stared down
at the slender stave that stood from his chest.
Then he laughed, and yanked it free of his mail, nor did blood come with it.
тАЬOdinтАЩs good eye,тАЭ he grunted, тАЬthe man who sped this feathered toy has the
strength of a child of the Briton weaklings!тАЭ
More arrows whirred, but the little band was well scattered and ready now. They
took what cover the terrain afforded, for after the long-dead men had erected the
castle, boulders and stones and flattish shards of rock had come slithering and
bounding down the cliffs to dot the plain.
Guthrum and Ivarr IvarrтАЩs son had their bows, and what few arrows they had
saved from the greedy sea. They unlimbered bows, nocked feathered shafts, and
glanced at Wulfhere. Each man squatted behind a tumbled boulder partially
embedded in the earth, and held his bow sidewise. With a confident grin, Wulfhere
muttered that he would rise to draw arrowsтАФand reveal thus the positions of their
speeders. Ivarr had picked up an enemy arrow; Wulfhere tossed his to Guthrum.
тАЬWulfhere.тАЭ
The voice was CormacтАЩs. Wulfhere turned questioning eyes on the Gael, who
squatted behind a pile of shaly rock that had once been clay.
тАЬKnud,тАЭ Cormac said, and when that man and, the giant leader were looking at
him: тАЬWhen the arrows come, Guthrum and Ivarr will both give them back a few.
And KnudтАФyou and I are the fleetest of foot. Shall we pretend demons are on our
heels and run straight to the door of that keep, you to the leftward pillar?тАЭ
Knud grinned. тАЬAye,тАЭ he said, and inspected his buskinsтАЩ straps.
All were ready, and after a moment Wulfhere rose confidently to his feet, his
legs protected by the massy boulder behind which heтАЩd ducked. He waved his great
ax so that the sun caught its silvery head and splashed dazzle-fire from it.
тАЬHO-O-OH!тАЭ the Skull-splitter bellowed, and back rolled his voice from the
canyonтАЩs walls. тАЬWeтАЩve seen how your CHILDREN loose arrowsтАФbe there MEN
among ye too?тАЭ
Aye, and an arrow sounded ting and rattled off his horned helmet ere heтАЩd
bellowed the last few words. More came, and he struck one so hard with his shield
that the little deathstick snapped in twain.
All saw now that there was more than one floor within that lofty castle of old,