"Dan Parkinson - Dwarven Nations 02 - Hammer and Axe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Parkinson Dan)

lives, but the arrangement was not totally satisfactory.

They were safe, to be sure, but the refugees, mostly farmers, were not happy
living underground in the huge dwarven caverns. In the spring they could plant
crops on the mountainside, but the rocky soil would produce only a bare living.
The people wanted to live in the sunshine and fresh air. They did not want to be
dependent on the dwarves.

It was Elistan who recalled the ancient legends of Tarsis theBeautiful and its
gull-winged ships. But that's all they werelegends, as Tanis had pointed out
when Elistan first mentioned his idea. No one on this part of Ansalon had heard
anything about the city of Tarsis since the Cataclysm three hundred years ago.
At that time, the dwarves had closed off the mountain kingdom of Thorbardin,
effectively shutting off all communication between the south and north, since
the only way through the Kharolis Mountains was through Thorbardin.

Tanis listened gloomily as the Council of Highseekers voted unanimously to
approve Elistan's suggestion. They proposed sending a small group of people to
Tarsis with instructions to find what ships came into port, where they were
bound, and how much it would cost to book passage-or even to buy a ship.

' And who's going to lead this group?" Tanis asked himself silently, though he
already knew the answer.

All eyes now turned to him. Before Tanis could speak, Raistlin, who had been
listening to all that was said without comment, walked forward to stand before
the Council. He stared around at them, his strange eyes glittering golden.

"You are fools;" Raistlin said, his whispering voice soft with scorn, "and you
are living in a fool's dream. How often must I repeat myself? How often must I
remind you of the portent of the stars? What do you say to yourselves when you
look into the night sky and see the gaping black holes where the two
constellations are missing?"

The Council members shifted in their seats, several exchanging long-suffering
glances indicative of boredom.

Raistlin noticed this and continued, his voice growing more and more
contemptuous. "Yes, I have heard some of you saying that it is nothing more than
a natural phenomenon-a thing that happens, perhaps, like the falling of leaves
from the trees:'

Several Council members muttered among themselves, nodding. Raistlin watched
silently for a moment, his lip curled in derision. Then he spoke once more. "I
repeat, you are fools. The constellation known as the Queen of Darkness is
missing from the sky because the Queen is present here upon Krynn. The Warrior
constellation, which represents the ancient God Paladine, as we are told in the
Disks of Mishakal, has also returned to Krynn to fight her:'
Raistlin paused. Elistan, who stood among them, was a prophet of Paladine, and
many here were converts to this new religion. He could sense the growing anger