"Melanie Rawn - Dragon Star 3 - Skybowl" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rawn Melanie)

the castle down around itself."
They had sent him another priest from Radzyn to replace the one who had met his demise at Skybowl.
A very young priest. Only someone just out of Sanctuary would use a word like "vouchsafe."
Repressing a sigh, he let his gaze travel slowly from the gatehouse to the walls to the vast
looming bulk of Stronghold. "That may take some time."
"It must be done, lord," the priest said firmly. "This is a >ource of the Azhrei's power. It must
fall."
It has been burned to a crispтАФwhat more do you want? he thought. What he said was, "And had you
considered the demons that might still lurk within?"
The young face glowed with sunburn and fervor. "The Father of Storms will protect us."
"Had you noticed," he continued as if the priest had not spoken, "how the Dragon Sign is
everywhere here?"
"We are being careful to eradicate all of them."
"I'm sure you are." He paused, knowing this must be phrased exactly right. They were all
listening, even though they pretended not to; it was not the first time he had faced off with a
priest, and this pompous little half-beard was beginning to annoy him.
"I'm puzzled," said the High Warlord, crossing his wrists casually on the pommel of his saddle.
"If Stronghold is razed, will the Azhrei's power die?"
"No, he carries the taint and the sin with him. ButтАФ"
"If all Dragon Sign is defaced, will the Azhrei's power die?"
"No, he will only call forth other dragons of his cursed Fire. ButтАФ"
"My lord priest," he said with respectful curiosity, "how will we rid this land and the Father's
Sacred Dragons of the Azhrei's power?"
"By killing the Azhrei himself, of course," came the impatient reply. "That is why we came to this
horrible dead place where nothing grows because of the sins ofтАФ"
It may be why you came, he thought. "Then why?" He swept an arm wide. "What does it gain but sore
backs and crushed sword-hands?"
Someone coughed, and in the sound was amusement.
Plump cheeks turned redder above the scraggly beard. "It is necessary."
"I don't see why. It seems to me that killing the Azhrei's castle accomplishes very little, when
killing the Azhrei himself would not only rid the dragons of his evil, but all the land and all
its castles as well."
The priest's forehead congested with blood. "It is necessary," he repeated stubbornly.
You damned idiot! he wanted to shout. You're using up their strength that should be saved for
battle, and for a stupid superstitionтАФfor nothing!
"As you say," he remarked instead. "Tell me, for you have studied things I have not, what would be
the source of power in this place?"
"The Dragon Signs." Suddenly he looked halfway intelligentтАФand as if he wanted to cut out his own
tongue for having fallen into the trap. It was tempting to offer him a knife to do it with.
The High Warlord continued, "Then perhaps if those were taken care of. this long and dangerous
task of bringing the keep down around itself would not be necessary?"
The priest glanced around him. It was a terrible mistake. Not one face was to be seen, only bowed
heads. But everyone knew he had searched for support; everyone knew his
weakness as he realized that he was not the one who truly commanded here.
At least the fool knew when he was overmatched. "I hadn't thought of it that way. In my zealтАФ"
"тАФwhich is commendable," the High Warlord interrupted gently before the youngling could make an
even bigger spectacle of himself. Authority had been established; humiliation was to be avoided.
"You rejoice in the purity of your calling and the advantage of scholarship. I am only a
warriorтАФignorant of the deeper mysteries, too concerned with worldly things." He leaned down a