"Benjamin Rosenbaum - Embracing The New" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rosenbaum Benjamin)

stance before, when his brother Viruarg was drilling. It was a
soldier's stance.
"TurmcaтАФ"
Vru leapt backwards as Turmca struck, but too slowтАФthe
points of a claw opened gashes in his side. Vru had not fought
since he was a child playing thakka in a dirt field. He bent low
and then lunged forward, checking Turmca's claws and trying
to slam his body into him. But Turmca spun away, and his
holding-hands darted out to smack against Vru's ear fronds.


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 Embracing-The-New
by Benjamin Rosenbaum


Vru's legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground, pain
washing through him.
Turmca wasn't fighting like an amateur: he must have
borrowed or rented Ghennungs from a soldier. He wasn't
drunk. His glazed look was that of one who has not integrated
his Ghennungs, who has a battle in his soul. But he was
united enough in his desire to kill Vru.
"Get up, Vru," barked Turmca, and it was a soldier's voice,
the voice of a follower of Fearless-in-Justice, who wanted a
kill with honor. And then in a gentler voice, the voice of the
journeyman instructing a young apprentice: "I'll make this
quick."
Vru felt exhaustion flooding through him, singing in his
muscles. If he cried out for help, he knew Turmca would kill
him and be gone before help came. He heard Turmca's feet
scuffing cautiously toward where he lay on the sand.
Goddess, help me, he prayed.
But it was not Delighting-In-Beauty who helped himтАФit
must have been the new god, Embracing-The-New, who
wanted to be carved, for he did something that Vru could not,
would never do. Embracing-The-New picked Vru's body up
and flung it at Turmca, and Vru's claw lashed out and severed
the cord that held Fearless-In-Justice around Turmca's neck.
Turmca, godless, screamed. Vru grabbed the god as it fell and
threw it into the darkness of the pavilion. Turmca's claws
reached for Vru, but his body turned and lurched after his
god. Vru ran to the master's compound.
****


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 Embracing-The-New
by Benjamin Rosenbaum