"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Fey 02 - The Rival" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

him was dead. So many other parts were.

Logic conquered fear, he remembered that much. They had tested the harness,
put in a strong wood base and an even stronger back, making it like a sedan
chair carried by Hawk Riders. Above him the ropes looped over a small ring
and then attached to the talons of an inner circle of birds. Another group
of ropes ran higher, to a larger ring, and then to a larger circle of birds.
Right now, they were angling upward in perfect formation, as if they shared a
brain, the tiny Fey riders on their backs laughing and shouting across the
air currents.

In all of his campaigns, Rugad had relied on Beast Riders more than any other
form of Fey. He had brought most of his Bird Riders along on this trip,
knowing that he would need them to traverse the distance between ship and
shore.
The Hawk Riders had a majesty the other bird riders did not. From this
angle he could only see one of his own men on the hawk's back, his lower body
vanishing into the hawk's form. Only the man's torso and head were visible,
looking as if he were actually astride the hawk. The hawk's own head bent
forward slightly to accommodate the unusual configuration but that was the
only concession to the difference. The Rider and the Hawk had been one being
since the Rider was a child.

These Hawk Riders had flown him dozens of times before, testing the final
harnesses, but never this high, never at such risk.

Landre, head of the Spell Warders, had tried to talk him out of this course.
He had suggested that Rugad listen to the Bird Riders, and send a few Scouts,
then trust their opinions. Rugad had discarded that idea before the fleet
left Nye. Then Landre had suggested that Boteen do some sort of Enchanter
spell that would enabled Rugad to share the Bird Rider's sight. But he had
rejected that as well.

He had to see Blue Isle for himself.

Blue Isle. It had a reputation as being impenetrable. The river that ran
through the center of the Isle was navigable, if the ships had a current map
of the harbor. The first Fey invasion force sent almost twenty years ago had
had such a map, but still the Isle had defeated them.

Just as Rugad had known it would.

The Isle would not defeat him.

The Hawk Riders' angle grew steeper. The harness swung back, making him
giddy. The mountains were close now. Their sides no longer appeared smooth.
They were made of volcanic rock, polished by the elements, with cracks and
crevices, and broken edges all along the face. Nothing grew on the ocean
side, no scraggly trees, no windswept bushes struggling to survive. There
was no soil here, and probably hadn't been since the mountains rose out of