"Dave Smeds - The Sorcery Within" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smeds Dave)

Alemar flung himself flat. A blade snipped a seam in his cowl, just touching his hair. A second rider was
on him before he could draw a weapon. He sprang to the balls of his feet, and as the scimitar came
down, he sidestepped it, grabbed the manтАЩs wrist, and pulled down. The oeikani galloped past, while its
surprised rider plunged headlong into the rock, uttering a sharp expletive in an unfamiliar tongue. Alemar
kept his grip on the arm through the tumble, hearing and feeling it snap. He took the weapon.

He glanced to the side. Elenya was ducking the third rider. The man sliced viciously, contemptuous of
her thin blade. The cut would have killed a slower opponent, but it missed her entirely, and Alemar saw
the glint of metal from her return blow. The rider continued on for several paces, and abruptly fell from
the oeikani. A dark stain spread across his midsection. He didnтАЩt move again.

The first rider, having circled, plunged toward Alemar in a slightly less headlong fashion. He pulled up,
parried AlemarтАЩs thrust, and harassed him from his superior position. As Elenya turned toward them, the
rider pressed, hoping for a quick victory. Alemar avoided the oeikaniтАЩs hooves, slipped his dagger out of
his belt with his left hand, and flung it. The rider blocked the dagger with a small shield bound to his
empty hand, but wasnтАЩt fast enough to catch the thrust that followed. He fell from his mount, partially
disembowelled.

The moaning of the man with the broken arm turned their attention toward the east. There, twenty riders
waited at a standstill only fifty paces away, where moments before there had been none. Their robes and
the markings on their oeikani were the same as the three attackers. As a group, they raised their
scimitars and lifted reins to whip their animals forward. One man in the center held back.

тАЬNa tet,тАЭhe shouted. Abruptly, the other men lowered their weapons. He gave a few more terse
commands, and the group rode quickly forward to surround the twins.

When the circle was complete, its center well within range of the throwing daggers that all the warriors
bore, the leader spoke again. тАЬAi natt dor kem?тАЭ

тАЬWe use the High Speech,тАЭ Alemar answered.

The man regarded them. He was taller than most of the group, a bronzed, handsome forehead showing
above the veil. He bore himself like a man accustomed to authority.

тАЬThe tongue of the Calinin is seldom spoken here,тАЭ he said. His inflection was wrong, but his
construction was excellent. тАЬWho are you, and what are you doing here?тАЭ

тАЬI am Tebec.тАЭ

тАЬAnd your brother?тАЭ

Before Elenya could answer, Alemar said, тАЬHe is Yetem. We come from Cilendrodel on our fatherтАЩs
business.тАЭ

тАЬYou have come a long way.тАЭ The leader pointed to the water hole. тАЬHere, among Zyraii lands, the
penalty for stealing water is death.тАЭ

тАЬWe are not dead.тАЭ

To AlemarтАЩs surprise, the leader smiled, the expression visible in the creases around his eyes. тАЬThat is