"Jonathan Stroud - Bartimaeus 2 - The Golem's Eye" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stroud Jonathan)

true?"

I pointed my beak at the horizon, narrow-eyed. "Maybe."

The frog gave a moan. "But we ain't got a single one, have we? Not since Phoebus bought it.
And there's marids down there, too, we've heard, more than one. And the leader's got this StaffтАФreal
powerful, it is. Tore up Paris and Cologne on the way here, they say. Is that true?"

My crest feathers ruffled gently in the breeze. "Maybe."

The frog gave a yelp. "Ohh, but that's just dreadful, ain't it? We've no hope now. All afternoon
the summonings have been coming thick and fast, and that means only one thing. They'll attack
tonight. We'll all be dead by morning."

Well, he wasn't going to do our morale much good with that kind of talk. [5] I put a hand on his
warty shoulder. "Listen, son... what's your name?"

[5] i.e., accurate.

"Nubbin, sir."

"Nubbin. Well, don't go believing everything you hear, Nubbin. The British army's strong, sure.
In fact, I've rarely seen stronger. But let's say it is. Let's say it's got marids, whole legions of afrits, and
horlas by the bucket-load. Let's say they're all going to come pouring at us tonight, right here at the
Strahov Gate. Well, let them come. We've got tricks to send them packing."

"Such as what, sir?"

"Tricks that'll blow those afrits and marids right out of the air. Tricks we've all learned in the heat
of a dozen battles. Tricks that mean one sweet word: survival."

The frog's bulbous eyes blinked at me. "This is my first battle, sir."

I made an impatient gesture. "Failing that, the Emperor's djinn say his magicians are working on
something or other. A last line of defense. Some hare-brained scheme, no doubt." I patted his
shoulder in a manly way. "Feel better now, son?"

"No, sir. I feel worse."

Fair enough. I was never much cop at those pep talks. "All right," I growled. "My advice is to
duck fast and when possible run away. With luck, your masters will get killed before you are.
Personally, that's what I'm banking on."

I hope this rousing speech did them some good, for it was at that moment that the attack came.
Far off, there was a reverberation on all seven planes. We all felt it: it was a single note of imperious
command. I spun around to look out into the dark, and one by one, the five sentries' heads popped
up above the battlements.

Out on the plains, the great army surged into action.