"Charles R Tanner - Tumithak Of The Towers Of Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tanner Charles R)

found me!"
HE PAUSED and glanced at Tumithak, who motioned him to continue.
"There were six of them and they all attacked me at once," Mutassa went on. "I
tried to defend myself, but though I managed to avoid their swords, I knew it
could be but a matter of time until they slew me, for I was so busy defending
myself that I could not attack.
"At last I did manage to pierce one of the most careless, but the other five
were pressing me entirely too c}osely--when suddenly I heard a cry from the
upper part of the corridor, and a moment later, I found myself defended by two
strange men!"
Tumithak interrupted him for a moment.
"Kiletlok and I had been wandering on our way to Kaymak, the city from which the
mog came. A storm had overtaken us and we sought shelter in a cave. Before I had
been there long, I realized that the cave was the entrance to a man-pit, and I
determined to explore it and see if any men still lived there. We must have been
several miles from the entrance when we came upon Mutassa attempting to defend
himself from his enemies." He motioned to the Krayling to continue his story.
"Never have I seen such fighting as the mizta and his mog did," averred Mutassa.
"The corridor was but dimly lighted, and for a minute or two, my enemies knew
not whom they were fighting. Two of them fell before it dawned on them that the
men who fought with them were other than common mortals. But when they saw that
they fought with white men--Ah, you should have seen the remaining throng flee!
We pursued them, but they managed to elude us, so we stopped for awhile and
Tumithak told me who he was and I told him how I knew that he was a mizta.
"I told him of that long-forgotten day when men lived upon the Surface, and of
how the mizta ruled over all. I told him of the coming of the shelks, and how
the miztas withdrew from the Surface. I told him of how they made the Place for
the black man, because of a legend that the white man had, that the black man
must be kept in his Place. And I told of how the prophecy said that one day the
miztas would return to lead us again to the Surface, to conquer over the shelks.
"And he in turn told me of his life and of the great work to which he had
dedicated himself. So then I knew him to be truly the great mizta of the
prophecy, and to him I swore my fealty. And we went on into the Place."
"And Koudok?" interrupted Otaro.
"Patience a minute, brother. I have told you that the common people were all in
favor of me. Can you not imagine what happened when I returned, bringing a mizta
out of legend with me? The people defied their leaders and rose up against them.
Koudok and his leaders defended themselves in one corridor for a bare two days.
Then we captured them. They fought desperately, but their cause was hopeless.
Koudok I slew with my bare hands."
Otaro breathed a sigh of relief. But not allowing this to interrupt him, Mutassa
went on:
"When everything was at peace again, and the disturbers were slain, the people
unanimously acclaimed me as chief. But I had sworn fealty to Tumithak, and he
was leaving to continue his search for the rods of power. So I appointed
lieutenants to rule for me in my absence and followed my lord in his quest."
The huge black man stole a look at Tumithak that was almost one of worship.
Tumithak, seemingly a little impatient at the long synopsis, hastened to
conclude the story.
"Kiletlok had told me that there were many power rods to be found in Kaymak," he