"Karl Edward Wagner - Cold Light" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

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Cold Light
Karl Edward Wagner


The assault on the ogres' stronghold had been brutal, reflected
Gaethaa as he wearily looked over the ruins. Pulling off his
silver-trimmed helmet, he ran a bleeding hand over his grimy
face, pushing the sweat-soaked blond locks from his eyes. He
squinted through the smoke that made red the sun. Inside the
fortress walls all was one chaotic turmoil of smashed and burning
buildings, seige enginesтАФbodies of both his men and the ogres'
retainers.
He pushed a corpse from an overturned cart and sprawled onto
the vacated space. Wincing against the pain as he sucked in a
deep breathтАФsome bruised ribs there at best, but the cuirass had
turned the swordтАФGaethaa permitted himself the tired exultation
befitting a man who has brilliantly conceived and executed a
difficult task, one fully as honorable as it was dangerous.
Credit must be given to many others, to be certain. Had it not
been for the genius of the young Tranodeli wizard, Cereb
Ak-Cetee, the sorcerous flames that guarded the ogres' walls
would not have been extinguished, nor their impenetrable
obsidian gate blasted into splintered rubble. Mollyl had been
magnificent as he led the first wave through the smouldering gap
and into the full fury of the ogres' minions. And the Red Three
had very nearly succeeded in overwhelming his soldiers, even
with the failure of their spells and the rout of their servants.
Many had been smashed and torn under the huge weapons of the
seemingly invincible ogre brothers. Then Gesell, the middle
brother, fell from the poisoned arrow which Anmuspi the Archer
threaded through the visor of his helmet. And Omsell, the oldest,
was grievously wounded from a swordthrust of the dying
Malander, and as the ogre fell to his knees, Gaethaa himself had
struck his hideous head from his shoulders. That left only Dasell,
who had been knocked senseless when he tried to leap in escape
from the fortress walls. Gaethaa had ordered him bound, and now
the ogre's twelve-foot body swung in grotesque dance, as it
dangled from a gibbet overlooking the valley that he and his
brothers had so long held in terror.
Alidore approached him through the haze, his broken arm now
roughly bandaged. You did that when you blocked Omsell's axe
from splitting me, thought Gaethaa, and vowed to make his
lieutenant a generous gift from his personal portion of the booty,
although such bravery was truly a knight's duty to his lord.
"We've got it all about mopped up, milord." Alidore had