"Karl Edward Wagner - Kane 06 - The Book Of Kane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

northern wastes. But his pursuers were the last ofOrtedтАЩs fanatics, and Kane knew that only death would
halt their relentless pursuit of the slayer of their Prophet. Their fanaticism coupled with the few sorcerous
devices left to their dying cult had brought them within sight of their quarry after hard days of searching.
And then the blizzard had given Kane respite.

His horse stumbled over some buried obstruction and half-fell to its knees. Kane fought to hold his
saddle, noticing the crackle of ice encrusted on his cloak. Gritting teeth he lurched from his mount and
helped the exhausted beast erect. The agony of forcing his nearly frozen limbs into action racked his
powerful frame, and he swayed on his benumbed feet, clutching the neck of his gasping horse for
support.

тАЬEasy, boy,тАЭ he murmured through his ice-hung beard. тАЬLet you rest just a minute.тАЭ But only a minute, he
told himself, and stamped his frozen boots, wearily brushing off the crust of ice that enclosed his body. A
bed of snow beckoned him to its softness, but he hurled aside its temptation. He would not accept defeat
this easily. He had cheated death time beyond comprehension, and if he lost here in the storm, his
adversary must take him not gracefully, but struggling blindly onward past the extremes of his power.
That this frozen elemental fury should be his doom infuriated Kane, and he glared defiantly into the
scouring wind. Frustration. His enemy now was utterly intangibleтАФa cosmic entity that heedlessly had
engulfed himтАФwhose massive presence now tore at him, smothered his life fire. In no way could he even
force his destroyer to take notice of his existence.

Yet it was no ordinary storm, of this Kane was certain. It was too sudden, too violent to be natural;
Kane had never encountered anything its equal even on several excursions much farther to the north. It
was a witch storm perhaps, for its abrupt ferocity hinted at sorcery. But why any sorcerous power should
summon such a blizzard in this wasteland, he could not begin to guess. Surely the Satakis had not evoked
it, for it had cheated them of their prey.

The horse whinnied fearfully, and Kane decided he had rested as long as he dared. As he remounted, his
steed started in fright. Kane sought to soothe the beast, thinking at first he had somehow startled it in
mounting. But the horse was genuinely alarmed, he quickly notedтАФits nostrils flared and eyes widened in
fright. Soon Kane too sensed a presence, an awareness of alien scrutiny. He gave the horse his head, and
the animal bolted forward recklessly through the storm. For a tense interval Kane felt the sensation of
pursuit, of some entity reaching for him with awful hunger; then the feeling slacked off.

As soon as he felt clear he slowed his mountтАЩs headlong flight to a safer pace. тАЬWhat in the name of
Temro was that!тАЭ he muttered. At first he had thought his pursuers had blundered upon him, but the
horseтАЩs reaction and his own sensations dispelled that impression. He had seen nothing, heard
nothingтАФfor the howling storm had effectively blotted out and muffled both vision and sound. Yet Kane
and his horse had both definitely sensed the presence of something, and Kane knew better than to doubt
such extrasensory evidence. The strange workings of his inner mind were not unfamiliar to him, unnatural
talents utilized and strengthened throughout his amazing career. And Kane was certain that some form of
horrible death had been very close to him in the storm.

Now be strained his senses against the blizzard, while the horse plodded dismally through the rising
drifts, his sudden surge of energy dissipated. For a long time there was nothing, until Kane seemed to
hear a wild howling that was not of the wind. He inhaled carefully, drawing the frozen air deep into his
lungs. Faintly he began to catch the scent of wolf on thestormwind . The horse too caught the scent, and
he snorted fitfully.

Suddenly Kane halted. The howling had become more pronounced and seemed to come from many