"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Denner's Wreck" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

DENNER'S WRECK
Lawrence Watt Evans

Copyright ┬й 1988 by Lawrence Watt Evans
Front cover illustration by Ron Walotsky
ISBN: 0-380-75250-6
e-book ver. 1.0




Dedicated to my agent Russell Galen



Clarke's Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Arthur C. Clarke



Some of the physical characteristics of the planet Denner's Wreck were determined using "World
Builder," a com-puter program designed by Stephen Kimmel with the assis-tance of Dean R. Lambe. The
author extends his sincere appreciation.




Chapter One

"Lord Grey the Horseman rules a vast domain far to the south and west of our village, a broad
expanse of open grassland where his horses roam free, and no mortal is permitted to set foot without
first proving his worth to the land's master. Here Lord Grey's horses run unhinderedтАФand what
horses they are! Faster, stronger, smarter than mere animals, these creatures are a match for any
man. They run like the wind itself, their hooves like thunder and their manes waving like the grass
before the storm, and woe betide any hunter fool enough to venture near. The horses of Lord Grey
can dodge any trap, tear any rope, outrun any pursuit. And if a man should somehow capture one
despite these obstacles, then he must face the Power himself, for Lord Grey knows instantly when
one of his proud children is touched by a mortal's hand . . ."
тАФFROM THE TALES OF ATHERON THE STORYTELLER



The sun was high in the heavens at mid-secondlight, shining fiercely down on the shadeless plain. Bredon
could feel its light clearly, bright and warm on his back, pouring over him like honey as he crouched in the
tall grass.
He blinked away sweat, then cautiously raised himself up to peer over the waving blades.
The plain lay palely green before him, flat and even to the mountain-rimmed western horizon. Warm wind
hissed and mut-tered around him, through grass already half-bleached by summer and well on its way to
becoming golden hay.
His gray hunter's vest lay crumpled on the ground at his heel, dropped there when he had stopped to