"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Deathgate Cycle 7 - The Seventh Gate" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

"What? Why? What are you talking about?" Hugh the Hand demanded, alarmed by her sudden
stop.

Marit pointed to the ominous red glow in the sky. "They've all gone to the Final Gate. To join the
fight against my people."

"Good riddance, then," said Hugh the Hand.

Marit shook her head.

"What's wrong?" Hugh continued. "So they've left. Vasu said the Final Gate was a long way from
here. Not even those tiger-men could reach it anytime soon."

"You don't understand," Marit replied, overwhelmed by despair. "The Labyrinth could transport
them there. It could move them in the blink of an eye, if it wanted. All our enemies, all the evil
creatures of the Labyrinth . . . joined together, fighting against my people. How can we survive?"

She was ready to give up. Her task seemed futile. Even if she found Alfred alive, what good could
he do? He was only one man, after all. A powerful mage, but only one.

Find Alfred! Haplo had told her. But he couldn't know how great the odds were against them. And
now Haplo was gone, perhaps dead. And Lord Xar was gone, too.

Her lord, her liege lord. Marit put her hand to her forehead. The sigil he had tattooed on her skin,
the sigil that had been a sign of her love and trust, burned with a dull and aching pain. Xar had
betrayed her. Worse, it seemed he had betrayed his people.

He was powerful enough to withstand the onslaught of evil beings. His presence would inspire his
people, his magic and his cunning give them a chance for victory.
But Xar had turned his back on them . . .

Shaking the wet hair out of her eyes, Marit resolutely put everything out of her mind except the
immediate problem. She'd forgotten an important lesson. Never look too far ahead. What you see
could be a mirage. Keep your eyes on the trail on the ground.

And there it was. The sign.

Marit cursed herself. She'd been so preoccupied, she had almost missed what she'd been searching
for. Kneeling down, she carefully picked up an object, held it out for Hugh the Hand to see.

It was a green, glittering scale. One of several scales тАФgreen and goldтАФlying on the ground.

Surrounding it were large dollops of fresh blood.

CHAPTER 2

THE LABYRINTH

"ACCORDING TO VASU, THE LAST TIME HE SAW ALFREDтАФTHE dragon AlfredтАФhe was
falling from the skies. Wounded, bleeding." Mark turned the green scale over and over in her hand.