"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Legends 03 - Test Of The Twins" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

"Caramon!" Tas grabbed the big mans arm. "Even if you went ... there"-the kender found he
couldn't speak the name-"what would you do?"
"Something I should have done a long time ago," Caramon said resolutely.
Chapter 4
"You're going after him, aren't you?" Tas cried, scrambling out of the hole-a move which, more or
less, put him at eye-level with Caramon, who was still chopping away at the branch. "That's crazy,
just crazy! How will you get there?" A sudden thought struck him. "Where is there anyway? You
don't even know where you're going! You don't know where he is!"
"I have a way to get there," Caramon said coolly, putting his sword back in its sheath. Taking the
branch in his strong hands, he bent and twisted it and finally succeeded in breaking it off. "Lend me
your knife," he muttered to Tas.
The kender handed it over with a sigh, starting to continue his protest as Caramon trimmed off
small twigs, but the big man interrupted him.
"I have the magical device. As for where there is"-he eyed Tas sternly-"you know that!"
"The-the Abyss?" Tas faltered.
A dull boom of thunder made them both look apprehensively at the approaching storm, then
Caramon returned to his work with renewed vigor while Tas returned to his argument. "The
magical device got Gnimsh and me out of there, Caramon, but I'm positive it won't get you in. You
don't want to go there anyway," the kender added resolutely. "It is not a nice place."
"Maybe it cant get me in," Caramon began, then motioned Tas over to him. "Let's see if this crutch
I've made works before another storm hits. We'll walk over to Tika's the obelisk."
Slashing off a part of his muddy wet cloak with his sword, the warrior bundled it over the top of the
branch, tucked it under his arm and leaned his weight on it experimentally. The crude crutch sank
into the mud several inches. Caramon yanked it out and took another step. It sank again, but he
managed to move forward at least a little and keep his weight off his injured knee. Tas came over to
help him walk and, hobbling along slowly, they inched their way across the wet, slimy ground.
Where are we going? Tas longed to ask, but he was afraid to hear the answer. For once, he didn't
find it hard to keep quiet. Unfortunately, Caramon seemed to hear his thoughts, for he answered his
unspoken question.
"Maybe that device cant get me into the Abyss," Caramon repeated, breathing heavily, "but I know
someone who can. The device'll take us to him."
"Who?" the kender asked dubiously.
"Par-Salian. He'll be able to tell us what has happened. He'll be able to send me ... wherever I need
to go."
"Par-Salian?" Tas looked almost as alarmed as if Caramon had said the Queen of Darkness herself.
"That's even crazier!" he started to say, only he was suddenly violently sick instead. Caramon
paused to wait for him, looking pale and ill in the moonlight himself.
Convinced that he had thrown up everything inside him from his topknot down to his socks, Tas
felt a little better. Nodding at Caramon, too tired to talk just yet, he managed to stagger on.
Trudging through the slime and the mud, they reached the obelisk. Both slumped down on the
ground and leaned against it, exhausted by the exertion even that short journey of only twenty or so
paces had cost them. The hot wind was rising again, the sound of thunder getting nearer. Sweat
covered Tas's face and he had a green tinge around his lips, but he managed nonetheless, to smile at
Caramon with what he hoped was innocent appeal.
"Us going to see Par-Salian?" he said offhandedly, mopping his face with his topknot. "Oh, I don't
think that would be a good idea at all. You're in no shape to walk all that way. We don't have any
water or food and-"
"I'm not going to walk." Caramon took the pendant out of his pocket and begin the transformation
process that would turn it into a beautiful, jeweled sceptre.
Seeing this and gulping slightly, Tas continued on talking more rapidly.