"Margeret Weis & Don Perrin - Dragonlance - The Chaos War 01 - The Doom Brigade" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

attacked?"
"Oh, yeah?" Mortar demanded. "What?"
Selquist exhibited with pride an amulet he wore around his neck.
"Big deal," said Pestle, Mortar's brother. "A penny on a chain. Probably worth less
than a penny. Bet it's fool's gold, like those gully dwarves tried to palm off on us in
PaxTharkas."
"It is not!" Selquist returned indignantly.
Just to make certain, when the others weren't looking, he slowed his running long
enough to take a good look at it.
The amulet was made of metal, but it wasn't a coin, at least not like any coin
Selquist had seen, and he'd seen quite a few in his lifetime. It was shaped like a
pentagram. Each point of the pentagram had a dragon's head inside it. The five-
headed dragon identified it as a relic of the Dark Queen, making it worth quite a bit to
those who traded in souvenirs from the War of the Lance. He had found the amulet
while rummaging around in a draconian's footlocker.
"In fact," he said to himself, "it would be worth a whole lot more if it turned out to
be magic!"
At that, a rather unpleasant thought occurred to Selquist. Hastily, he snatched off
the amulet and thrust it in the money pouch hanging from his belt.
"The last thing I need is to be cursed by the Dark Queen for appropriating her
jewelry," he muttered. Increasing his speed, he hurried after his companions. "I'll pass
that along as an extra benefit to the buyer."
The four crossed over a low ridge and were at last able to slow their pace. It was
unlikely the draconians would have chased them in this heat, but the dwarves were not
taking chances. They could now see the smoke of the village cooking fires. They
could hear the cheers of the people, welcoming the warriors home.
The main body of raiders had already returned, battered and bruised, but in good
spirits. The entire
 population of the village of Celebundin was gathered at the meeting hall to greet
the returning heroes.
These four, who lagged behind, were missing the celebration, but that didn't bother
them. They wouldn't have been included anyway. In fact, there were those in the
village who would have celebrated if these four hadn't come back.
Selquist and his party deliberately avoided the crowd, heading for Selquist's house,
which was located on the outskirts of the village. Selquist unlocked the three locks on
the doorтАФhe was of a suspicious natureтАФand entered. His three assistants clomped in
behind him and dumped the crate on the floor. He shut the door, struck a match to
light an oil lamp.
Auger set down the lamb and stood gazing at it hungrily. Bleating plaintively, the
lamb piddled on the floor.
"Oh, thanks, Auger! Thanks loads!" Selquist glared around. "Just what we need to
improve the decor around here, the pungent smell of lamb piss. Why in the name of
Reorx did you bring that beast inside the house? Take it out and put it in the pen, then
get something to clean that up. You two, open me crate, and let's see what we have."
"Steel coins," said Pestle hopefully.
"Jewels," said his brother Mortar, working on the lock.
The lock gave with a snap.
"Shovels," said Selquist, peering down. "Also picks and a saw. Come now," he
added, when he saw the brothers scowl in disappointment. "You didn't really expect
we'd find a king's ransom stashed in a draconian shed? Those scaly louts wouldn't be