"Michelle West - Winter Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (West Michelle)

the great, unfurled wings of the shadow beast, the devourer. She knew that she
would never have the white dreams again.
Darius would nudge her out of sleep, and she would cry out, reach for him, and
then stop, letting her hands fall away.
"I don't see you in my dreams anymore." The words shook as much as her hands
did.
:I know.:
"Will I ever?"
:Yes, Kayla. But... it was never easy to reach through your dreams to you. It takes
gift. Talent.:
"But youтАФwhen I dreamed of you, I didn't dream of theтАФof theтАФother."
:I would claim that as my action, but there will be too much between us to endure
a lie. If you found peace and haven from theтАФfrom your dreams, it was not a
haven I could create. Not then. Not now.
:If I not been meant for you, if I had not known of you when you were a child, I
would never have been able to breach the barriers set byтАФ:
He fell silent, and after an awkward pause she asked, "How did you know of
me?"
:I heard you.:
"You traveled through Riverend?"
:No. But I heard you. I heard your fear and your terror. I heard your sorrow. I
heard your song. Your song is powerful.:
"My mother used to tell me song was my Gift."
 :Did she? Interesting. Song is the only way that I have seen you use your Gift.
You sing, and others listen. You listen, and you hear the harmonies and
disharmonies that are hidden in a speaker's voice. But that is not your gift, Kayla.:
"What is?"
His mane flew as he shook his head. :The dreams are worse, yes?:
She knew that that was as much an answer that he would offer, and it made her
uneasy. She said, simply, "My mother told me I was safe as long as I was in
Riverend."
:You were safe there. But others are not.: He was silent while she gathered her
things. Only when she was safe upon the height of his back did he continue. :What
you dream of...it is true in a fashion. We are closer to it. We will draw closer still. I
am...sorry.:

On the fourth day, she woke from dreaming with Darius' muzzle in the side of her
neck. She was sweating, although it was cold, and he caught the edge of her rough
woolen blankets in his perfect teeth and pulled them more tightly around her.
His eyes were dark, his gaze somber.
"Darius," she whispered, when she could speak past the rawness in the throat, "I
heard bells."
He was silent.
"Not bells like yours, not bells like the ones you're decorated. with. But... bells.
Loud and low."
:I know.:
"There are no bells here, are there?"
:No. Not on these roads; the next village is half a day's hard riding away.:
"What are they?"
:You know, Kayla.: