"Alexander Kazantsev. The Destruction of Faena (ГИБЕЛЬ ФАЭНЫ, англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Two of them writhed under a tree, the others flung themselves at Ave again.
Throwing over his shoulder one who stank of sweat and mud, he glimpsed Gor
Terr dealing with his opponents. Several shaggy carcasses were squirming at
his feet. But still more of the enemy were tumbling down onto his shoulders
from the trees. Ave tried to shout that he should run to open ground, but a
shaggy paw clamped itself over his face. Ave twisted the paw till the bones
cracked.
Mada was nowhere to be seen. Nor was Toni Fae. Only Gor Terr and Ave
Mar continued the unequal struggle.
"Hold out, Ave!" shouted Gor Terr. "These are all of one local family!"
Ave flung aside the first assailants, but at least a dozen fresh ones
leapt on him. Four taloned paws fastened on to each of his hands and feet.
The young Faetian summoned up all his strength, heaved and crashed to
the ground, crushing his enemies underneath him. More shaggy beasts leapt
onto the pile of weltering bodies. He felt as if he had been buried in a
mine shaft: he could neither move nor breathe.
On seeing Ave's predicament, Gor Terr rushed to help him. But it would
have probably been easier to fell with one shoulder the wide-spreading tree
under which the scrum had taken place than to come to Ave's assistance. Then
Gor Terr made a sudden leap and grabbed hold of a low branch. Two or three
of the Faetoids, no shorter in stature than he was himself, hung onto his
legs. The bough bent, threatening to crack. With an incredible burst of
strength, Gor Terr hoisted himself up onto the bough with all the animals
clinging to him. They dived head-downwards off it, howling frantically. Two
more seemed to be waiting above Gor Terr, but were thrown down.
With an agility denied to his shaggy opponents, Gor Terr literally
soared up to the topmost branches of the tree.
Despairing shrieks and roars came from below.
Gor Terr jumped down from the topmost branch and, it seemed, ought to
have crashed into the paws of the beasts galloping in a frenzy round it, but
by some miracle he seized hold of a branch on a neighbouring tree and ran
lightly along it, although it bent under his considerable weight.
A way had been found, the only escape from the bellowing herd below.
Gor Terr couldn't understand why none of the fanged beasts had bitten
him. There was no time to think about it, and he continued running along the
upper branches. He might well have been envied by his remote ancestors, who
had come down from the trees of Faena once upon a time.
His pursuers, however, were running along below every bit as fast as he
was himself.
At this point, Gor Terr saw something like a Faetian liana. It hung
down from a distant, very high tree and was caught on one of the branches
near him. Gor Terr seized hold of the living cable and flew downwards. He
had a glimpse of the infuriated herd. Gathering speed like a swinging
pendulum, he sailed over his pursuers' heads and managed to kick the biggest
of them. He was followed by a despairing wail.
Gor Terr caught sight of a waterfall below him. The liana carried him
across to the other bank. He clutched at a branch, jumped down to the ground
and started running.
The shouts of pursuit died down far behind him. The Faetoids were
evidently afraid of water and could not cross to the other side of the river