"Brooks, Terry - First King of Shannara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

Kinson had done so for a number of reasons, but none so com-
pelling as the fact that for the first time in his life it gave him a
sense of purpose. He was tired of drifting, of living for no better
reason than to see again what he had already seen before and to be
paid for the privilege. He was bored and directionless. He wanted
a challenge.

Bremen had certainly given him that.

He shook his head wonderingly. It surprised him how far they
had come together and how close they had grown. It surprised him
how much both of those things mattered to him.

A flicker of movement far out on the empty stretches of the
Streleheim caught his eye. He blinked and stared fixedly into the
dark, seeing nothing. Then the movement came again, a small
flutter of blackness in the shadow of a long ravine. It was so dis-
tant that he could not be certain what he was seeing, but already he
suspected. A cold knot tightened in his stomach. He had seen
movement like this before, always at night, always in the empti-
ness of some desolate place along the borders of the Northland.

He remained motionless, watching, hoping he was wrong. The
movement came again, closer this time. Something lifted from the
earth, hung suspended against the dark patchwork of the night
plains, then dipped downward once more. It might have been a
great winged bird in search of food, but it wasn't.

It was one of the Skull Bearers.

Still Kinson waited, determined to make certain of the crea-
ture's path. Again the shadow lifted away from the earth and
soared into the starlight, angling along the ravine for a distance
before moving away, coming steadily closer to where the Bor-
derman and the Druid were concealed. Again it dipped downward
and disappeared into the blackness of the earth.

Kinson realized with a sinking feeling what the Skull Bearer
was doing. It was tracking someone.

Bremen.

He turned quickly now, but the old man was already beside
him, staring past him into the night. "I was just about to ..."

"Wake me," the other finished. "Yes, I know."

Kinson looked back across the plains. Nothing moved. "Did
you see?" he asked softly.