"Sara Douglass - The Axis Trilogy 1 - BattleAxe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

these creatures are invisible before attack, then they are generally visible
after. Once they have gorged, the creatures are slimed with the blood of
their victims. The Ravensbundmen are afraid of them — afraid enough to move
out of their homelands - and the Ravensbundmen, savages as they are, have
never been afraid of anything before."
"Have they tried to attack them?"
"Yes. But the creatures are somehow . . . insubstantial. Steel passes through
their bodies. And they do not fear. If any soldiers get close enough to attack
them, it is generally the last thing they get to do in this life. Only a few have
escaped encounters with these . . ."
"Forbidden Ones?" Moryson whispered, his amiable face reflecting the
anxiety that such a term provoked in all of them. None of them had wanted to
be the first to mention this possibility.
"Wait, Moryson," Jayme counselled. "Wait until we have heard all of what
Gilbert has to say." All three men had forgotten the tension and anger that
Gilbert's jibe had caused moments before.
"Magariz's soldiers have seen similar apparitions, although most who have
been close enough to see them have died," Gilbert said slowly. "One man they
found alive. Just. He died a few minutes after Magariz arrived. He said, and this
report was Lord Magariz's own, that he had been attacked by creatures which
had no form and which had suffered no wounds at the edge of his sword."
"And how did they wound this soldier? I thought the Gorkenfort garrison
were among the best armoured soldiers in the realm."
"Brother-Leader, Magariz understood from the soldier's last words that the
creatures surrounded him — then simply oozed through the gaps in his armour
until they lay between it and his skin. Then they began to eat."
Gilbert stopped for a moment, and all three men contemplated such a
horrific death. Jayme closed his
eyes; may Artor hold him and keep him in His care, he prayed silently.
"I wonder why they left him alive?" Moryson wondered softly.
Gilbert's voice was caustic when he replied. "They had already consumed
the- rest of his patrol. One assumes they were reasonably full."
Jayme abruptly pushed himself up from his chair and moved over to a wall
cabinet. "I think Artor would forgive us if we imbibed a little wine this early in the
afternoon, Brothers. Considering we still have the reports from Smyrton to
review, I think we might need it."
He poured out three glass goblets of deep red wine and handed them out
before reseating himself behind his desk.
"Furrow wide, furrow deep," he intoned.
"Furrow wide, furrow deep," Moryson and Gilbert answered together,
repeating the ritual phrases that served all Artor-fearing Acharites as blessings
and greetings for most occasions in life.
Both ritual and wine comforted the men, and soon they were ready to
resume their considerations.
"And what else from the north, Gilbert?" Jayme asked, holding his glass
between both palms to warm the remaining wine and hoping the wine he had
already consumed would beat back the chill gnawing at his soul.
"Well, the winter was particularly severe. Even here we suffered from
extreme cold during Raven-month and Hungry-month, while the thaw came in
Flower-month, a month later than usual. In the north the cold was even more