"Sara Douglass - The Axis Trilogy 3 - StarMan" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

Embeth worried about her lost son, Timozel spared no thought for his mother -Gorgrael dominated his
mind awake and asleep.

Over the past nine days Timozel had ridden as hard as he dared for the north. With each league
further away from Carlon and Faraday he could feel Gorgrael's grip clench tighter about his soul.

The horror Timozel had felt when Faraday dropped the pot and shattered the ties that bound him to
her had dimmed, but had not completely left him. In those odd hours when he snatched some sleep,
nightmares invariably claimed him and he always woke screaming. Three times this day he had dropped
off in the saddle, only to find Gorgrael waiting for him in his dreams, his claws digging into TimozePs
neck, his repulsive face bending close to Timozel's own. "Mine," the dream-Gorgrael would hiss. "Mine!
You areminel"

And with his every step further north the more potent became the nightmares. If only he could turn his
back on Gorgrael and ride for Carlon. Beg forgiveness from Faraday, find some way to reconstitute his
vows of Championship. But Gorgrael's claws had sunk too deep.

Despair overwhelmed Timozel, and he wept, grieving for the boy he had once been, grieving for the
pact he had been forced to make with Gorgrael, grieving for the loss of Faraday's friendship.

Beside him lay the cooling carcass of the latest horse he'd killed. The animal had staggered to a halt,
stood a moment, and then sunk wearily to the sandy beach. This was the sixth horse he had literally
ridden into the ground in recent days - and Timozel had slid his feet quickly from the stirrups and swung
his leg over the horse's wither as it slumped to the ground, standing himself in one graceful movement.

As Timozel sat on the gritty beach, watching the grey waves, he wondered what to do next. How was
he going to keep moving north now this damned horse had died on him?

And what had driven him to the shores of Murkle Bay in the first instance? It was many leagues to the
west of where he should have been heading - Jervois Landing, then north into the Skraeling-controlled
Ichtar through Gorken Pass and then north, north, north to Gorgrael's Ice Fortress. It would be a hard
journey, perhaps months long, and only Timozel's determination and his bond to Gorgrael would see him
through.

As each horse fell Timozel had stolen another one - not a difficult proposition in the well-populated
regions of Avonsdale. But he was unlikely to find a horse in the desolate regions surrounding Murkle Bay
or in the mountains themselves.

He squared his shoulders. Well then, he would walk and Gorgrael - if he truly wanted Timozel -
would no doubt provide.

But not today. Even his fear of Gorgrael-sent nightmares would not keep Timozel from sleep tonight.
He shivered and pulled his cloak closer, shifting uncomfortably on the cold, damp sand. Somehow he
would have to find enough fuel for a fire to keep him warm through the night. A rumble in his belly
reminded him that he had not eaten in over two days, and he wondered if he could snatch a fish from
Murkle Bay's depths.
 His eyes narrowed as he gazed across the bay. What was that out to sea? Perhaps a hundred paces
distant from the beach Timozel could see a small, dark hump bobbing in the waves. He'd heard stories of
the whales that lived in the Andeis Sea and wondered if perhaps this dark shape was the back of one of
the mammoth ocean fish that had strayed into Murkle Bay.