"David Gemmell - Rigante 4 - Stormrider" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

His own life had changed that night too. A girl who loved him had been murdered by a Varlish
soldier and his nephew. They had raped her, then hanged her. Kaelin had found them both. In a
night of bleak savagery he had killed them. Truth to tell he did not regret their deaths, nor his
part in them. He did, however, feel shame at the way he had ripped at their bodies. Blind with
rage he had cut off their heads and jammed them on the posts of a bridge.
Kaelin jerked to wakefulness. He had dozed, his head resting against the wall. He rubbed his eyes
and stared out at the tree line. There was nothing there, and no sounds of crunching bone could be
heard.
He pushed himself to his feet. Just as he did so a colossal black form reared into the opening,


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its huge head pushing over the newly repaired wall, its torn lip hanging. Kaelin hurled himself to
the floor and rolled. Hang-lip let out a roar. Feargol awoke and screamed at the top of his voice.
The bear lashed at a timber, which parted and flew across the room. Kaelin scrambled to the jug of
lantern oil, grabbed the chair leg wrapped in cloth and held it in the fire. Flames leapt to the
cloth. Carrying torch and jug he ran towards the bear, flinging the oil into its face. The beast
lunged at him, but was hindered by a second timber, which groaned under its weight. Kaelin thrust
the burning torch into the bear's mouth. The oil on its fur caught fire instantly, flaring up
around its eyes. With a hideous roar it dropped to all fours and ran in flames towards the trees.
Feargol was sobbing by the fire. Kaelin moved to him. 'He's gone,' he said. The boy was trembling
and Kaelin drew him into an embrace. 'I am very proud of you, Feargol,' he said, softly. 'I would
never have been as brave as you when I was your age. I was frightened of mice, you know.'
‘I am frightened of mice,' said Feargol, holding hard to Kaelin's shirt and pushing his head
against the man's chest.
Then we are alike,' Kaelin told him. 'Once I was frightened of mice - and now I fight bears.'
'He will come back. I know he will. '
Kaelin sat quietly for a moment. The boy was already terrified, and it was tempting to offer a
small lie. It would relax him for a while. He dismissed the idea. 'Yes, Feargol, he will be coming
back. He's not hungry any more. He just wants us dead. So I will have to kill him. But we will get
to Ironlatch. I promise you.'
'Can you kill him?' asked the child. 'My daddy couldn't.'
'He took your daddy by surprise. Finbarr was a brave man, and your mother was a fine woman. But I
will be ready for the beast, Feargol - and you will help me.'
'I can't fight bears, Kaelin. I can't!' Tears welled in the boy's eyes.
'You won't need to fight him, my friend. You will help me prepare. I want you to go to the kitchen
and find any long knives. Then you can fetch your daddy's staff. We are going to make a spear. Off
you go.' Kaelin gently eased the child from his embrace and stood. Feargol waited for a moment,
then ran into the kitchen. Kaelin gathered up his musket and returned to the opening. A spear was
unlikely to be more useful than his own weapons, but it would keep the child occupied.
The air was bitterly cold and it was snowing heavily. He knew the two of them would struggle to
stay alive on the outside. If they set out soon after dawn they could reach the cliff cave by
dusk. Kaelin had used it often, and had left a good supply of dry wood there. It would be a hard,
strength-sapping walk. Yet what were the choices? When Hang-lip returned Kaelin would shoot him.
Would the shots reach his heart? Perhaps. And perhaps was not good enough when he had a child to
save. Picturing the long walk to the cliff cave he realized it was almost totally over open
ground. If the bear came after them, as he feared it would, there would be nowhere to hide. The
lack of options made him angry. To stay would be to invite disaster and death. To go would remove