"Julia Gray - Guardian 04 - The Red Glacier" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

bouts of violence, the bowmen still firing volleys of arrows. There was no
indication as to how long the battle was likely to ! rage, but there seemed no
possibility of escape for Terrel. The fighting now stretched across the entire
width of the headland, effectively cutting him off from the rest of the
island. To make matters worse, one patrol was coming closer to the whale,
apparently trying to outflank their opponents, and Terrel knew he had to find
somewhere else to hide.
Stooping to walk beneath the smooth curve of the sculpture, he made his way
under a fin the size of a small roof and moved towards the whale's head -
which was positioned so that it looked out over the point of the promontory
and was therefore as far from the battle as possible. Terrel hoped that by
positioning himself there he would not be seen, but as he crouched under the
gigantic jaw and looked around, he thought of a better idea.
The whale's mouth formed a small cave that had been visible even from the
Skua, and if he could get inside, there would be little chance of anyone
spotting him. Moving out to take a look, Terrel saw that the opening was
easily big enough for him to climb in. The only obstacle was the rows of
widely-spaced, inward-facing teeth, both above and below the entrance. He
decided that as
long as he was careful, they should present no real problem. In fact, the
lower set provided him with excellent handholds when he pulled himself up.
After that it was just a matter of edging inside into the semi-darkness and
then keeping very still.
He was just congratulating himself on having found the perfect refuge when a
harsh grating sound - which reverberated through the hollow stone - made him
unsure once more. It was a few moments before he realized what was happening -
and then he couldn't believe it. The grinding noise was coming from the
sculpture itself, as the lower jaw moved slowly upwards. At first Terrel was
too stunned to react, and then it was too late. The two lines of stone teeth
had clamped together, barring his way out. The giant mouth had closed. Savik's
Whale had swallowed him.
Panic gripped Terrel by the throat and squeezed the breath from him. He
crawled back to the enmeshed teeth and, bracing his back against the roof,
tried with all his might to push them apart. Nothing happened. Then he tried
hitting one of the teeth to see if he could break his way out, but all he did
was hurt his hand. He sat back, telling himself to be calm. There was no
rational explanation for what had happened, but as the whale's jaw had closed
of its own volition, there was a chance that it would simply open again and
release him. In the meantime, he had to be ready to escape.
Still afraid, but able to think a little more clearly now, Terrel took stock
of his situation. There was nothing in his pack that could help him. He had
the curved dagger given to him by the Toma, but it wouldn't be any use against
such immovable stone. He wondered whether he should stay close to the teeth or
try to explore the rest of the cavernous mouth. Looking around, he saw
something white in
one of the deeper recesses, and realized that the back of the cave was not
entirely dark. There was obviously a source of light there, which meant that
there might be another way out.
Crawling awkwardly on his hands and knees, Terrel made his way towards the
patch of light. As he passed the white object he stopped to examine it — then