"Jeffrey Lord - Blade 28 - Wizard of Rentoro" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lord Jeffery)

down on his belly and crawled the rest of the distance to the wall on his hands and knees. From the
cover of the wall and the vines, Blade watched the travelers ride past him.
There were seven of them, all mounted on animals that looked like thick-legged antelopes covered
with long white hair. The heads were broad and slab-sided, with large eyes set well to either side. From
in front of each hairless pink ear a two-foot horn jutted forward. The points were sharp as needles, and
the horns of the lead rider's mount were gilded.
The leader himself was dressed in armor that might have come straight out of some museum's
medieval or Renaissance collection. It was mostly plate, with a sort of skirt of chain mail and more mail in
the armpits to let the wearer move his arms freely. The helmet was a massive affair, almost completely
round, with a hinged visor of close-set metal bars. The visor was raised, and the face it revealed was
olive-hued and heavily mustached.
 The man was carrying a lance in his right hand and controlling his mount with the left. From his belt
hung a sword in an elaborately decorated scabbard of leather and metal. On his saddle was slung a
triangular shield about three feet long and two feet wide. It was covered with red leather, and on the
leather was painted an elaborate heraldic device in green, white, and gold. Before Blade could make out
any details of the device, the leader was passing out of sight.
The six riders who followed the leader were less heavily equipped. They wore open-faced helmets,
back and breast plates, mail skirts, and leather leggings tucked into high boots. Each one had a crossbow
slung on his back and a sword or a mace at his belt. Three of them rode with falcon-like birds perched
on gauntleted hands. The birds were white with golden-brown wings, their heads concealed in blue
leather hoods.
On each breastplate was a smaller version of the device on the leader's shield. Blade was able to
make it out as a wolf's head-mouth open, teeth bared, and red tongue licking out like a flame. Then the
seven riders were past and out of Blade's sight.
Blade waited until the splashing and squelching of the animals' hooves faded almost into silence. Then
he slipped over the wall and crouched beside the road. It hardly deserved the name—a yard-wide
stretch of bare earth with a ditch on the far side. In spite of the ditch, the road was inches deep in water
in many places.
Still, the road would be quicker than cutting through the vineyards and across fields, climbing over
walls and risking encounters with farmers. Blade didn't expect he would have far to go. The men hadn't
been on the road for long; otherwise their mounts would have been plastered with mud. Nor did they
seem to be planning on any sort of long trip. They had no saddlebags on their mounts and no pack
animals with them—nothing but their armor and weapons.
Somewhere not far away was a human settlement, possibly a castle matching the weapons and armor
of these men. Blade would follow the riders to their destination and look the place over. If the people
there looked reasonably friendly, he could introduce himself, dry off, and get food and clothing.
He hoped the people would be friendly. A night or two spent out in the rain wouldn't hurt him, not
unless it grew much colder. But it would be a miserable experience, to be avoided if possible. Blade rose
to his feet and started off after the riders.
The road wound back and forth between the stone wall on one side and the ditch on the other.
Beyond the ditch was another wall, and beyond it a checkerboard of freshly plowed fields. They rose up
a hillside until the mist and the clouds swallowed them.
Blade moved steadily along the road, as fast as he could without making too much noise or tiring
himself. The mud splashed up with every step. He would have been coated up to his waist if the rain
hadn't started coming down heavily enough to wash him clean.
He couldn't help thinking he must be a bizarre sight, striding along this sodden road in such weather,
as naked as the day he was born. He'd gotten used to looking strange after arriving in Dimension X,
though, and anyone who replaced him in the Project would have to do the same.
After a while the rain began to slacken, and Blade thought he saw a hint of the mist lifting as well. The
riders were long since out of earshot, but as far as he could tell they were still on the road. The rain hadn't