"Eric Van Lustbader - Sunset Warrior 5 - Dragons on the Sea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lustbader Eric van)

He could see the curiosity in her face, and the fear. Aufeya came from a people who were overly
superstitious. And she had witnessed her own demon - the Diablura - come to vivid and terrifying life,
almost destroying her. To her, the world of sorcery and devils had not entirely passed into oblivion.
Moichi knew now that she had overheard the mate's warning regarding Miira's Mirror, and he cursed the
man all over again.

He was descending toward her, when a sudden burst of rain obscured his vision. The wind howled and
the ship heeled dizzyingly to port. Moichi was knocked over the railing of the stair, crashing to the
mid-deck. He was up on his feet in an instant, shaking off the sparks behind his eyes, the pain in his
shoulder and hip. He shouted instructions to the men tying down the mainsail. It was then that he realized
he did not see Aufeya.

He broke off his tirade, rushing to the port rail. He could just see a hand, small and pale, the white
knuckles gripping hard the lower wooden railing. He reached down, saw Aufeya's face, pinched with
fear, her eyes wide and staring, her long copper hair whipping around her face and neck.

'Aufeya! Hold on, I have you!'

As his fingers closed over her wrist, the ship lurched again to port and the angry sea rose up as if it were
a beast with a will of its own. It smashed against the hull of the Bujun ship, inundating Aufeya completely.

At that instant, Moichi felt a tugging, an added weight that almost pulled his arm from its socket. He knew
that it was impossible, but it was as if something from the deep was trying to pull Aufeya under.

Then the ship rose upward on the breast of a swell and the wave receded, bringing Aufeya back to him.
She was drenched and gasping, her thick hair clinging to her like sea grape. She coughed, spewing
seawater, and reaching down with his other hand, he began to haul her upward.

The ship dove down again into a trough, the rain beating at them like hail and it was as if a kind of
shadow fell over them as the sea rose up her hips, chest and shoulders until it appeared to tower over
them. It was then that some inner tingling caused Moichi to look up into the blue-gray underside of the
wave. In its shifting depths he saw again the eerie primordial face, filled with rage. The slash of a mouth
appeared to open and he heard a rumbling as of distant thunder.

He shook his head as if to clear his ears of water, but it did no good. He heard the rumbling again,
breaking apart and re-forming into what could only be construed as words:

I WANT HER. I MUST HAVE HER.

What, he thought wildly, am I hearing?

IT IS MIIRA'S WISH.

Miira!

DEFY ME AT YOUR PERIL!

The water was rising, lapping up over Aufeya's mouth and nose. She was struggling now, clearly terrified.
And with good reason. In a moment, she would drown.