"Julian May - Trillium 3 - Sky Trillium" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

fossil Black Trillium blossom in its heart.

Thank you, she prayed. Thank you, Triune God of the Flower, for letting the
bluff work one more time, for giving me strength. And forgive me the implied
deceit… If I knew another way, I would follow it.

With the stormwinds inaugurating the premature Wet Time roaring through the
tree branches overhead, Kadiya and Jagun spoke hardly a word until they
reached the backwater of the swollen river where their boats had been left. The
Nyssomu Folk customarily traveled in hollowed-log punts and cumbersome
flatboats that were laboriously poled or sculled along. But Kadiya's craft was
fashioned in the Wyvilo style, of thin-scraped hide stretched over a lightweight
wooden frame. It was drawn up between the buttress-roots of a mighty kala tree,
and as she and Jagun climbed into it and loosed it from its mooring two big sleek
heads rose from the rain-pocked waters nearby and stared in expectation.

They were rimoriks, formidable water animals who shared a special relationship
—one could hardly call it domestication— with the Uisgu Folk, those shy
cousins of the Nyssomu who dwelt in the Goldenmire north of the River Vispar.
Since Kadiya was the Advocate of all Folk, including the Uisgu, she also
enjoyed the rimoriks' favor. Numbers of the animals, eager to serve her, had left
their accustomed territory to live near Kadiya's Manor of the Eyes on the River
Golobar, which lay nearly seventy leagues to the east.



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Trillium 03 - Sky Trillium by Julian May (v1.0) (html).html


The eyes of the aquatic beasts shone like jet in the light of Jagun's guttering
torch. The rimoriks had dapple-green fur, bristling whiskers, and enormous teeth
that they bared in what was, for them, an amiable expression.

Share miton with us, Lady. We have waited overlong for your return.

"Certainly, dear friends." From her belt pouch Kadiya took a small scarlet bottle-
gourd. Unstoppering it, she took a sip, let Jagun have his share, and then poured
a quantity of the sacred liquid into the palm of her left hand. The animals swam
close and drank, lapping gently with their horrifying tongues, whiplike
appendages with sharp points that they used to spear their prey.

As the miton worked its benign magic, the four unlikely friends felt a great
contentment that sharpened their senses and banished fatigue. When the
communion was over, Kadiya uttered a sigh. Jagun slipped pulling harnesses
onto the rimoriks. Soundlessly, the great animals submerged and the boat sped
away down the wide, dark river, heading for the secret shortcut that would take
them all home in less than six hours.

When they were well on their way, with Kadiya and Jagun huddled beneath the