"Odyssey Cycle - 02 - Chainer's Torment" - читать интересную книгу автора (McGough Scott)

serving their own masters. More to the point, what did
they do when they weren't trying their best simply to
stay alive?

As he wandered and pondered, Chainer walked
through the squatters' shacks outside the city and into
the salt flats toward the sparse, dying forest beyond.

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Chainer’s Torment

He ignored the sullen glares from the squatters
themselves. If his membership in the Cabal didn't
protect him from starving civilians, his own skills
could. He was more alert for any of the dangerous wild
beasts that lurked on the edges of this and every other
settlement. Large predators were rare this close to the
well-lit city gates and its armed guards, but the first
thing the Cabal taught its members was to be careful
with the Cabal's equipment, which included their own
bodies.

He altered his course and scanned the path
through the marshy flats. Chainer moved along by
choosing which parts of the muddy path to avoid
rather than which ones he wanted to take. He grew
lost in the rhythm and the repetition of trekking
through the flats, unaware and unconcerned about
how far he had traveled. He hiked until his shadow
grew long before him, until a soft, insistent whisper
broke through his reverie.

It wasn't a voice, but it called directly to him. It
wasn't a song, but the melody gave him chills. It
wasn't an alarm, but it commanded his attention with
an urgency that was soft but undeniable. He cupped a
hand around his ear to help pinpoint the sound. The
remains of a residential district sat to the southeast,
and the sound was coming from there.

Chainer listened for a moment, then started off
toward the largest house on the ruined block. Its
immediate neighbors had been bombed and burned
flat. The ruined mansion with the caved-in roof and
exposed frame stood tall, a broken but defiant veteran
of a barely remembered war.