"Juliet E. McKenna - Einarinn 4 - The Warrior's Bond" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKenna Juliet E)

'They can't be,' said Casuel with arbitrary authority.
'I'm the one with the spyglass, Casuel.' I forced myself to keep my tone mild.
Irritating he might be, but I had to work with the wizard and that meant
civilized manners from me, even if Casuel couldn't manage common courtesy.
Time enough for idle thoughts later. I focused on the
second boat, a round-bellied coastal craft with triangular sails plump and
complacent when it should have been fighting for its life in those surging
seas. Heedless of raging swells fighting to ram it on to the rocks, it was
sweeping serenely towards the harbour.
'Oh.' Casuel's tone was heavy with displeasure.
'Magic?' I hardly needed mystical communion with the elements to realise that,
when I could see the ship defying all sense and logic.
'An advanced practitioner,' Casuel confirmed with glum envy.
I looked for some telltale of magic, a crackle of blue light or a ball of
unearthly radiance clinging to the masthead. Deep-water sailors talk of such
things, calling it the Eye of Dastennin. There was nothing to see; perhaps
this unknown wizard considered it enough to set the ship riding high in the
water, untouched by the storm.
I looked back abruptly to the first vessel, now heeling dangerously. It had
moved a full length or more closer to the seething rocks, its plight ever more
perilous. As we watched, helpless, a great wave plunged over the deck, the
waist of the ship vanishing completely, deck castles alone resisting the
insatiable seas. We held ourselves motionless until the ship struggled up to
ride the surface once more. But now it had a dangerous list; cargo must have
shifted in the hold, and that had been the death of many a crew.
'They're going to help.'
The breath came easier in my chest as I realised Casuel was right. The little
coastal vessel veered toward the reefs.
'Dast's teeth!' I took an involuntary step backwards as lightning split the
darkness like a rip in the very fabric of the sky. A shimmering spear lanced
down to the mast of the struggling vessel and I expected to see the burning
blue-white light set ropes and spars ablaze, but the incandescent arc floated
free from the clouds, reaching over to the bobbing coast boat and fastening
itself to the stern. The ocean ship was pulled up short with a visible jerk,
prow wheeling round like some
toy tugged by exuberant hands. For an instant it seemed storm and sea froze in
mutual amazement. I watched with equal astonishment. The ocean ship should
have been pulling the coast boat in to share its doom on the saw-edged reefs
but the magic was proof against the pull of the bigger vessel. The little
vessel barely slowed its pace towards the harbour, triangular sails
full-bellied and ignoring winds that should have ripped them to rags.
Casuel made a sudden grab for my spyglass, making me bring it up so fast I
nearly blacked my own eye. In the brass circle I saw figures emerge on to the
sodden decks of the ocean ship, even at this distance their gestures eloquent
of bewilderment and relief. A flash of green and gold defied the
all-encompassing grey of the storm as a pennon was run up the foremast. The
lynx's mask was no more than a yellow blur above the chevron, but the ancient
pattern of the D'Olbriot insignia was plain enough to me.
I slapped Casuel on the shoulder. 'It's them! Let's get down to the dock.'
Rival emotions jostled my thoughts. Relief for the sake of all on board barely