"Robert E. Vardeman & Geo W. Proctor - The Swords of Raemllyn 1 - To Demons Bound" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vardeman Robert E)

snow—washed over Davin Anane in an unrelenting tidal wave. Sput-tering and ashiver, he struggled
upward through the dark-ness away from the floodwaters toward...
A hammer pounding throbbed at the back of his head. He still lived! Qar had yet to come and steal
away with his soul to the moldering halls of Peyneeha, the Dark God's nether realm. He still lived!
But the damnable head-rattling pain! A testing hand rose to find a swollen lump the size of a kelii's
egg nesting at the base of his skull.
And the cold! Davin shivered with the realization that he lay as bare-assed naked as he had been
when.... The door! The boots! Blurred memories wedged their way into his pain-befuddled head.
"Quit your faking! On your feet. Now! Or I'll have me lads skin you where you lie!" came words as
cold as the icy water.
Davin fought to lift an eyelid. The light, dim as it was, burned through his skull to stab into the
egg-sized lump on the back of his neck.
"What's going on?" he managed to mumble over a tongue that felt like a well-used saddle blanket that
hadn't been washed in years of hard racing.
"Leastways he didn't ask where he was!"
An approving cluck of the tongue sounded from across the room. "There's few men still alive who
could forget being with the likes of her."
Davin got both eyes open and pushed to his knees amid the small lake puddled around him on the
floor. A quick head count gave a total of five men—none he had ever seen before. All looked as big as
Uhjayib gorillas from Lower Raemllyn. Each man equalled Goran One-Eye, at least in size. About their
waists were slung dirks of the finest silver and gold, treasures that stood out against the coarse weave of
their clothes. And their swords bore inlays of intricately worked silver and gold with rare gems studding the
pommels. The men also looked quite capable of using those fine weapons grasped in their island-sized
paws. Their faces betrayed no qualm about applying the bared blades on him—or even their own
grandmothers.
Belatha stood naked, huddled against the wall. Her crossed and clutching arms did little to conceal
her boun-tiful attributes from the intruders' leering gazes. Even in the dim light, Davin could see the
gooseflesh ripple over her body. He could also hear the chatter of her teeth, whether from cold or from fear
he couldn't tell.
Her own gaze was subserviently focused on the floor to avoid the intimately probing eyes. The
humble pose did nothing to stop the men's lewd stares.
For the briefest of moments, Davin thought that therein lay the avenue to escape. While the brigands
eyed Be-latha's unclothed charms, he would try for his sword.
The thought died when he tensed, prepared to leap for his sheathed blade. All five swords jerked up
to prick at his vulnerably exposed nakedness.
"Think only of pleasing us, scum. Otherwise.it will be our extreme pleasure to puncture your
worthless hide and let out all the juices." This came from the one at the center of the five.
"She's already drained his juices," snickered one of the others, bringing throaty laughter from his
companions before they returned their covetous leers to Belatha.
Davin's eyes never left the man in the center, ob-viously the band's leader. He wore a tattered
cavalry officer's jacket, replete with tarnished gold braid and a set of medals parading across his chest.
Several sparkled with inset jewels, and all appeared most official. How-ever, as much the uniform hinted at
the city guard, Davin knew it was a lie.
This man was not a member of any military. He only strutted about wearing the garb.
"You like my uniform, eh?" the man demanded, not-ing Davin's interest in his threadbare apparel. "I
am Jun, Captain of the Guard to our most gracious and noble Emperor Velden."
Davin shook his head, trying to clear it, and instantly regretted the effort. It felt as if his brains rattled
noisily inside his skull. He closed his eyes, swallowed hard, felt cold shivers pass throughout his body, and
tried to con-centrate.
He made no sense out of any of this. There was no Emperor Velden, or none that Davin had ever