"Karl Edward Wagner - Cold Light" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

Rehhaile poured out an incoherent account of her accosted by
Gaethaa and his men, babbling frenziedly of strange men with
harsh minds and thoughts of violence and death. Her words were
disjointed, attempting to convey sensations for which language
failed to accommodate—but Kane immediately understood the
imminent danger of his position. Cursing bitterly the monumental
carelessness into which his despair had lulled him, Kane
questioned her sharply for details. She followed him into the villa
as he dashed about buckling on his sword and searching for an
extra quiver of bolts for his crossbow.
"Kane—what are you going to do?" Rehhaile moaned. "Are
you going to try to stand them off from the villa?"
Kane's boot caught the edge of a bench, and he reeled away
clumsily, slapping at his shin and snarling angrily. "I'm not sure
what I'll do! Nine seasoned professionals make tough odds in an
open fight! And they must be damned good to have trailed me to
Sebbei—Tloluvin knows why, although that's besid ethe point at
the moment! If I wait for them here, they can bottle me up like a
bear in his cave! I can run for it, but if they've followed me this
far, there's no reason to hope they won't hunt me down
somewhere else in Demornte or the desert beyond!"
With practiced hands Kane worked the action of his crossbow.
He felt grim satisfaction that he had permitted no rust or dirt to
collect on his weapons—at least he had not fallen altogether
under the spell of dead Demornte! "The best chance is going to
be for me to get out of this villa, but to stay here in Sebbei. I can
use the empty buildings for cover, and strike back at them on my
own terms! These bastards won't be the first hunters to make the
mistake of daring their prey within its lair!"
He started for the garden gate, when Rehhaile abruptly cried
out a warning. "Kane! Get back! Those men are almost here!
You'll never make it to cover!"
"That tears it!" growled Kane. Wheeling about he darted back
into the villa—cursing vehemently in several languages. Quickly
he gained the second floor of the dwelling and glanced through a
window in the direction Rehhaile indicated. The sun cast long
shadows away from the group of riders who stood near the edge
of Sebbei watching the villa expectantly.
 "You can see them now," Rehhaile observed.
"Yeah, I see them!" Kane rasped. "And they seem to know just
where to find me! Is that Gavein with them? Wonder what's
holding them back now!"
At the outskirts of Sebbei Gaethaa halted with his men to
consider the villa before them. Beyond the old wall extended a
periphery of newer structure—shops, inns, estates of the
wealthy—a scattered suburban area outside the dirt, noise and
stench of the crowded old city, but still within the confines of
Sebbei's widely flung outer wall. Only now the outer wall guarded
a ghost city from nonexistent raiders, and the forest was seeking
to reclaim the outer city unchallenged by any hand.