"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 1 - Lure Of The Basilisk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

animals?"
"Do you mean the horses?"
"Horses?" Garth had heard the word before; to the inhabitants of the
Northern Waste, horses were a vague legend. They were not suited to the
climate and had long since died out in the northern lands, but they apparently
still throve further south.
Elmil paused, then asked a question of his own. "What is your beast's
name?"
 "Name?"
"What do you call him?"
"Nothing. It is my beast. It needs no name of its own.
Elmil paused again, musing, then said, "I will call him Koros, for the
Arkhein god of war."
Garth remarked absently, "It is a neuter, not a male." He considered
briefly, then said, "It is a good name. Hear you, beast? Your name is Koros."
The beast growled in answer as Garth rolled over and went to sleep.


CHAPTER THREE

Garth awoke at the first light of dawn, and was gratified to see Elmil still
asleep nearby. Had the man fled during the night, Garth's quest to Mormoreth
might have been delayed for as much as a week in tracking him down and killing
him.
Although it was not yet light enough to travel, the overman began
packing and loading. There was not much to be done, and he finished in less
than ten minutes. The sound was enough to waken Elmil, however, and the bandit
lent what aid he could in tying the furs he had slept in over the immense pack
on the warbeast's back. As he did, Garth noticed him glancing frequently at
the creature's monstrous head and at the scanty remains of his horse. When the
loading was complete, Garth said, "You never saw a warbeast before."
"No."
"Nor an overman?"
"No; I had heard tales of overmen, but never have I heard of such a
beast."
"They are bred by my people in the valley of Kirpa. The first were an
admixture of, panther, dog, and ass used in the Racial Wars three hundreds
years ago:"
Elmil studied the beast. It was plainly descended from some great cat,
and its disproportionately long legs could be from its donkey ancestry, but he
could see no trace of the canine. Its huge, sleek black body bore not the
slightest resemblance to the scruffy wild dogs he was familiar with. But then,
overmen were said to be derived from humanity, and the seven-foot horror he
had fought the previous day had not seemed in any way human.
His thoughts were interrupted by the overman's voice. "How did your band
appear so abruptly yesterday?"
"By magic; we approached you while invisible."
"How was this magic worked?"
"Khand, our chieftain, had a talisman called the Jewel of Blindness. I
do not know how it worked, save that it turned us all invisible, inaudible,