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

and intangible when we touched it."
"Where did your chieftain get this? It would take a mighty wizard to
make such a thing, and such a wizard would not be leading bandits."
"He got it from Shang."
"Who is Shang?"
"Have you never heard of him?" Elmil was plainly surprised.
"You had not heard of warbeasts," Garth reminded him.
"He is the mightiest wizard in Orûn. He came from the far south, and
took Mormoreth for his own. All Orûn fears him."
"Why did he give Khand this talisman?"
"We had a bargain with him; in exchange for the talisman, we were to
stay out of the valley Mormoreth lies in, and slay any who tried to approach
it."
"Khand still has the talisman, then."
"What?" Again, Elmil's surprise was obvious. "Khand lies dead, where you
slew him."
Garth looked where the bandit pointed; the corpse indicated was one of
the men Koros had killed. Without further comment, the overman strode to where
the unconscious barbarian he had bandaged the preceding day lay, and retrieved
one of the furs he had been wrapped in; in doing so, Garth noticed that the
man had died during the night.
The fur he had recovered was a bloodstained vest, which the overman
remembered as coming from Khand's body. A quick investigation located a
concealed inner pocket, which held a hard object perhaps the size of a walnut.
Being careful not to touch the object. Garth opened the pocket and peered
inside. It contained a pure-white gem that glittered in the dim morning light.
Without comment, he carefully dumped the jewel into his own cloak pocket,
still without touching it, and tossed the vest aside. Then, turning back to
where Elmil stood dwarfed by the warbeast, he announced, "We go."
"Where?"
"To Mormoreth." He grinned as Elmil started to protest. "I intend to
give Shang back his trinket."
The bandit thought better of further objections and permitted the
overman to lift him, broken leg dragging awkwardly, onto Koros' broad back,
like a child being placed astride a pony. Garth himself remained afoot, not
wishing to overload the beast, and thus they set out along the muddy path that
was euphemistically called a road.
Perhaps a quarter of an hour passed before either spoke; then Garth
inquired, "Does Shang live in the crypts?"
Startled, Elmil asked, "What crypts?"
"You said that Shang dwells in Mormoreth. Does he live in the crypts
beneath the city?"
"Shang lives in the palace. I know of no crypts"
This answer both relieved and troubled Garth. He was relieved in that he
had not considered the possibility of being required to capture a powerful
wizard, and was glad that he apparently wouldn't have to; but he was worried
by Elmil's ignorance of the crypts. It occurred to him that he might well have
to search the entire city to locate an entrance, a prospect that did not
appeal to him in view of Shang's presence there.
They continued in silence, and the day passed without incident. They