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

ambush by a small band of vengeance-bent bandits that he had already defeated
once.
In the end, he decided simply to proceed as he had planned, keeping a
wary eye out for any possible ambuscade or sharp-shooting archers. The latter
seemed unlikely, as he had seen no bows nor other long-range weaponry in the
bandits' possession, nor found so much as a simple sling on the corpses he had
stripped; but it never hurt to consider all possibilities.
For example, it had not escaped him that the bandits might have gone
seeking reinforcements, perhaps even the aid of this mysterious wizard, Shang.
It seemed of rather low probability, given the abject fear of the magician
displayed by Elmil, and even less likely that Shang would give aid if asked,
but the eventuality should be considered. Thus, Garth considered it, and
concluded that he was simply too ignorant of the ways of wizards to devise an
appropriate course of action. There were no wizards among the overmen of
Ordunin, nor had he met any human wizards, unless the Forgotten King was such.
He had seen minor exhibitions of so-called magic which appeared to be little
more than sleight-of-hand, but he could not totally discount all tales of
sorcerous doings as such simple trickery. In fact, he had once seen a roaring
thunderstorm appear from a clear sky, supposedly the work of three wizards
working in concert, to aid a pirate raid on Ordunin. The raid had failed, and
three of the five pirate vessels had been sunk; the storm had had no
significant effect on the battle. It was also said that the breeding farms at
Kirpa used magic to make possible hybrids that nature would not permit, such
as his own warbeast. In fact, according to legend, the entire race of overmen
was the result of a wizard's experiment some thousand years earlier. Garth was
unsure how valid this latter rumor was.
In short, without a doubt his most direct contact with magic to date,
and the most powerful magic he had ever received reliable word of, was the
invisibility charm used by the bandits in their initial assault. That now lay
safely in the pocket of his cloak. However, in all likelihood that was not
Shang's most powerful device; if it were, he would hardly have entrusted it to
a barbaric group of thieves.
Therefore, Garth concluded, he did not want to combat this enchanter.
Truthfully, he did not even want to meet him, let alone risk antagonizing him;
but it seemed inevitable that they would have some sort of contact.
The problem, therefore, was to keep all contact with Shang as amicable
as possible. And that was not something that could be prepared in advance, but
must be dealt with when the moment arrived. Thus he put aside consideration of
the matter, consoling himself with a reminder that in all likelihood the
bandits had no intention of seeking Shang's help after all.
So it was that Garth spent the remaining three days of the journey
across the Plain of Derbarok alternately running through the same arguments
mentally and relaxedly watching the rather drab scenery slowly inch by. The
road became progressively muddier. Some stretches were so lost in the mire
that Garth mounted the warbeast behind Elmil until they were past, rather than
struggle through on foot with his boots filling with the knee-deep and still
cold muck. The animal, which Elmil insisted on calling Koros at every
opportunity, did not seem to object. Its own huge padded paws moved as
smoothly and gracefully through these morasses as the oars of a well-run
galley through the sea, and its pace remained constant regardless of load or