"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 3 - Sword Of Bheleu" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

He had never seen any of the Baron's soldiers mounted.
Koros growled again and this time was answered by a roar from ahead. The
animal was another warbeast, which meant that its rider was almost certainly
an overman.
What, Garth asked himself, was an overman doing on the highway southwest
of Skelleth? And with a warbeast? There was something very strange going on.
Koros was making a hissing whine that was its noise to express
frustration; Garth told it, "Go ahead."
The warbeast let loose with a roar in answer to its fellow and quickened
its pace slightly.
Frima shifted behind him. He looked back to see that she had clapped her
hands over her ears. He had not, and regretted it; Koros' friendly greeting
left his ears ringing.
The other warbeast was moving now, approaching them. When Garth judged
that he was within earshot, he called, "Ho, there! Who are you?"
The reply was faint, but distinct. "I am Thord of Ordunin! Who are you?"
"I am Garth, also of Ordunin!" He began to call another question, but
thought better of it; he could wait until they were closer and save his
breath.
A moment later the two came together; their warbeasts began to snuffle
and growl at each other in the ritual greetings of their kind. Koros was by
far the larger of the two, clean and sleek from nose to tail, every inch of
its hide glossy black, while the other beast was slightly scruffy about the
lower jaw, with its left fang broken off short and a patch of tawny brown fur
on its belly. Both had great golden eyes.
Thord was the larger of the two overmen by about an inch in height and
perhaps twenty pounds in weight; his black hair was hacked off just below the
ear, while Garth's reached his shoulders. Other than that, the two were quite
similar. Both had the noseless, sunken-cheeked, lipless faces of typical
overmen, and the leathery brown hide, beardless, but with a thin coat of fur
from the neck down. Each had eyes of a baleful red. Thord wore full armor:
mail coat, breastplate, helmet, gauntlets, greaves, and metal-clad boots.
Garth wore a wide-brimmed trader's hat, battered mail shirt, soft leather
breeches, and ragged, worn-out boots. Thord bore a sword and dagger on his
belt and had a battle-axe slung on his back. Garth's only weapons were a
stiletto in one boot and the two-handed broadsword thrust through the
warbeast's harness.
Thord was alone; Garth had Frima perched behind him on Koros' back. The
Dûsarran girl was in her late teens, with black, curling hair and brown eyes;
her skin was a shade or two darker than that of the pale people of Skelleth,
though lighter than any overman's. She was barefoot and clad only in an
embroidered tunic that would have reached her knees were it not bunched up
higher as she sat astride the warbeast-hardly respectable garb for a human
female, as she had told her captor repeatedly. Though she was fully grown,
particularly in the bust, and not especially thin, it was a safe wager that
she weighed less than half as much as either of the overmen.
Thord spoke first. "So it really is you, Garth! Where have you been?"
"I have been travelling in Nekutta, on business of my own. What are you
doing here on human land with this warbeast?"
"We have Skelleth under siege; I am assigned to guard this road." There