"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Dragonlance Chronicles 1 - Dragons Of Autumn Twilight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

floors of the seas,
the highways of Krynn erupted
and became the paths of the dead.


Thus began the Age of Despair.
The roads were tangled.
The winds and the sandstorms dwelt
in the husks of cities,
The plains and mountains became our home.
As the old gods lost their power,
we called to the blank sky
into the cold, dividing gray to the ears
of new gods.
The sky is calm, silent, unmoving.
We have yet to hear their answer.

The Old Man

Tika Waylan straightened her back with a sigh. flexing her shoulders to ease her
cramped muscles. She tossed the soapy bar rag into the water pail and glanced around
the empty room.

It was getting harder to keep up the old inn. There was a lot of love rubbed into the
warm finish of the wood, but even love and tallow couldn't hide the cracks and splits
in the well-used tables or prevent a customer from sitting on an occasional splinter.
The Inn of the Last Home was not fancy, not like some she'd heard about in Haven. It
was comfortable. The living tree in which it was built wrapped its ancient arms
around it lovingly, while the walls and fixtures were crafted around the boughs of the
tree with such care as to make it impossible to tell where nature's work left off and
man's began. The bar seemed to ebb and flow like a polished wave around the living
wood that supported it. The stained glass in the window panes cast welcoming flashes
of vibrant color across the room.
Shadows were dwindling as noon approached. The Inn of the Last Home would soon
be open for business. Tika looked around and smiled in satisfaction. The tables were
clean and polished. All she had left to do was sweep the floor. She began to shove
aside the heavy wooden benches, as Otik emerged from the kitchen, enveloped in
fragrant steam.

"Should be another brisk day-for both the weather and business," he said, squeezing
his stout body behind the bar. He began to set out mugs, whistling cheerfully.

"I'd like the business cooler and the weather warmer," said Tika, tugging at a bench.
"I walked my feet off yesterday and got little thanks and less tips! Such a gloomy
crowd! Everybody nervous, jumping at every sound. I dropped a mug last night and-I
swear-Retark drew his sword!"

"Pah!" Otik snorted. "Retark's a Solace Seeker Guard. They're always nervous. You
would be too if you had to work for Hederick, that fanat-"