"David Eddings. Castle of wizardry enchanters' end game (The Belgariad, Part two)" - читать интересную книгу автора

Vale," Mandorallen objected. "Were we to go on, would we not lead the
Murgos down into undefended country?"
"Have we got any choice?" Silk asked him.
"We could light fires along the way," Barak suggested. "Hettar will
know what they mean."
"So would the Murgos," Silk said. "They'd ride all night and be right
behind us every step of the way down."
Belgarath scratched sourly at his short white beard. "I think we're
going to have to abandon the original plan,"
he decided. "We have to take the shortest way down, and that means the
ravine, I'm afraid. We'll be on our own once we get down, but that can't
be helped."
"Surely King Cho-Hag will have scouts posted along the foot of the
escarpment," Durnik said, his plain face worried.
"We can hope so," Barak replied.
"All right," Belgarath said firmly, "we'll use the ravine. I don't
altogether like the idea, but our options seem to have been narrowed a
bit. Let's ride."
It was late afternoon when they reached the shallow gully at the top of
the steep notch leading down to the plain below. Belgarath glanced once
down the precipitous cut and shook his head. "Not in the dark," he
decided. "Can you see any signs of the Algars?" he asked Barak, who was
staring out at the plain below.
"I'm afraid not," the red-bearded man answered. "Do you want to light a
fire to signal them?"
"No," the old man replied. "Let's not announce our intentions."
"I will need a small fire, though," Aunt Pol told him. "We all need a
hot meal."
"I don't know if that's wise, Polgara," Belgarath objected.
"We'll have a hard day tomorrow, father," she said firmly. "Durnik
knows how to build a small fire and keep it hidden."
"Have it your own way, Pol," the old man said in a resigned tone of
voice.
"Naturally, father."
It was cold that night, and they kept their fire small and well
sheltered. As the first light of dawn began to stain the cloudy sky to the
east, they rose and prepared to descend the rocky cut toward the plain
below.
"I'll strike the tents," Durnik said.
"Just knock them down," Belgarath told him. He turned and nudged one of
the packs thoughtfully with his foot.
"We'll take only what we absolutely have to have," he decided. "We're
not going to have the time to waste on these."
"You're not going to leave them?" Durnik sounded shocked.
"They'll just be in the way, and the horses will be able to move faster
without them."
"But - all of our belongings!" Durnik protested.
Silk also looked a bit chagrined. He quickly spread out a blanket and
began rummaging through the packs, his quick hands bringing out
innumerable small, valuable items and piling them in a heap on the blanket.