"Dan Parkinson. The Gates of Thorbardin ("DragonLance Saga Heroes II" #2) (angl)" - читать интересную книгу автора able, if precarious, holds for his feet. As a mountain
dwarf, climbing was second nature to him, and he had little patience for detours. The sheer face was almost vertical, but it was rough and broken, and Chane could find purchase. As he low- ered himself below the edge, he saw the kender strolling happily away, down the easy slope to the north. It was eighty feet to the bottom of the rock, as nearly as Chane could judge. Slow going, but he kept at it, working his way down with the stubborn dexterity of his kind. Born in Thorbardin, largest kingdom of the moun- tain dwarves of Krynn - and maybe the only one, for all Chane knew - swarming over rock faces was as natural to him as delving caverns and tunnels. Dug from the bed- rock of a mountain range, Thorbardin was more than a city. It was an entire complex of cities, all deep within the mountains. And it had many levels. In one way or an- other, Chane had been climbing rock all his life. The dwarf was nearing the bottom when he heard shouts and scuffling above. A rain of pebbles pelted Chane. He looked up to see the kender flinging himself over the ledge, seeming to fly out into thin air for a mo- ment before he twisted around, thrust his forked staff at the face of the cliff, wedged it into a crack, and swung low eyes looked down. A big, padded paw with ranked claws extended and swatted downward, trying to reach him. The kender pulled himself hand over hand to the rock face, clung there, released his staff, and thrust it into another crack farther down. "The bird was right," he called. "I think I'll try it your way." Chane let himself down another set of holds, and sud- denly it was raining gravel again. From above came the sound of splintering rock, and another yell. The next in- stant, Chane was knocked from his holds as the kender landed on him. A tangle of arms and legs, pack, pouch, and forked staff, the kender and the dwarf thumped onto the slope at the foot of the cliff and rolled downward, gathering momentum - a black-and-motley ball heading for the maze of tumblestone below, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake. Through the fallen rock they went, threading this way and that among boulders as the rise and fall of the slope guided them. They bounded off a boulder, careened from another, shot through a hole in the base of two coupled stones, and zoomed off a lower ledge. Water glinted below, rising to meet them, then closed over them with a splash. The kender surfaced, bobbing like a cork. He sput- tered, blinked, and headed for the nearest solid surface - |
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