"Dan Parkinson. The Gates of Thorbardin ("DragonLance Saga Heroes II" #2) (angl)" - читать интересную книгу автора

that rod there will stew out and take a temper, I'll make a
sword."
"Is this part of your plan for becoming rich and
famous?"
"I don't have any such plan," the dwarf growled. "I
don't have a hammer or sword, either, so first things
first."
"I have a feeling this is going to take a while."
"It will take as long as it takes."

For the rest of the day, Chestal Thicketsway prowled
about, exploring the silent forest, becoming more and
more impatient. At nightfall he returned to the wreckage
heap, took fire from Chane's now-operating forge and
made a meal of cured cat meat and bark tea, then went to
sleep to the sound of dwarven craft echoing in the night.
At first light of morning, the kender awakened,
stretched, and strolled over to watch the dwarf again.
Chane now had a serviceable - if crude - hammer, and
was using it to make a better hammer from a chunk of
iron he had found.
Finally the kender had seen enough. "I'm going on
ahead," he said. "I want to see what else is interesting
around here."
"Have a nice trip," Chane said without looking up.
"Yourself, as well," Chess replied. He started off,
northward, then turned back and made several trips
back and forth between the mound and the black road
where great cats prowled the far border.
Chane was thoroughly engrossed in what he was do-
ing. The good hammer was taking shape nicely, and he
had scraped away enough age from the long rod to see
the metal beneath, and to taste it. It was good steel. It
would make a blade... maybe more than one.
The kender paused once more beside the forge. "Luck
with your quest," he said.
"You, too," Chane glanced up. "See you."
"Sure," Chess waved and headed north. Long after he
had gone, the dwarf looked up from his work and his
eyes went thoughtful. Entirely ringing him and his forge
was a circle of black gravel scattered on the ground. The
kender had left a shield for him, in case any of the hunt-
ing cats found a way to cross the road or to go around it.

Chapter 4

Through that day and most of the next, Chane
worked at his forge in the forest. In a buried firepit he
coaled bits of hardwood for the bed of his flame, and a
foot-bellows of sapling lengths and catskin fed it to a