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

Chane looked where the man indicated, then sucked in
a whistling breath, grabbed his pack, and ran, barely
aware that the robed man was pacing him alongside. Be-
hind them came a leaping, bounding, slinking flood of
huge black cats.
The wizard was half again as tall as Chane, and when
he lifted his hems and sprinted, he left the dwarf in his
wake. "This way!" he called. "The road curves back, just
ahead!"
Chane ran for all he was worth, but with each step the
cats were closer behind him, their deep, rumbling purrs
mounting like the roll of charging drums. When he felt
their breath warming his back he clasped his hammer in
one hand, his cat-tooth dagger in the other, skidded to a
stop, and spun around. The dwarf crouched and roared

a battle cry. As he faced them, the cats hesitated. Other
cats coming up behind collided with the leaders. In an in-
stant the glade was atumble with clawing, spitting cats,
swatting at one another, sidling and rearing, grappling
and rolling. Chane raised his hammer and started for-
ward, set to wade in among them, but a hand caught him
by the nape, turned him, and shoved.
"Run!" the wizard snapped. "This is no time for
games!"
The logic of that statement was inescapable. Chane
ran. Beyond the glade was forest, and beyond the forest
the blackstone path. They arrived there with cats pound-
ing at their heels, and the dwarf strode back and forth
along the edge of safety, growling as ferociously as the
frustrated predators that strained toward him. Finally
Chane got his temper under control, slung his hammer at
his belt, and turned to the wizard. "How do you suppose
those cats got across the road? They were supposed to all
be on the other side."
The man shrugged disinterestedly. "An ancient ques-
tion, that. Why does a cat cross the road?"
"Rust and corruption!" Chane glared at him. "That's
chickens, not cats! And don't change the subject. What I
asked was how they got across."
"Oh, that. You left your log skid back there. Someone
simply moved the gravel again."
"But who would -" the dwarf's face went dark with
fury. "You! You did that! Why?"
"Would you have come along with me otherwise?"
Chane tried to say something, could think of nothing
appropriate, and merely sputtered.
"No need to apologize," the wizard said. "Any dwarf
worth his salt would rather cook iron than travel. It's
your nature. You might have dawdled there for weeks,