The Redemption of Althalus. David Eddings

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ cutting down trees, Em.’

      ‘Men do that, pet.’

      ‘Little men, you mean. Men who are afraid of the dark and invent ways to talk about wolves without actually saying the word “wolf”. Let’s get out of here. The sight of that trash-heap makes me sick.’

      They passed a few other villages on their way south, and the opinion he’d formed about the people who lived in those villages didn’t improve very much.

      His humor began to improve as they rode up into the foothills of Arum. He was fairly certain that no matter how civilized man became, it was highly unlikely that they’d come up with a way to chop down mountains.

      They rode some distance up into the foothills, and on the second day as evening settled over the mountains, Althalus rode back from the narrow track a ways and set up their night’s camp in a small clearing.

      ‘Could we have fish tonight, pet?’ Emmy asked once he had their fire going.

      ‘I was sort of thinking about beef.’

      ‘We had beef last night.’

      He was about to say something, but suddenly laughed instead.

      ‘What’s so funny?’

      ‘Haven’t we had this conversation before? It seems that I can remember long talks about having the same thing six or eight days in a row.’

      ‘That was different.’

      ‘I’m sure it was,’ he gave in. ‘All right, dear, if you want fish, we’ll have fish.’

      She began to purr in happy anticipation.

      Althalus slept well that night, but just before dawn he awoke quite suddenly as some almost forgotten instinct warned him of approaching danger. ‘Somebody’s coming, Em,’ he jarred her awake with an urgent thought.

      Her green eyes opened immediately, and he felt her send out a searching thought. Then she hissed.

      ‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded.

      ‘Pekhal! Be careful, Althalus. He’s very dangerous.’

      ‘Didn’t you tell me that he’s one of Ghend’s people?’

      ‘Ghend’s animal would come closer. There isn’t much humanity left in Pekhal. I’m sure he’ll try to kill you.’

      ‘Lots of people have tried that, Em.’ He rolled out from under his cloak, reaching for his bronze-tipped spear.

      ‘Don’t try to fight him, Althalus. He’s a total savage and very vicious. He’ll try to talk his way in close enough to reach you with his sword. I’d imagine that he’s looking for breakfast along about now.’

      ‘He eats people?’ Althalus exclaimed.

      ‘That’s one of his nicer habits.’

      ‘I think I remember a way to make him keep his distance,’ Althalus said with a bleak sort of grin.

      There was a crashing sound back in the undergrowth, and Althalus slipped behind a tree to watch.

      The man was huge, and his face was almost subhumanly brutish. He was bulling his way through the bushes, and he was swinging a large sword that obviously wasn’t made of bronze. ‘Where are you?’ he roared in a hoarse, animal-like voice.

      ‘I’m more or less here,’ Althalus replied. ‘I don’t think you need to come any closer.’

      ‘Show yourself!’

      ‘Why would I want to do that?’

      ‘I want to see you!’

      ‘I’m not really all that attractive.’

      ‘Show yourself!’ the beast roared again.

      ‘If you say so, neighbor,’ Althalus replied mildly. He stepped out from behind the tree, looking intently at the heavily armed savage. Then he said, ‘Dheu.’

      The brute rose up off the ground with a startled oath.

      ‘Just a precaution, friend,’ Althalus explained urbanely. ‘You seem a bit bad-tempered this morning – somebody you ate, no doubt.’

      ‘Put me down!’

      ‘No, I don’t think we’ll do it that way. You’re fine just where you are.’

      The grotesque brute began swinging his sword at the air around him as if trying to slash at whatever was holding him suspended.

      ‘You don’t mind if I have a look at that, do you?’ Althalus asked. Then he held out his hand and said, ‘Gwem!’

      The huge sword spun out of the giant’s hand and then drifted obediently down to Althalus. ‘Very impressive,’ Althalus said, hefting the heavy weapon.

      ‘You give that back!’

      ‘No. Sorry. You don’t really need it.’ Althalus stuck the heavy sword into the ground and then neatly filched the brute’s dagger and purse from his belt as well.

      Pekhal began roaring, his face contorted with savage fury.

      Althalus lifted his hand and said, ‘Dheu’ again.

      Pekhal rose about another twenty feet into the air. His face blanched, his eyes went very wide, and he stopped moving entirely.

      ‘How’s the view from up there?’ Althalus was beginning to enjoy this. ‘Would you like to take a look at things from a few miles higher up? I can fix that, if you wish.’

      Pekhal gaped at him, his eyes filled with sudden terror.

      ‘Do we understand each other, friend?’ Althalus asked. ‘Now, then, the next time you see Ghend, give him my regards and tell him to quit playing around like this. I don’t work for him any more, so he has no claim on me.’ Althalus picked up his new purse and dagger. He tucked the purse in his pocket, pulled his new sword out of the turf, and tapped its heavy blade with the hilt of the dagger. It made a ringing sound. Then he tested the sword-edge with his thumb. It seemed much sharper than his bronze sword. ‘Very nice,’ he murmured. Then he looked up at Pekhal. ‘I certainly want to thank you for the gifts, friend,’ he said pleasantly. ‘All I have to give you in return are my old weapons, but since you’re so much nobler than I am, I’m sure you won’t mind.’ He shed his bronze weapons. ‘We’ll have to do this again one of these days,’ he called. ‘You have yourself a very nice day now, hear?’

      ‘Are you going to just leave him up there?’ Emmy asked critically.

      ‘Oh, I imagine he’ll set along about the same time the sun does, Em. If he doesn’t come down today, he probably will tomorrow – or the next day. Why don’t we have a bite of breakfast and move on?’

      She was trying to stifle her laughter СКАЧАТЬ