The Serpentwar Saga. Raymond E. Feist

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СКАЧАТЬ who she might be, but the darkening expression on Calis’s face said he knew her. What surprised him was that de Loungville registered no recognition. But Praji said, ‘That bitch who was using Dahakon and the Overlord Valgash down at the City of the Serpent River way back when we first met?’

      ‘That’s her,’ said Nakor.

      ‘She’s the Emerald Queen?’ asked Calis.

      Nakor shook his head. ‘I wish it were so. Jorna, that’s her real name, at least back when we were married –’

      ‘What?’ gaped Calis, and for the first time Erik saw him totally lose his composure.

      ‘It’s a long story. I’ll tell you some other time. But when she was a girl she was vain, and when we were together she was always seeking ways to stay young forever.’

      ‘I think if we get out of this you’re going to tell me every detail,’ said de Loungville, obviously as astonished as Calis.

      ‘Anyway,’ said Nakor, motioning for him not to interrupt, ‘the girl had talent for tricks, what you call magic, and she left me when I wouldn’t tell her secrets I didn’t have, about staying young forever. She was using a different body when she was the Lady Clovis.’

      ‘A different body?’ said Praji, now obviously confused. ‘How did you recognize her?’

      ‘When you know someone well, bodies don’t matter,’ said Nakor.

      ‘I guess,’ said Vaja, obviously amused by the entire conversation.

      ‘Shut up,’ said Nakor. ‘This is serious. This woman made a bargain with the Pantathians to keep her young forever while she helped them. What she didn’t know was they were using her. I warned her. I told her, “They want more than you can ever give them,” and I was right. They’ve taken her.’

      ‘What do you mean?’ asked Calis.

      Nakor’s expression turned grim. ‘What happened to your father, with the Armor of White and Gold.’

      ‘Yes?’ said Calis, color draining from his face.

      ‘It’s happening again. Jorna, or Clovis, is wearing an emerald crown and it’s changing her. She is becoming like your father.’

      Calis looked shaken and said nothing for a moment; then he turned to de Loungville. ‘Tell Foster I want a rear guard to follow by fifteen minutes. I want to know if anyone tries to overtake us. If they encounter anyone, their fastest rider is to come find us, while the others are to lead whoever’s coming away. We’ll wait for a short time at the cave we found two days ago, then we’ll strike straight for Lanada.’

      De Loungville said, ‘And if those who come after don’t take the bait?’

      ‘Make them take the bait,’ said Calis.

      De Loungville nodded once, turned his horse, and rode to the end of the column. Erik looked back and saw Foster and six other men slow and then stop after de Loungville gave the order. They would wait a quarter hour, then start riding after Calis’s company, hoping they would get the chance to catch up in a day or two.

      It was midmorning the next day when someone at the rear of the column shouted, ‘Rider!’

      Erik looked over his shoulder and saw Jadow Shati riding the life out of his horse. The animal was completely lathered, and from the huge extension of her nostrils, Erik could tell she couldn’t catch her breath. She was blown out and ruined, he was certain. Jadow was familiar enough with horses to realize he was killing the mare, so Erik knew it could only mean trouble. He untied the cord that held his sword in its scabbard, as he did not need to be told that they were about to fight.

      For in the distance, less than a mile behind Jadow, came a dust cloud. Erik saw the figures on the horizon, and before Jadow could get close enough to speak, Erik shouted, ‘It’s the Saaur!’

      De Loungville asked, ‘How can you tell?’

      ‘The horses look too big for the distance behind Jadow.’

      Just then Jadow came within shouting range and cried out, ‘Captain! It’s the lizard men! They are following.’

      Calis turned to de Loungville and said, ‘We stay in the saddle. Skirmish in two lines!’

      De Loungville shouted, ‘You heard the Captain! I want the first fifty men dressed left on me!’ That meant that the first fifty men in the column would line up on de Loungville’s left arm, in a straight line. Erik was the man closest to de Loungville when he moved his horse around.

      Jadow came reining in, his mount staggering as he leaped off. Calis shouted, ‘Where’s Foster?’

      Jadow shook his head. ‘They bought none of it. As soon as I took off, they followed me and ignored the corporal. The corporal turned around and hit them from the flank, buying me a head start. Captain, but …’ He didn’t have to say any more.

      Erik thought of the big man, Jerome Handy, who had become something of a friend after being embarrassed by Sho Pi aboard the ship. He glanced to his right and saw Sho Pi, and nodded. Sho Pi nodded back, as if he understood what Erik was thinking.

      Luis said, ‘Then we bleed lizards,’ under his breath, but loud enough for those near him to hear.

      Erik drew his sword and put his reins between his teeth. He unlimbered his shield and made ready. He’d control his mount with his legs, but he kept the reins in his jaws in case he needed to yank them.

      The Saaur’s animals must be as incredibly strong as their riders, thought Erik, for if Jadow’s mount was near death, the Saaur’s looked merely tired. Yet the green-skinned warriors didn’t pause once they saw the line of soldiers facing them.

      ‘We don’t scare them much,’ observed Nakor from behind Erik, who wouldn’t take his eyes off the approaching riders.

      Calis said, ‘When I give the order, I want bowfire; then the first rank will charge. The second rank will hold until I give the order.’

      The bowmen, all in the center of the second line, drew back their weapons, and de Loungville half muttered, ‘Wait for it!’

      The Saaur bore down relentlessly, and as they approached, Erik started noticing details. Some wore feathers on their helms, while others had strange animals and birds on their shields. The horses were bay and chestnut, with some that were almost black, but while a few were near-white, he saw no buckskins or mottled colors. Erik wondered why he was fascinated by the fact of there being no pintos or buckskins. He fought down an unexpected urge to laugh.

      Then Calis shouted, ‘Shoot!’ and the forty archers in the second line let loose. The rain of shafts caused a half-dozen riders to fall, and several of the alien horses screamed. Then Calis shouted, ‘Charge!’

      Erik dug his heels into his horse’s flanks and with a shout and a powerful squeeze of his legs told the horse to gallop. He didn’t look to see how the others were doing, but kept his focus on a Saaur with a metal crest topped with a horsehair fall atop his helm. The horsehair had been bleached and dyed a bright crimson, so it was an easy target for Erik.

      Erik sensed more than saw when his own horse crashed into the larger СКАЧАТЬ