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Naked Empire :: Goodkind Terry
Страница: 68 из 495With drops of thousands of feet at the fringe of overhanging shelvesof rock, climbing such unstable scree would be impossible. If there were passes through the arid slopes, they were no doubt few and would prove difficult.
But making it past those gray mountains of scorching rock, they could now see, was hardly the biggest problem.
Those closer mountains spreading north and south in the burning heat at the edge of the desert partially hid what lay to the other side-a far more daunting range of snowcapped peaks rising up to completely block any passage east. Those imposing mountains were beyond the scale of any Kahlan had ever seen. Not even the most rugged of the Rang'Shada Mountains in the Midlands were their match. These mountains were like a race of giants. Precipitous walls of rock soared thousands of feet straight up. Harrowing slopes rose unbroken by any pass or rift and were so arduous that few trees could find a foothold. Lofty snow-packed peaks that ascended majestically above windswept clouds were jammed so close together that it reminded her more of a knife's long jagged edge than separate summits.
The day before, when Kahlan had seen Richard studying those imposing mountains, she had asked him if he thought there was any way across them. He had said no, that the only way he could see to get beyond was possibly the notch he'd spotted before, when he had found the place where the strange boundary had once been, and that notch still lay some distance north.
For now, they skirted the dry side of the closer mountains as that range made its way north along the more easily traversed lowlands.
Along the base of a gentle hill covered in clumps of brown grasses, Richard finally slowed his horse. He turned in his saddle, checking that the others were still coming, if a goodly distance behind.
He pulled his horse close beside her. "I skipped ahead in the book."
Kahlan didn't like the sound of that. "When I asked you before why you didn't skip ahead, you said that it wasn't a wise thing to do. \
"I know, but I wasn't really getting anywhere and we need answers^ As their horses settled into a comfortable walk, Richard rubbed his shoulders.
"After all that heat I can't believe how cold it's getting."
"Cold? What are you-"
"You know those rare people like Jennsen?" The leather of his saddle squeaked as he leaned toward her. "Ones born pristinely ungifted- without even that tiny spark of the gift? The pillars of Creation? Well, back when this book was written, they weren't so rare.
But making it past those gray mountains of scorching rock, they could now see, was hardly the biggest problem.
Those closer mountains spreading north and south in the burning heat at the edge of the desert partially hid what lay to the other side-a far more daunting range of snowcapped peaks rising up to completely block any passage east. Those imposing mountains were beyond the scale of any Kahlan had ever seen. Not even the most rugged of the Rang'Shada Mountains in the Midlands were their match. These mountains were like a race of giants. Precipitous walls of rock soared thousands of feet straight up. Harrowing slopes rose unbroken by any pass or rift and were so arduous that few trees could find a foothold. Lofty snow-packed peaks that ascended majestically above windswept clouds were jammed so close together that it reminded her more of a knife's long jagged edge than separate summits.
The day before, when Kahlan had seen Richard studying those imposing mountains, she had asked him if he thought there was any way across them. He had said no, that the only way he could see to get beyond was possibly the notch he'd spotted before, when he had found the place where the strange boundary had once been, and that notch still lay some distance north.
For now, they skirted the dry side of the closer mountains as that range made its way north along the more easily traversed lowlands.
Along the base of a gentle hill covered in clumps of brown grasses, Richard finally slowed his horse. He turned in his saddle, checking that the others were still coming, if a goodly distance behind.
He pulled his horse close beside her. "I skipped ahead in the book."
Kahlan didn't like the sound of that. "When I asked you before why you didn't skip ahead, you said that it wasn't a wise thing to do. \
"I know, but I wasn't really getting anywhere and we need answers^ As their horses settled into a comfortable walk, Richard rubbed his shoulders.
"After all that heat I can't believe how cold it's getting."
"Cold? What are you-"
"You know those rare people like Jennsen?" The leather of his saddle squeaked as he leaned toward her. "Ones born pristinely ungifted- without even that tiny spark of the gift? The pillars of Creation? Well, back when this book was written, they weren't so rare.