14

There are a thousand roads leading away

There are thousands of roads that sang the night.

My path is one

And in it the moon again smiles without sleep,

Now she is my lady

I am her slave, servant in the night ...

The time was drawing near to dawn, but low black clouds hanging almost overhead made the twilight a real darkness. Heavy, joyless and impenetrable.

The horses trotted along at a quiet trot, as tired as the riders from the furious ride that had lasted all night. Matzher led their small detachment, Yarsi rode at the rear. He saw that people could hardly sit in the saddles, they didn’t get a good rest, they didn’t manage to sleep and even have dinner, and now they were holding on with their last strength.

People. He caught himself thinking that he no longer identified himself with people, himself and Matzher. Only three of them were human. Their smell tickled his nostrils, he heard their hearts beating, he felt how hot blood was running very close through their veins ... His mind