"Anthony, Piers - Xanth 06 - Night Mare" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

She no longer had the necessary will to terrify, and it
showed. It was indeed best that she go into another line of
work, difficult as the transition might be.

She focused on the positive side of it. She would at last
get to see Xanth by day. She would see the rainbow at lasti
That would be the fulfillment of her fondest suppressed

ambition.

And after that, what? Could the sight of the rainbow be
worth the loss of her job and her friends? That seemed a

little thin now.

She came to the rind and plunged through it. She didn't
need to will herself immaterial; that came automatically. In
a moment she was out in the night of Xanth.

The moon was there, exactly like one of her hoofprints,
its sea and craters etched on the surface of its cheese. She
paused to stare at it, spotting her namesake, Mare Im-
brium, the Sea of Rains. Some called it the Sea of Tears;

she had always taken the name as a punnish play on con-
cepts. The Land of Xanth was largely fashioned of puns;

they seemed to be its fundamental building blocks. Now,
with her half soul and her new life ahead, the Sea of
Tears seemed to have more significance.

She backed off and looked at one of her hoofprints. It

10

Night Mare

Night Mare

11

matched the visible moon, as it always did, even to the
phase. The prints of night mares became obscure as the
moon waned, unless a mare made a special effort, as for a
signature. Imbri had never liked dream duty when the
moon was dark; her feet tended to skid, leaving no prints at
all. But there was no such problem tonight; the moon was
full almost to the bursting point.

She trotted on through the Xanthian night, just as if