"Bradley,.Marion.Zimmer.&.Waters,.Elisabeth.-.Darkover.Series.-.Firetrap.(v2.0)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bradley Marion Zimmer)

She had no personal knowledge of them, but she had been told by Leonie that they were the first group on Darkover to discover mastery over metals. Darkover was a metal-poor world; from the very earliest days, metal had assumed an almost sacred significance. The small amounts of metal necessary to shoe a horse, to edge a weapon, and other uses, dictated by necessityЧin the beginning it had been necessary to make certain that the allocation of metals was made by real need, and not by greed. Still, human nature was always at work, and economic forces had also dictated some accommodation to human status desires which had nothing to do with actual need. Therefore, various political expediencies had made it desirable for powerful personsЧand above all the Hasturs and the ComynЧto keep in favor with the forge-folk. Therefore they had been given certain privileges, especially relating to the use of matrixes, traditional from the days before the Ages of Chaos. But even with these privileges, Hilary thought, they should not be keeping a ninth-level matrix, even if it has become a sacred object to them. She should reclaim it for the Comyn, and for the Towers, where it could not be abused by anyone who might have a fancy to do so. Such a matrix represented a very real danger to the Comyn and to the people of the Domains. And if Hilary could re-capture it, the danger was lessened.

The movement, at the speed of thought, had brought her past several glowing forges, and she began, dimly through the darkness of the caves, to sense, if not quite to see, the glowing nexus of a great matrix. Above it, shadowedЧnot perhaps a physical figure at all, Hilary could see, sketched dimly on the darkness, the figure of a woman, kneeling, golden chains enshrouding her, all faintly glowing flame-color. Sharra; the goddess of the forge-people, here imaged, not on their altar, exactly, but so near as made no matter.

Now she could see it. In the Ages of Chaos, when this thing had first been shaped, it had been traditional to house these things in the shape of weapons; and this one was fashioned to be set in the hilt of a great two-handed sword. Hilary moved swiftly to take up the sword in both hands. It was surprisingly heavy. In the overworld she was accustomed to moving without weight, but an object like thisЧa matrix, she knew, had form and body through all the various levels of consciousnessЧhad weight and substance even in the overworld.Now , she thought,I have it in my hands, and I shall return to Arilinn as swiftly as I can . She turned to retrace her steps, but as the matrix moved away from the altar, she heard a great cry.

Sharra! Protect us, golden-chained one!

Heaven help us, she thought. The forge-folk, even the guardian of the altar, were aware that the matrix had been touched by an intruder! Now what to do? In her astral form she could not physically struggle for it; her only hope lay in getting back to Arilinn so swiftly that they could not overtake her.

But which way was Arilinn? In the labyrinth of caves, she had become confused. Somehow she must find her way out. The traces, faintly shining, of her own footsteps on the way in were still there. She began to move along them, fighting for breathЧit was smoky and hard to breathe. Well, that did not matter; Callista, monitoring her bodily functions, would see to it that she kept breathing. She told herself firmly that the heat and smoke were illusions, and struggled on.

As she went on, retracing her earlier steps, she became aware of a glow. Neither ahead or behind her; it seemed to be actually beneath her feet. Down below, on a level somewhere below these astral caves, there was fire.They have set it here to frighten me , she thought, and tried to quicken her step as much as she could without losing sight of the faint trace of her own footsteps she needed to find her way backЧback to Arilinn.

Beneath her feet, the very ground was beginning to burn. She went on, stepping carefully through the spreading patches of fire, reminding herself that the fire was illusion, intended to frighten her; it was not real.It can not hurt me .

Now the very soles of her slippers were beginning to smolder; she felt sharp pain in the soles of her feet.It is only illusion , she told herself, clinging tightly to the matrix, stepping gingerly over the floor of the cave and across the glowing flames.It is all an illusion-

Anguish seized her, and faintness; she stumbled, dropping the matrix. Before she could seize it again she was spiraling, choking, through layers of smoke, into a well-known room. She was in Arilinn, abruptly back in her body, conscious of burning pain through the soles of her feet, and Ronal and Callista were looking down at her in fright.

When she could speak she gasped, УWhy did you pull me out? I had itЧ"

Callista murmured, УI'm sorry, but I had to. I dared not leave you longer. Your feet were burningЧ"

"But that is all illusionЧisn't it?Ф Hilary asked.

"I don't know,Ф said Callista, bending to pull off Hilary's slippers with deft hands. They all gasped at the scorched and blackened shoes, and looked in dismay at the mass of blisters on the reddened flesh.

"You won't be doing much walking for a few days,Ф Ronal said harshly.

Hilary sighed, feeling the familiar preliminary stabs of pain through her abdomen.

"Oh well,Ф she said, УI wasn't planning on doing much walking for about a tenday anyhow. Callista, will you help me to my room? And I'd better have some golden-flower tea, too."

* * * *

Later that day, Leonie came to visit her. At the tender solicitousness in the older Keeper's face, Hilary burst into tears. УI nearly had it, but Callista and Ronal pulled me back,Ф she said, weeping.

"No, no, child; they did it to save your feetЧif not your life. I heard you were badly hurt."

Hilary wriggled her bandaged toes. УNot as badly as all that,Ф she said.

"All the same, I think they did right. We must let the big matrix go, at least for now. At least, if it is so well guarded by the forge-folk, no outsider can use it to do us harm,Ф Leonie said, Уand the forge-folk do not have the type of laran to use it as a weapon.Ф But she looked somehow troubled, as if touched by a premonition of the future.




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