"Brooks, Terry - Landover 04 - The Tangle Box" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

passageway.
Again Biggar passed him by, a fleet black shadow. "We belong
together, Horris. Birds of a feather and all. Come on. Tell me
where we're going."
"No."
"Very well, be mysterious if you must. But you admit we are still a
team, don't you?"
"No."
"You and me, Horris. How long have we been together now? Think
about all we've been through."
Horris thought, mostly about himself. Hunched down in
a crablike stance as he angled through the narrow tunnel,
legs bent, arms cranked in, nose plowing through musty air
and dusty gloom, ears fanned out like an elephant's, he
- considered the road he had traveled in life to arrive at this
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Brooks, Terry - MKL#4 - The Tangle Box
е
is THE TANGLE BOX
moment. It had been a twisty one, rife with potholes and sudden
curves, slicked over with rain and sleet, brightened now and again
with brief stretches of sunlight.
Horns had a few things going for him in life, but none of them had
served him very well. He was smart enough, Cut when the chips were
down he always seemed to lack some crucial piece of information. He
could reason things through, but his conclusions frequently seemed
to stop one step short. He possessed an extraordinary memory, but
when he called upon it for help he could never seem to remember
what counted.
Skill-wise, he was a minor conjurerЧnot a magician who pulled
rabbits out of hats, but one of a very few in the whole world who
could do real magic. Which was because he was not from this world
in the first place, of course, but he tried not to dwell on that
point since his abilities were somewhat marginal when measured,
against those of his fellow practitioners.
Mostly, Horris was an opportunist. To be an opportunist one needed
an appreciation for the possibilities, and Horris knew about
possibilities better than he knew about almost anything. He was
forever considering how something might be turned to his advantage.
He was convinced that the wealth of the worldЧof any worldЧhad been
created for bis ultimate benefit Time and space were irrelevant; in
the end, everything belonged to him. His opinion of himself was
extreme. He, better than anyone, understood the fine art of
exploitation. He alone could analyze the weaknesses that were
indigenous to all creatures and determine how they might be mined.
He was certain his insight approached prescience, and he took it as
his mission in life to improve his lot at the expense of almost
everyone. He possessed a relentless passion for using people and
circumstance to achieve this end. Horris cared not a whit for the
misfortune of others, for moral conventions, for noble causes, the