"Peter David - Sir Apropos 01 - Sir Apropos Of Nothing" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

He swung at me and I ducked again, and he hacked right through one of the bedposts. It fell into my
hand, a length of wood about three feet. It was better than nothing, although not much. I gripped it firmly,
waited for his next pass. It wasn't long in coming. I couldn't let it come into direct contact, because he'd
just chop right through the wood as he had done a second ago. I stepped back, angling the wood, and
managed to deflect the flat of his blade, preserving my makeshift cudgel for perhaps another second or
so.

Granite repositioned himself, the better to get some swinging room so that he could properly bisect
me. The hammering at the door became louder. Apparently others in the castle were being drawn by the
sounds of...of whatever it was they thought they were hearing. Granite still hadn't said anything
particularly useful, seized as he was in voiceless paroxysms of fury.

He took a step back, and for a moment I thought my salvation was upon me, for he stepped on the
crystal ball that Rosalie had placed so delicately upon the floor. The large crystal rolled under his foot,
causing Granite to stumble. I tensed, waiting. If he went down, I might have a chance to run madly for the
door. I don't know how likely escape would have been in that situation; there were apparently knights
crowding in on the other side, and the moment that Granite managed to find his voice, they might very
well seize me bodily and hold me still so that Granite could finish the job. But I was dealing with one crisis
at a time.

He went to one knee, but it was the most fleeting of pauses. Then he was on his feet once more,
holding the crystal ball and glowering at it as if the thing had been sentient and tried to trip him out of
spite. I made a desperate bolt for the door, but only got a short distance when he froze me with a glance.
I stood paralyzed some feet away, my body sideways to him with my lame right leg facing him.

The perpetually screaming Rosalie made a grab for him from the back. He shoved her away without
even looking at her, cocked his arm, and let fly with the crystal ball. It hurtled toward me at roughly
chest-high level. From the size of the thing and the speed with which it was moving, it would easily have
broken any bone with which it came into contact.

My next action was entirely instinctive. With my right leg useless, I pushed off with my left, driving my
body weight forward. As I did so, I swung the cudgel, keeping my eye on the crystal ball.

I was nothing but fortunate that Granite had thrown the crystal ball fast and hard. If he had put any
sort of spin onto the thing, causing it to move in, say, a curve, I never would have hit it. As it was, it was
nothing short of miraculous that I made contact at all.

When the cudgel struck it, I felt a shudder that ran all the way down to my elbows. The cudgel
shattered when it hit the crystal ball, and the sphere rocketed right back at Granite. It struck him soundly
in the forehead and bridge of the nose, before falling to the floor and rolling serenely away. I'm not sure
what that damned thing was made of, but Rosalie had certainly gotten her money's worth. It seemed
indestructible.

Granite stood there with an utterly stunned expression. His eyes crossed, his hands went slack...

...and his sword clattered to the ground.

"Sir Granite!" The shouting increased from the other side of the door. There was now concerted
pounding against it. Perhaps those on the other side had become even more alarmed at the sudden
cessation of noise.