"Troy Denning - Dark Sun - The Prism Pentad 05 - The Cerulean Storm" - читать интересную книгу автора (Denning Troy)

Riv blanched. The king had pulled spell components from the sack often enough that the headman
recognized the gesture as a threatening one. What Riv did not realize was that Tithian could also
withdraw a venomous viper, a vial of acid, or any one of a dozen other tools of murder from inside. The
sack was magical, and it could hold an unlimited supply of items without appearing full.
Riv glared at Tithian for a moment, then hissed, "As you wish, Mighty One."
Tithian spun toward the center of the village, signaling for Korla and Riv to follow him. As they
moved through the dust haze, they passed a dozen stone huts shaped like beehives. Inside most buildings,
haggard women furiously packed their meager possessions-sacks of chadnuts, stone knives, clay cooking
pots, and bone-tipped hunting spears. Outside, the men gathered the family goraks, knee-high lizards
with colorful dorsal fans. It was a slow, difficult process, for the stubborn reptiles were engrossed in
overturning rocks and catching insects with their long sticky tongues.
The king and his companions reached the village plaza. In the center was the communal well, a deep
hole encircled by a simple railing of gorak bones. A small crowd of children surrounded the pit, arguing in
panicked voices and elbowing each other out of the way as they struggled to fill their waterskins.
On the far side of the plaza, outside the hut the king had confiscated from Riv, lay an obsidian orb
larger than a man, with languorous streaks of scarlet swimming over its glassy surface. It was the Dark
Lens, both the source of Tithian's power and the means through which he would achieve his greatest
ambition: to become an immortal sorcerer-king.
The Dark Lens had once blonged to Athas's first sorcerer, Rajaat. Thousands of years ago, the
ancient sage had started a genocidal war to cleanse Athas of races he considered impure. To assist him,
Rajaat had used the lens to make a group of immortal champions, each dedicated to destroying one race.
After dozens of centuries of fighting, the champions had learned that their master intended to strip
them of their powers. They had rebelled, using the Dark Lens to lock Rajaat into a mystical prison. Then
they had transformed their leader, Borys of Ebe, into the Dragon, appointing him to guard the prison
forever. The other champions had each claimed one of the cities of Athas to rule as immortal
sorcerer-kings.
Tithian intended to kill the Dragon and free Rajaat. In return, he had been promised that the ancient
sorcerer would bless him with the immortal powers of a champion. Unfortunately, the Tyrian king could
not hope to kill his prey alone. Borys was a master of the Way, sorcery, and physical combat, and the
Dark Lens would make Tithian powerful enough to challenge the Dragon only in the Way.
The king knew who could help him: his former slaves Rikus and Sadira. A champion gladiator,
Rikus carried a magical sword that had been forged by Rajaat himself, while Sadira's body had been
imbued with the magical energies of Rajaat's mystic castle. Together, the three of them would have the
power to destroy Borys.
Of course, Tithian realized that it would not be easy to induce his ex-slaves to help. For their own
reasons, they were as anxious to kill the Dragon as the king was, but they were also smart enough not to
trust him. So, to lure them into helping him, Tithian had sent them a fraudulent message in the name of
their friend Agis of Asticles. In it, he had claimed that Agis had recovered the Dark Lens and asked them
to meet the noble in Samarah. To convince them the summons was real, he had included the Asticles
signet ring. Once they arrived, he would make up a lie about how the noble had died after sending the
message. Then the king would convince them to let him take Agis's place and help them kill Borys.
Tithian had reached the far side of the village square. The sentry the king had left to watch the Dark
Lens showed himself. He was a disembodied head with grossly bloated cheeks and narrow, dark eyes.
He had a mouthful of broken teeth and wore his coarse hair in a topknot. The bottom of his leathery neck
had been stitched shut with black thread.
"What'd you find in the harbor?" the sentry asked, floating toward Tithian.
"It's a fleet, Sacha," the king reported.
Sacha's dark eyes opened wide. That's impossible." He glanced at the obsidian orb. "As long as we
have the Dark Lens, Andropinis can't find us."
"Then what are his ships doing in the harbor?" Tithian growled.