"Dragonlance - Deathgate 5 - The Hand Of Chaos - uc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

The head of the Council, Samah, is a mirror image of my lord, Xar (though neither would thank me for the comparison!). Both are proud, ruthless, ambitious. Both believe that they wield the ultimate power in the universe. The thought that there might be a stronger force, a higher power, is anathema to both of them.

Samah discovered that Alfred not only believed in this higher power, but that he had actually come close to contacting it. Samah considered this open rebellion. He attempted to break Alfred, destroy his faith. It was rather like trying to break bread dough. Alfred meekly absorbed every punch, every blow. He refused to recant, refused to accept Samah's dictates.

I must admit I almost felt sorry for Alfred. At last he had found the people he so longed to find, only to discover that he couldn't trust them. Not only that, he came to learn a terrible truth about the Sartan's past

With the help of an unlikely confederate (my very own dog, to be exact), Alfred accidentally stumbled (literally) into a secret Sartan library. Here he discovered that Samah and the Council had discovered the existence of this higher power. The Sundering had not been necessary. With the help of this power, the Sartan could have worked for peace.

Samah did not want peace, however. He wanted the world his wayЧand only his way. And so he broke the world apart. Unfortunately, when he tried to put it back together, the world crumbled into smaller and smaller pieces, began to slip through his fingers.

THE HAND OF CHAOS



Alfred now knew the truth. Alfred became a threat to Samah.

But it was AlfredЧmeek, bumbling Alfred, who fainted at the very mention of the word "danger"Чwho joined my fight against the dragon-snakes.4 He saved my life, the lives of the mensch, and very probably the lives of his own ungrateful people.

Despite thisЧor perhaps because of itЧSamah sentenced Alfred to a dire fate. Samah cast Alfred and Orla, the woman who loves him, into the Labyrinth.

Now I am the only one left who knows the truth about the danger we face. The evil forces embodied in the dragon-snakes do not seek to rule usЧthey desire nothing that constructive. Suffering, agony, chaos, fearЧthis is their goal. And they will attain it, unless we all join together to find some way to stop them. For the dragon-snakes are powerful, far more powerful than any of us. Far more powerful than Samah. Far more powerful than Xar.

I must convince my lord of thisЧa task that will not be easy. He already suspects me of being a traitor. How can I prove to him that my loyalty to him, to my people, was never greater than it is now?

And Alfred, what do I do about Alfred? The kind, vague, and bumbling Sartan will not long survive the Labyrinth. 1 could return there to save him ... if I dared.

ButЧI must admit to myselfЧI am afraid.

I am more afraid now than I have ever been in my life. The evil is very great, very powerful, and I face it alone, as my name foretold.

Alone, except for a dog.

4 Serpent Mage, vol. 4 of The Death Gale Cycle.

PROLOGUE

I WRITE THIS AS I SIT IN A SARTAN PRISON CELL, AWATTENG MY FREE-

dom.1 It will be a long time coming, I think, for the level of the seawater that will free me is rising very slowly. Undoubtedly the water level is being controlled by the mensch, who do not want to harm any of the Sartan, but merely rid them of their magic.2 The seawater of Chelestra is breathable as air, but a wall of water sent crashing through the land would cause a considerable amount of destruction. Remarkably practical-minded of the mensch to think of such an angle. I wonder, though, how they have managed to force the dragon-snakesЧ the serpentsЧto cooperate.

The serpents3 of Chelestra . . .

1 Written in the human language, in Haplo's hand, the entry can be found in the back of the journal left the Patryn by the dwarf maid, Grundle. Patryns typically use mensch language to record events and thoughts, considering their own magical nine language far too powerful to be used indiscriminately.

2 Reference to the fact that the seawater on the world of Chelestra nullifies tile powerful magics of both Sartan and Patryn. See Serpent Mage, vol. 4 of The Death Gate Cycle.

3 "Dragon-snake" is a mensch term, coined by Grundle. The Sartan word for the creature is "serpent." Haplo adopts the Sartan word used in this volume, a change from his previous work. Why he made the change is unclear. One reason suggests itselfЧhe did not want to confuse these false "dragons" with the true dragons who inhabit the worlds. Haplo used a Sartan word because the Patryns, having never encountered this evil, have DO word for it.

2 WEIS AND HICKMAN