"Margaret Weis - Dragonlance Chronicles 01 - Dragons Of Autumn Twilight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

glittered gold!
"I see my appearance startles you," Raistlin whispered. There was a faint
suggestion of a smile on his thin lips.
Sitting down across from the young man, Tanis swallowed.
"In the name of the true gods, Raistlin-"
Flint plopped into a seat next to Tanis. "I've been hoisted into the air more
times today than-.Reorx" Flint's eyes widened.
"What evil's at work here? Are you cursed?" The dwarf gasped, staring at
Raistlin.
Caramon took a seat next to his brother. He picked up his mug of ale and glanced
at Raistlin. "Will you tell them, Raist?" he said in a low voice.
"Yes," Raistlin said, drawing the word out into a hiss that made Tanis shiver.
The young man spoke in a soft, wheezing voice, barely above a whisper, as if it
were all he could do to force the words out of his body His long, nervous hands,
which were the same golden color as his face, toyed absently with uneaten food
on a plate before him.
"Do you remember when we parted five years ago?" Raistlin began. "My brother and
I planned a journey so secret I could not even tell you, my dear friends, where
we were going."
There was a faint note of sarcasm in the gentle voice. Tanis bit his lip.
Raistlin had never-in his entire life-had any "dear friends."
"I had been selected by Par-Salian, the head of my order, to take the Test,"
Raistlin continued.
"The Test!" Tanis repeated, stunned. "But you were too young. What-twenty? The
Test is given only to mages who have studied years and years-"
"You can imagine my pride," Raistlin said coldly, irritated at the interruption.
"My brother and I traveled to the secret place-the fabled Towers of High
Sorcery. And there I passed the Test." The mage's voice sank. "And there I
nearly died!"
Caramon choked, obviously in the grip of some strong emotion. "It was awful,"
the big man began, his voice shaking. "I found him in that horrible place, blood
flowing from his mouth, dying! I picked him up and-"
"Enough, brother!" Raistlin's soft voice flicked like a whip. Caramon flinched.
Tanis saw the young mage's golden eyes narrow, the thin hands clench. Caramon
fell silent and gulped down his ale, glancing nervously at his brother. There
was clearly a new strain, a tension between the twins.
Raistlin drew a deep breath and continued. "When I awoke," the mage said, "my
skin had turned this color-a mark of my suffering. My body and my health are
irretrievably shattered. And my eyes! I see through hourglass pupils and
therefore I see time-as it affects all things. Even as I look at you now,
Tanis," the mage whispered, "I see you dying, slowly, by inches. And so I see
every living thing."
Raistlin's thin, clawlike hand gripped Tanis's arm. The half-elf shivered at the
cold touch and started to pull away, but the golden eyes and the cold hand held
him fast.
The mage leaned forward, his eyes glowing feverishly. "But I have power now!" he
whispered. "Par-Salian told me the day would come when my strength would shape
the world! I have power and"-he gestured-"the Staff of Magius."
Tanis looked to see a staff leaning against the vallenwood trunk within easy
reach of Raistlin's hand. It was a plain wooden staff. A ball of bright crystal,