"Phyllis Eisenstein - Elementals 02 - The Crystal Palace" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eisenstein Phyllis)

CONTENTS

Chapter 1.3

Chapter 2.19

Chapter 3.25

Chapter 4.38

Chapter 5.68

Chapter 6.99

Chapter 7.118

Chapter 8.147

Chapter 9.180

Chapter 10.191

Chapter 11.218

Chapter 12.247
 For Martha and Hank Beck
Chapter 1

Time had been kind to Castle Spinweb. A dense coat of ivy had covered the cracks in its pale stone
walls, and all around it the forest had regrown, thick and tall. Only a scattering of charred stumps, half
hidden by mossy undergrowth, hinted that a wild sorcerous battle had once raged here. Now, morning
glories bloomed again along the parapets, birds nested among their twining stems, and insects of all kinds
sheltered beneath their leaves.

Beneath one particular leaf, on this bright summer day, a large yellow caterpillar was spinning itself a
cocoon. It worked quickly, steadily, back and forth, circling its plump body with thread after thread until
only its blunt head was exposed, then only its mouth. Then, with a final convulsive effort, it pursed that
last opening shut, and the cocoon lay still, glistening whitely in the morning sunlight.

A few moments passed, the space of three or four human heartbeats, no more, and then the silken
enve-lope began to writhe. As if the seasons had run their course and come to summer once more, the
cocoon split apart and its occupant emerged, transformed. The head was small now, with tapering
antennae, the body was sleek, and the many stubby caterpillar legs had been replaced by six long,
delicate ones. With these new legs, the creature took a few wobbly steps and clung, upside down, to a
morning glory stem. Then it unfurled its yellow wings, each as large as a manтАЩs hand, and flexed them
slowly.

There were nectar-bearing flowers all around, on the walls and in the garden enclosed by those walls,
but the butterfly ignored them. Instead, it launched itself upward, broad wings flapping more like a birdтАЩs
than an insectтАЩs. High above the treetops it flew, swiftly, purposefully, over rivers and lakes and rolling