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

so sure IтАЩm on the path to self-centered power, arenтАЩt you afraid of what IтАЩll see in it?тАЭ

тАЬNo.тАЭ He caught CrayтАЩs arm, his grip firm. тАЬWhat you see in the mirror will open your eyes to your true
self.тАЭ

тАЬYou think I donтАЩt know myself?тАЭ

Sepwin smiled, but it was a wintry smile, quite at odds with the warm summer breeze that played about
the garden. тАЬThe mirror will tell you the truth. But perhaps youтАЩre the one afraid.тАЭ

Cray looked at him squarely. тАЬNot I.тАЭ

SepwinтАЩs smile broadened. тАЬI didnтАЩt think so.тАЭ Then he turned to Gildrum and Delivev and said, тАЬPlease
excuse us. We have work to do.тАЭ

* * *

To help them, Cray called on three demonsтАФBerith of Ice, a very young Ice demon with the form of a
small snowball; Elrelet of Air, a cloud no larger than a man, white and puffy as bleached wool; and
Gildrum, the ball of flame. When all were ready, Cray hung the wooden frame on a wall of his workshop
and directed his spiders to weave a dense sheet of silk upon it. Sepwin inspected this web closely, calling
for a score of corrections before declaring himself satisfied. Then he and Cray retreated behind a ceramic
baffle while Berith spread itself behind the frame, chilling it and the web until clouds of condensation
began to form around them. At that, Gildrum took CrayтАЩs ingot of silvery metal into its incandescent
body. A moment passed, and then, with a powerful blast of superheated air, Gildrum spewed out a
white-hot mist of metal. Like fog, the tiny particles saturated the space all about the web till silk, wall, and
floor were plastered with a thin layer of metal. The condensation vanished, replaced by heat shimmer.
Yet quickly as it came, the heat was gone, neutralized by the Ice demon; a few heartbeats later, the metal
limning of the web was cool enough for human hands to touch. The wooden form had not even been
tinged by char.

Berith withdrew.

Cray examined the new surface. It was fine-grained, as if covered with dull gray dust. Cray nodded to
the Ice demon. тАЬYou have done well, friend Berith, and I thank you for your aid. We have no further
need of you.тАЭ

Berith shot out the window and vanished in the afternoon sky.

тАЬNow Elrelet,тАЭ Cray said, turning to the cloud that floated near GildrumтАЩs flame, тАЬyour gentlest touch.тАЭ

The Air demon scooped up the mound of fine rouge that waited on CrayтАЩs workbench and leaped to the
metal-coated web, its body shrinking and rounding till it exactly filled the concave bowl. Then that fluffy
whiteness began to boil like a pot of beans over a high flame, and when at last it withdrew, the metal
surface was left glittering brightly, as if a million tiny silver beads had been packed together upon the
wooden form.

тАЬVery useful to have all these demons at your ser-vice,тАЭ Sepwin observed. тАЬAs good as having a fistful
of rings.тАЭ