"Alan Dean Foster - Catechist 2 - Into The Thinking Kingdom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Foster Alan Dean)

smaller door that was nearer the stables.

Outside, the sun was shining brightly, as it usually was in Ehl-Larimar. Several stable attendants were
concluding their grooming of his chariot team: four matched red stallions with golden manes. The
chariot itself was large enough to accommodate his cumbersome frame in addition to that of a
charioteer. Peregriff was waiting on the platform, reins in hand. He had donned his gilded armor and
looked quite splendid in his own right, though he was both overshone and overshadowed by the
towering figure of the caped necromancer.

The scarlet stallions bucked restlessly in harness, eager for a run. Hymneth found that he was feeling
better already. He climbed into the chariot alongside his master of house and horse.

тАЬLetтАЩs go, Peregriff. We will do the population the honor of viewing my magnificence. I feelтАФI feel like
bestowing a boon or two today. I may not even kill anyone.тАЭ

тАЬYour magnanimity is truly legendary, Lord.тАЭ The old soldier chucked the reins. тАЬGiтАЩup!тАЭ

Snorting and whinnying, the team broke forward, speeding down the curved roadway that led up to and
fronted the fortress. Through the massive portico in the outer wall they raced, sending dust and gravel
flying from their hooves. These were inlaid with cut spessartine and pyrope. Catching the sunlight, the
faceted insets gave the team the appearance of running on burning embers.

Down the mountainside they flew, Peregriff using the whip only to direct them, Hymneth the Possessed
exhilarating in the wild ride. Down through the foothills, through groves of orange and olive and
almond, past small country shops and farmhouses, and into the outskirts of the sprawling country
metropolis of wondrous, unrivaled Ehl-Larimar.

Looking back, he found that he could see the fortress clearly. It dominated the crest of the highest
moutain overlooking the fertile lands below. But the direction in which they were traveling prohibited
him from seeing one part of the fortress complex, one particular tower. In that obscured spire languished
the only unfulfilled part of himself, the single absent element of his perfection. It bothered him that he
could not see it as the chariot raced onward.

Inability to sleep, inadequate angle of vision. Two bad things in one morning. Troubled but willing to be
refreshed, he turned away from the receding view of his sanctuary and back toward the wild rush of
flying manes and approaching streets.

Manipulating the team masterfully, Peregriff shouted to his liege. тАЬWhere would you like to go, Lord?тАЭ


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 Into the Thinking Kingdoms: Journeys of the Catechist, Book 2

тАЬToward the ocean, I think.тАЭ The warlock brooded on the possibilities. тАЬIt always does me good to visit
the shore. The ocean is the only thing in my kingdom thatтАЩs almost as powerful as me.тАЭ

Without a word, the soldier cracked the long whip over the team. Instantly, they swerved to their right,
taking a different road and nearly running down a flock of domesticated moas in the process. Mindful of
the increased pace, the twin ebon miasmas that always trailed behind the necromancer clung closer to his
heels. When a brightly hued sparrow took momentary refuge from the wind on the back of the chariot,