"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 3 - Crown of Shadows" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

was of little value to us. He hoped to win us passage west between the Fire Islands, which would bring
us into the tropical currents and ease our passage home. Alas, Novatlantis was unobliging. Barely had we
begun on that course when there was an eruption of such magnitude that it deafened us from miles away,
and the sailors struggled in choking fumes to save their sails from the molten hail that fell on us. There
were many injuries that day, and there would have been more had not Gerald Tarrant braved the
unnatural darkness of the ash-blackened sky to work his cold craft in our favor. From its hiding place
within his Worked sword coldfire flared with the force and brilliance of lightning-

"Shit," Damien muttered. "Can't send that." He read the paragraph over again, then balled it up in his fist
and threw it aside. It landed in a pile of similar dis-cardings, now littering the floor of his cabin. He
lowered his head to his hands and tried to think.

Most Holy Father,

These are the details of my voyage to the eastlands, which I undertook in God's Name and for His
eternal glory.

It took five midmonths for the Golden Glory to cross Novatlantis, a journey which God permitted us to
make without injury to any of our people. We knew that in the past five expeditions had preceded us
along that route, but we knew nothing of their fate. To our surprise and delight we found a nation thriving
on that distant shore, which was wholly dedicated to the One God and His Prophet's teachings. Upon
learning that

we, too, traveled in God's name, these people welcomed us and showed us a land that seemed nothing
short of paradise. Even the fae had been tamed there, in accordance with the Prophet's writings, and I
was filled with joy and new hope as I saw with my own eyes what miracles a unified faith might reap.

Alas, the godly image of this land was but a facade. Even as we began to suspect that a darker truth lay
at the heart of this seeming paradise, we were forced to flee into wilder places, long since abandoned to
the fae and its creatures. We traveled as a company of three: myself, the rakh-woman Hesseth, and the
sorcerer Gerald Tarrant. I would be lying if I said that I ever fully trusted the Hunter, or that my
relationship with the rakh-woman was entirely comfortable, but we discovered in our quest a common
cause which overbore our natural tensions. I think it safe to say that not one of us would have survived
the journey without the other two. And indeed, at several points even our concerted efforts were barely
enough to save us.

Our journey brought us through many horrors, of which I will spare you description; suffice it to say that
the poisoning of this land had begun long ago, and was orchestrated by a master hand. Gerald Tarrant
determined that a demonic force allied to human sorcery was responsible, and I saw no reason to doubt
him. In order to learn more of its nature (and perhaps discover a weakness in our ene,my) we traveled
farther south, to a land that was beyond the reach of the One God's faith. There humans and rakh toiled
side by side in rare unity, devoting themselves to the destruction of God's nation and the very faith which
sustained it. It was a land well fortified against invasion, and we were nearly overcome by its gruesome
defenses. In that place Hesseth died, and I will mourn forever that I could give her no proper grave, nor
better resting place than a blood-spattered chasm in a vile and hostile land. In that land also Gerald
Tarrant was approached by the enemy, who offered such a price for the betrayal of our cause that even
his cold heart must have been moved

"Hell." He stared at the last sentence for a long minute, then scratched it out with a sigh. "Can't tell him
that, can I?"