"Maggie Furey - Artifacts of Power 1 - Aurian" - читать интересную книгу автора (Furey Maggie)

Geraint had dared to dream, too, Forral thought sadly. Eight years
ago he had tried, using the ancient, half-comprehended magic of
the lost Dragonfolk, to harness vast amounts of magical energy in
order to pass instantly from world to world, with disastrous
results. It was said that Geraint had come perilously close to
destroying the world, and it was already clear that his name would
be cursed through generations of Mage and Mortal alike. Forral
preferred to believe that his friend, recognizing th^ danger too
late, had given his life to

I

confine the damage to as small an area as possible. Even so, the
deep crater below was at least five leagues across, its sides a
cracked and twisted mess of melted rock, its floor like rippled
black glass. Away in the distance, across the lifeless waste, the
swordsman's eyes caught the gleam of sunlight on water.

Forral had no idea how long he stood there, dismayed by the
horrific scale of the destruction Geraint had wrought. At last he
became aware of the child gazing up at him.

"My mother hasn't got this far," Aurian said in a small, flat
voice. "I told you she was busy. There's a lot to do."

The swordsman was filled with pity for the little girl, growing up
neglected and friendless in this bleak wasteland. Were the rumors


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true, that Eilin had lost her sanity with the death of her beloved
soul mate? An adept in Earth-magic, it was said that she had
buried her grief in her obsession to restore to fruitfulness the
devastation caused by Geraint's tragic mistake. For the child's
sake, he pulled himself together and tried to look cheerful, but
his heart was sinking as they went on their way.

They had some difficulty getting Forral's horse down to the floor
of the crater, but Aurian's surefooted pony had few problems. The
child could ride like a centaur, and was accustomed, no doubt, to
negotiating the slippery, folded terrain in the bottom of the
massive bowl. It must be terrible here in summer, Forral thought
as they rode along. Even now, the glasslike rock was throwing up
heat and shimmering reflections from the pallid autumn sun. Water
had"gathered in the bottoms of some of the deeper folds, but the
only sign of life was the occasional bird flying overhead.

Aurian finally broke the long silence between them. "What was my