"David Gemmell - Lion of Macedon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

The events detailed in Lion ofMacedon (i.e. the taking of the Cadmea, the battles at Thermopylae,
Leuctra and Heraclea Lyncestis) are all historically based. The main characters (Parmenion,
Xenophon, Epaminondas and Philip of Macedon) all walked those ancient mountains and plains,
following their own paths of honour, loyalty and duty.

But the story of the Lion ofMacedon is my own. History has all but forgotten Parmenion. No one can
know whether he was the king of the Pelagonians, a Macedonian adventurer or a Thessalian
mercenary.

Yet, whatever the truth, I hope his shade will smile in the Hall of Heroes when this tale reaches
him.

David A. Gemmell Hastings 1990

Book One

A wonderful people are the Athenians. They elect ten new generals every year. In all my life I
have known only one - and that is Parmenion.

Philip II of Macedon

Spring, 389 BC

It had begun with a morbid fascination to know the day of her death. She had tracked the limitless
paths of the future, tracing the myriad lines of possible tomorrows. In some futures she had died
of illness or plague, in others of seizures or murder. In one she had even fallen from a horse,
though riding was distasteful to her and she could not imagine ever being persuaded to mount such
a beast.

But as she idly traced the possibilities, she became aware of a dark shadow at the edge of her
last tomorrow. No matter when she died, the shadow was constant. It began to gnaw at her. With all
the thousands of futures, how could this shadow remain? Tentatively she moved beyond the days of
her death and saw the futures expand and grow. The shadow was stronger now, its evil palpable. And


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in a moment which touched her beyond terror she realized that, even as she knew of the shadow, so
it was becoming aware of her.

Yet Tamis was not without courage. Steeling herself, she chose a path and flew to the heart of the
shadow, feeling the power of the Dark God eating into her soul like acid. She could not hold her
presence here for long, and fled back to the transient security of a solid present.

The knowledge she had gained became a terrible weight which burdened the old priestess. She could
share it with no one and knew that at the most critical moment, when the evil needed to be
challenged, she would be dead.

She prayed then, harder than she ever had, her thoughts spinning out into the cosmos. A darkness