"David Gemmell - The Complete Chronicles of the Jerusalem Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

leaned forward, placing a large oval stone in his palms. The stone was red-gold, and veined with thick
black streaks. The acolyte carried the stone to the corpse, laying it on the gaping wound where the
girl's heart had been. The stone glowed, the red-gold gleaming like an eldritch lantern, the black veins
shrinking to fine hairlines. The acolyte lifted the stone once more, wiped it with a cloth of silk and
returned it to the King before backing away into the shadows.
A second acolyte approached the High Priest, bowing low. In his arms he held the red ceremonial
cape which he lifted over the priest's bald head.
The King clapped his hands twice and the girl's body was lifted from the marble altar and carried
down the long hall to oblivion.
'Well, Achnazzar?' demanded the King.
'As you can see, my lord, the girl was a powerful ESPer, and her essence will feed many Stones
before it fades.'
'The death of a pig will feed a Stone, priest. You know what I am asking,' said the King, fixing
Achnazzar with a piercing glare. The bald priest bowed low, keeping his eyes on the marble floor.
'The omens are mostly good, sire.'
'Mostly? Look at me!' Achnazzar raised his head, steeling himself to meet the burning eyes of the
Satanlord. The priest blinked and tried to look away, but Abaddon's glare held him trapped, almost
hypnotized. 'Explain yourself.'
The invasion, Lord, should proceed favorably in the Spring. But there are dangers . . . not great
dangers,' he added hurriedly.
'From which area?'
Achnazzar was sweating now as he licked dry lips with a dry tongue.
'Not an area, Lord, but three men.'
'Name them.'
'Only one can be identified, the others are hidden. But we will find them. The one is called Shannow.
Jon Shannow.'
'Shannow? I do not know the name. Is he a leader of men, or a Brigand chief?'
'No, Lord. He rides alone.'
'Then how is he a danger to the Hellborn?'
'Not to the Hellborn, sire, but to you.'
'You consider there is a difference?'
Achnazzar blanched and blinked the sweat from his eyes. 'No, Lord, I meant merely that the threat is
to you as a man.'
'I have never heard of this Shannow. Why should he threaten me?' 'There is no sure answer, sire, but
he follows the old, dead god.'


8
 THE COMPLETE CHRONICLES OF THE JERUSALEM MAN

'A Christian?' spat Abaddon. 'Will he seek to kill me with love?'
'No, Lord, I meant the old dark god. He is a Brigand-slayer, a man of sudden violence. There is even
some indication that he is insane.'
'How do these indications manifest themselves - apart from his religious stupidity?'
'He is a wanderer, Lord, searching for a city which ceased to exist during Blessed Armageddon.'
'What city?'
'Jerusalem, Lord.'
Abaddon chuckled and leaned back on his throne, all tension fading. 'That city was destroyed by a
tidal wave three hundred years ago - by the great mother of all tidal waves. A thousand feet of
surging ocean drowned that pestilential place, signaling the rein of the Master and the death of