"Simon Hawke - Sorcerer 2 - The Inadequate Adept" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

floor, nervously glancing up toward the ceiling.

Now where were we? Right, we were discussing Brewster's strange predicament. The first person
Brewster ran into in this primitive and magical new world was Mick O'Fallon, whom he first took to be a
midget, but who actually happened to be a leprechaun. Mick witnessed Brewster's dramatic arrival in his
world and naturally assumed that Brewster was a mighty sorcerer. He also mistakenly assumed that
"Brewster" was a title, not a name, as in "one who brews." In other words, an alchemist. And since
Brewster habitually told everyone he met to call him "Doc," Mick called him "Brewster Doc," and the
name, as well as the mistaken assumption it engendered, stuck.

An amateur alchemist himself, Mick was seeking the secret of the Philosopher's Stone, which in this
particular universe had nothing to do with turning base metals into gold, but into a much rarer metal
known as nickallirium, the chief medium of exchange in the twenty-seven kingdoms. The secret of making
nickallirium was controlled by the Sorcerers and Adepts Guild, which meant they also controlled the
economy in all the twenty-seven kingdoms. They guarded this power jealously, and allowed no one to
practice magic unless they were a dues-paying member of the Guild. Brewster was ignorant of all these
details, however, and in the universe in which he found himself, ignorance was anything but bliss.

When word began to spread that a new wizard had arrived, the residents of the nearby town of Brigand's
Roost began to drop by to make the new sorcerer's acquaintance. As the town's name might lead one to
believe, the residents of Brigand's Roost were mostly outlaws who plied their trade along the trails and
thorny hedgerows of the Redwood Forest. They were known as the Black Brigands, for the black masks
they wore in imitation of their leader, the infamous Black Shannon, a deceptively angelic-looking woman
with the disposition of a she-wolf and the morals of an alley cat. Now while such character traits might be
regarded as shortcomings in most social situations, they happen to be extremely useful in conducting
business, and Shannon quickly saw certain advantages to having a wizard in the neighborhood.

Meanwhile, Warrick was busy trying to solve the mystery of Brewster's missing time machine.

"Yes, what is it now?" snapped Warrick.

Teddy gave a guilty start and dropped his broom.

"I am very busy, Teddy," Warrick said. "Whatever it is, it can wait."

"But, Master-"

"I said, it can wait!"

Teddy stuck his lower lip out petulantly, picked up his broom and resumed sweeping, mumbling under his
breath.

Now, due to unforeseen circumstances, your narrator has to be extremely careful when it conies to
writing about... you-know-who, because as we have already discovered back in our first episode, the
Grand Director of the Guild is a very powerful adept, indeed. So powerful, in fact, that he can detect the
presence of the narrator. This could make things rather sticky.

The thing is, as any good writer can tell you, characters who are properly developed tend to take on lives
of their own and... you-know-who is certainly no exception. His characterization demanded highly
developed thaumaturgical abilities and magical sensitivities of a very high order. The trouble is, when you