"Simon Hawke - Wizard 4 - The Wizard of Rue Morgue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

him as Uther raised his sword for the killing stroke. His vision blurred and he felt the
world receding from him as Uther screamed and brought the sword down at his headтАФ
Billy Slade cried out and awoke, bathed in a cold sweat, his bedclothes twisted
around him. He felt hands upon him and he struggled against their grip.
"It's all right, Billy, it's all right," said Modred, bending over him and holding on
to his shoulders. "It was only a nightmare."
Billy stared at him wildly, then relaxed and sank back down onto the bed, shutting
his eyes and breathing heavily.
"Gor, what a bloody awful dream . . ." he said in a thick cockney accent. He
opened his eyes once more.
Kira and Wyrdrune were standing by his bed, looking down at him anxiously.
"I went an' woke everybody up again, didn't I?" he said. "I'm sorry. What time is
it?"
"About four in the morning," Modred said.
"Bloody 'ell," said Billy wearily.
"Was it the same dream again?" asked Wyrdrune.
Billy nodded. "Yeah," he said in a tired voice. "Uther bloody Pendragon was
cuttin' me to pieces, smashin' away at me with 'is sword. 'E was just about to finish me
off when I woke up."
His facial expression suddenly changed, becoming grim, and when he spoke
again, he sounded like a completely different person.
"It's Gorlois," he said. "He's doing it all for my benefit, blast him. He's making me
experience his death, having me relive it over and over again because I was the one
who helped bring it about."
The adult voice sounded incongruous coming from the slightly built fourteen-
year-old. Billy sat up and ran his hands through his unusually styled hair, cut short at
the sides and crested at the center, flowing down to the middle of his back like a horse's
mane. But it wasn't Billy who was speaking. It was the entity that possessed him, the
spirit of his ancestor, the archmage Merlin Ambrosius, court wizard to King Arthur
Pendragon and father of the second thaumaturgic age.
"I simply can't get through to him," said Merlin. "He's there, he's part of us, but
he's unreachable. Except when he takes over our dreams in order to torment us."
Billy looked at his hand, at the unusual ring he wore, a gleaming, fire opal in a
heavy silver setting. The band of the ancient ring was engraved with tiny, intricate
runes. The ring had once belonged to Gorlois, the last of the Old Ones, the sole
surviving member of the Council of the White. He had given it to his daughter, and
Morgan Le Fay had worn it throughout her life, never realizing that it was the source of
much of her power, the repository of her inhuman father's spirit. She, in turn, had given
it to the sorcerer named Thanatos when they had married and he, too, had been



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unaware of its true nature until the moment when they had their confrontation with the
Dark Ones and the spirit of Gorlois had manifested itself, taking him over to do battle
with the necromancers. That struggle had cost Thanatos his life and when Billy Slade
approached his body, the ring had fallen from his
finger. Billy had picked it up and put it in his pocket. He did not remember putting
the ring on, but now he couldn't get it off. Gorlois was now a part of him, as much as
Merlin was. He was possessed by the spirits of two powerful arch-mages, the father and