"Elizabeth Haydon - Symphony of Ages - Threshold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haydon Elizabeth)

This is their story, otherwise lost to history.
Hot vapor covered the sea, making it appear as calm and still as a misty morning.

There is more steam above the northern islands today,Hector thought, shielding his eyes from the
stinging glare of the midday sun that blazed in rippling waves off the water, blinding in its intensity.Most
definitely.

He glanced to his right, where Anais stood, staring into the impenetrable fog. The expression in his
friendтАЩs silver eyes was calm, contemplative, as always; it had rarely varied since childhood. Hector
knew he had made note of the thickening as well.

He watched a moment longer as the plumes of mist ascended, then stood and wiped the sweat from his
forehead with the back of his sleeve, his gaze still affixed on the rising steam.

тАЬStill unable to make out the increase, Sevirym?тАЭ he asked facetiously. He already knew the young
soldierтАЩs answer.

тАЬI see no difference from yesterday,тАЭ Sevirym replied rotely. тАЬOr the day before.тАЭ

Jarmon, older than the other men by twice over, took his hand down from his eyes as well and exhaled in
annoyance.

тАЬAnd so he will continue to insist, until the waves fill his mouth and the sea closes over his head,тАЭ he said.
тАЬHis eyes work perfectly, but he is blind as a mole nevertheless. Do not ask him any more, Hector. It
sorely tries what is left of my patience.тАЭ

Sevirym spat into the sea and rose to follow Hector, who had turned and now ambled away from the
abandoned dock.

тАЬI am not under false illusions, despite what you believe, Jarmon,тАЭ he muttered. тАЬI just see no need to
accept the inevitability of doom. Perhaps the kingтАЩs vision was wrong, or he misinterpreted it. Or perhaps
the Sleeping Childis destined to rise, but the sea wonтАЩt consume the entire island; that didnтАЩt even happen
when the star fell to Earth in the first place. Certainly we will lose some coastline, but if we go to higher
ground, as we have been telling all the others to doтАФтАЭ

тАЬI pray thee, cease,тАЭ Cantha said.

The raspy dryness of her voice sliced through the wind, causing Sevirym to fall immediately silent. Cantha
used words sparingly, as if doing so pained her. It was difficult not to obey whatever she said.

Hector stopped, turning to look carefully for the first time in as long as he could remember at his
companions, four completely different souls with one thing in common: they had each willingly sacrificed
whatever remaining time life would have given them to stay behind on the Island, assisting in his futile
mission.

He was surprised by how much they had changed physically since the exodus of the Fleets, but was even
more shocked by the fact that he had failed until now to notice. JarmonтАЩs beard, a famous shade of burnt
red all his life, had gone gray enough to blend into the fog in which he stood; CanthaтАЩs body, always thin
and dark as a shadow, had withered to little more than a whisper on the wind. Her eyes stared
unflinchingly back at him from the haze; the strength of her will was such that it held the space her