"Paul S. Kemp - Erevis Cale 3 - Midnight's Mask" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kemp Paul S)

stood in the presence of anything like the Sojourner. The
creatureтАЩs thin body fairly sparked with pent-up power;
his presence implied might. There would be no defeating
him.
If Riven wanted to side with the winner, he had to side
with the Sojourner and the slaadi.
He reconsidered the plan, reconsidered everything. He
may or may not have planned a betrayal of the betrayal
back on the Plane of Shadow, but now. . . .
DonтАЩt come, he thought to Cale and Magadon, in case
Magadon was somehow connected to him. DonтАЩt bother.
The Sojourner looked past Riven and Azriim to Dolgan
and said, тАЬStand, Dolgan.тАЭ His soft voice leaked so much
power that it seemed to squeeze everything else out of
the room.
Over his shoulder, Riven watched the big slaad lurch
to his feet, as obedient as a well-trained dog. Dolgan was
gnawing excitedly at his lower lip, so hard it was bleed-
ing. Riven wanted to sneer at the oafтАЩs obsequiousness
but could not quite manage it. Obsequiousness seemed
appropriate, somehow.
Dolgan caught his gaze, made a bloody grin, and said,
тАЬMaybe youтАЩre tense now, eh?тАЭ
Riven resisted the urge to slit the bastardтАЩs throat and
turned back to face the Sojourner.
The creature held a smooth duskwood staff in his pale,
long-ямБngered hands. A tracery of gold or electrum spiraled
around the shaft from base to top. He inclined the staff

18 тАв Paul S. Kemp
slightly and the hole in the wall behind him vanished,
replaced again by smooth stone.
No wonder Riven had seen no exits. The Sojourner
created them as needed. Riven was doubly pleased that
he had lifted DolganтАЩs teleportation rod. He would need
to ямБgure out its operation quickly, should an emergency
arise.
Riven considered the Sojourner. He looked vaguely
human, but unlike any race of humans with which the
assassin was familiar. Standing a head taller than even
Cale, the SojournerтАЩs thin body looked as though it had
been stretched overlong by pulling him at the ankles and
head. Sunken black eyes in cavernous sockets stared out
of a similarly elongated face. His nose was little more than
a bump with two vertical slits, his lips as thin as blades.
The points of his backswept ears reached nearly to the top
of his bald, spotted pate. A handful of magical gemstones
whirred around his head in different orbits. Seeing them,
Riven was reminded somehow of CaleтАЩs celestial sphere,
the magical artifact that had started everything.