"J. Robert King - Invasion Cycle 01 - Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (King Robert J)

without Urza's aid. He had nearly lost that war. It was as
though Urza would not fight a losing battle. He left those
to the capable hands of the mage master.
Barrin thought of his wife, RayneтАФanother losing
battle. Her death had ripped his heart out. It was almost a
relief to fight Phyrexians. It was easier to close a hole in the
sky than a hole in the soul.
Barrin stood in the saddle, signaling for the Metathran
hoppers and Serran angels to form up behind him. They
came with their customary alacrity. He drove his dragon
engine up toward the plague ship. Perhaps he could muster
another set of healing spells. Perhaps he could clog the
contagion channels.
Perhaps it didn't matter. The Battle of Benalia might
well be a losing one.
While Barrin fought to close the hole in the heavens,
Phyrexian cruisers soared out across the ground, heading
for distant Benalia City.

*****

Beyond waving heads of grain rose columns of smoke.
They vented from new mountains, hulking on the horizon.
Those steaming peaks were not volcanic but PhyrexianтАФ
mountains that had fallen from the sky.


47
 Invasion

More mountains still soared there. Twelve Phyrexian
cruisers glided above the grasslands. Stalks of grain
trembled in their vast shadows. The underbellies of the
ships were flat and plated, almost crocodilian. As quiet as
predators, they coursed over the plains, seeking a spot to
deploy.
Twenty miles beyond the portal, the cruisers fanned out
across a wide field. They hovered until each of the twelve
craft had reached its place in the giant arc. Sending forth
sudden jets of steam, they eased themselves to ground.
Grasses bent and crackled. The final impact of each ship
shook Benalia. It was as though twelve gods had set foot on
the world. Gigantic doors dropped outward, forming ramps.
At the top of them were poised Phyrexian legions, ready to
deploy.
They were figures out of nightmaresтАФscaly and grimly
powerful. Poison fangs, goring horns, blood-sucking shunts,
acid ejectors, exoskeletal proliferation, pincers, barbs,
paralyzing stingsтАФevery adaptation that nature had given
the foes of humankind the Phyrexians had given