"Knaak, Richard A - Dragonrealm 04 - Shadow Steed" - читать интересную книгу автора (Knaak Richard A)

maintain his. position and to counterbalance those like Quorin,
Drayfitt had to build himself up as much as possible. It would
have been laughable if it had not been so tragic. There was a
chance that success might get them all killed. The barrier might
not hold whatever it was, if anything, he summoned.

Raising one hand in a theatrical manner he had practiced
long and hard to perfect, Drayfitt touched the fields of power
with his mind's eye.

The summoning was simplicity itself; surviving the encoun-
ter with whatever happened to be snared was another matter.

"Drazeree's ghost!" Quorin blurted in growing fear.

Drayfitt would have smiled, had he heard the outburst, but
his mind was on the link he had created. There was only the
linkЧno chamber, no king, not even his own body. He was
invisibleЧnoЧformless. It was an experience that he had
never before achieved and the wonder of it almost proved fatal,
for in maintaining his link with the spell, he nearly broke the
one binding him to his mortal form. When the sorcerer realized
his error, he immediately corrected it. A lesson learned, Drayfitt
realized ... almost too late.

Before him, the stream of light that was the mental represen-
tation of his bond disappeared into a gleaming tear in reality.
He knew that the tear was visible to the king and Counselor
Quorin, a sign of success for them to mull over while he moved
up. If failure greeted him at any point onward, he hoped that
Melicard would realize that he had tried his best, that he had
proved his loyalty.

A cold presence with a feel of great age grazed the outer
boundaries of his seeking mind. Ancient was not a satisfactory

RICHARD A. KNAAK

description for such a creature. A desire to abandon the
summoning washed over Drayfitt, but he fought it, understand-
ing that it was a ploy by the creature he had snared. The
analogy of a fisherman who has caught the grandfather of all
sea monsters did not escape him. What he had snared was
powerfulЧand very reluctant to the notion of being forcibly
brought to Drayfitt's world. It was ready to fight him with all
weapons available to it.

Some would have fought the demon here, in this place with
no name, but Drayfitt knew that he could only bind his catch if
he battled it from the physical as well as the spiritual planes.