"Tim Lebbon - Dusk 02 - Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lebbon Tim)

Knowledge had always been AlishiaтАЩs drug, and she closed her eyes and breathed deep.

But something was wrong. Beyond her dream the world had changed forever; something bad had come
into the land. She could remember seeing Rafe taken out of the flying machine by the Mages. She could
still feel the blast of heat and light in her mind that his going had inspired, and she was beginning to realize
that, in a very real way, she was a vital part of this dream library. Alishia could wander here forever and
never find what she was looking for, but she was not simply a visitor. This was not a random dream
brought on by recent events. She was the librarian.

She gasped and awoke back into the dream. Reality had been drawing her away, and a sensation of
cold came in from somewhere. She stood and shook her head. To her left the alley between book stacks
curved away, disappearing. To her right, it opened out into a wide reading area. There were several
tables and a dozen chairs, all with worn wood and upholstery frayed by years of useтАжor neglect.

Alishia frowned, hating the idea of that. There were books lying open on tables, but she was not sure
whether they had been placed there, or whether they had simply fallen from stacks and dropped open.

She walked into the reading area, and as she left the space between stacks she saw the shape sitting in
the far corner. Cliffs of books rose on all sides, and the light here seemed subdued. She had no idea of
the source of this light, but something seemed to swallow it. The book stacks were a deep red, as though
smeared with blood that had long since dried. The floor was dusty, but the dust seemed to move. The
shape sat in a deep, wide chair, almost swallowed by the soft padding, and in its lap rested a heavy
book. The cover was made of polished wood, the binding sewn with horseтАЩs hair, and the figure turned
the heavy pages one by one.

It was not reading the book. It was staring at Alishia. Its eyes glinted as it blinked; she knew that it was
reading her.

Get out of my library,she said in her dream, and her skin turned cold.

Already found what I need,a voice said. The figure was still turning pages. It was almost halfway
through the thick book now, and it must have been sitting there for hours waiting for her.This nolonger
means anything to me. It looked down at the book and its hands grew still, one supporting the tome,
the other laid flat on the open page.

Alishia stepped closer and saw that the page was blank. She knew that they were all blank. Unlike
everything else in the library, nothing came from this book, and it held no weight.

Where did you get that?she asked.

The figure looked up at her and something happened to the light. Its sourceтАФinvisible and
mysteriousтАФshifted, and she could make out more of the thingтАЩs face. Its features were rugged and
beautiful, skin rough and attractive, and its eyes held the weight of ages.I brought it with me, it said.ItтАЩs
a new history, whose truth is yet to be forged. It stood up, and cool blue flames seeped from the book
in its hands.
 Alishia stepped back. She felt coolness on her skin again, a tingle on her cheek and down her left arm.
The fire flowed out from the book, flaring to the floor and seeping between old floorboards, lighting the
space below. Alishia dropped to her knees and pressed her face to the pitted timber.ItтАЩll spread, she
thought,itтАЩll movedown there, itтАЩll flow,and everywhere and everywhen it touches will be destroyed.