"Morgan Llywelyn - Druids" - читать интересную книгу автора (Llywelyn Morgan)

Druids
By Morgan Llywelyn

PROLOGUE

HE HAD BEEN dead a long time.

H;

With a profound sense of shock he realized he was no

longer dead.

Beyond an increasingly vivid sense of self he was still aware of
the tender network from which he was being separated. From its
fabric those who were dear to him reached out, calling to him,
seeking one more communion.

Do not abandon me! he cried to them. Follow me, find me!

Tightening around him, existence throbbed with the pulsing of
a giant heart. He was expelled into lightlessness, he was tumbled
into the unknown.

Down and down he spun.

Gradually he began recalling long-forgotten concepts such as
direction and distance and time. Concentrating on them, he found
himself spiraling amid stars. Constellations bloomed around him
like flowery meadows.

He reached out, hungry for the suddenly remembered sensation
of touch . . . and slipped and slid and came to rest in a warm
chamber lit by a dim red glow.

There he lay dreaming. Sheltered and content, he was sus-
pended between worlds, floating on tides regulated by the rhythms
of a universe. In this building-time he sorted among his memo-
ries, deciding which to keep. So few could be retained and it was
hard to anticipate which he might most need. Yet a voiceless
command urged him to remember, remember. . . .

He drifted and dreamed until the pounding began. Shocked,
he tried to fight back, but he was seized and squeezed and ulti-
mately ejected into a place of hard surfaces. A burning flood
poured into his nostrils and open mouth.

The infant used that first breath to scream his outrage.

CHAPTER ONE