"Lumley,.Brian.-.Titus.Crow.3.-.Clock.Of.Dreams" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lumley Brian)

Out in the desert he paused briefly to alight and tie his rope to a boulder that must have weighed as heavy as two men. With the other end of the rope fastened to the harness of his cloak, he attempted an ascent into the night. His spirits dropped when, as he had feared, he found the cloak incapable of lifting the additional weight. He found a second boulder only half so great as the first and repeated the experiment, feeling a little of his confidence returning as the cloak bore its burden slowly but surely up into dark skies.
The cloak could manage two people without being taxed beyond its capabilities, but not three. That was more or less as de Marigny had expected, but he had hoped -
No, he checked himself, hope was nothing without strength and determination. He untied the smaller boulder and wound the rope about his body once more. Then, slitting his eyes against a wind that blew high above the desert, following the winding course of a river of stars reflected in the night-dark Skai, he once more headed for Dylath-Leen.
Fires surrounded the city, spaced out to form a horse-shoe pattern whose mouth was the bay of Dylath-Leen, where the land met the currents of the Southern Sea. Seeing these fires from afar, de Marigny rose higher in the sky

until he could plainly make out the shape they formed. Then he flew up higher still so that there could be no chance of his being observed as he soared above the watchers who kept those fires burning.
There were other lights in the city, but they were not the healthy, welcoming lights of any normal town. There was no physical warmth in them for all their redness, and de Marigny knew that these crimson glow-worms were only smaller versions of the great malignancy in the central square, the horror which even now pulsed out its red rays, glowing like the evil eye of an alien Cyclops. And seeing from on high that great unwinking glow, de Marigny believed he knew now for sure the source of all the unease in dreamland.

2 Rescue
To the three squat creatures whose task it was to guard the two dreaming humans spreadeagled upon the steps of the ruby dais, the night was a welcome, beautiful thing. Most of their fellows were asleep now, for there were no longer any of the normal inhabitants of dreamland left in Dylath-Leen with which to amuse themselves. It had been thus for many a year, unless one cared to count the occasional unwary wanderer who might stumble mistakenly upon Dylath-Leen from out of the desert. This night, however, should prove a rare diversion - in the shapes of these two very important intruders from the waking world of men.
The grotesquely alien trio that formed the nightguard about the dais of the ruby would have to be patient, though, waiting until they could be sure that they would not be disturbed in their pleasures. Lots had been drawn for their 'duty' this night, and the trio had been the winners. The prize must surely be enjoyed to the full, and it would be a pity if the cries of these two captives should attract jealous-minded colleagues to spoil their
amusements.
The male captive would provide hours of sport, though he must not be too severely damaged. Nyarlathotep, emissary of Great Cthulhu himself, was coming to dreamland to speak with Titus Crow personally. It would not be meet if the Crawling Chaos should find the man a babbling idiot before he could question him - though doubtless he would be just such an idiot by the time the interrogation was over! As for the female . . . Ah! But there was a

thought . . . They would have her one at a time, right there upon the dais steps, where her male companion could see and hear all that occurred. And later, before the morrow, they would have her again, perhaps all three at once!
As night deepened and the city grew quieter still, the three horned ones joked of such things and ensured that their captives overheard them - never knowing that upon a high, nearby rooftop a third party also heard them, nor that the unseen stranger grew livid with rage at their vileness!
The figures of the two captives tied to the dais steps were pitiful in their helplessness. Titus Crow, normally so proud and leonine - with eyes that spoke the secrets of strange ways walked unafraid, a man whose deeds had rocked the seats of the Great Old Ones themselves before taking him to the home of the Elder Gods in Elysia - now lay like a man already dead, naked and ready for the shroud. The ridges of the basalt steps bruised his back and cut into his flesh; his head lolled drunkenly; the only spark glowing behind his eyes was one of horror and shame. Shame that he was helpless now to protect the incredibly beautiful girl-goddess whose love for him had led her to this hideous place, this unthinkable fate.
The two gazed at each other, and for a moment their love blazed through all the misery. 'Oh, Titus,' the wondrous girl's equally wondrous voice, weak now and terrified, spoke to her Earthman. 'Is this really how it is all to end?'
'Tiania,' Crow's own voice plumbed the depths of wretchedness and shame, 'I would not have -'
Hush, my Titus,' she shook her head, 'for I would have it no other way. If we are to suffer and die, then we suffer and die together. Do you think I would even want to live without you?'

Before Crow could answer, the rattling, rasping tones of one of the squat, alien guardsmen crackled harshly in the still air. 'Hah! The two lovers converse! See how they gaze upon one another and mumble their sweet nothings!' The speaker turned to his comrades. 'What do you say, brothers? Is it not time we found ourselves a morsel of pleasure with these two?'
'Indeed,' one of the two he addressed grated impatiently, 'if you two had listened to me we'd have been at it an hour ago. I want the girl - and I want her now!' The great wide mouth in the speaker's evil face widened even further in a ghastly grin as he stared at the writhing figure of Tiania upon the basalt steps.
Hearing this horned one's words, Titus Crow struggled wretchedly, helplessly with his bonds, gasping: 'By God, I'll -'
'You'll what, dreamer?' With his scimitar, the same horned one carelessly drew a thin red line down Crow's
rib cage.
'Hold!' cried the third of the aliens. He approached Tiania and reached out a vile paw to snatch away the tattered square of silk which alone covered her perfect breasts. 'We haven't yet decided who's to be first with the girl, have we?' He took from his belt a pouch, and from this removed a ten-sided die. 'Highest score takes her first, lowest last. Agreed?'
His two companions nodded, at which he nipped his gamestone into the air. It fell, bounced, and the three horned ones crowded about it where it lay. 'Ten!' crowed the thrower, delighted with his luck.
The next guardsman threw only a four, at which he grunted a low curse. But the third also threw a ten. To break the tie, the first thrower took up the die a second time, at which his opponent said:
жThrow it higher this time. I don't trust you and your die.'

'High as you like,' chortled the other, flinging the gamestone into the air. It did not return to earth.
The three looked up into the night for a little while, shading their eyes against the lurid glow of the great ruby, then peered puzzledly at each other and frowned uncertainly. And in this moment of indecision a noose snaked down out of darkness and settled about the shoulders of the lost gamestone's owner.
The noose swiftly lifted and tightened about the guardsman's fat neck, drawing him inexorably up from the ground. He disappeared into the sky, choking and gurgling and kicking wildly. Stunned, his companions gaped at one another - for a second or two only. Then, before they could make a move, the now inert body of their hanged comrade crashed down again from a great height, dashing one of the two remaining horrors to the ground with a broken back.
At that, the legs of the third member of that loathsome trio were galvanized into frantic activity. It seemed to the astounded, delighted, almost disbelieving pair tied to the dais steps that the remaining alien tried to run in at least three directions at one and the same time. But then, before the lone survivor of the unknown vengeance from the night sky could even cry out, as finally he made to bolt from the cobbled square, down swooped a great, black-faced bat-shape that struck him from his feet and was upon him, knife glinting redly, all in one fluid motion. A second later, it was all over. De Marigny had acted with a murderous efficiency born of utter horror and loathing. He felt not the slightest repugnance at the fact that he had so ruthlessly destroyed these three abominations of darkest dream.
Without pause the avenging dreamer leapt to the steps of the dais, where it was the work of seconds to cut the captives loose. All this time Titus Crow had spoken not a word. His mouth hung half open in amazement and

his eyes were wide in disbelief. Finally, as de Marigny helped the two to their feet, averting his eyes as best he could from Tiania's nakedness, Crow blurted: 'Henri! De Marigny! It's you under that blacking! But how? You, here in dreamland? God! But I've never been more -'
'Later, Titus,' de Marigny cut him off. 'Heaven knows we've little enough time right now. I'll take Tiania first -the cloak can't manage three - but I'll be back for you immediately. Better grab yourself one of those scimitars in case more of these beasts come on the scene. I'll be as quick as I can.' With that he turned to Tiania, who in turn looked to Crow for guidance.
'Trust de Marigny, Tiania,' the bruised and bloodied man told her. 'He is the greatest friend a man ever had.' He gave the girl into his friend's care, and the latter, more than ever aware of Tiania's nakedness and unearthly beauty, wrapped her quickly in a wing of his cloak. Without further pause he took firm hold of her and flew up into darkness. They sped quickly to a tall unlighted tower about a mile from the dais of the ruby, and there de Marigny quietly deposited Tiania behind the balcony of the flat roof. Before he could fly off again she caught him by the arm.
'Titus has told me much of you, Henri-Laurent de Marigny,' she whispered. 'I understand now why he left me alone in Elysia to return to your green Earth. Friends such as you are singularly rare. He loves you as a brother, and from this time on so do I.'
She leaned forward and kissed de Marigny lightly upon his mouth. A moment later, as he soared off again into the night, his heart also soared within him. And de Marigny knew that come what may he had already been rewarded fully for whatever risks he was taking here in Earth's dreamland.
A minute or so later de Marigny picked up Titus Crow

from the square of the ruby dais, and then it became obvious to him just how much the latter's ordeals had taken out of him; scimitar grasped in one hand, Crow was barely capable of hanging on as they flew up into the night. De Marigny asked his strangely fatigued friend how long he and Tiania had languished upon the steps of the dais.
'Since noon, Henri, but we were weak enough before ever we got to Dylath-Leen. They brought us to the city in one of their vile black galleys, and never a bite to eat in three days. I was drugged and only half-conscious all of that time, but even wide awake I could never have eaten the unnameable slop they offered us! And don't forget that we've been tied beneath that monstrous abnormality in the square for nigh on eleven hours. That alone has robbed me of more energy than the three days spent in that galley roUed into one.
'Tiania is amazing. There's more of the Elder Gods in her than you'd ever guess - even taking into account her unearthly beauty - and I fancy that's what saved her from being greatly affected by proximity to the great ruby. As for me, all I need is a bite of plain, decent food, a little rest, and I'll soon be my normal self again. Or my abnormal self, if you will. I don't suppose you brought a bottle of brandy with you, Henri? By God, that would cheer me up no end!'
In spite of all his worries, de Marigny had to grin. This was typical of the Titus Crow he knew, a far cry from the forlorn and desperate figure so recently tied fast to the steps of the ruby dais. Indeed, Crow had not been understating that vast jewel's debilitating influence, and as the distance between the flyers and the ruby increased, so something of Crow's former strength and zest began to return. De Marigny knew that when that strength had returned fully, then indeed would Titus Crow be a force to reckon with, and it would certainly be a dark hour

for the evil influences at present operating in Earth's