"L. E. Modesitt - Recluce 04 - The Chaos Balance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

THUS CONTINUED THE conflict between order and chaos, between those who would force order and those
who would not, and between those who followed the blade and those who followed the spirit.
On the Roof of the World, those first angels raised crops amid the eternal ice, and builded
walls, and made bricks, and all manner of devisings of the most miraculous, from the black blades
that never dulled to the water that flowed amidst the ice of winter and the tower that remained
yet warm from a single fire.
Of the great ones in those times were, first, Ryba of the twin blades, Nylan of the forge of
order, Gerlich the hunter, Saryn the mighty, and Ayrlyn, of the songs that forged the guards of
Westwind.
For as the skilled and terrible smith Nylan forged the terrible black blades of Westwind, and
wrenched the very stones from the mountains for the tower called Black, so did Ryba guide the
guards of Westwind, letting no man triumph upon the Roof of the World.
For as each lord of the demons said, 'I will not suffer those angel women to survive,' and as
each angel fell, Ryba created yet another from those who fled the demons, until there were none
that could stand against Tower Black.
So too, as did each of the forges of Heaven fail, did the mighty smith Nylan bend the fires of
the world to his will and forge yet anew the black blades of Westwind.
Yet, despite Nylan's efforts in smiting the legions of the demons into dust, Ryba the mighty
was not satisfied, and she asked for more black blades than the snowflakes that fell upon Tower
Black, and for arrows that no armor could stop. And Nylan bent the forges to his will, and it was
so, and still was Ryba displeased. . . .
.. . and so it came to pass that Ryba was the last of the angels to rule the heavens and the
angel who set forth the Legend for all to heed. ...
Book of Ayrlyn
Section I
(Restricted Text)


IV

MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD, Protector of the Steps to Paradise, and-"
"Enough, Themphi. Enough," answered the silver-robed figure who sat easily in the sculpted
malachite and silver chair on the dais. "What is the problem? This time?"
The man in white bowed. "My lord Lephi ... the snows were mighty, and the Great East River
rises."
"And all the rice fields in Geliendra will be washed away?"
"Yes, Sire. And those in Jakaafra." The white wizard bowed again, more deeply.
"What of the northern dams, and the diversions?"
"The .. . storms .. ." stammered Themphi. "You were-"
"They destroyed those as well as the locks of Kuliat? Why was I not informed of that?"
"Your Mightiness received the scrolls in the field . . ." Themphi offered a stained scroll. ".
. . as you did this one at Guarstyad-"
"I am supposed to remember details of waterworks when I am trying to rebuild the fireships? Or
commanding an army? Or remember that I received a scroll in the midst of dark confusions?" Lephi's
eyes flickered toward the two sets of ornate open grillwork that flanked the dais and concealed
the Archers of the Rational Stars. Then he leaned forward in the malachite and silver chair, his
silver linens rustling. "Themphi, my wizard of the Throne of Reason, Emperor and heir to the
Rational/Stars I may be, but even emperors do not recall everything-especially in these times." He
paused. "Why do the eastern barbarian kingdoms no longer respect Cyador?"
"Sire?"