"Modesitt, L E - The Hammer of Darkness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

In the thin air above the peak, from nowhere appears a
black cloud, modeled after the Minotaur. Across from the
bull-cloud stands a god, male, heroic, clad in sandals and a
short tunic. His crown is made of sunbeams, and it hurts Mar-
tin's eyes to look at his perfect face.
Between the two arrives another, a full-bearded barbarian
who carries a gray stone hammer, red-haired, bulky, fur cape
flowing back over his shoulders. He sports leg greaves and a
breastplate, both of bronze.
Above the peak hovers another figure, which is present,
but not. Martin strains to see, and after a time penetrates the
ghostly details. She is slender, golden-haired, golden-eyed,
and glitters. Beyond these details he cannot see, and his atten-
tion is distracted by the appearance of another god, also
ghostly.
Where the goddess is golden, the latecomer is black-
shadowed.
Unwanted, as well, because the three older golds strike.
The barbarian throws his hammer; the sun-god Apollo casts
a light spear; and the bull-god sends forth a black mist of
menace.
Precog? questions someone, somewhere.
Perhaps.
Martin loses his dream, drops into darkness ...
... and wakes screaming!
The scream dies as he moves his head, discovers he is on
his side, holding the railing of the bed. Discovers his fingers
are sore. He releases his grasp, and knows he should be sur-
prised. He is not.
The metal is crushed, with eight finger impressions and
two thumb holes clearly visible.
Martin scrambles to his knees, ignoring the wavering ef-
fect, to study his handiwork. He grabs the railing hi a new
place, farther toward the foot of the bed, squeezes with all the
force he can muster.
His palms and fingers protest, but the metal does not yield.
He lets go. Tears well up, sorrow and frustration.
"Mad, I'm mad. Crazier than Faroh."
Mad, I'm mad, mad, mad. Crazier, crazier, than, than,
Faroh, Faroh.
He closes his eyes, presses balled fists against them to shut
out the double echo, and the incredible flare of light that
accompanies it.
"You'll get used to it," a calm voice comments.
Martin hops around on his knees, feels awkward, embar-
rassed, and almost pitches over the side of the bed as the nau-
sea strikes him in the pit of his stomach.
The glare dies with the closing of the portal.
The speaker looks like the sun-god of his dreams, with
short and curly blond hair, even features, cleft chin, piercing