"Andre Norton - Merlin' s mirror" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

Myrddin that this was a story which he must keep to him-
self, until by his deeds he could indeed prove his heritage.
Lugaid also said that unless the boy could leam by himself
what the Old Ones knew he would be helpless, for
nowhere on earth was there now any teacher of more


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than vague shadows of this forgotten lore.

There remained a part of Myrddin that was of Brigitta's
giving and that shrank within him, lonely and lost, unable
to make contact with those about him. He thought a lot
about what would happen to him if he could never dis-
cover what he must know. For here even Lugaid failed
him, saying that those who might once have taught him
were long dead, and only small fragments, probably much
distorted, remained in the trained memories of such as the
Druid himself. But the priest promised that when the time
was ripe, he would give what he could to this one who was
truly like a fosterling of his own.

The grayish light which accompanied the boy grew
stronger. Now he believed that it was given off by the
walls, rather than gathered around his own person. And,
when he rubbed an investigating finger along the stone, he
discovered something else: a vibration within the rock.
Quickly he put his ear flat against that wall to listen, but it

MERLIN'S MIRROR 21

was a feeling rather than a sound, a beat like from a crea-
ture's own heart.

All the tales of monsters lairing within caves swirled
into his mind then and he hesitated. But the excited feeling
drew him and he went on. So he came through an opening
into a larger area where a light winked into flaring bril-
liance. Myrddin shrank back, his hands over his eyes,
blinded by that glare. The vibration was a steady hum
which he could hear now as well as feel.

"There is no need of fear."

Myrddin was suddenly aware that a voice spoke, had
been speaking while he crouched, eyes covered, struck
dumb for the first time in his life by real terror.