"Emil Petaja - Tramontane" - читать интересную книгу автора (Petaja Emil)

dare to do less than she commanded.

Louhi, the starwitch, was perched in the center of her carven throne,
here at the center of her tower chamber, more like some bird of prey than
the empress which her trappings suggested. Her shrunken bones were
bundled in soft green furs like the carpeting, only of a lighter, more
delicate shade and much fluffier and downier, as if her robe were made
from an unborn star-animal of the mammoth breed which had provided
the enormous rug. A thin slice of window cut in the tower rock leaked in
uneasy light and sifting fogs, but it was from two stardragon flambeaus
leaping spectrally out of high dark cups that Kullervo was able to view the
true horror that was Starwitch Louhi, Hag-Mistress of the wandering
space-island once called Pohyola. Rooted on a small planet once called
Earth, LouhiтАЩs island had, by her witchery, taken off starward on eldritch
voyagings to the darkest, most evil corners of the universe. Louhi
possessed infinite evil, garnered to her island as if it were a sponge to soak
up all that is wicked in time and eternity. One of her tricks was a time
overfold, by which she remained alive on her befogged space-island
eternally, while generations of her human slaves came and went.

тАЬYes, star-scum!тАЭ she gibbered down. тАЬI am Louhi. This is the Black
Castle of Pohyola!тАЭ

Kullervo gurgled, gaping. Her face was black as pitch, like a wrinkled
animate lump of coal; it was quite inhuman now, contorted by such
emotions and deeds as must never be told. Her eyes were like a condorтАЩs,
or some worse star-spawned bird of prey, crimson edged and bleeding into
blank holes at the center that seemed to be pinpoint windows into her
diseased soul. Kullervo thought he saw things crawling around behind
those windows.

They looked at each other for a long moment, Kullervo frozen into
near-idiocy, Louhi savoring his bowel-twisting panic. It was ugly looking
at ugly. Louhi measured Kullervo carefully with her eyes, her yardsticks for
evil. She gave him a toothless grin then, and a horrendous cackle that
frightened what scuttled along the high rafters over her head. She lifted up
her snake-stick and made it hiss, pointing it at him.

тАЬUp! Up on your feet!тАЭ

Kullervo climbed up clumsily.

тАЬWho are you?тАЭ

KullervoтАЩs lolling purple tongue darted back between his thick cracked
lips.
 тАЬKullervo Kasi, Mistress.тАЭ

The starwitch flung spittle between her toothless black gums. тАЬWhat
else are you, Kullervo?тАЭ