"Thomas E. Sniegoski - The Fallen" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sniegoski Thomas E)

There was no reason for him to turn around; the feral child growled at his back and he knew the four
strangers now moved to flank him. He kept his gaze on the man standing above him holding fire in the
palm of his hand.
тАЬWho are you?тАЭ the boy asked dully, mesmerized by the miraculous flame, which appeared to be taking
on the shape of something else entirely.

The stranger looked upon him with eyes black and glistening, his expression void of any emotion. Eric
could see himself reflected in their inky surface.

тАЬWhy are you doing this?тАЭ he asked pathetically.

The stranger cocked his head oddly. Eric could feel the heat of the flame upon his upturned face.

тАЬWhat was it the monkey apostle Matthew scribbled about us in one of his silly little books?тАЭ the man
asked no one in particular. тАЬтАШThe Son of Man shall send them forth, and they shall gather out of His
kingdom all things that offend, and those who do evil, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.тАЩ Or
something to that effect,тАЭ he added with a horrible grin.

Eric had never seen anything more unnatural. It was as if the strangerтАЩs face lacked the proper
musculature to complete the most common of human expressions.

тАЬI donтАЩt understand,тАЭ he said in a voice nearly a whisper.

The man moved the flaming object from one hand to the other, and Eric followed it with his eyes. The
fire had become a sword.

A flaming sword.

тАЬIt is better that you do not,тАЭ the man said, raising the burning blade above his head.

The boy watched the weapon of fire descend, his face upturned as if to seek the rays of the rising sun.
And then all that he was, and all that he might have become, was consumed in fire.


chapter one
Aaron Corbet was having the dream again.

Yet it was so much more than that.

Since they began, over three months before, the visions of sleep had grown more and more
intenseтАФmore vivid. Almost real.

He is making his way through the primitive city, an ancient place constructed of brown brick, mud, and
hay. The people here are in a panic, for something attacks their homes. They run about frenzied, their
frightened cries echoing throughout the cool night. Sounds of violence fill the air, blades clanging together
in battle, the moans of the woundedтАФand something else he canтАЩt quite place, a strange sound in the
distance, but moving closer.

Other nights he has tried to stop the frightened citizens, to catch their attention, to ask them what is
happening, but they do not see or hear him. He is a ghost to their turmoil.