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

prologue

Amidst the southSerbianMountains , nestled within the gorge of theBlack River , sat the Crna Reka
Monastery. The wind howled piteously, like the sad wails of a mother mourning the loss of her child, as it
blew across the high rocks and sparse vegetation surrounding the holy hermitage.

It was a lonely place, a place for reflection and absolution. The church itself was constructed within a
large cave during the thirteenth centuryтАФ an homage to the Archangel Michael. The hermit monks soon
built their cells around the church, and a small drawbridge was erected over theBlack River . By a great
blessing of God, the river disappeared underground just before the monastery, and then reappeared
several hundred meters later, sparing the monastery the deafening roar of the water's noise.

The repenter knelt upon a worn, wicker mat ina cold, empty room of the monastery in the rocks, and
listened to the prayers of the world. No matter the time, be it day or night, someone, somewhere,
searched for the aid or guidance of the Divine. A woman inPrague prayed for the soul of her recently
departed mother, a man inGlasgow for the continued health of his wife stricken with cancer. A farmer in
Fort Wayne asked for relief from a fearsome drought, and a truck driver parked alongside a road in
Scottsdale begged for the strength to live his life another day. So many voices, a cacophony of cries for
helpтАФit made his head spin.

He tried to lend them all a slight bit of his own strength, and asked the Creator to listen totheir pleas.
Does the Lord of Lords hear me? he won dered. The penitent hoped so. Though others would have
him believe that the Holy Father had stopped listening to him a long time ago, it did not prevent him from
speaking on behalf of those who prayedтАФa conduit to Heaven.

Eyes tightly closed, ears filled with the sounds of benediction, the kneeling man smiled. A six-year old
named Kiley prayed with the passion of a saint for a brand-new bike on her birthday. Had he ever
prayed with such fervor for anything? The answer was obviousтАФit was the reason he continued to
wander the planet, searching out the most sacred places, hoping to quell the burning turmoil at the core of
his being.

The sinner sought forgivenessтАФforgiveness for the evil he had wrought.

The sound of tiny claws scrabbling across the stone floor wrested him from his concentration, and he
opened his eyes. A mouse stood on its hindquarters, nose twitching eagerly toward him.

"Well, hello there,"the penitent said softly, his voice filled with affection for the gray-furred rodent. He
and the mouse had become good friends since his arrival at the monastery six months before. And in
exchange for bits of bread and cheese, the little animal kept him abreast of events outside the hermitage.

From within the long sleeves of his robe, the repenter produced a crust of bread from the previous
night's supper and offered it to the small creature."And how are you today?" he asked in a language
only it would understand.

"Others here,"the mouse replied in a high-pitched squeak as it took the bread in its front paws.

For the last two months he had sensed something growing in the ether, building steadily over the past
few days. Something with the potential for great dangerтАФand yet also wondrous. He had his suspicions,
but did not want to get his hopes up only to have them dashed to pieces again.