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

Prologue

Maybe it's time to move on,the Malakim Peliel considered as he perched atop Mount Kilimanjaro,
nineteen thousand feet above the arid Africanplains ofTanzania .
 The angelic being could count on one hand the number of times he'd had this thought in histwo-millennia
stay upon the dormant volcanicmountain. But always something distracted himfrom these musings. The
coming of so-called civilization as villages turned to cities, seeming togrow up from the earth to replace
the primordialjungles. The vast springtime migrations ofwildebeests, zebras, antelopes, gazelles, andlions
as they made their way across theSerengeti's southern plains to greener pasturesin nearbyKenya .There
is so much to see here, hereminded himself.So much to feel, to hear, to smell.And wasn't that his
purposeтАФthe purpose ofbeing Malakim? He and his brethren aroundthe globe acted as God's senses,
enabling theSupreme Being to experience the wonders of theworld He created.

However, today was different. Something inthe thin, frigid air of Kilimanjaro was tellinghimтАФwarning
himтАФthat perhaps it would bewise to seek another roost.

Slowly, Peliel flexed millennial stiffness from his wings. The collected layers of dirt and ice thathad clung
to his stationary form over the thousands of years fell away to reveal a creature of Heaven in what had
appeared to be just anothernatural formation dappling the frozen landscape.

"There you are," said a voice even colderthan the winds blowing across the mountaintop.

The Malakim gracefully turned, finding himself in the presence of another of God's heavenlychildren. This
one was dressed in human garb,accompanied by twenty of his ilk, and seemed tobe the source of Peliel's
unease. "What host are you?" Peliel asked, casually brushing dirt from his intricate armor.

"I am Verchiel," the intruder answered, bowing slightly, "of the heavenly host Powers."

Peliel studied the beings before him, takingnote of the multitude of angry scars thatadorned the exposed
flesh of their bodies. Thisangelic army had been in battle against a foe thatalso wielded the power of the
divine; there wasno other way to explain the marks of conflictthey carried.What has transpired while
my attentions were elsewhere? the Malakim wondered.

"Ah yes, the hunters of the fallen," Peliel commented aloud, the wind howling about himas if in warning.
"You have been searching forme, Verchiel of the Powers?" To his own ears, hisvoice was gruff from
millenia of non-use, likethe grinding of tectonic plates within the earth'scrust. "And why would that be?"

It pleased him to speak again, and his mindwandered back to the last time he had used his voice to
communicate. Many centuries past, ajungle cat, a leopard, had inexplicably climbedclose to the western
summit of the great mountain. Curious of the creature's intent, Peliel hadappeared before the animal. It
was dying, thefrigid climate of Kilimanjaro's winter seasonsapping the warmth from its lithe, spottedbody,
and in the language of its species, theMalakim had asked it why it had come to suchan inhospitable place.
As it lay down in thesnow to die, the leopard had responded that ithad been drawn up the mountain,
tempted bythe desire to bear witness to something greaterthan itselfтАФlured by the powerful emanationsof
the Malakim. Peliel smiled, wondering if thiswas the reason these Powers had come, drawnby a sense of
his omnipotence.

"I am in need of something you have in yourpossession," Verchiel interrupted the Malakim'smusings.

Peliel chuckled, amused by this angel's arrogance. "And what could I have that would possibly interest