"Jonathan Stroud - Bartimaeus 2 - The Golem's Eye" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stroud Jonathan)

Nemaides A djinniтАФin service to Mr. Tallow
Simpkin A foliotтАФin service to Mr. Pinn
And numerous other afrits, djinn, foliots, and imps




Prologue: Prague, 1868
Bartimaeus

At dusk, the enemy lit their campfires one by one, in greater profusion than on any night before.
The lights sparkled like fiery jewels out in the grayness of the plains, so numerous it seemed an
enchanted city had sprung up from the earth. By contrast, within our walls the houses had their
shutters closed, their lights blacked out. A strange reversal had taken placeтАФPrague itself was dark
and dead, while the countryside around it flared with life.

Soon afterward, the wind began to drop. It had been blowing strongly from the west for hours,
carrying word of the invaders' movementsтАФthe rattling of the siege engines, the calling of the troops
and animals, the sighing of the captive spirits, the odors of the incantations. Now, with unnatural
speed, it died away and the air was steeped in silence.

I was floating high above the Strahov Monastery, just inside the magnificent city walls I'd built
three hundred years before. My leathery wings moved in strong, slow beats; my eyes scanned the
seven planes to the horizon. [1] It did not make for happy viewing. The mass of the British army was
cloaked behind Concealments, but its ripples of power already lapped at the base of Castle Hill. The
auras of a vast contingent of spirits were dimly visible in the gloom; with every minute further brief
trembles on the planes signaled the arrival of new battalions. Groups of human soldiers moved
purposefully over the dark ground. In their midst stood a cluster of great white tents, domed like rocs'
eggs, about which Shields and other spells hung cobweb-thick. [2]

[1] The Seven Planes: The seven accessible planes are superimposed upon each other, and each reveals
certain aspects of reality. The first includes ordinary material things (trees, buildings, humans, animals, etc.), which
are visible to all; the other six contain spirits of various kinds going quietly about their business. Higher beings
(such as me) can use inner eyes to observe all seven planes at once, but more lowly creatures have to make do
with seeing fewer. Humans are remarkably lowly. Magicians use contact lenses to see planes two to three, but
most people only see the first plane, and this makes them ignorant about all kinds of magical activity. For example,
there's probably something invisible with lots of tentacles hovering behind your back right NOW.

[2] Doubtless, this was where the British magicians were skulking, at a safe distance from the action. My
Czech masters were just the same. In war, magicians always like to reserve the most dangerous jobs for themselves,
such as fearlessly guarding large quantities of food and drink a few miles behind the lines.
 I raised my gaze to the darkened sky. It was an angry black mess of clouds, smeared with
streaks of yellow to the west. At a high altitude and scarcely visible in the dying light, I spied six faint
dots circling well out of Detonation range. They progressed steadily widdershins, mapping out the
walls a final time, checking the strength of our defenses.

Speaking of which... I had to do the same.

At Strahov Gate, farthest flung and most vulnerable outpost of the walls, the tower had been
raised and strengthened. The ancient doors were sealed with triple hexes and a wealth of trigger