"Tilley, Patrick - The Amtrack Wars 05 - Death Bringer [txt]" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tilley Patrick)

If there was a chance to escape then these three would seize it, for
between them they possessed the power to overturn nations. That had
been their destiny from the day they had been born. But where were
they? Day after day, Mr Snow had posted sentinels to keep a special
watch over the eastern approaches to the settlement but the
long-awaited travellers had failed to appear.

They were not dead. In an uncertain world, that was the only thing Mr
Snow was sure of. Cadillac and Clearwater were the sword and shield of
Talisman, saviour of the Plainfolk who - according to prophecy - was
due to appear in human form. Cadillac was to use his great gifts to
prepare .the way for Talisman, and Clearwater was to use the immense
forces at her command to protect the Thrice-Gifted One until his own
powers were fully formed. Which, for instance, would be the case if he
entered the world as a new-born child. On the other hand, if he was
present in someone already alive, with his powers over heaven and earth
lying dormant until the chosen moment, then her given task was to
protect that individual until Talisman chose to reveal himself. She
would do this instinctively, without necessarily understanding why,
because Talisman would draw her to him.

Mr Snow had often wondered if Steve Brickman bore the Talisman within
him. The cloud-warrior's descent from the sky into the hands of the
M'Calls had been foretold by the Sky Voices. He and Clearwater had
been destined to meet, and in giving herself to him body and soul she
had broken the solemn vows that bound her to Cadillac - grievously
wounding her former lover's pride in the process.

In time, Cadillac would get over it. It was he who had seen their
separation in the stones. Clearwater was destined to journey into the
dark world of the sand-burrowers that lay beneath the deserts of the
south.

Home of the iron-snakes that crawled through the land leaving a trail
of devastation behind them, and the arrowheads which carried the
cloud-warriors across the skies.

Warriors armed with long sharp iron and fire-seeds which erupted into
smoke and flame with the sound of earth-thunder.

Not the pure flame that swept the tree-spirits up towards the heavens
but an evil cousin conjured up by the sand-burrowers. A flame whose
thirst could not be quenched by water, that clung to flesh and burned
through to the bone.

Yes, these were dark days. The time known as The Great Dying had
come.

A time when the courage of the Plainfolk would be sorely tested.