"James M. Ward - The Pool 1 - Pool of Radiance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ward James M)

Pool of Radiance
Book 1 of The Pool Trilogy
By James M. Ward and Jane Cooper Hong
Ebook version 1.0
Proofed and formatted by BW-SciFi
 POOL OF RADIANCE

Again Shal focused her thoughts, staring into the brilliant swirls of blue inside the
globe, trying to envision her mentor. In a moment, she saw him.
She sucked in her breath. How could a man have changed so in a matter of
days? Ranthor's robes were torn to shreds. His hair was unkempt and wild-looking.
And his eyes ... his eyes were haunted-looking, as if he had seen sights no mortal
eye should see.
"Shal, listen carefully. There is little time. I have risked everything to send this
message to you. Despite our efforts, the beasts have somehow infiltrated the tower.
My old friend is dead ... murdered. I must warn you to beware of the dragon of
bronze. I have done all that I can to diminish its awesome power, but it still thrives.
Shal, you mustтАФ"
"Ranthor! Look out!" Shal screamed wildly, but her words obviously didn't
penetrate through the crystal. A dark figure loomed behind her teacher, and before
Shal could do or say any more, it began to slash savagely at him with a long black
dagger. . . .
To Dad and Aleta.
тАФJ.C.H.
To my mother. Thanks, Mom, for making me take that typing class. You were right and I
was wrong.
тАФJ.M.W.
 1
Look Into the Crystal
Shal had spent days scouring the markets and traders' shops of Eveningstar and Arabel, the two towns
nearest to the keep of her master, the Great Ranthor of Cormyr. The object of her search was a rare Wa
herb, which her teacher refused to find for her. When she finally located the component he claimed made
"a superlative dust for incendiary spells," she returned to his keep, where she read and reread the Burning
Hands spell and tried for several days to master it. By the fourth day, Shal's hands were the only things
blazing after repeated attempts to cast the spell.
"Drat!" she cried, hurling her spellbook and herbal components down in disgust, convinced that it was
time for her to move on to another profession. Before her eyes, the handful of herbal dust puffed into a
sensational blue cloud, and a vision of Ranthor, her teacher, ap-peared, besieged by a horde of
vicious-looking orcs. The pig-faced creatures were armed with murderous weap-ons, and they were
surging toward Ranthor in a wide band, leaving him no avenue of escape.
Blood and drool dripped from their grotesque mouths. Shal could feel herself being caught up in the
vision, could smell the orcs' filthy bodies as they pressed closer, jabbing their jagged swords and knives at
Ranthor ... at her. She backed away, but the wall that kept her from backing farther also seemed to stop
Ranthor. Fear gripped her like a torturous clamp, making every muscle in her body rigid, unresponsive.
Sweat streamed down her face, her back, and her breasts. She could no longer control her own breathing,
and she knew she was going to die.
At that moment, Ranthor cast the Burning Hands spell. White-hot jets of flame burst from each of his
fingertips, blasting the entire horde of orcs high into the air, inciner-ating each of the creatures they touched.
The handful of orcs that landed on the ground alive proceeded to claw, pull, and scramble away from the
wizard as fast as they could go, leaving the smoldering bodies of their compan-ions behind them.