"James M. Ward - The Pool 2 - Pools of Darkness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ward James M)

Pools of Darkness
Book 2 of The Pool Trilogy
By James M. Ward and Anne K. Brown
Scanned, formatted and proofed by BW-SciFi
Ebook version 1.0
Release Date: November, 4 th, 2003
 PROLOGUE
"Not again! It won't happen again!"
Eyes ablaze with uncontrolled fire, the god sprayed bolts of lightning on all who cringed before him.
Those that missed showered through the sky and onto the in-nocent and unsuspecting population of Faerun.
Mer-chants, farmers, and mothers with small children ran for cover.
"I've played by the rules. I've organized, I've attracted worshipers, I've even granted a few of them
special priv-ileges! I'm getting nowhere in this realm and I'm fed up."
The god slammed his fist on the arm of his throne. As he glared at those assembled around him, his eyes
sent waves of fear among the creatures who looked on.
"Something must be done! I will not lose one more worshiper! What is it going to take for those pathetic
hu-mans to respect and fear me? Any ideas?" he hissed.
Those in the audience chamber cowered. Many found themselves unable to meet his gaze. This being
might have been attractive if not for his terrific temper and uncontrolled wrath. A handsomely sculpted
face, broad shoulders, and a graceful gait could not conceal the an-ger and chaos that dwelled within.
No one answered the lord, though they all knew some-one was going to pay for the silence.
Boom!
A blast from a smoldering censer above the god's head transformed seven high priests into piles of
smoking ash. The aroma of burned incense overpowered the chamber.
Crackle!
Withering beams of darkness sprayed from the god's hands and dissolved six huge pit fiends from the
planes of Gehenna into swirls of dust rolling across the polished granite floor.
Ssst!
A split-second of concentration changed five of the god's powerful evil wizards into pillars of salt in five
dif-ferent cities around the realm.
The god ranted, shouted, raved. No creature in the chamber could escape the tirade.
Several huge, warty fiends, more animal than human, foresaw their immediate futures and threw
themselves at the feet of the god, shouting in unison.
"Bane, redeemer, boss, exalted one, you gotta get tough with those bums. You got the power. You got
the magic. You just gotta make 'em notice you."
"Notice me? Isn't it enough that my agents create strife throughout Faerun? Isn't it enough that the
hatred they foster has corrupted whole cities? What does a god have to do to get a little attention down
there?"
Bane again slammed his fist on his throne. The intense rumbling of the chamber sent nearly every
two-legged creature in the room crashing to the floor.
"You're doin' it right, but you need a new approach," the fiends groveled. "We'll help ya, and we'll get
some wizards and some demi-powers to help ya. Before you know it, you'll have all the power and
followers you want. All it takes is a little godlike act directed at some of those cities. We got a plan. . . ."
"Why didn't you say so before? I've been waiting for you so-called advisors to advise me! Get on with
it!"
Bane slammed his fist on his knee, and a female sorcer-ess who had tired him for a long time was
struck by a lightning bolt. When the smoke cleared, nothing re-mained but a few scraps of charred silk from
her gown.
The warty fiends leaned in close, but not too close, to their raging lord.
"Well, boss, this is how we see it... ."