"Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - Rose of the Prophet 02 - The Paladin of the Night" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weis Margaret)

"Astafes, the God who sits opposite Promenthas in the Great Jewel. He is cruel
and evil, delighting in suffering and misery. He rules over a world that is
dark and terrible. Demons serve him, bringing him human souls on which he
feeds."
"That sounds a lot like Kaug, only he eats things more substantial than souls.
Why, you're trembling all over! Pukah, you are a swine, a goat," he muttered
beneath his breath. "You should never have brought her in the first place." He
started to slip his arm comfortingly around the angel, only to discover that
her wings were in the way. If he put his arm above where the wings sprouted
from her back, it looked as if he were attempting to choke her. Sliding his
arm under the wings, he became entangled in the feathers. Finally, in
exasperation, he gave up and contented himself with patting her hand
soothingly. "Ill take you back up to the surface," he offered. "Sand can deal
with Kaug."
"No!" cried Asrial, looking alarmed. "I'm all right. Truly. It was wrong of me
to complain." She smoothed her silver hair and her white robes and was
endeavoring to appear composed and calm when a tentacle snaked out of the
darkness and wrapped around her wrist. Asrial jerked her hand away with a
smothered shriek. Pukah surged forward.
10
WEIS AND HICKMAN
THE PALADIN OF THE NIGHT
11
"A squid. Go on, get out of here! Do we look edible? Stupid fish. There,
there, my dearest! It's all right. The creature's gone. ..."
Completely unnerved, Asrial was sobbing, her wings folded tightly about her in
a protective, feathered cocoon.
"Sondl" shouted Pukah into the thick darkness. "I'm taking Asrial to the
surfaceтАФ Sond! Sond? Drat! Where in Sul has he got to? Asrial, my angel, come
with meтАФ"
"No!" Asrial's wings parted suddenly. Resolutely, she began floating through
die water. "I must stay! I must do this for Mathew! Fish, you said. The fish
told meтАФ Mathew would die a horrible death . . . unless I cameтАФ"
"Fish? What fish?"
"Oh, Pukah!" Asrial halted, staring at the djinn in horror. "I wasn't supposed
to tell!"
"Well, you did. The sheep is dead', as they say. Might as well eat it as cry
over it. You spoke with a fish? How? Where?"
"My proteg6 carries with him two fishтАФ"
"In the middle of the desert? And you say he isn't mad!"
"No! No! It isn't like that at all! There's something . . . strange"тАФAsrial
shiveredтАФ"about these fish. Something magical. They were given to Mathew by a
manтАФa terrible man. The slave trader who took my proteg┬г captive. The one who
ordered the slaughter of the helpless priests and magi of Proraenthas.
"When we came to the city of Kich, the slave trader was stopped outside the
city walls by guards, who told him he must give up all his magical objects and
sacrifice diem to Quar. The slave trader gave up every magic item he
hadтАФexcept for one."
"I've heard of fish that swallowed magic rings, but magic fish?" Pukah
appeared highly skeptical. "What do they do? Charm the baitr^'