"Colin Wilson - Spiderworld 05 - The Magician" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Colin)

destroyed, both physically and mentally. But at this point, the goddess herself intervenes,
filling the room with her strange blue light. Now convinced that Niall is the chosen of the
goddess, the Spider Lord accedes to his demand that human beings should be set free.
And Niall, to his own bewilderment, suddenly finds himself appointed ruler of the spider
city.



Part One
The Assasins


Shortly before dawn he was awakened by a cold so intense that it reminded him
of the desert night. He lay there, the bedclothes pulled around his face, and his breath
formed moisture on the blanket as he exhaled. He had chosen this room because it faced
east, and he liked to be awakened by the sun. Today there was no sunlight; the dawn
came like gray mist until the room was filled with a cold, even light. No birds sang.
Something about the strange silence disturbed him. He crossed to the window,
treading on the soft woolen rugs, and found himself looking out on a white landscape.
White rooftops seemed to blend into the pearl-gray sky, and the great square was
carpeted in the same featureless whiteness. It had even found its way into the corners of
the window frames, and a few fine flakes had frozen onto the outside of the glass.
Niall had heard about snow and read about it, but this was the first time he had
ever seen it. Nothing had prepared him for this cold, beautiful whiteness that seemed to
blanket the universe. He was suddenly filled with a magical excitement which, although
he was unaware of it, had filled thousands of generations of children at the first sight of
the winter snow.
Possessed by a longing to touch this strange substance, he pulled on a sheepskin
mantle over his tunic, thrust his feet into shoes lined with rabbit fur, and hurried out of
the room. The palace was silent and its corridors empty; Niall was usually the first
awake. He mounted the staircase to the top floor, passing the sleeping chamber shared by
his cousin Dona and his sisters Runa and Mara, then climbed the narrow stairs that led up
to the roof. As soon as he opened the door, a rampart of snow tumbled in and deluged his
bare legs. He jumped back with an exclamation; he had not realized snow would be so
cold. Then he took off his shoes one by one -- the snow had fallen into them -- and shook
them out; the fur now felt cold and wet to his ankles. Yet the morning air seemed
surprisingly warm; this was because there was not the faintest breath of wind. The space
between the parapet and the steep roof was deep in snow; it crunched underfoot as he trod
in it. He picked up a double handful and molded it into a ball; but it froze his fingers, so
he threw it away. With the sleeve of his mantle he carefully brushed the snow from the
parapet, then stood leaning on it, gazing out over the milky whiteness that extended as far
as the distant hills. In the center of the parkland on the far side of the square, the white
tower rose like a finger of ivory, but now that the surrounding grass was white, it was no
longer the most striking feature in the landscape. This distinction belonged to the river,
whose blackness split the cold plain like a current of ink; it made him feel colder merely
to look at it.
The city seemed empty; there was not a living thing in sight. Then, as he turned to
go indoors, his attention was caught by a movement in the square below. Something
black was lying in its northeastern corner. From this distance it might have been an
uprooted bush. Then he looked more closely, and saw the red stains in the snow; at the