"Roger Zelazny - Amber 10 - Prince Of Chaos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

particularly cheerful expressions. Forests fell and burst into flame, the
ground shook and split, the waters of the sea rose in gigantic waves and
assailed the land, the moon dripped blood and there came up a great wailing.
Something called my name...
A great wind rattled the shutters till they burst inward, clapping and
banging. In my dream, a creature entered then and came to crouch at the foot
of the bed, calling softly to me, over and over. The room seemed to be
shaking, and my mind went back to California. It seemed that an earthquake was
in progress. The wind rose from a shriek to a roar, and I heard crashing
sounds from without, as of trees falling, towers toppling...
"Merlin, Prince of the House of Sawall, Prince of Chaos, rise up," it
seemed to say. Then it gnashed its fangs and began again.
At the fourth or fifth repetition it struck me that I might not be
dreaming. There were screams from somewhere outside, and steady pulses of
lightning came and went against almost musical rolls of thunder.
I raised a protective shell before I moved, before I opened my eyes. The
sounds were real, as was the broken shutter. So was the creature at the foot
of the bed.
"Merlin, Merlin. Rise up, Merlin," it said to me - it being a
long-snouted, pointed-eared individual, well fanged and clawed, of a
greenish-silver cast of complexion, eyes large and shining, damp leathery
wings folded against its lean sides. From its expression, I couldn't tell
whether it was smiling or in pain. "Awaken, Lord of Chaos."
"Gryll," I said, naming an old family servant from the Courts.
"Aye, Lord," it replied. "The same as taught you the bone dance game."
"I'll be damned."
"Business before pleasure, Lord. I've followed the black thread a long and
horrid way to come calling."
"The threads didn't reach this far," I said, "without an awful lot of
push. Maybe even not then. Do they now?"
"It's easier now," he replied.
"How so?"
"His Majesty Swayvill, King of Chaos, sleeps this night with the ancestors
of darkness. I was sent to fetch you back for the ceremonies."
"Now?"
"Now."
"Yeah. Well, okay. Sure. Just let me get my stuff together. How'd it
happen, anyhow?"
I pulled on my boots, donned the rest of my garments, buckled on my blade.
"I am not privy to any details. Of course, it is common knowledge that his
health was poor."
"I want to leave a note," I said.
He nodded.
"A brief one, I trust."
"Yes."
I scrawled on a piece of parchment from the writing table: Coral, Called
away on family business. I'll be in touch, and I laid it beside her hand.
"All right," I said. "How do we do this?"
"I will bear you upon my back, Prince Merlin, as I did long ago."
I nodded as a flood of childhood memories returned to me. Gryll was