"Sara Douglass - Redemption 3 - Crusader" - читать интересную книгу автора (Douglass Sara)

of appalling heights.
"Aye," he eventually said. "I have the Enchanted Song Book. Caelum ..."
"I tried it, you know."
"I know. Axis told me."
Caelum turned his eyes from the rolling ocean and looked back at his brother. "You have spoken to
our father?"
"Yes."
"And?"
"And we are friends, if not father and son."
Caelum nodded, and let his eyes drift back to the sea. "I wish I had been able to be his friend."
Something in Caelum's voice made tears jerk to DragonStar's eyes. Only a few hours ago he'd been
consumed with a fierce and hateful envy for Caelum, and yet here Caelum was expressing, if not envy,
then regret, at something DragonStar enjoyed and not he.
"Did father tell you what happened when I tried one of the Songs?"
"You felled a Hawkchild, but were so consumed with hate and rage that you almost..."
"Almost became a Demon myself."
DragonStar could not help the cold shudder ripple through him. Gods, what was it the Book
contained?
"And when you danced before Qeteb?" he said.
Caelum laughed, low and cynical. "I would have done more damage if I'd offered him a flower."
Something danced at the very edge of DragonStar's consciousness, but his mind could not
catch hold of the thought.
"And what did happen when you met Qeteb in the Maze?" he asked, so softly his voice
could hardly be heard above the roar of the surf.
Caelum took a very long time to answer. "I made him laugh," he finally said. "I made the entire world
laugh."
DragonStar lifted a hand and placed it on Caelum's shoulder, and the two brothers sat there for a
long time, only love, the scent of the flowers, and the bellow of the ocean between them.
DareWing had brought the Strike Force to the northern coast for a particular reason: here the Demons'
influence was likely to be least. Although the demonic hours would affect none of them, DareWing
wanted to keep the Strike Force as safe as was possible for as long as possible. The Icebear
Coast would also have the least concentration of crazed animals. What DareWing wanted more than
anything else was to find a small pack of something that the Strike Force could whet their teeth on. And
then a larger pack of something, and one day DareWing wanted to launch the Strike Force at the entire
mass of lunacy that milled about the Maze.
First, they would start with the mountains themselves.

"See here?" Caelum said, thumbing through the Book, "this one is of fear, and this one of despair."
DragonStar studied the Song of Despair, absently converting it to symbol in his mind. "This book is
full of everything the Demons have ever projected," he said, "and I must be the one to let these 'emotions'
consume me so I may project them back at the Demons."
"Is that so?" Caelum said, and his voice sounded more than mildly puzzled. Again
DragonStar had the feeling that something of immense importance hovered at the very edges of his mind.
"Well, I suppose it must be you," Caelum continued, "for you are the true StarSon and the wielder of
Acharite magic, without which no-one can use this Book."
DragonStar closed the Song Book and put it to one side. "Caelum, what happened when Qeteb
caught up with you?"
Caelum frowned, then his brow cleared. "I cannot remember," he said, and laughed with
relief. "I remember only that the Dance of Death was such an abysmal failure the Demons ridiculed me.
Then I remember fleeing through the Maze, and then something happened ... I ... I fell over, and