"Dragonlance - Deathgate 6 - Into The Labyrinth - uc" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragonlance)

"Indeed," Xar said with smooth satisfaction. "And I will have it—from his corpse!"

"Ah!" Sang-drax bowed. "You have acquired the art of necromancy. My admiration is boundless, Lord of the Nexus."

The dragon-snake sidled closer; the red eye gleamed in the torchlight. "Samah will die, as you command, My Lord. But—there is no need for haste. Surely he should suffer as your people have suffered. Surely he should be made to endure at least a portion of the torment your people have been made to endure."

"Yes!" Xar drew in a shivering breath. "Yes, he will suffer. I will personally—"

"Permit me, My Lord," Sang-drax begged. "I have a rather special talent for such things. You will watch. You will be pleased. If not, you have only to take my place."

"Very well." Xar was amused. The dragon-snake was almost panting with eagerness. "I want to speak to him first, though. Alone," he added, when Sang-drax started to accompany him. "You will wait for me here. Marit will take me to him."

"As you wish, My Lord." Sang-drax bowed again. Straightening, he added in solicitous tones, "Be careful, My Lord, not to get any of the sea water on yourself."

INTO THE LABYRINTH

19

Xar glowered. He looked away, looked back quickly, and it seemed to him that the red eye glinted with laughter.

The Lord of the Nexus made no reply. Turning on his heel, he stalked down the row of empty cells. Marit walked beside him. The sigla on the arms and hands of both Patryns glowed with a blue-red light that was not entirely acting in response to the poisonous atmosphere of Abar-rach.

"You don't trust him, do you, Daughter?"1 Xar asked his companion.

"It is not for me to trust or distrust anyone whom my lord chooses to favor," Marit answered gravely. "If my lord trusts this creature, I trust my lord's judgment."

Xar nodded in approval of the answer. "You were a Runner,2 I believe?"

"Yes, My Lord."

Slowing his steps, Xar laid his gnarled hand on the young woman's smooth, tattooed skin. "So was I. We didn't either of us survive the Labyrinth by trusting in anything or anyone other than ourselves, did we, Daughter?"

"No, My Lord." She seemed relieved.

"You will keep your eye on this one-eyed snake, then."

"Certainly, My Lord."

Noticing Xar glancing around impatiently, Ma"rit added, "Samah's cell is down here, My Lord. The other prisoner is being held at the opposite end of the cellblock.

1 Marit is not his daughter in the literal sense of the word. Xar considers all Patryns his children, since he was the one who brought them forth out of the darkness of the Labyrinth. It is not known whether Xar fathered any natural children of his own. If so, the youngest would be old by Patryn standards, at least past their Seventieth Gate. Since few Patryns trapped in the Labyrinth live even half that long, we must assume that Xar's true children, if he had any, are long since dead.

2 Those who live in the Labyrinth are divided into two categories: Runners and Squatters. Runners live and traveJ alone, their only object to escape the Labyrinth. Squatters live in large groups. Their object is also escape, but they place greater value on the survival and perpetuation of their race.

20

WEIS AND HICKMAN

I deemed it wise not to put them too close together, although the other prisoner appears harmless."