"Dave Duncan - A Handful Of Men 3 - The Stricken Field" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

made to forget it!” He glanced around and saw that the others were listening. He hoped he was not
about to make too much of a fool of himself. “You’re not a sorcerer. Can you think of anything we saw,
or anything that came up in conversation . . . any plan we discussed and then set aside, perhaps?”

“A forgetfulness spell specifically directed at the sorcerous?” the old man muttered. “Is that possible?”

“Probably. Almost anything is possible if there is enough power available. Could Zinixo have blanked my
mind?” He felt he was really conjuring bubbles now, but having gone so far he might as well wade in until
he sank.

“If he had managed that much,” Thrugg growled, “then he would have been able to call you to him.”

“I suppose so.”

“What sort of something?” Sagorn said thoughtfully.

“What would be useful? A strategy? A place of refuge? A weapon? A possible ally?” His eyes glinted
coldly, like sunlight on a northern sea. ”What about that preflecting pool the imperor saw? Nobody ever
quite explained that episode!”

“A pixie!”Rap yelled. “That’s it! You’ve got it! Shandie met a pixie near Hub!”

Grunth yawned again. “If you’re starting in on bedtime stories, then I think I’ll organize a bale of hay and
catch up on my beauty sleep.”

“Unfortunately pixies are instinct,” Tik Tok said sadly, and yawned, also. “Would have been nice to
invite someone diffident for dinner.”

“Pixies still exist,” Rap said firmly. “My wife met some, many years ago.The imperor met a pixie!”

Three sorcerers stared at him as if he had taken leave of his senses.

He was so excited now he could hardly sit still. “Don’t you see? The War of the Five Warlocks? What
happened at the end of it? Who won? Grunth?”

“Don’t recall,” she said uneasily.

“No one does!” Sagorn was beaming.
“It was the second millennium!” Rap shouted. “There was more sorcery around then than there ever has
been since—until now, the third millennium. Anything would have been possible with that kind of power
loose! Now do you understand? There is an aversion spell on Thume! An inattention spell, and it’s
directed more at sorcerers than at mundanes, although it obviously affects them, too. Shielding blunts it,
because the last time I thought of this I was in a shielded house, like this one. When I went outside I
forgot again.”

“You were otherwise engaged,” Sagorn murmured, but he was obviously relishing the mad suggestion
and the audience’s reluctance to accept it.

“I want you to stay close to me in future,” Rap said, “and whisper `Thume’ in my ear every half hour.”