"C. S. Friedman - Coldfire 2 - When True Night Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friedman C. S)

fashioned after Merentha Castle, home to the
Hunter and his servants. There, to our
dismay, we discovered our companion's true
identity . . .

I wish that I had gentler words for this,
Holiness, that could ease the blow of such
terrible knowledge. I wish such words
existed. But let me say it simply: the creature
known to you as the Hunter, who tracks
living women like animals for his amusement
and designed this brutal realm called the
Forbidden Forest, was known in another time
by another name: the Neocount of Merentha,
Gerald Tarrant. The Prophet of our faith.

Yes, Reverend Father, the Prophet still
lives - if life is not a misnomer for such a
corrupted state. The founder of our faith
feared death so greatly that in the end he
traded his human soul for immortality - and
now he is trapped in that nether realm
between true death and life, his every waking
moment a struggle for balance. What manner
of man might survive the ages thus, unable to
participate in either death or life, earning his
continued survival by practices of such
cruelty that legend accorded him the status of
a true demon? I sense a spark of humanity
still in him, but it is deeply buried. And he
believes - perhaps correctly - that to express
that humanity is to court true death. The
arbiters of Hell are not known for their
compassion.

He had no further need for subterfuge but
brandished his corrupted title proudly,
glorying in our discomfort. He even claimed
that he still served the Church, although in
what manner he meant this I could not
imagine. He told us that we would be
permitted to leave the Forest, along with
Ciani, to continue in our quest. And more.
Our host announced that he would be joining
our party, allying himself with our company
until the lady's assailants were destroyed. He
used words like honor and obligation to
explain his motives, but the bottom line was
this: the Hunter adheres to a code of behavior
that is part fear, part vanity, and part