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

He shut his eyes. The sound of the explosion pounded in his brain,
a heartbeat of loss. "Then we'll lose everything we have," he
whispered. "Everything we are."

There was nothing she could say to that. Nothing she could do but
hold on to him, while the sky filled with the black ash of their
dreams. The fallout of Casca's sacrifice, the last shattered
remnants of their Terran heritage.

In the firelight it looked a lot like blood.

THE PROMISED LAND

One

Report-in-absence from Damien Kilcannon Vryce, Knight of the
Golden Flame, Companion of the Earth-Star Ascendant

To the Patriarch Jaxom IV, Holy Father of the Eastern Realm,
Keeper of the Prophet's Law,

Signed and sealed this 5th day of March, 1247 A.S. Most
Reverend Father,

It is with a mixture of joy and trepidation that I write I you on this fifth
day of March, from the port city of Sattin. Joy, because I am able to
report at last that our mission in the rakhlands was a success. The
sorcerous tyrant who was draining that region of life and power has
been sent to her final judgment, and the hordes who served her
have likewise been dispatched. (Praise God, who makes such
triumphs possible!) Trepidation, because I have come to believe
that something far more deadly has finally turned its eye upon the
human lands. And I fear that our recent victory, so hard won, may
prove to be no more than a prelude to a far more bloody battle. But
let me record these things in their proper order: We left from
Jaggonath on October 5th of 1246, a party of three: myself, the
Loremaster Ciani of Faraday, and Ciani's close friend and
professional assistant Senzei Reese. You will recall that the lady
had been attacked at her place of business by a trio of demonlike
creatures, whose malevolent Workings had robbed her of her
memories and her most precious powers. We had determined that
these creatures came from the rakhlands and would be returning to
that place. It was our intention to follow them to that secret land and
destroy them, thereby freeing the lady from their dire influence,
and the human lands from further threat by their power.

You know that we set out for Kale, intending to hire passage to the
rakhlands from that port. Such a journey meant five days of hard
traveling, but nights could be spent in the relative safety of the
daes. Since our quarry appeared to be night-bound, we anticipated