"Julia Gray - Guardian 04 - The Red Glacier" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

have carved a life-size whale from a granite cliff? You haven't answered my
question, though.'
'I saw it in a dream.' Terrel's honesty was instinctive. There had been times
in the past when he'd had to disguise his real motives — as much to avoid
ridicule as for any other more sinister reason — and he had come to recognize
that
deception or dissembling were sometimes necessary. On this occasion, however,
he saw no reason to lie. And he had learnt from experience that telling the
truth whenever possible caused fewer complications later on.
'Are you a seer yourself, then?'
'No, not really. But dreams are sometimes meant to show us things.'
'I wouldn't argue with that,' Kjolur said, surprising Terrel again. 'Still,
what makes you so sure you want to go ashore there?'
This question was not as easy to answer. The truth was that once Terrel and
the ghosts had determined that there might be another of the elementals on
Myvatan, Shahan and Muzeni had returned to their study of the Tindaya Code and
discovered a passage referring to 'a land ice-carved and sea-girt'. The same
section of the ancient inscriptions also described an ocean voyage that would
end by alighting 'where the rockbound giant of the sea guards the gateway to a
forbidden realm'. When Terrel had seen the sculpture in his dream, and
confirmed its existence in the real world, he'd been in no doubt that this was
his intended destination. Explaining all that to Kjolur would be much too
complicated, though. He needed something simpler.
'I have a task to do here,' he said. 'And that's the starting point.'
'What is your task?'
'I don't know yet.'
'Then perhaps you need to dream some more.'
Terrel wasn't sure whether Kjolur was being serious or sarcastic. Not knowing
how to respond, he glanced up and saw the Amber Moon, two thirds full and
waxing. Against the azure of the midday sky it looked like a coin of pale
gold.
'Which moon do you follow?'
Once again the conversation's sudden turn disconcerted Terrel, and he sensed
that the question was important. Ostan had asked the same thing but hadn't
waited for an answer. Kjolur, he knew, would be more patient.
'All of them,' he replied eventually.
'All of—!' the islander exclaimed, apparently caught off-guard for the first
time. Then he was silent again.
'Did I say something wrong?' Terrel asked.
'I don't think you understood my question. We all fall under the influence of
a particular moon. It decides our allegiances, our place, our whole lives.
There must be one - just one - for you. Which is it?'
Terrel was aware that he was on dangerous ground now. More might depend on his
answer than he realized. Yet he obviously had to say something. He followed
his nature once more, thinking it better to suffer the consequences of the
truth rather than a lie.
'The Dark Moon, I suppose.' It had always been the one he felt a strong
connection to.
'Black, then,' Kjolur said. 'That makes sense.' He seemed relieved. 'We should
be natural allies, at least.' He unbuttoned and lifted an epaulet on the