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

given to him by the ghosts about their latest discoveries in the Tindaya Code.
But that was not the whole story. Many years ago, in what seemed now like
another lifetime, he'd had a dream which at the time had seemed nonsensical,
but which in retrospect had granted him brief glimpses of places he would one
day visit. The fog-bound valley, with its dwelling that floated on the surface
of a lake, and the shimmering desert populated by camels and women with
tattooed faces, had been so far outside his experience of the world that he'd
thought them ludicrous visions. And yet both had proved to be fragments of his
own future. That same dream had also featured a frozen sea of blue-shadowed
ice.
And in addition, for the first time in all his wanderings along the unknown
road, Terrel had felt the influence of another, new force shaping his destiny.
Although he couldn't explain it, he knew that it stemmed from the
Ancients. Having now met three elementals and struck a bargain with them,
twice renewed, Terrel was sure that there was a permanent connection between
him and the strange creatures. He had been responsible - at least in part -
for reassuring each of them that it was not alone, that it had 'brothers'
elsewhere on Nydus. He had subsequently come to believe that they were not
separate entities at all, that they were somehow part of the same being,
sharing memories, abilities and fears, even though they were separated by
enormous distances. As a result, it seemed entirely possible that the three
might have concluded that there was at least a fourth elemental, and possibly
more, somewhere on the planet. If that were the case, they might well be
trying to help Terrel to find the rest of their 'family'. Such guidance as
they had given him had begun as he left Misrah and, although it had certainly
not been continuous or even straightforward, he felt that they had been with
him — in some sense — ever since.
Although these thoughts should have been comforting, now that he'd reached the
ice-covered island nothing was clear any more. Insanity had invaded Myvatan's
air and rock, and Terrel couldn't help wondering if there was some connection
between this and the presence of an Ancient - assuming that one of the
creatures was really here. This possibility, together with Alyssa's last
instructions - which had been unusually obscure even for her -did little to
reassure him. Don't fight the wrong war was presumably a warning not to get
involved in the island's internal conflict. On the other hand, Be careful
where you choose to follow could mean anything. Surely being careful was just
common sense? But the phrase that caused him the most concern, and which kept
returning to his thoughts now, was And don't trust your instincts. That made
no sense at all. He had relied upon his instincts in
all his travels. If he couldn't trust them, then what was left?
Until Alyssa returned, this was a question he couldn't answer.
Terrel's last thought before finally falling asleep was about something Kjolur
had said. In the Floating Islands, the Amber - or Gold - Moon was said to be
the harbinger of dreams, and this belief had been reflected in the various
lands Terrel had visited since his exile. And as with any of the moons, the
Amber was at its most potent when it was full.
The crystal city rose from the waves of a dark sea that was dotted with
luminous pieces of floating ice. He had seen the city before, although he
could never go there, but this time its fractured beauty was gone. It was an
ugly, crumpled mass of glass splinters and piercing light. It had never been