"Jason Henderson - Highlander - The Element of Fire" - читать интересную книгу автора (Henderson Jason)

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PDF Version: 1.0 (February 10, 2006)
Prologue

In a year without number, because all years were alike, in a land that would one day be
called Scotland but was then called simply the World, the Children of the Salamander
sang: Khordas, we have come to please you, Khordas, we have come to serve....

The Time of the Return had come. With each beat of the dram the mud vibrated, with
each pellet of hard rain the surface splashed, and ripples moved in muddy rings around
the form of the god who slept. The god awakened in his sleeping place and opened his
eyes. His Children were calling.

Khordas, hear our prayer!

On the surface of the mud lay the mask of the god, and now it lifted from its resting
place, the form of the god bubbling up from below. The mud filtered away from the
god's eyes and he saw through the mask, and became the mask, as he rose from the holy
pit.

The Children of the Salamander danced, and now the god saw their forms, lit up by a
lightning chain that linked its way across the sky. All of them were painted deep blue,
like the mask of the Salamander. The rain ran along their muscles, heading on the paint,
their glistening bodies moving in answer to the drums, for Khordas was their god, and
they feared him.

Khordas threw out his arms to the beat of the drums and the clap of thunder, and mud
flew all around him, splattering on the blue dancers. The god chanted in the tongue of
the Children, answering their prayer:
"Fire and water are my domain! Who dares call Khordas, the Salamander?"

We are not puny, like our babes,

Nor weak, like our enemies acrogs the hills....

Khordas leapt from the pit with a hiss and landed in the middle, surrounded by the
dancers. The drums grew stronger.

We are your Children, Khordas,

And because we fear you, we are feared!

Khordas slithered before them, crouching, moving his head like the Salamander, and
now he reached into a pouch and drew out something the blue people did not see.
Khordas slapped his hands together, and between his palms something flared and
burned in the night, brighter than the lightning.