"01 - The Road to Underfall" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jefferies Mike)

Elundium stood face to face before the gates of night. Each
time they fought upon the boulder strewn ledge before that
dark hole, Krulshards shadowed the sun, hiding his one
weakness from the Granite King; bringing with the darkness
bitter winters that changed the marble valleys into a bleak
desolate place that the ordinary people of Elundium dared not
go near, and in time the marble valleys lost their true name and
became known as World's End and a place to dread.'

'Weakness?' asked the younger voice, 'There is nothing but
fear and terror here in the darkness.'

Pure laughter blazed in the darkness showing a glimpse of
the older voice, splashes of colour dazzled the listener.

'Strong magic! Beware! Krulshards will destroy anything
that knows of his weakness, for he has the strength of ten
Granite Kings, yet children could render him helpless and
ready for the killing stroke.'

'How so?' gasped the other voice, searching the darkness for
the beautiful colours.

'Know me now, and I shall tell you, for I am Nevian, the
Master of Magic, the Lord of the Daylight and the Keeper of
the Sun.'

The light blazed again, and there in the darkness stood a
figure wrapped in a rainbow cloak of many colours.

'Tread on his shadow, if you can get close enough, for that is
his weakness. Here in the darkness he is shadowless and
terrible, but in the daylight if you can step upon that nightmare
shape he is yours to destroy, for he cannot turn to fight or
escape into the City of Night. It took my greatest magic to make
that part of him real, and jump as high as he likes or run faster
than the wind he cannot get away from it. Holgranos saw the
secret of the shadow but it was too late, he had fought for many

winters on Mantern's Mountain and his bones had grown
brittle from the cold. He had grown old and too weak to chase
the Master of Nightbeasts and by then Krulshards was not
alone or so vulnerable, for he had spawned the Nightbeasts
deep inside the City of night and formed them into a shadow
circle that protected him, and who could tell which was the

master's shadow amongst so many hideous shapes?'

'Are the nightbeasts afraid of the daylight?' asked the young
Voice.