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

Nevian laughed, casting back the rainbow cloak. 'Nightbeasts
are afraid of the daylight, they are weak and blinded by
the light yet their fear of Krulshards will drive them out to form
a shadow circle wherever he commands it. They wear the skins
of those they kill, fashioned into hideous armour and that
protects them a little in the light. Holgranos could no longer
find the strength to climb the mountain and in despair he sent
for King Mantern and asked as payment for the light that the
last Mason King should build him a shelter at the foot of the
mountain, somewhere strong and fortified where he could rest
from the battles with Krulshards. Somewhere the Master of
Night could not enter.'

'Did he build such a place?' asked the young voice.

'Yes,' whispered Nevian, drawing closer, 'It is but one
daylight from here, clinging on to the mountain's lower slopes.'

The young voice interrupted, 'What is a daylight?'

Nevian laughed, 'You have so much to learn. A daylight is
the measure of time between the moment the sun appears in
the morning at World's Edge until it sinks from sight behind
Worlds End in the evening, four hundred daylights add up to
one sun.'

'But how long is a daylight?' pressed the young voice, full of
curiosity.

The magician sighed, 'A daylight has many lengths, for
those who toil unwillingly at a task it can seem to take forever,
while in what seems no time at all a fast horse can travel a great
distance in one daylight.'

'horse?' queried the young voice.

Nevian laughed again. 'The horse is a living being. People
ride on them; they are strong yet gentle; quiet, yet brave. But I
was telling you of the fortress King Mantern built at the~foot of
this mountain. Holgranos named it Underfall, the palace of
Kings. Sheer and terrible it rises, granite grey against the
mountain slopes. It is set with many galleries each one shadowing
the one below and they are cleverly edged with iron spikes that no
nightbeast could ever pass or force an entry through. It is a bare
place of many Granite Kings.'

'Were there more than one?' asked the voice, finding his mind
muddled and crowded with all this wisdom.