"Holly Lisle - World Gates 03 - Gods Old and Dark" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

into the terminal box, one after the other. Two trips, twenty-seven rings ranging from

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small finger-rings to heavy bracelets to thick, massive chains. Each fieldmaster had clearly
been hedging his bets, augmenting his main resurrection ring with backup rings.

When the last of the rings dropped into the ancient, bejeweled box, the senior assistant
looked to the Master, waiting for a sign that he should remove the rings—that the object
lesson for all those present was done.

Close the lid, the master said so that all could hear.

Not just a display, then; Aril intended the destruction of the entire field command of the
Night Watch in an instant.

The senior assistant closed the lid, and tortured screams of metal against metal and magic
against magic filled the Hub. Everyone stood frozen, knowing they were witnessing
something unprecedented, something both huge and terrible, none of them daring to move
in case whatever had happened was not over, and moving might bring them to the
attention of the Master.

The moments in which the terminal box destroyed all twenty-seven resurrection rings
were the longest Rekkathav had ever experienced. When the box finished its work, the
Master of the Night Watch pointed to the assistant. You are the new head fieldmaster.
Choose nine associates today. Your mutual survival depends on your mutual competence,
so choose carefully.

Aril then told them something so ludicrous that, had Rekkathav not seen the destruction of
the fieldmasters, he would have thought the Master of the Night Watch lied.

New, live magic has reappeared on Earth. The planet has, under the watch of those now
destroyed, begun to heal itself in spite of our working against it. The new fieldmasters’
primary duties will be to determine how this has been accomplished and to eliminate
whomever and whatever is responsible. The new fieldmasters will have limited time to
reverse the damage done and set the world back upon our chosen course to its destruction.

You have seen the price for failure or carelessness. Make sure you succeed.

CHAPTER 2

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Cat Creek, North Carolina