"Julian May - Trillium 3 - Sky Trillium" - читать интересную книгу автора (May Julian)

Leaning against the bags was an intricate contrivance made of dark metal, and at
the sight of it Haramis felt a pang of unbelieving horror and could not help but
cry out. Her Sending was imperceptible to the sleeper, however, and he did not
stir as she knelt beside the device and studied it.

It was about half an ell in length, flattened and triangular at one end, almost like
the stock of an arbalest. From this protruded three slender cylinders or rods,
bound tightly together by rings and terminating in a much-perforated metal
sphere. Where the upper stock joined the rods was a kind of flared cuff, and
behind it numbers of knobs, studs, and appendages of mysterious function.

This particular device was unfamiliar. But the Archimage had seen others like it
—in her own Cavern of Black Ice behind her Tower on Mount Brom, and also
four years earlier during the siege of Derorguila by the sorcerer Orogastus. The
thing in the possession of the alleged Star Man was an antique weapon, one of
those artifacts of the Vanished Ones that used to turn up from time to time in the
ruins of their crumbling cities. Both Folk and humankind had long been

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forbidden to possess these fearsome armaments. But Orogastus had acquired
numbers of them by looting the cache of an earlier Archimage of the Land, and
his Tuzameni and Raktumian warriors had used the weapons to deadly effect
waging war on King Antar and Queen Anigel of Laboruwenda.

When the sorcerer's force was defeated, Haramis had caused all of the archaic
arms used by the enemy to be collected and destroyed. She had also rendered
useless the weapons and other dubious apparatus of the Vanished Ones stored at
her own Tower, as well as those remaining in the ancient Kimilon cache partially
plundered by the sorcerer. Methodically, over many months, she had used her
talisman's magic to visit every ruin and other forgotten spot on the world-
continent where operable ancient weapons were hidden away. She had finally
destroyed every one of them. The talisman had confirmed it.

Where then, had the specimen at her feet come from?

From beneath the sea, her talisman said, and the Archimage groaned at her own
stupidity. Of course! The talisman ever took her words literally, and she had
bade it search the land.

The weapon was slightly battered, but quite clean and obviously in working
order. Used in some lethal demonstration, it would command respect and fear for
its owner among both Folk and humankind in any part of the world, whether or
not the wielder was truly a member of the Star Guild. By now, other weapons
like it might also have been gathered from submarine hiding places and put to
nefarious use.

Haramis arose and stood over the sleeper's shrouded form. "Talisman, let him