"Will McDermott - Magic the Gathering - Odyssey Cycle 03 - Judgement" - читать интересную книгу автора (McDermott Will)

CHAPTER 2
Laquatas, former mer ambassador to the now-defunct Cabal City, former advisor to the now-dead
Emperor Aboshan, and former failed usurper of the still-ruling Empress Llawan, was not a happy merman.
He floated in a circle around his chamber, looking at velum-coated maps tacked onto sea urchins, flipping
his tail methodically to move precisely from one map to the next.
"Nothing!" roared the angry mer as he ripped a map off the wall and flung it toward the corner of the
room. As the ambassador slumped into his chair, the torn map floated to the floor next to the stoic Burke,
the mer's jack. Burke was a bruise-black lump of a humanoid, with no eyes, no nose, and no mouth.
Completely featureless, he looked like nothing more than an unfinished statue standing in the corner.
Yet at a mental command from Laquatas, Burke stooped over, retrieved a crumpled-up map from
behind him, swam effortlessly to the wall, and tacked the map onto the urchins.
Laquatas watched Burke and thought hack to the day that Chainer had created the jack for him, back
before the Mirari destroyed the young dementia summoner, and with him the ambassador's chance to take
over Llawan's throne. On that fateful day, just weeks earlier, Chainer had dispatched dementia creatures to
aid in the ambassador's civil war, but those reinforcements disappeared at a crucial moment. Laquatas had
felt the surge of power and subsequent shift in the Mirari from Chainer to Kamahl and had deduced what
had happened to his mercenaries.
Now I am stranded in this damnable chasm by that sea witch's trickery, thought Laquatas as he
slammed his fists on the table, dislodging the snails that held yet another map spread out before him. That
was what galled the ambassador the most. He had been outmaneuvered, outwitted, and outsmarted by the
Empress-a cephalid. A female cephalid!
"I will kill her!" screamed Laquatas as he slammed his fist down on the nearest snail, smashing it into
powder and sludge.
Now the ambassador spent most of his days in this chamber, waiting for word from one of his
subordinates that somebody had found a way to get his armies past the magical barriers that Llawan's
sorcerers had created to trap him in this large, worthless, underwater prison.
Laquatas altered his tail into two long legs with a thought and plopped his legs up on the table. He
began contemplating the horrible tortures he would inflict upon Llawan once he had tracked down and killed
that brutish barbarian and taken the Mirari from his cold, dead hands. A knock at the door broke Laquatas
out of his favorite reverie. "Come," yelled the ambassador, looking up at the door.
The door slid open slowly, and a crablike creature scuttled into the room. "I have news for you, sir,
from your royal mages."
As soon as Laquatas saw the crab enter the room, he knew she bore bad news. Her name was
Simone, a minor bureaucrat who had joined his rebellion only when it looked as if he would win. Nothing
more than a bean counter during her days in the empire, she had no real value in the chasm.
Laquatas only remembered her name because she had the annoying habit of wearing her abacus on a
long chain on her back. The fact that his senior advisors had sent Simone in to deliver the news told
Laquatas to expect the worst. He wasn't disappointed.
"The council of mages has determined that levitation is not a viable alternative. The constant winds
that assail the cliffs of Onara are simply too treacherous, and they cannot control the ascent long enough to
reach the top...." Her voice trailed off as Laquatas flipped his legs off the table, transformed them back into
a tail, and floated up from the chair.
"Go on," smiled Laquatas. "I'm sure you have more to report."
Simone scuttled back a step before continuing. "The mages say they have lost fully two dozen subjects
in their trials, and they are hesitant to continue the experiments lest they severely deplete our forces."
"Is that all?" asked Laquatas, gliding toward the back of the room.
"N-no, sir," replied Simone, her voice quivering even more.
"I didn't think so," said Laquatas, smiling once again at the crab. "Please, tell me everything. I need to
know."