"John Moore - Heroics for Beginners" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moore John)

glow came from a square of glass set into the side of the shaft. Behind it was a candle. Below the glass
was a small metal plaque. Thunklay down in the shaft and put his nose nearly against it, barely able to
make out the etching. It showed a vertical shaft descending against a black background and branching
out into four horizontal shafts. At the intersection was a small dot, with an arrow pointing to it. The arrow
was labeled "You Are Here."

Thunk had plenty in the way of physical courage and a good deal of native cunning, but not much of a
sense of humor. He grunted and unsheathed his sword, keeping it pointed in front of him. It was obvious
now that he had descended into a trap. A trap set by someone whodid have a sense of humor. Not a
clever sense of humor, mind you, but some wise guy had made the attempt. Thunk looked at the
entrances to the four shafts and debated which one to take. All of them, he suspected, would turn out
badly. He considered climbing back up the shaft and forcing his way through the turnstile. Then he
looked at the glass plate and the lamp.

Someone had to light the candle. Someone had to replace it when it burned down. There must be a door
in back of it, one that led into the castle. He peered through the glass. Yes, in the back of the alcove he
could see the edges of an access panel. The Barbarian Swordsman hesitated not a moment before
reversing his sword and smashing the hilt into the glass plate.

Immediately the shaft began to fill with gas.

Thunk's instinctive reaction was to draw a deep breath and hold it. But it was already too late to avoid
getting a lungful of gas. His nostrils filled with a faint, opium-like scent, his ears filled with the hissing of a
gas valve. And just before he lost consciousness he heard something else. It was far away and very faint,
barely audible under the gas noise. But he was sure he heard the sound of evil laughter.

***

There were fairy-tale kingdoms, twenty of them, clustered on the edge of an ancient and primitive land, a
land of magic and mystery, where crystal waterfalls dropped from icy peaks and wild beasts skulked in
hidden glens, where castles guarded the cities and wishing wells dotted the countryside. It was peopled
by lords and ladies and knights and scholars, by wizards and witches and bandits and intrepid travelers
who were always told that yes, it really was safe to drink the water in any of the Twenty Kingdoms but to
be on the safe side you might want to boil it first, or just stick to beer and wine. Not all of the twenty
were actually ruled by kings. Some were ruled by queens and a few were more or less constitutional
monarchies. But all of them were definitely fairy-tale kingdoms.

Now fairy tale is a rather broad definition. Here, it does not refer to the children's storybook type of
fairy tale, populated by cutesy talking neutered animals. In the Twenty Kingdoms the cartographers filled
the blank spaces on their maps with the warning, "Here Be Dragons." The cartographers weren't kidding
around. And the dragons didn't talk either.

But neither were they the gruesome and grim sort of fairy-tale lands, describing the kind of place where
wicked stepmothers not only killed their children but boiled them into soup and served it up at royal
banquets. Oh sure, there were evil villains and awful crimes, but they weren't the norm.
 It is more the romantic type of fairy tale that is being referred to here, for the Twenty Kingdoms were
lands of gallant knights and elegant ladies.Lands where polite discourse and courtly manners were
interspersed with fiery speeches and deadly duels.Lands of dramatic gestures and passionate romances.
Real romance, that is.Heartfelt love.Tender emotion.Devoted adoration.Caring.Sensitivity. Not that hot,
sexy, bodice-ripping sort of romance that was so popular in the more decadent kingdoms. There was