"Karl Edward Wagner - Cold Light" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wagner Karl Edward)

I began to cut across his blood stained trail too often for me to
doubt his existence among us!
"Legends—there are countless legends if you travel far enough
to hear them! It's astonishing how far back these tales go in man's
history. A lot of these things may well be spurious or latter day
reinterpretations, but there are enough common themes to make
me give serious consideration to many points. These legends tell
that Kane is immortal—further that he was one of the first true
men! They say Kane rebelled against his creator—some forgotten
god who had attempted to create in mankind a perfect race
modeled according to his own warped ideal. This god had failed
many times before he finally created a golden race that he kept in
a sheltered paradise for his own amusement. It's not clear how,
but evidently Kane provoked this golden race of men to revolt
from their paradise existence—even killed his own brother when
be tried to prevent this. Kane's defiance and murderous violence
resulted in the destruction of the golden age, with the subsequent
scattering of humanity across the ancient earth. Kane himself was
doomed by this god with the curse of immortality! A curse of
eternal wandering, never to know peace, haunted by the spectre
of the violence he introduced to mankind—marked an outcast
from humanity by the brand of his eyes, a killer's eyes! Only
through violence such as he engendered can he die, but
throughout the centuries no man has been able to destroy Kane in
this his own element!
"Well, that's the gist of the oldest legends, and of course you
can't tell where to draw the line with these old tales. But there are
too many other legends and sagas over the centuries in which the
name of Kane appears to lay this entirely to chance or to
recurrent poetic theme! A few facts appear certain. Kane has
lived for at least a few centuries—he is not the first agent of evil
endowed with preternatural longevity by any means—and during
this time he has brought nothing but death and destruction
wherever he has wandered! Catastrophic violence seems to
slither behind him like a shadow! And Kane has generally been
the author of this bloodshed and ruin! He has engaged in the most
hideous acts of black sorcery—the wizards of Carsultyal even
drove him from their land in abhorrence at one time! He has been
a pirate, a bandit, an assassin—committed countless numbers of
violent deeds! He has gathered and led gigantic armies and navies
against peaceful lands for purpose of conquest and pillage! He
has ruled nations as the blackest of tyrants. He has been involved
with—often instigated—numberless conspiracies to overthrow
lawful governments! His name has become a byword for
treachery over the centuries!
"I'm not just rehashing a bunch of fantastic legends for you to
hear! Men who are with me today will attest to his guilt—they
have seen Kane's insane deeds with their own eyes!" It was
essential to Gaethaa that Gavein and his people recognize the
justice of his mission—fully appreciate the infamy of Kane. "Talk