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

had deserted when they thought more about the man whom they
were seeking. At Omlipttei outlaws had mistaken them for a
troop of the Lomarni guard; their ambush had slain many. And
when they at last had reached Demornte, many had not trusted
the triple spell which Cereb Ak-Cetee swore would protect them
from the dreaded plague. They had tried to desert; Gaethaa had
pronounced them traitors and thus servants of evil, and he had
ordered all deserters executed. The fight had been short and
vicious, for these were hardened warriors. At the end there were
left only Gaethaa and eight of his men to ride to Sebbei, where
Cereb Ak-Cetee's magic had shown Kane to be staying.
We are enough, said Gaethaa. We must not give this demon a
chance to escape his doom. And so they had followed him into
the ghostland of Demornte.
Gaethaa—called also Gaethaa the Crusader, the Good, the
Avenger—had fallen heir to extensive baronial estates in
Kamathae. As a boy he had spent most of his time in the
company of his family's men-at-arms. He had grown to despise
the pampered luxury and wasteful existence of his class, and to
yearn for adventures like those the men talked of by the fires. At
manhood he had resolved to use his wealth to fight the battles of
the oppressed, to seek out and destroy the creatures of evil who
preyed upon mankind. He was a fanatic in the cause of good, and
once he had recognized a center of evil, he trampled over every
obstacle that would hinder him from burning it clean. For several
years he had marched forth against petty tyrants, evil wizards,
robber barons, outlaw packs, and monsters human and inhuman.
Always he had vanquished evil in the name of good, shackled
chaos with law. And now he rode against Kane, a name that had
always fascinated him, but which he had half regarded as
legendary, until he began to realize the truth that lay in the
fantastic tales of this man. Kane would be a magnificent
challenge for Gaethaa the Crusader.
Alidore had followed him from the first. A younger son of
impoverished Lartroxian gentry, he had left home early and had
passed through Kamathae when Gaethaa was organizing his first
mission. Gaethaa's idealism was mirrored in Alidore, and the
young man had joined him with unfailing enthusiasm. Through all
of Gaethaa's campaigns he had followed faithfully and fought
bravely against all odds. Now he was Gaethaa's lieutenant and
most trusted friend. Alidore would follow wherever his lord
should lead and fight beside him with the same unfaltering zeal of
idealism.
Cereb Ak-Cetee was a young wizard from the plains of
Tranodeli. He looked like a gawking hayseed choirboy in his
silken mage's cloak, but be was very far from harmless. Cereb
needed wealth and experience before he could pursue his training
to the not inconsiderable height of his ambitions. Gaethaa had
noted the sorcerer's skill in penetrating defenses and ferreting out
fugitives, and he paid Cereb handsomely for his services.