"Lawrence Watt-Evans - Dus 1 - Lure Of The Basilisk" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watt-Evans Lawrence)

light; he had a few dry splinters of wood in his belt-pouch, as well as flint
and steel, and carefully struck a spark to one of these. It caught almost
immediately, to his relief, and smoldered a dull red, casting little light but
enough for Garth's purposes.
The room he was in was indeed large, and richly furnished; although he
could see little detail, he could see that the floor was lost beneath
overlapping carpets, the walls shrouded in tapestries that caught the light
where gold had been woven in, the great oaken table that stood in the center
of the room elaborately carven and its chairs luxuriously upholstered. The
room was apparently a dining chamber of some sort. Heavy wooden shutters
covered what Garth decided must be openings into the courtyard, most likely
equipped with outer doors of glass like the ones he had seen upstairs. A
cavernous fireplace occupied the far end of the chamber, and to his left two
large wooden doors led, presumably, to other parts of the palace. It was under
the nearer of these portals that a light suddenly sprang up. Instantly Garth
dropped his glowing twig and crushed it underfoot while reaching for his sword
hilt with his other hand. He waited as footsteps sounded dimly through the
closed door, approaching slowly and casually. When they paused he realized he
was holding his breath, and let it out carefully. There came the sound of a
cabinet opening, the sound of its latch and the squeal of its hinges too
highpitched for a full-sized door. Something was moved about, then the cabinet
was closed again. Through this Garth stood motionless, alert and ready for
whatever should happen. At last the footsteps sounded again, retreating this
time. The light grew dimmer, then went out, leaving Garth once again in utter
darkness.
Slowly, the overman relaxed. That was as close as he cared to come to
being discovered by Shang. He considered his next move carefully; he knew that
Shang made use of the basilisk's venom in some way, from the wizard's own
words, and he had just heard him either obtain something from storage or
restore it to its place. Therefore it did not seem unlikely that the next room
was where the basilisk venom was kept, for what could the wizard be moving
about other than magical apparatus? Also, what point would there be in storing
such a dangerous commodity further than necessary from its source? Quite
possibly the entrance to the catacombs lay very near, beyond the door he now
faced. If not, it was not unreasonable to think that a clue to where that
entrance did lie might be found with the basilisk venom. It seemed plain that
that room bore investigating. Shang had just visited it, and so would
presumably not return immediately-though he might, of course; care was
necessary-so that time should not be wasted. His decision made, Garth crossed
to the doorway, finding his way by touch and memory, and groped for the
door-handle. He found it and worked the latch. The door began to swing open of
its own accord. It had apparently been hung badly. However, since it swung
silently, Garth made no move to stop it; instead he stepped through when the
opening was wide enough. After a moment's thought, he caught the door and
swung it closed again, catching the latch and lowering it soundlessly in
place; although this cut off one possible route of retreat, or at least put a
delay in it, that seemed less important than leaving such an obvious proof of
his presence should Shang investigate this room while Garth was elsewhere.
The room he was in was dark, though not so black as the dining hall;
traces of light slipped in under half a dozen closed doors on two sides of the