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

Blindness clutched tightly in his fist.
To his astonishment, Shang ignored him; he said nothing, made no
threatening move. Instead he peered into the gloomy kitchen as a drunkard
would peer into an empty bottle, as if he had expected and wanted to see
something that wasn't there.
Not yet accepting his good fortune, Garth held his breath and stood
ready, the slow realization that something was wrong seeping into his brain;
be could not see the end of his sword, which should be well within his field
of vision. Had he drawn the dirk by mistake? No, the weight difference would
have told him of his error. He looked down, to be suddenly overwhelmed with a
most peculiar form of vertigo; he could not see his hands, nor his legs, nor
any other portion of his body or attire; his sword was as invisible as air. It
was a very strange and unsettling experience, as if he were somehow adrift in
midair; yet his other senses told him that he still stood with his feet firmly
on the ground, with sword in hand.


CHAPTER SIX

Shang stood in the doorway for a long moment, staring into the seemingly empty
darkness. Then, with a shrug, he stepped back a pace and reached to one side,
his hand disappearing around the doorframe to reappear almost immediately,
clutching the stub of a torch. Casually, as if he had dismissed the
possibility of an ambush, the wizard strolled into the kitchen and looked
about. Seeing the kettle where it lay by Garth's now-invisible boot, he
crossed the room, picked it up, and placed it on the table with a slight
frown. Garth stood utterly unmoving, not even daring to breathe for fear he
should be detected somehow. The wizard's hand passed within a few inches of
his foot, and the overman wondered what would happen should Shang touch him.
Elmil had said the jewel rendered the user invisible, inaudible, and
intangible; then would the wizard's hand pass through him? Would he feel it?
Would it harm him?
He had no opportunity to find out, as Shang did not happen to touch him.
Instead, the thaumaturge, after restoring the kettle to its place, used his
bit of torch to light a hanging oil lamp, then tossed the stub into the
fireplace, where it was lost amid a shower of gray ash. The lamp flared up
brightly for an instant, then subsided to a smoky and malodorous glow as Shang
began opening and rummaging in various cabinets; he placed a plate of cheese
on the table beside the kettle, then continued, apparently searching for
something. Finally, with a noise of disgust, he slammed the last cabinet and
crossed to a door, the same door Garth had planned to try. In the flickering
lamplight the overman noticed that a heavy padlock held the door shut. He
carefully considered, as quickly as he could, what this could signify; why
would one door be locked when others were not? It guarded something
valuable-perhaps the crypts, where the basilisk lived?
He had no time for further thought, as Shang turned a massive key in the
lock and swung the door open; if he was to get inside that door; speed was
essential. He ran through the door a fraction of a second before the wizard
himself stepped casually through, pulling it shut behind him.
Unfortunately, the door opened on a narrow landing at the head of a