"Zelazny, Roger - Amber 08 - Sign Of Chaos" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

I dragged him toward the righthand tunnel because it was the smaller of the
two and would theoretically be a bit easier to defend. We had barely achieved
its shelter when the two beasts fell through the opening, clutching and tearing
at each other. They commenced rolling about the floor of the cave, claws
clicking, uttering hisses and whistles as they tore at each other. They seemed
to have forgotten us entirely, and I continued our retreat until we were well
back in the tunnel.
I could only assume Random's guess to be correct. After all, he was a
musician and he'd played all over Shadow. Also, I couldn't come up with anything
better.
I summoned the Sign of the Logrus. When I had it clear and had meshed my
hands with it, I might have used it to strike at the fighting beasts. But they
were paying me no heed whatsoever, and I'd no desire to attract their attention.
Also, I'd no assurance that the equivalent of being hit by a two-by-four would
have much effect on them. Besides, my order was ready, and filling it took
precedence.
So I reached.
It took an interminable time. There was an extremely wide area of Shadow to
pass though before I found what I was looking for. Then I had to do it again.
And again. There were a number of things I wanted, and none of them near.
In the meantime, the combatants showed no sign of slackening, and their
claws struck sparks from the cave's walls. They had cut each other in countless
places and were now covered with dark gore. Luke had awakened during all of
this, propped himself, and was staring fascinated at the colorful conflict. How
long it might hold his attention I could not tell. It would be important for me
to have him awake very soon now, and I was pleased that he had not started
thinking of other matters yet.
I was cheering, by the way, for the Jabberwock. It was just a nasty beast
and need not have been homing in on me in particular when it was distracted by
the arrival of its exotic nemesis. The Fire Angel had been playing an entirely
different game. There was no reason for a Fire Angel to be stalking about this
far from Chaos unless it had been sent. They're devilish hard to capture, harder
to train, and dangerous to handle. So they represent a considerable expense and
hazard. One does not invest in a Fire Angel lightly. Their main purpose in life
is killing, and to my knowledge no one outside the Courts of Chaos has ever
employed one. They've a vast array of senses--some of them, apparently,
paranormal--and they can be used as Shadow bloodhounds. They don't wander
through Shadow on their own, that I know of. But a Shadowwalker can be tracked,
and Fire Angels seem to be able to follow a very cold trail once they've been
imprinted with the victim's identity. Now, I had been trumped to that crazy bar,
and I didn't know they could follow a Trump jump, but several other
possibilities occurred to me--including someone's locating me, transporting the
thing to my vicinity, and turning it loose to do its business. Whatever the
means, though, the attempt had the mark of the Courts upon it. Hence, my quick
conversion to Jabberwock fandom.
"What's going on?" Luke asked me suddenly, and the walls of the cave faded
for a moment and I heard a faint strain of music.
"It's tricky," I said. "Listen, it's time for your medicine."
I dumped out a palmful of the vitamin B12 tabs I had just brought in and
uncapped the water bottle I had also summoned.