"Роджер Желязны. Lord of Light (Лорд Света, engl) " - читать интересную книгу автора

the direction of the mountains, slowly doubling back upon itself. At times,
it met with other hard-packed, yellow trails, dividing, crossing, parting.
On these occasions, he descended to the ground and studied the surface
markings. Yes, Sam had turned here; Sam had stopped beside this
pool to
drink-- here, where the orange mushrooms grew taller than a tall man, and
wide enough to shelter several from the rains; now, Sam had taken that
branch of the roadway; here, he had stopped to fix a sandal strap; at this
point, he had leaned upon a tree, which showed indications of housing a
dryad. . . .
Tak moved on, about half an hour behind his quarry, as he judged it--
so giving him plenty of time to get to wherever he was going and to begin
whatever activity so engaged his enthusiasms. A halo of heat lightning
reached above the mountains he was now facing. There was another rumble of
thunder. The trail headed on up into the foothills, where the forest
thinned, and Tak moved on all fours amid tall grasses. It headed steadily
upward, and rocky outcroppings became more and more prominent. Still, Sam
had passed this way, so Tak followed.
Overhead, the pollen-colored Bridge of the Gods vanished as the clouds
rolled steadily eastward. Lightning flashed, and now the thunder followed
quickly. The wind came faster here in the open; the grasses bent down before
it; the temperature seemed suddenly to plummet.
Tak felt the first drops of rain and dashed for the shelter of one of
the stands of stone. It ran like a narrow hedge, slightly slanted against
the rain. Tak moved along its base as the waters were unleashed and color
deserted the world along with the last bit of blue in the sky.
A sea of turbulent light appeared overhead, and three times spilled
streams that rode crazy crescendo down to splash upon the stone fang curving
blackly into the wind, about a quarter mile up the slope.
When Tak's vision cleared, he saw that which he did now understand. It
was as though each bolt that had fallen had left a part of itself, standing,
swaying in the gray air, pulsing fires, despite the wetness that came
steadily down upon the ground.
Then Tak heard the laughter-- or was it a ghost sound left in his ears
by the recent thunder?
No, it was laughter-- gigantic, unhuman!
After a time, there came a howl of rage. Then there was another flash,
another rumble.
Another funnel of fire swayed beside the stone fang.
Tak lay still for about five minutes. Then it came again-- the howl,
followed by three bright flashes and the crash.
Now there were seven pillars of fire. Dared he approach, skirting these
things, spying upon the fang peak from its opposite side?
And if he did, and if-- as he felt-- Sam was somehow involved, what
good could he do if the Enlightened One himself could not handle the
situation?
He had no answer, but he found himself moving forward, crouched low in
the damp grass, swinging far to his left.
When he was halfway there it happened again, and ten of the things
towered, red and gold and yellow, drifting and returning, drifting and