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.Shoals of little islands appeared, theirshores white with fine sand.Linnaius began to sniff the air. Do you smell that, highness? Eugene pulled a face. That abominable stink? It smells like thepits of hell. Volcanic fumes.We must be approaching the archipelago. Linnaius brought the craft about whileEugene scanned the horizon for any sign of volcanic activity.He spotted a faint trace of smoke, like fineribbons of gauze darkening the brilliant blue of the sky. There! Even as he pointed, he heard the rubies begin to buzz as though they were alive. That must beTy Nagar! He could not conceal the throb of anticipation in his voice.As they sped closer, he saw the jagged volcanic cone rising out of the gauzy haze. Any signs of human habitation? He looked down at the ocean.There was not a single ship to be seen,unlike the busy waterways around Tielen. Hold tight, Linnaius cried. We ve hit crosswinds. The craft slewed suddenly to one side, thendropped like a stone.They went hurtling down toward the ocean.Eugene s ears ached with the changein pressure; he gripped the flimsy side of the craft with one hand, the other clutching the precious rubiestight.If he was thrown into the sea, the rubies could sink to the fathomless deep and never be gatheredtogether again For God s sake, Linnaius! They careered along the tops of the waves, spattered by flecks of spray, Linnaius steering erratically ashe whistled in vain for a fresh wind to carry them. I can t control her, highness Eugene grabbed the rudder from him and, one-handed, steadied the craft. Ahead he could see the volcano s dark peak looming up out of the ocean, hazed by drifts of pale smoke.The foul smell of the vapors tainted the fresh salty tang of the ocean air.He thought for a moment that hecould detect the faintest orange glow of fire around the rim of the cone& and then the billowing vaporsagain fogged his vision. What a magnificent sight, he murmured. What grandeur.What fearsome destructive power. Now the shoreline was visible, the sands as grey as cinders, with lush, dense vegetation behind, theleaves oozing moisture.Linnaius brought the craft bumping down across the sands until it skidded to a halt and Eugene relaxedhis grip on the rudder.His hands were sweating.His cramped limbs still felt the juddering of the craft,even though they had landed.Heat hung in the heavy air.It was as if he had stepped into the steam room at Swanholm.He shruggedoff his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves; the linen already felt damp.Birds, bright-feathered and raucous, darted about the liana-festooned trees. Now to find this Serpent Gate. Eugene wiped the back of his hand across hisforehead.It came away glossy with sweat.He took the rubies from the velvet pouch and held them aloft.The droning pulse grew louder; he couldfeel the jewels vibrating faster, stronger& The slender column of fiery light intensified, burning so brightlythat even in the light of the merciless sun, its flame could clearly be seen. And it points deep into the heart of the jungle. Eugene gazed a| the thick-tangled vegetation, perplexed. It could take a couple o| days to hack our way through.Damn it all, Linnaius, why didn t think of this? I ve come prepared, Linnaius said, removing a phial from hiJ robes.It contained grains that glittered adull blue in the sunlight. Is that the new firedust from Azhkendir? The same. Following the beacon s path, Linnaius began to scat) ter a trail of grains from the phial intothe jungle.The busy chatter of tree creatures began high overhead; Eugend spotted little monkeys with dark eyesstaring at them from the over| hanging branches.How Karila would love to have a pair of the prett littlecreatures with their curlicue tails and white ruffs of fur!Karila.He had set out on this journey without even bidding heJ farewell.If he perished here, so far fromhome, how would she rej member her negligent father? Would she ever forgive him for abanj doning her?Why am I thinking such morbid thoughts? When I ve opened th t Serpent Gate, I ll be invincible.Linnaius emerged from the undergrowth. I advise a strategic retreat, he said, making for the sky craft.He| lit a firestick and tossed it toward thelittle trail of glittering grainsj Eugene crouched down behind the sky craft.There was a deafening explosion.The sky turned white and the! shore beneath them trembled.Theywere flung forward onto ash-j covered sand.Although Eugene had shut his eyes, the light scorec blindingbrightness through his closed lids.When he opened his eyes| again, he could hardly see. In God s name, Linnaius, that stuff is dangerous! He sat up, the! rubies clutched in one hand, brushingsand from his clothes.His ears still jangled with the force of the blast. You could have blown us both topieces.You could have destroyed the Gate As the drifting grey smoke slowly cleared, Eugene saw that a path had been blasted right into the heart ofthe jungle.Blackened tree stumps were all that remained of a grove of trees.An eerie silence had fallen.The pretty monkeys were gone, incinerated, he guessed, along with the bright-feathered birds.But aheadhe could distinguish the remains of great stone buildings, all fallen to ruin and covered with centuriesgrowth of creepers and vines. Look. The ruby beacon pointed to the ruins. These must be the temples to the Serpent God Nagar, Linnaius said.They crunched across the carbonized remains of trees, feeling the heat through the soles of their boots.Here and there little tongues of fire still licked at the charred branches.The choking smell of burningcaught at the back of Eugene s throat.His dazzled eyes watered, yet still he followed the bloodredbeacon emanating from the stones in his hands.And then he felt the stones begin to judder, straining atthe metal casing that bound them, as if they were striving to burst free.Looming up out of the far-distant trees, he saw it.Untouched by Linnaius s blast, it still towered abovethe fallen temples at the top of a stone stairway.And it was just as Gavril Nagarian had painted it: anarchway of writhing winged serpents, carved out of grey, volcanic rock, dominated by the terrible blindhead of Nagar himself, fanged jaws gaping wide as if to swallow whole his human sacrifices.Eugene halted.He had conversed with the spirit of Artamon and he had crossed the ocean by sky craft,but nothing could have prepared him for this, the culmination of his plans and dreams.Linnaius was gazing up at the Gate in awed silence. This must be the sacrificial stair, he murmured, leading up to the gateway through which the priestssent their victims as sacrifices to Nagar.Until the day they summoned one of his daemons into thisworld It s high, Eugene said, standing beneath the archway and assessing the best way to climb it. Howironic if I came all this way, then fell to my death before I had accomplished my goal and replaced theEye? He slung the velvet pouch around his neck and grasped hold of one of the stone tails, testing for afoothold. Take care, I beg you, highness! cried Linnaius. I ve always enjoyed rock climbing. Eugene, sweating in the heavyhumidity, clung tightly to a snarling serpent-head and pulled himself farther up. I used to go bird-nestingwhen I was a boy His foot suddenly slipped off a scaly head and he dangled from his fingers, his breath coming fast.Thevolcanic fumes were making him a little dizzy.The rubies, swinging to and fro in the velvet bag, burnedhot against his chest [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Shoals of little islands appeared, theirshores white with fine sand.Linnaius began to sniff the air. Do you smell that, highness? Eugene pulled a face. That abominable stink? It smells like thepits of hell. Volcanic fumes.We must be approaching the archipelago. Linnaius brought the craft about whileEugene scanned the horizon for any sign of volcanic activity.He spotted a faint trace of smoke, like fineribbons of gauze darkening the brilliant blue of the sky. There! Even as he pointed, he heard the rubies begin to buzz as though they were alive. That must beTy Nagar! He could not conceal the throb of anticipation in his voice.As they sped closer, he saw the jagged volcanic cone rising out of the gauzy haze. Any signs of human habitation? He looked down at the ocean.There was not a single ship to be seen,unlike the busy waterways around Tielen. Hold tight, Linnaius cried. We ve hit crosswinds. The craft slewed suddenly to one side, thendropped like a stone.They went hurtling down toward the ocean.Eugene s ears ached with the changein pressure; he gripped the flimsy side of the craft with one hand, the other clutching the precious rubiestight.If he was thrown into the sea, the rubies could sink to the fathomless deep and never be gatheredtogether again For God s sake, Linnaius! They careered along the tops of the waves, spattered by flecks of spray, Linnaius steering erratically ashe whistled in vain for a fresh wind to carry them. I can t control her, highness Eugene grabbed the rudder from him and, one-handed, steadied the craft. Ahead he could see the volcano s dark peak looming up out of the ocean, hazed by drifts of pale smoke.The foul smell of the vapors tainted the fresh salty tang of the ocean air.He thought for a moment that hecould detect the faintest orange glow of fire around the rim of the cone& and then the billowing vaporsagain fogged his vision. What a magnificent sight, he murmured. What grandeur.What fearsome destructive power. Now the shoreline was visible, the sands as grey as cinders, with lush, dense vegetation behind, theleaves oozing moisture.Linnaius brought the craft bumping down across the sands until it skidded to a halt and Eugene relaxedhis grip on the rudder.His hands were sweating.His cramped limbs still felt the juddering of the craft,even though they had landed.Heat hung in the heavy air.It was as if he had stepped into the steam room at Swanholm.He shruggedoff his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeves; the linen already felt damp.Birds, bright-feathered and raucous, darted about the liana-festooned trees. Now to find this Serpent Gate. Eugene wiped the back of his hand across hisforehead.It came away glossy with sweat.He took the rubies from the velvet pouch and held them aloft.The droning pulse grew louder; he couldfeel the jewels vibrating faster, stronger& The slender column of fiery light intensified, burning so brightlythat even in the light of the merciless sun, its flame could clearly be seen. And it points deep into the heart of the jungle. Eugene gazed a| the thick-tangled vegetation, perplexed. It could take a couple o| days to hack our way through.Damn it all, Linnaius, why didn t think of this? I ve come prepared, Linnaius said, removing a phial from hiJ robes.It contained grains that glittered adull blue in the sunlight. Is that the new firedust from Azhkendir? The same. Following the beacon s path, Linnaius began to scat) ter a trail of grains from the phial intothe jungle.The busy chatter of tree creatures began high overhead; Eugend spotted little monkeys with dark eyesstaring at them from the over| hanging branches.How Karila would love to have a pair of the prett littlecreatures with their curlicue tails and white ruffs of fur!Karila.He had set out on this journey without even bidding heJ farewell.If he perished here, so far fromhome, how would she rej member her negligent father? Would she ever forgive him for abanj doning her?Why am I thinking such morbid thoughts? When I ve opened th t Serpent Gate, I ll be invincible.Linnaius emerged from the undergrowth. I advise a strategic retreat, he said, making for the sky craft.He| lit a firestick and tossed it toward thelittle trail of glittering grainsj Eugene crouched down behind the sky craft.There was a deafening explosion.The sky turned white and the! shore beneath them trembled.Theywere flung forward onto ash-j covered sand.Although Eugene had shut his eyes, the light scorec blindingbrightness through his closed lids.When he opened his eyes| again, he could hardly see. In God s name, Linnaius, that stuff is dangerous! He sat up, the! rubies clutched in one hand, brushingsand from his clothes.His ears still jangled with the force of the blast. You could have blown us both topieces.You could have destroyed the Gate As the drifting grey smoke slowly cleared, Eugene saw that a path had been blasted right into the heart ofthe jungle.Blackened tree stumps were all that remained of a grove of trees.An eerie silence had fallen.The pretty monkeys were gone, incinerated, he guessed, along with the bright-feathered birds.But aheadhe could distinguish the remains of great stone buildings, all fallen to ruin and covered with centuriesgrowth of creepers and vines. Look. The ruby beacon pointed to the ruins. These must be the temples to the Serpent God Nagar, Linnaius said.They crunched across the carbonized remains of trees, feeling the heat through the soles of their boots.Here and there little tongues of fire still licked at the charred branches.The choking smell of burningcaught at the back of Eugene s throat.His dazzled eyes watered, yet still he followed the bloodredbeacon emanating from the stones in his hands.And then he felt the stones begin to judder, straining atthe metal casing that bound them, as if they were striving to burst free.Looming up out of the far-distant trees, he saw it.Untouched by Linnaius s blast, it still towered abovethe fallen temples at the top of a stone stairway.And it was just as Gavril Nagarian had painted it: anarchway of writhing winged serpents, carved out of grey, volcanic rock, dominated by the terrible blindhead of Nagar himself, fanged jaws gaping wide as if to swallow whole his human sacrifices.Eugene halted.He had conversed with the spirit of Artamon and he had crossed the ocean by sky craft,but nothing could have prepared him for this, the culmination of his plans and dreams.Linnaius was gazing up at the Gate in awed silence. This must be the sacrificial stair, he murmured, leading up to the gateway through which the priestssent their victims as sacrifices to Nagar.Until the day they summoned one of his daemons into thisworld It s high, Eugene said, standing beneath the archway and assessing the best way to climb it. Howironic if I came all this way, then fell to my death before I had accomplished my goal and replaced theEye? He slung the velvet pouch around his neck and grasped hold of one of the stone tails, testing for afoothold. Take care, I beg you, highness! cried Linnaius. I ve always enjoyed rock climbing. Eugene, sweating in the heavyhumidity, clung tightly to a snarling serpent-head and pulled himself farther up. I used to go bird-nestingwhen I was a boy His foot suddenly slipped off a scaly head and he dangled from his fingers, his breath coming fast.Thevolcanic fumes were making him a little dizzy.The rubies, swinging to and fro in the velvet bag, burnedhot against his chest [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]