Pilgrim. Sara Douglass

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СКАЧАТЬ of the Demons — Drago could not tell which — screamed, and StarLaughter cried out and jerked to a halt.

      Behind her, the dark horses milled and tossed their heads, pawing at the ground, although whether in fear or ecstasy, Drago could not tell.

      The Lake began to boil — to seethe.

      “What is happening?” Faraday whispered, one of her hands clutching Drago’s arm in tight fingers.

      “They are channelling the power Raspu and Rox have gathered into the water.”

      “But they are —”

      “Destroying it. Yes, I know. Faraday, I … I don’t think this Lake will ever be quite the same once the Demons have worked their will with it.”

      Faraday remembered what she and Zenith had seen when they’d walked the shadowlands: Grail Lake burned so completely away that the waters had disappeared to reveal the Maze beneath. A Maze that had grown to envelop Carlon. A Maze that had held such horror Faraday could hardly bear to remember it.

      She lowered her head and closed her eyes. This was a beloved Lake, and she could not bear to see it die.

      The next instant her head jerked up and her eyes opened as a sharp crack sounded behind her. She twisted about, and gasped. The trees were writhing and moaning, their bark splintering, yellowish cracks appearing in trunks and branches alike.

      “Drago!”

      “I can do nothing, Faraday. What do you want me to do? What? Whatever I am supposed to be, or supposed to do, lies at the foot of this Lake — at the moment I can do nothing!”

      Faraday linked her arm through his, and leaned against him. “I’m sorry, Drago. I … this Lake is special to me. It is hard watching it die.”

      “They are all special,” Drago said, and somewhere in a corner of his mind came the unbidden thought, And they will all die.

      No!

      The scene before them had turned into a nightmare. The water was boiling, great bubbles breaking the surface to send gouts of golden mist spurting into the night air. Soon the trees nearest the water’s edge were laced with tendrils of gold.

      The Demons were forcing the Lake to empty out its life over the Silent Woman Woods.

      Beyond the seething water the Demons still stood in a line, but they were rocking and twisting violently, and screaming and shrieking unintelligibly. StarLaughter was crouched at one end of the line, by Sheol’s feet, staring at the water.

      She was laughing.

      Suddenly the entire Lake exploded.

      Drago threw himself over Faraday, rolling her as far behind the nearest tree as he could get her. He felt something crawl over his back, and almost screamed before he realised it was the feathered lizard. It scrambled under one of his arms and thrust its head under the neckline of his tunic, its feet scrabbling, trying to drive itself completely inside.

      “Cursed —” Drago began, catching at the lizard with one hand, trying to prevent it getting any further, when a frightful silence fell as suddenly over the Lake and forest as the explosion had erupted only moments before.

      Drago slowly raised his head, Faraday beside him.

      The lizard took the opportunity to scramble completely inside Drago’s tunic.

      But even the frantic tickling of its feet could not tear Drago’s eyes from the sight before him.

      The golden waters had vanished. Now the slope of the forest floor continued down, down, down …

      Down into another forest, one not of wood and leaves, but of crystal and gold.

      The Demons and StarLaughter had disappeared.

       10 The Crystal Forest

      StarLaughter stood and stared. She could hardly believe the beauty of the crystal forest. She lifted one hand and stroked the trunk of the tree nearest her. It was cool and solid, but somehow vibrant.

      “Exquisite,” she said.

      The Demons were grouped two or three trees beyond her. StarLaughter could see their dark and distorted forms through the transparent trunks.

      “Dangerous,” Barzula said. He had his arms wrapped about himself, and his golden eyes flickered uncertainly at the trees.

      StarLaughter walked up to them, slipping a little on the glassy footing, and noting that the golden leaves of the trees — and how smooth and silky they felt! — were exactly the same shade as Barzula’s eyes.

      “Dangerous?” she said. “How so?”

      Mot rounded on her, baring sharp teeth, but he pulled himself up at the look of surprise on StarLaughter’s face.

      “A trap,” he said, and waved his hand about. A thousand hands reflected back at him from a myriad of trunks and branches. “This is a trap designed by the Enemy.”

      StarLaughter frowned, and tightened her hold on her son. “You must not let it harm him.”

      “Fear not, Queen of Heaven.” Sheol slipped an arm about StarLaughter’s shoulders and gave her a brief hug. “No harm shall come to your son. Now …”

      Her tone suddenly brisk, Sheol turned to Rox. “How do we proceed? Which way?”

      Rox shrugged. “Down. Everything slopes down. The Enemy’s craft is down. What we need is down.”

      “Then why do we still stand here?” StarLaughter asked, raising one eyebrow. She shifted her son to a more comfortable position, and took a step forward. “Can’t you use your power to scry out the … the place?”

      Rox looked at the others. “Shall I? It is my time — my power grows each minute as terror feeds off this pitiful land.”

      “We need to move,” Raspu agreed. “If we stand about and wait the trap will only snap shut.”

      But will it snap shut the instant we move? Sheol shared her thought with her companion Demons, but not with StarLaughter.

      Rox looked her in the eye. There is only one way to find out.

      Sheol nodded. “We must risk it. Let loose your terror, Rox. Shatter these trees, and find the hiding place for us.”

      Rox smiled. He shifted so that he stood with his feet wide apart, and tipped back his head. His grin widened, became more feral, then he spread his arms out wide, his fingers trembling slightly … and screamed.

      Terror raged through the trees. Every nightmare possible, every fear imaginable, every horror that was ever conceived, flooded rampant through the crystal forest.

      Far away, hidden СКАЧАТЬ