Tim Powers The Drawing of the Dark

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The piper ignored the prostrate, gasping form of the Irishman and rushed to
its slain fellow, lifted the corpse, and flapped heavily away up into the
night sky.
Duffy lay where he was, panting like a dog as his drying blood glued his hilts
to his ravaged hands, and followed the flier with his eyes until the thing
disappeared over the roofs.
'With all due modesty,' Werner was saying, raising his voice to be heard over
the usual dining room din, 'here I have been hiding my light under a bushel
basket. Burying the talents I was entrusted with, instead of going out and
investing them.'
Aurelianus smiled. 'You must let me see some of your verses before you go,
Werner.'
The innkeeper wrinkled his forehead. 'Well, I'm not certain you'd get much out
of them. They're pretty esoteric - full of obscure allusions to the classical
philosophers; and I don't confine my muse to the pasture of any one language.
I write, frankly, for the ultra-sophisticated .the literati . .the initiates.'
He took a sip of his burgundy. 'It's a lonely craft, fully appreciated only by
others like myself. Why, Johann was telling me - that's Johann Kretchmer, you
know - he was saying that when he read his Observatii ab Supra Velar to the
Emperor Charles himself, Charles clearly missed half the references. As a
matter of fact, he even missed a very derogatory reference to himself, so
couched was the passage in oriental imagery!' Werner dissolved in giggles at
the very idea, shaking his head pityingly.
'Think of that,' sympathized Aurelianus. 'Well, we'll miss you. About
Christmas, you think?'
'Yes. Johann and I plan to tour Greece and Italy, bask in the auras left by
the great minds of the past.'
A trifle cold for a long journey, won't it be? Midwinter?'
Werner looked around, then leaned forward. 'Not necessarily. Johann has read
the works of
Radzivilius, Sacroboscus and Laurentius, and he has solved the mystery of
radical heat and moisture.'
'I'll be damned. In that case, then, I guess you - what is it, Anna?'
The serving girl's face was cross, scared and impatient. 'It's Brian. He just
came back and he's -
'- Got into another drunken brawl, evidently,' finished
Werner, looking past Anna at Duffy's unsteadily approaching figure. '1 don't
like to be mundane, Aurelianus, but that man is one of the reasons for my
Planning to leave. In the grossest manner he has -Aurelianus was staring at
Duffy, who now stood beside the table. Leave us, Werner,' he rasped. 'No, not
another Word! Off!' -
Duffy collapsed onto the bench Werner vacated. 'A cup of beer, Anna,' he
whispered.
'Go to the cellar, Anna,' Aurelianus said. 'Tell Gambrinus I said to draw a
tall tankard of the bock for Duffy.' She nodded and hurried away. 'What has
happened?'
The Irishman laughed weakly. 'Oh, nothing much. Two black devils came out of
the sky and tried to make a shish-kebabby out of me.' He reached across the
table and tapped the old sorcerer's chest with a blood-browned finger. 'And I
want answers to some questions, clear and quick.'
'Of course, of course. Black devils, you say? flying ones? Great God. When
Anna gets back we'll go...I don't know...into the kitchen, and you can tell me
the whole story. Yes, yes, and I'll tell you what I know.' He looked up.
'Jock! Jock, lad! Get over here.'
A tall, rangy young man loped across the room to the table. That's a familiar
face, the Irishman thought. Where do I know you from, Jock?'
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Aurelianus' fingers clutched the baggy green satin of the man's sleeve. 'Go to
the King,' the old sorcerer whispered hoarsely, 'all four of you, and guard
him - with much more than your lives! An expected danger has shown up at an
unexpected hour. Stay with him through the night, and come back when it's full
dawn. I'll have made some sort of arrangements by then, I trust. Go!'
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Jock nodded and sprinted to the servants' hail without ever having looked at
Duffy. The old man was snapping his fingers impatiently. 'Where the hell - oh,
here she is. Grab your beer and follow me.'
'Somebody's -got to bind up his cuts,' Anna protested, 'or his hands will
mortify.'
'Hush, girl,' said Aurelianus, flapping his hands at her. 'I was patching up
wounded men long before you were born. Come along, uh. . .Brian.'
Duffy obediently took hold of the tankard, carrying it carefully in both [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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