[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

gone. So hot, in fact, that even the Power of the Straight Track is disrupted,
and that is another kind of Power entirely. Fortunately the Tracks are strong,
and the burning slow, else your World might not long survive.
 So it s heat that keeps the Sidhe from touching iron?
Oisin nodded.  Though they may touch it briefly, even as you might pass your
hand through a candle flame and not be burned, if you do it quickly enough.
 Can it kill? Is its touch fatal?
Oisin sighed restlessly.  That, too, is a hard thing to answer. For one must
ask, what is fatal? Life and death are not precisely the same with your kind
and with the Sidhe. In your world the body controls the spirit to a great
degree. The opposite is true in Faerie: There the spirit controls the body;
there one who has the skill may alter the form he wears. It is all related to
that difference in proportion I told you of. And there is another thing: The
spirits of mortal men are usually bound to the substance of their world alone.
The Sidhe may wrap their spirits in the substance of eitherp. 198world in
either place.
But when wearing
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
the substance of the world of men, the Sidhe are bound to its laws and thus
may be as easily slain by iron as any ordinary mortal. That body, at least,
dies; the spirit is forced to flee, but without the strength of its mortal
substance to draw upon, it must find its way through the Walls between the
Worlds before it can wrap itself in its original substance.
 On the other hand, if, while wearing the substance of Faerie, one should be
Page 117
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
wounded by iron, the fire of that wound would gradually consume that body. He
who wore it would flee the pain of that consumption, and be forced to build
another body, which can be a long and painful process, but even then the wound
would never truly heal; it would be as if the spirit itself were scarred. One
must then spend eternity in torment, or follow the Tracks to other . . .
places, where the laws that govern such things are different. If anyone ever
understands all the laws that govern all the Worlds, he will be a learned man
indeed.
Someday you may get a chance to walk those other Roads and find that out for
yourself. The Sidhe do not own them.
David looked puzzled.
Oisin smiled sympathetically.  It is confusing, I know. But there is no time
to say more now, and Lugh watches me closely. I have told you little that
would be of real use to you, though much on which you may reflect. As to
aiding your kinsmen, the only thing I can tell you to do is hope.
Oisin straightened and stretched.  I am sorry, David, that I could be of no
more help to you. But remember that there must be a solution; every use of
Power has a counter. If your kinsmen are no better for this meeting, at least
they are no worse, for both may live indefinitely as they are. And you have
Power of your own to see you through, and a greater power than that, even, in
your two young friends.
Do not underestimate them.
David released the breath he had been unconsciously holding.  How is it you
know these things?
Oisin smiled.  Magic, of course, or Power. Power calls to Power, and spirit
may cast shadows the same as matter. With us such things are as obvious as the
falling of leaves in autumn. Now Begone! Take the
Straight Track home; it crosses the road uphill from here. Step on it and
enjoy what you find. I do not think you need to fear the Sidhe tonight, for
the things of this world arep. 199often echoed in that, and while I sense
Ailill s hand in this storm, it is not entirely of his making. The Sidhe
cannot entirely close off their World from yours, and this storm will be felt
even in Faerie as a scattering of raindrops among the flowers. Now go!
And Oisin was gone, simply not there. Once again David stood in darkness and
in rain.
Funny, David thought a short while later, he had rarely been higher up the
mountain than the turnoff to
Lookout Rock though the road went upward a fair way further. But the Straight
Track did run lower down, so it must cross up here somewhere. He trudged on up
the mountain as rain bit at him again, yet somehow its force was diminished.
The road made a fairly sharp turn to the east, and ahead he could barely make
out something glimmering faintly golden among the raindrops. As he drew
nearer, he saw that it was indeed the Straight Track, a slash of summer day
painted across the wet Georgia night with a brush of magic. Had the Sight not
wakened his eyes, he would have crossed it unaware.
He stepped into that narrow belt, and it was day, though he could see the rain
splashing on either side.
The air smelled good, and the trees were dry where they overhung the Track.
The way was narrow, only five or six feet wide, but David did not care; the
grass was soft, the air sweet and warm, and the sun! The
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
sun was shining. Or something was maybe not the sun, for the light was too
rich, like the light of early morning or of twilight, or of the two mixed.
David set off down the mountainside, sliding sometimes at steep places, but
without concern or injury.
He ripped off his muddy poncho and threw it aside as an almost irrational joy
welled up inside him. He had no more answers than before, but now he thought
Page 118
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
he could face his problems. It was as though the forced stagnation of his [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

  • zanotowane.pl
  • doc.pisz.pl
  • pdf.pisz.pl
  • supermarket.pev.pl

    •