[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Again things were not quite as Adrian had thought to find them.It was as if the soil had somehow been extracted from underneath, and the surface from which the tile would have to be removed was concave, with its lowest central portion under half a meter or more of standing water, at about the level of the surface of the nearby pool.This encroachment of the pool was evidently not a purely recent or temporary development.Furry-looking green plants of various sizes, thriving in this damp environment, grew over much of the exposed pavement and through the water, adding at least one more minor obstacle to the job of tile removal."Wow!" said Adrian suddenly, ceasing to be a coolly detached investigator."What is it?"Probing with his powers as best he could into the earth directly beneath the pavement, Adrian confirmed what he had just detected there."What a pool of energy.Could I ever raise an elemental here!"Trilby looked at him with interest."Are you going to try it?""No, not now.There wouldn't be any point.But wow, what a potential," he murmured, letting his perception range farther among the strained and troubled rocks and soil many meters beneath this fancy pavement.Trilby was frowning lightly now, with more than concentration, Adrian thought; and he himself felt an undercurrent of slight uneasiness.Well, it was hardly astonishing if land in the vicinity of an ancient Red Temple, which had been transported magically into the City at some time in the past, should prove to be inhabited or infested by beings, powers, that seemed strange even to magicians.Perhaps yet another plane of existence, containing yet other inhabitants, was nearby."Well," said Trilby at last, and sighed like one unable any longer to avoid facing a distasteful job."I suppose we ought to see about digging out our tile."Page 30ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"I suppose," the Prince agreed doubtfully."But listen, Trill-""What?""Are we really sure that this is the right place? The Teacher didn't say anything about the pavement being sunken in like this.I thought the place we wanted was going to be square and level.""Good point.I wonder?" Trilby scraped with the toe of her boot at the green-scummed tiles of the visible portion of the floor.And now, to Adrian, the tiles in this pavement were indeed beginning to look different than the ones he remembered in the study of Trimbak Rao.Because of the flood, the only tiles he could see clearly here were those around the edge.These were of an abstract pattern, containing no erotic figures, whereas those in the study had portrayed a scene, or several scenes."I don't know," Trilby was saying."Remember those tiles we saw on Teacher's wall?Didn't some of them make up a scene, a figure of a woman, giving birth?""Yes.I can remember that.And some of them were just porn, like the Temple wall.""No, that's not right."The two explorers stood looking at each other in moderate puzzlement.Not that they were really concerned.Neither of them saw anything in their situation to worry about."The main point," said Trilby, giving her dark hair a shake, "is that we shouldn't rush things.We must make sure of what we're doing." The air seemed to be growing warmer, and she fanned herself with the hand that did not hold her staff.Adrian had to agree."Yes, you're right.The Teacher told us not to rush things.Over and over he told us that.""Maybe we should scout around the area a little more.""I think we should."Without really thinking about it, they had turned their backs on the square of tiles, and were now standing side by side on the edge of the little pond.Its water looked deep and was almost calm, mirror-like until it began to curl into a white roar at the very edge of the dam.A small pier, wooden and moss-grown, projected from the near shoreline out into the pond, and a dugout canoe was tied at the pier's far end.Trilby knelt down suddenly and thrust her hand into the water."Feels cool."Slipping off his pack, Adrian knelt beside her, cupping water in his own palms."Sure does." Then he raised his eyes suddenly, staring at the canoe.There was something unusual about it, besides the fact that it had been carved from a single log, and finished smoothly, with exquisite skill.But for the moment he couldn't quite pin the oddity down.Yes, something unusual, with overtones of the festive and the unpredictable."The sky's changed," Trilby informed him suddenly.And indeed the day had now become almost normal.A bright and normal-looking sun, not too hot, was clearly visible over the building that adjoined the little park on the side opposite the Red Temple
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]