[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
such substances if you were on the outside, since any forces that were
repelled would build up and concentrate there.
And so he found what shelter he could against the conventional winds behind a
stone wall and peered out at the coming great storm. It was both beautiful and
awesome. It was preceded by a rolling bank of black clouds that seemed to
advance like some great carpet, a carpet fit for a king or a god. Lightning
flared out from this leading edge, dancing along the ground and sounding
mighty reverberant thunderclaps throughout the valley.
The changewind also had its attendants; more clouds, racing with a speed he
had never seen before, giving off not only lightning but darker shapes,
funnel-like clouds marching beside the changewind and sucking up whatever they
trod upon.
In the center of it all was the changewind, most beautiful and awesome of all.
Everyone was properly frightened to death of it, but none had ever spoken of
its great beauty and majesty. Swirling clouds like violet oil in a sky full of
clear water; that's what it looked like at first. The closer it got, though,
the less color it seemed to have and it became paradoxically more and less
complex. A sea of infinite stars, blinking and wavering, in a vaguely violet
universe unlike any known to any people of his own world. It was a vastness
that covered,
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...201%20-%20When%20the%20Changew
inds%20Blow.txt (44 of 156) [1/19/03 4:09:39 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20Changewinds%201%2
0-%20When%20the%20Changewinds%20Blow.txt engulfed, all that it rolled across.
The air was thick and heavy, drawing the great wind down until nothing but it
could be seen in the center of the valley.
The changewind, finally, rode only a hundred feet or so above the ground and
influenced all that was below it. Had it reached the ground it would have been
grabbed by enormous friction, slowed, and absorbed, its effect major but
localized, and it would have quickly died.
This one would not oblige.
Malachan knew nothing of its physics, which was just as well, for in truth the
learned wizard who had first spied it had vastly more questions than answers,
but he understood well that it was coining and that there was no way really
for him to get out of its way.
Strangely, he found himself suddenly drained of fear, taken up only in the
awesome beauty and wonder of that force he could neither comprehend nor do
anything at all about. He knew he was going to die, and he only hoped that his
reincarnation would be swift and his judgment fair, for he had been a good
boy.
For a brief moment he thought of his family, all safe inside and huddled there
in the torchlit darkness, and knew that his loss, when discovered, would bring
them grief. He hoped it would not be too much or too long. He would get his
Page 52
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
experiences in the next life; this was almost worth the price.
The changewind advanced into the valley and did what it always did. All below
its pulsing form took on an eerie glow and became outlined in brilliant,
electric blue. Grass, trees, everything-even the very air seemed altered and
illuminated with a glow. The grape vines shimmered and writhed and changed,
becoming strange, gnarled trees with dark, huge blossoms unlike anything he'd
ever seen before. The maize field shimmered and melted and part of it became
watery pushed by the storms. The rest became taller, wilder grasses in spots,
and yellow sand in others.
The changewind began to pass over the thatched cottages and stables of the
village. They glowed and flowed and changed as well, becoming blocky,
multi-story structures made of some reddish-brown material, a form totally
alien to him. He could already see beneath and beyond the changewind to a
fierce rainstorm on the back side, while over on the edges there seemed to be
clearing and even the start of breaks in the clouds.
And then it was over and upon him. Curiously, there was no sensation, no pain,
nothing. Just a light tingling sensation, nothing more. He held out his arms
and saw that he was bathed in the changewind glow. He grew, and his clothing
burst and then seemed to melt away within him. His arms became thick and
muscular, his fingers long and powerful, with steel-like claws as nails. His
skin turned thick and brown as he watched, then was covered down to the wrists
and even on the backs of his huge hands with very short thick brown hair like
an animal's.
Below his waist the hair changed, becoming thick and woolly, and his legs
throbbed and twisted and changed as well.
They were animal legs, although not exactly like any animal he had ever known,
and they terminated in great, cloven hooves which would be fine for running
but provided less than the best balance standing still. He went backward a
bit, but found himself well supported on his long, thick brown tail.
Malachan was less terrified than horrified at what he had become. Death he
could accept, and had been willing to, but he had not died. He had become some
son of monster.
The changewind was past now, and proceeding far up the valley, losing force as
it did so. It was already rising, and losing some of its consistency. It would
not travel on much farther. Malachan stood there, stunned, as the torrential
rain came down upon him, masking and taking with them his very real tears.
The backwash of the storm was quickly through, though, and the clouds grew
thinner and then began to break up. Sunlight dared peer down on a vastly
different scene. It would be quite some time, perhaps months, before the
climatoiogical changes stabilized and it was possible to really see what the
changewind had made of this wonderful place, but it certainly was no longer
the paradise that a previous changewind helped create.
The Golden Castle still stood, its golden sheen now a metallic blue-black, but
it would be quite some time, perhaps days, before the assembled populace could
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...201%20-%20When%20the%20Changew
inds%20Blow.txt (45 of 156) [1/19/03 4:09:39 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20Changewinds%201%2
0-%20When%20the%20Changewinds%20Blow.txt free itself from the Refuge the way
they got in. The great doors had held, but in the process they had melted a
bit and been fused into a solid metallic wall.
The place was not without some familiarity. The Two Brothers no longer stood
out in the distance, but the vast wall of the Mountains of Morning otherwise
remained pretty much as it was. There was now a vast lake leading from just in
front of the village back almost as far as the eye could see, yet it was not
wide; patches of real green could be seen in the distance.
This side, however, had not fared so well. The soil was sandy, and rocky as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl exclamation.htw.pl
such substances if you were on the outside, since any forces that were
repelled would build up and concentrate there.
And so he found what shelter he could against the conventional winds behind a
stone wall and peered out at the coming great storm. It was both beautiful and
awesome. It was preceded by a rolling bank of black clouds that seemed to
advance like some great carpet, a carpet fit for a king or a god. Lightning
flared out from this leading edge, dancing along the ground and sounding
mighty reverberant thunderclaps throughout the valley.
The changewind also had its attendants; more clouds, racing with a speed he
had never seen before, giving off not only lightning but darker shapes,
funnel-like clouds marching beside the changewind and sucking up whatever they
trod upon.
In the center of it all was the changewind, most beautiful and awesome of all.
Everyone was properly frightened to death of it, but none had ever spoken of
its great beauty and majesty. Swirling clouds like violet oil in a sky full of
clear water; that's what it looked like at first. The closer it got, though,
the less color it seemed to have and it became paradoxically more and less
complex. A sea of infinite stars, blinking and wavering, in a vaguely violet
universe unlike any known to any people of his own world. It was a vastness
that covered,
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...201%20-%20When%20the%20Changew
inds%20Blow.txt (44 of 156) [1/19/03 4:09:39 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20Changewinds%201%2
0-%20When%20the%20Changewinds%20Blow.txt engulfed, all that it rolled across.
The air was thick and heavy, drawing the great wind down until nothing but it
could be seen in the center of the valley.
The changewind, finally, rode only a hundred feet or so above the ground and
influenced all that was below it. Had it reached the ground it would have been
grabbed by enormous friction, slowed, and absorbed, its effect major but
localized, and it would have quickly died.
This one would not oblige.
Malachan knew nothing of its physics, which was just as well, for in truth the
learned wizard who had first spied it had vastly more questions than answers,
but he understood well that it was coining and that there was no way really
for him to get out of its way.
Strangely, he found himself suddenly drained of fear, taken up only in the
awesome beauty and wonder of that force he could neither comprehend nor do
anything at all about. He knew he was going to die, and he only hoped that his
reincarnation would be swift and his judgment fair, for he had been a good
boy.
For a brief moment he thought of his family, all safe inside and huddled there
in the torchlit darkness, and knew that his loss, when discovered, would bring
them grief. He hoped it would not be too much or too long. He would get his
Page 52
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
experiences in the next life; this was almost worth the price.
The changewind advanced into the valley and did what it always did. All below
its pulsing form took on an eerie glow and became outlined in brilliant,
electric blue. Grass, trees, everything-even the very air seemed altered and
illuminated with a glow. The grape vines shimmered and writhed and changed,
becoming strange, gnarled trees with dark, huge blossoms unlike anything he'd
ever seen before. The maize field shimmered and melted and part of it became
watery pushed by the storms. The rest became taller, wilder grasses in spots,
and yellow sand in others.
The changewind began to pass over the thatched cottages and stables of the
village. They glowed and flowed and changed as well, becoming blocky,
multi-story structures made of some reddish-brown material, a form totally
alien to him. He could already see beneath and beyond the changewind to a
fierce rainstorm on the back side, while over on the edges there seemed to be
clearing and even the start of breaks in the clouds.
And then it was over and upon him. Curiously, there was no sensation, no pain,
nothing. Just a light tingling sensation, nothing more. He held out his arms
and saw that he was bathed in the changewind glow. He grew, and his clothing
burst and then seemed to melt away within him. His arms became thick and
muscular, his fingers long and powerful, with steel-like claws as nails. His
skin turned thick and brown as he watched, then was covered down to the wrists
and even on the backs of his huge hands with very short thick brown hair like
an animal's.
Below his waist the hair changed, becoming thick and woolly, and his legs
throbbed and twisted and changed as well.
They were animal legs, although not exactly like any animal he had ever known,
and they terminated in great, cloven hooves which would be fine for running
but provided less than the best balance standing still. He went backward a
bit, but found himself well supported on his long, thick brown tail.
Malachan was less terrified than horrified at what he had become. Death he
could accept, and had been willing to, but he had not died. He had become some
son of monster.
The changewind was past now, and proceeding far up the valley, losing force as
it did so. It was already rising, and losing some of its consistency. It would
not travel on much farther. Malachan stood there, stunned, as the torrential
rain came down upon him, masking and taking with them his very real tears.
The backwash of the storm was quickly through, though, and the clouds grew
thinner and then began to break up. Sunlight dared peer down on a vastly
different scene. It would be quite some time, perhaps months, before the
climatoiogical changes stabilized and it was possible to really see what the
changewind had made of this wonderful place, but it certainly was no longer
the paradise that a previous changewind helped create.
The Golden Castle still stood, its golden sheen now a metallic blue-black, but
it would be quite some time, perhaps days, before the assembled populace could
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%2...201%20-%20When%20the%20Changew
inds%20Blow.txt (45 of 156) [1/19/03 4:09:39 PM]
file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20Changewinds%201%2
0-%20When%20the%20Changewinds%20Blow.txt free itself from the Refuge the way
they got in. The great doors had held, but in the process they had melted a
bit and been fused into a solid metallic wall.
The place was not without some familiarity. The Two Brothers no longer stood
out in the distance, but the vast wall of the Mountains of Morning otherwise
remained pretty much as it was. There was now a vast lake leading from just in
front of the village back almost as far as the eye could see, yet it was not
wide; patches of real green could be seen in the distance.
This side, however, had not fared so well. The soil was sandy, and rocky as [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]