Pelan, John (ed.) - The Last Continent: New Tales of Zothique / Пилан, Джон (ред.) - Последний континент: новые предания Зотика [1999, EPUB, ENG]

Introduction: Grim News from the Far Future by Donald Sidney-Fryer To Wake the Dead in Nypholos by Gerard Houarner The Decibel Circus by Rhys Hughes The Benevolent Emperor by Brian McNaughton Where the Past Lay Buried by David B. Silva Temple of Captured Gods by David Niall Wilson The Connoisseur of Corpses by Dan Clore The Vainglorious Simulacrum of Mungha Sorcyllamia by Mark McLaughlin The Scarlet Succubus by Edward Lee and John Pelan Hode of the High Place by Jessica Amanda Salmonson Serenade at the End of Time by Don Webb Blue Roses, Red, Red Wine by T. Winter-Damon A Traveler in Desert Lands by Gene Wolfe Jolerarymi's Rose by Geoff Cooper The Judgement of Tsara by Polagaya Fine Ashes of Longing, Ashes of Lust by Lucy Taylor Love & Death at the End of the World by Mark Chadbourn The Leper King by Charlee Jacob The Light of Achernar by Brian Stableford The Triumph of the Worm by Henrik Johnsson

He, coming up from the south as fate would have it, chanced to see a woman with a water jar upon her head. He was a courteous man, and sorely thirsty; tapping the knees of his camel, he made it crouch in the soft and shifting dust of the lost town of the dead before he asked for a drink. “You would honor me by drinking,” the woman with the jar said, “and by filling whatever skins and bottles you may have. If you empty my jar,” her face convulsed as if to dislodge some brass-backed carrion fly that none but she could see, “it is a matter of no moment, for I can easily refill it at our well.” The traveler accepted the jar (which was gray-green and of ancient appearance) from her hands, put it to his lips, and slaked his thirst, drinking deep. When at last he returned it to her half emptied, he said, “I have five large canteens, and would like to water my camel, if that is permissible. If you will show me where your well is, I will take care of these things myself.” Replacing the jar upon her head, the woman nodded, turned without a word, and walked away. She was a very tall woman, both slender and emaciated, and there had been (the traveler thought) a touch of fever in her eyes. . . .