Stormbringer es-6

by Michael Moorcock

  Hozel stared hard at Elric and smiled. «Then let the human race protect itself and not fight under an unhuman leader. Tis well-known that the men of Melnibone are not true men at all.»

  «Be that as it may, » Elric lowered his head and lifted a thin, white hand to point at Hozel. The king shivered and held his ground with obvious effort. «But I know more than that, Hozel of Argimfliar. I know that the men of the Young Kingdoms are only the gods' first mouldings-shadow-things who precede the race of real men, even as we preceded you. And I know more! I know that if we do not vanquish both Jagreen Lern and his supernatural allies, then men will be swept from the boiling face of a maddened planet, their destiny unfulfilled! »

  Hozel swallowed and spoke, his voice trembling.

  «I've seen your muttering kind in the market places, Elric. Men who prophecy all kinds of dooms that never take place-mad-eyed men such as you. But we do not let them live in Argimiliar. We fay them slowly, finger by finger, inch by inch until they admit their omens are fallacious! Perhaps well have that opportunity, yet! »

  He swung about and half-ran from the hall. For a moment the other Southern Monarchs stood staring irresolutely after him.

  Elric said urgently: «Heed him not, my lords. I swear on my life that my words are true! »

  Jemed said softly, half to himself: 'That could mean little, There are rumours you're immortal.»

  Moonglum came close to his friend and whispered: «They are unconvinced, Elric. Tis plain they're not our men.»

  Elric nodded. To the Southern nobles he said: «Know his: Though you foolishly reject my offer of an alliance, the day will come when you will regret your decision. I have been isolated in my own palace, my friends have been insulted and I curse you for the upstart fools you are. But when the time comes for you to learn the error of this decision I swear that we shall aid you, if it is in our power. Now go! »

  Disconcerted, the Southerners straggled from the hall in hence.

  Elric turned to Kargaa Sharpeyes. «What have you decided, Sealord?»

  «We stand with you.» Kargan said simply. «My brother Smiorgan Baldhead always spoke well of you and I remember his words rather than the rumours which followed his death under your leadership. Moreover, » he smiled broadly, it is in our nature to believe that whatever a Southern weakling decides must therefore be wrong. You have the Purple Towns as allies-and our ships, though fewer than the combined fleets of the south, are smooth-sailing fighting ships and well-equipped for war.»

  «I must warn you that we stand little chance without Southern aid, » Elric said gravely. I'm doubtful if they'd have been more than an encumbrance with their guile and squabblings, » Kargan replied. «Besides-have you no sorcery to help us in this?»

  «I plan to seek some tomorrow, » Elric told him. «Moonglum and myself will be leaving my cousin Dyvim Slorm in charge here while we go to Sorcerers' Isle, beyond Melnibone. There, among the hermit practitioners of the White Arts, I - might find means of contacting the Lords of Law. I, as you know, am half-sworn to Chaos, though I fight it, and am finding increasingly that my own Demon-God is somewhat loathe to aid me these days. At present, the White Lords are weak, beaten back, just as we are on Earth, by the increasing power of the Dark Ones. It is hard to contact them. The hermits can likely help me.»

  Kargan nodded. «Would be a relief to us of the Purple Towns to know that we were not too strongly leagued with dark spirits, I must admit»

  Elric frowned. «I agree, of course. But our position is so weak that we must accept any help-be it black or white. I presume that there is dispute among the Masters of Chaos as to how far they should go-that is why some of my own help still comes from Chaos. This blade that hangs at my side, and the twin which Dyvim Slorm bears, are both evil. Yet they were forged by creatures of Chaos to bring an end, on Earth at least, to the Masters' rule here. Just as my blood-loyalties are divided, so are the swords' loyalties. We haw no supernatural allies we can wholly rely upon.»

  «I feel for you, » Kargan said gruffly, and it was obvious that he did. No man could envy Elric's position or Elric's destiny.

  Orgon Kargan's cousin-in-law, said bluntly: «Well to bed now. Has your kinsman your full confidence?»

  Elric glanced at Dyvim Slorm and smiled. «My full confidence-he knows as much as I about this business. He shall speak for me since he knows my basic plans.»

  «Very well. We’ll confer with him tomorrow and, if we do not see you before you leave, do well for us on Sorcerers' Isle.»

  The Sealords left. Now, for the first time, the Regent of Vilmir spoke. His voice was clear and cool. «We, too, have confidence in you and your kinsman, Elric. Already we know you both for clever warriors and cunning planners. Vilmir has good cause to know it from your exploits in Bakshaan and elsewhere throughout our territories. We, I feel, have the good sense to bury old scores.» He turned to the Merchant Princes for confirmation and they nodded their agreement

  «Good, » Elric said. He addressed the gaunt-faced archer, Rackhir, his friend, whose legend almost equalled his own.

  «You come as a spokesman of Tanelorn, Rackhir. This will not be the first time we have fought the Lords of Chaos.»

  'True.» Rackhir nodded. «Most recently we averted a threat with certain aid from the Grey Lords-but Chaos had caused the gateways to the Grey Lords to be closed to mortals. We can offer you only our warriors' loyalty.»

  «We shall be grateful for that» Elric paced the dais. There was no need to ask the senators of Karlaak and the other cities of Ilmiora, for they had agreed to support him, come what may, long before the other rulers were called.

  The same was true of the bleak-faced band who made up the refugees from the West, headed by Viri-Sek, the winged youth from Myyrrhn, last of his line since all the other members of the ruling family had been slain by Jagreen Lern's minions.

  Just beyond the ways of Karlaak was a sea of tents and pavilions over which the banners of many nations waved sluggishly in the hot, moist wind. At this moment, Elric knew, the proud lords of the South were uprooting their standards and packing their tents, not looking at the war-battered warriors of Shazar, Jharkor and Tarkesh who stared at them in puzzlement Sight of those dun-eyed veterans should have decided the Southern nobles to ally themselves with the East, but evidently it had not . Elric sighed and turned his back on the others to contemplate the great map of the world with its shaded dark areas.

  «Now only a quarter is black, » he said softly to Moonglum. «But the dark tide spreads farther and faster and soon we may all be engulfed.»

  «Well dam the flow-or try to-when it comes, » Moonglum said with attempted jauntiness. «But meanwhile your wife would spend some time with you before we leave. Let's both to bed and trust our dreams are Ught! »

  Two

  Two nights later they stood on the quayside in the city of Jadmar while a cold wind sliced its way inland.

  «There she is, » Elric said, pointing down at the small boat rocking and bumping in the water below.

  «A small craft, » Moonglum said dubiously. «She scarcely looks sea-worthy.»

  «She’ll stay afloat longer than a larger vessel in a heavy storm.» Elric clambered down the iron steps. «Also, » he added, as Moonglum put a cautious foot on the rung above him, «shall be less noticeable and won't draw the attention of any enemy vessels which might be scouting in these waters.»

  He jumped and the boat rocked crarily. He leaned over, grasped a rung and steadied the boat so that Moonglum could dimb aboard.

  The cocky little Eastlander pushed a hand through his shock of red hair and stared up at the troubled sky.

  «Bad weather for this time of year, » he noted. 'Ifs hard to understand. All the way from Karlaak we've had every sort of weather, freak snow-storms, thunder-storms, hail and winds as hot as a furnace blast. Those rumours were disturbing, too-a rain of blood in Bakshaan, balls of fiery metal falling in the West of Vilmir, unprecedented earthquakes in Jadmar a few hours before we arrived. It see
ms nature has gone insane.»

  «Not far from the truth, » Elric said grimly, untying the mooring line. «Lift the sail will you, and tack into the wind?»

  «What do you mean?» Moonglum began to loosen the sail. It billowed into his face and his voice was muffled. «Jagreen Lern's hordes haven't reached this part of the world yet.»

  «They haven't needed to. I told you the forces of nature were being disrupted by Chaos. We have only experienced the backwash of what is going on in the West. If you think these weather conditions are peculiar, you would be horrified by the effect which Chaos has on those parts of the world where its rule is almost total! »

  «I wonder if you haven’t taken on too much in this fight.» Moonglum adjusted the sail and it filled to send the little boat scudding between the two long harbour walls towards the open sea.

  As they passed the beacons, guttering in the cold wind, Elric gripped the tiller tighter, taking a south-easterly course past the Vilmirian peninsula. Overhead the stars were sometimes obscured by the tattered shreds of Clouds streaming before the cold, unnatural blast of the wind. Spray splashed in his face, stinging it in a thousand places, but he ignored it. He had not answered Moonglum, for he also had doubts about his ability to save the world from Chaos.

  Moonglum had learned to judge his friend's moods. For some years before they had travelled the world together and had learned to respect one another. Lately, since Elric had near-permanent residence in his wife's city of Karlaak, Moonglum had continued to travel and had been in command of a small mercenary army patrolling the Southern marches of Picarayd, driving back the barbarians inhabiting the hinterland of that country. He had immediately relinquished this command when Elric's news reached him and now, as the tiny ship bore them towards a hazy and perilfraught destiny, savoured the familiar mixture of excitement and perturbation which he had felt a dozen times before when their escapades had led them into conflict with the unknown supernatural forces so closely linked with Elric's destiny. He had come to accept as a fact that his destiny was bound to Elric's and felt, in the deepest places of his being, that when the time came they would both die together in some mighty adventure.

  Was this death imminent! he wondered, as he concentrated on the sail and shivered in the blasting wind. Not yet, perhaps, but he felt, fatalistically, that it was not far away, for the time was looming when the only deeds of men would be dark, desperate and great and even these might not serve to form a bastion against the inrush of the creatures of Chaos.

  Elric, himself, contemplated nothing, kept his mind clear and relaxed as much as he could. His quest for the aid of the White Lords was one which could well prove fruitless, but he chose not to dwell no this until he knew for certain whether their help could be invoked or not.

  Dawn came swimming over the horizon, showing a heaving waste of grey water with no land in sight. The wind had dropped and the air was warmer. Banks of purple cloud bearing veins of saffron and scarlet poured into the sky line the smoke of some monstrous pyre. Soon they were sweating beneath a moody sun and the wind had dropped so that the sail hardly moved and yet, at the same time, the sea began to heave as if lashed by a storm.

  The sea was moving like a living entity thrashing in nightmare-filled sleep. Moonglum glanced at Brie from where he lay sprawled in the prow of the boat Elric returned the gaze, shaking his head and releasing his half-conscious grip of the tiller. It was useless to attempt steering the boat in conditions like these. The boat was being swept about by the wild waves, yet no water seemed to enter it, no spray wet them. Everything had become unreal, dream-like and for a white Elric felt that even if he had wished to speak he would not have been able to do so.

  Then, in the distance at first, they heard a tow droning which grew to a whining shriek and suddenly the boat was sent half-flying over the rolling waves and driven down into a trench. Above them the blue and silver water seemed for a moment to be a wall of metal-and men it came crashing down towards them. His mood broken, Elric clung to the tiller and yelled, »Hang on to the boat, Moonglum! Hang on or you're lost! «

  Tepid water groaned down and they were flattened beneath it as if swatted by a gigantic palm. The boat dropped deeper and deeper until it seemed they would be crushed on the bottom by the surging blow. Then they were flung upwards again and down and, as he glimpsed the boiling surface, Elric saw three mountains pushing themselves upwards, gouting flame and lava. The boat wallowed, half-full of water tend they set to frantically baling it out as the boat was swirled back and forth, being driven nearer and nearer to the newformed volcanoes.

  Elric dropped his baling pan and flung his weight against the tiller, forcing the boat away from the mountains of fire. It responded sluggishly, but began to drift in the opposite direction.

  Elric saw Moonglum, pate-faced, attempting to shake out the sodden sail. He glanced upwards to try and get some kind of bearing, but the sun seemed to have swollen and broken so that he saw a million fragments of flame.

  «This is the work of Chaos, Moonglum, » he shouted, »and only a taste, I fancy, of what it can become! »

  'They must know of our plan and seek to stop us! » Moonglum swept sweat from his eyes with the back of his hand.

  «Perhaps - but I think not.» Now he looked up again and the sun seemed almost normal. He took a bearing and found they were many miles off their original course.

  He had planned to sail to the South of Melnibone, Isle of the Dragon, and avoid the Dragon Sea lying to the North, for it was well-known that the last great sea-monsters still roamed this stretch. But now it was obvious that they were, in fact, north of Melnibone and being driven further north all the time-towards Pan Tang.

  There was no chance of heading for Melnibone itself-he wondered if the Isle of the Dragon had even survived the monstrous upheavals. He would have to make straight for Sorcerers' Isle if he could.

  The ocean was calmer now, but the water had almost reached boiling point so that every drop that fell on his skin seemed to scald him. Bubbles formed on the surface and it was as if they sailed in a gigantic witch's cauldron. Dead fish and half-reptilian forms drifted about, as thick as sea-weed, threatening to clog the boat's passage. But the wind, though strong, had begun to blow in one direction and Moonglum grinned in relief as it filled the sail.

  Slowly, through the death-thick waters, they managed to steer a north-westerly course towards Sorcerers' Isle as douda of steam formed on the ocean and obscured their view.

  Hours later they had left the heated waters behind and were sailing beneath clear skies on a calm sea. They allowed themselves to doze. In less than a day they would reach Sorcerers' Isle, but now they were overcome by the reaction to their experience and wondered, dazedly, how they had lived through the awful storm.

  Elric jerked his eyes open with a shock. He was certain he had not slept long, yet the sky was dark and a cold drizzle was falling. As the drops touched his head and face, they oozed down it like viscous jelly. Some of it entered his mouth and he lustily spat out the bitter-tasting stuff.

  «Moonglum, » he called through the gloom, «what’s the hour, do you know?»

  The Eastlander's deep-heavy voice answered dazedly. «I know not. I'd swear it is not night already! »

  Elric gave the tiller a tentative push - and the boat did not respond. He looked over the side and it seemed they were sailing through the sky itself. A dully luminous gas seemed to swirl about the hull, but he could see no water.

  He shuddered. Had they left the confines of the Garth? Were they sailing through some frightful, supernatural sea?

  He cursed himself for sleeping, feeling helpless-more helpless than when he had fought the storm. The heavy, gelatinous rain beat down strongly and he pulled the hood of his cloak over his white hair. From his belt pouch he took lint and tinder and the tiny light was just sufficient to show him Moonglum's half-mad eyes. The little Eastlander's face was taut with fear. Elric had never seen such fear on his friend's face and knew that with a little les
s self-control his own face would assume a similar expression.

  «Our time has ended, » Moonglum trembled, »I fear that we're dead, at last, Elric.»

  «Don't prattle such emptiness, Moonglum. I have heard of no after-life such as this.» But secretly, Elric wondered if Moonglum's words were true.

  The ship seemed to be moving rapidly through the gaseous sea, being driven or drawn to some unknown destination. Yet Elric could swear that the Masters of Chaos had no knowledge of his boat.

  Faster and faster the little craft moved and then, with relief, they heard the familiar splash of water about its keel and it was surging through the salt-sea again. For a short while longer the viscous rain continued to fall and then even that was past.

  Moonglum sighed as the blackness slowly gave way to light and they saw again a normal ocean about them.

  «What was it, then?» he ventured, finally.

  «Another manifestation of ruptured nature, » Elric said with attempted calmness. «Some warp in the barrier between the realm of men and the realm of Chaos, perhaps? Don't question our luck in surviving it. We are again off-comso and, » he pointed to the horizon, »a natural storm seems to be brewing yonder.»

  «A natural storm I can accept, no matter how dangerous, » the Eastlander murmured and made swift preparations, furling the sail as the wind increased and the sea churned.

  In a way, Elric welcomed the storm when it finally struck them. At least it obeyed natural laws and could be fought by natural means and experience of similar storms in the past.

  The rain refreshed their faces, the wind swept through their hair and they fought the storm with fierce enjoyment, the plucky boat riding the waves.

  But, in spite of this, they were being driven further and further north-east-towards the conquered coasts of Shazar. almost in the opposite direction to their goal.