"You are an adventurer, then, in your own world?" said the Duke of Queens. He was bluff. He had changed his beard to an ordinary sort of black and was wearing a scarlet costume; quilted doublet and tight-fitting hose, with a blue and white ruff, an elaborately feathered hat on his head. "I, too, am something of a vagabond. As far, of course, as it is possible to be here. A buccaneer, of sorts. That is, my actions are in the main bolder than those of my fellows. More spectacular. Vulgar. Like yourself, sir. I admire your costume."
Elric knew that this Duke of Hell was referring to the fact that he affected the costume of the southern barbarian, that he did not wear the more restrained colours and more cleverly wrought silks and metals of his own folk. He gave tit for tat at this time. He bowed.
"Thank you, sir. Your own clothes rival mine."
"Do you think so?" The hell-lord pretended pleasure. If Elric had not known better, the creature would seem to be swelling with pride.
"Look! " cried Werther again. "Look, Lord Elric — we are attacked."
Elric whirled.
From below were rising oddly wrought vessels — something like ships, but with huge round wheels at their sides, like the wheels of water-clocks he had seen once in Pikarayd. Coloured smoke issued from chimneys mounted on their decks which swarmed with huge birds dressed in human clothing. The birds had multicoloured plumage, curved beaks, and they held swords in their claws, while on their heads were strangely shaped black hats on which were blazed skulls with crossed bones beneath.
"Heave to! " squawked the birds. "Or we'll put a shot across your bowels! "
"What can they be?" cried Bishop Castle.
"Parrots, " said Werther de Goethe soberly. "Otherwise known as the hawks of the sea. And they mean us no good."
Mistress Christia blinked.
"Don't you mean pirates, dear?"
Elric took a firm grip on his sword. Some of the words the Chaos Lords used were absolutely meaningless to him. But whether the attacking creatures were of their own conception, or whether they were true enemies of his captors, Elric prepared to do bloody battle. His spirits improved. At least here was something substantial to fight.
7 In which Mrs Persson Becomes Anxious about the Future of the Universe
Lord Jagged of Canaria was nowhere to be found. His huge castle, of gold and yellow spires, an embellished replica of Kings Cross station, was populated entirely by his quaint robots, whom Jagged found at once more mysterious and more trustworthy than android or human servants, for they could answer only according to a limited programme.
Una suspected that Jagged was, himself, upon some mission, for he, too, was a member of the Guild of Temporal Adventurers. But she needed aid. Somehow she had to return Elric to his own dimension without creating further disruptions in the fabric of Time and Space. The Conjunction was not due yet and, if things got any worse, might never come. So many plans depended on the Conjunction of the Million Spheres that she could not risk its failure. But she could not reveal too much either to Elric or his hosts. As a Guild member she was sworn to the utmost and indeed necessary secrecy. Even here at the End of Time there were certain laws which could be disobeyed only at enormous risk. Words alone were dangerous when they described ideas concerning the nature of Time.
She racked her brains. She considered seeking out Jherek Carnelian, but then remembered that he had scarcely begun to understand his own destiny. Besides, there were certain similarities between Jherek and Elric which she could only sense at present. It would be best to go cautiously there.
She decided that she had no choice. She must return to the Time Centre and see if they could detect Lord Jagged for her.
She brought the necessary coordinates together in her mind and concentrated. For a moment all memories, all sense of identity left her.
Sergeant Alvarez was beside himself. His screens were no longer completely without form. Instead, peculiar shapes could be seen in the arrangements of lines. Una thought she saw faces, beasts, landscapes. That had never occurred before. The instruments, at least, had remained sane, even as they recorded insanity.
"It's getting worse, " said Alvarez. "You've hardly any Time left. What there is, I've managed to borrow for you. Did you contact the rogue?"
She nodded. "Yes. But getting him to return … I want you to find Jagged."
"Jagged? Are you sure?"
"It's our only chance, I think."
Alvarez sighed and bent a tense back over his controls.
8 In which Elric and Werther Fight Side by Side Against Almost Overwhelming Odds
Somewhere, it seemed to Elric, as he parried and thrust at the attacking bird-monsters, rich and rousing music played. It must be a delusion, brought on by battle-madness. Blood and feathers covered the carriage. He saw the one called Christia carried off screaming. Bishop Castle had disappeared. Gaf had gone. Only the three of them, shoulder to shoulder, continued to fight. What was disconcerting to Elric was that Werther and the Duke of Queens bore swords absolutely identical to Stormbringer. Perhaps they were the legendary Brothers of the Black Sword, said to reside in Chaos?
He was forced to admit to himself that he experienced a sense of comradeship with these two, who were braver than most in defending themselves against such dreadful unlikely monsters — perhaps some creation of their own which had turned against them.
Having captured the Lady Christia, the birds began to return to their own craft.
"We must rescue her! " cried Werther as the flying ships began to retreat. "Quickly! In pursuit! "
"Should we not seek reinforcements?" asked Elric, further impressed by the courage of this Chaos Lord.
"No time! " cried the Duke of Queens. "After them! "
Werther shouted to his vessel. "Follow those ships! "
The vessel did not move.
"It has an enchantment on it, " said Werther. "We are stranded! Ah, and I loved her so much! "
Elric became suspicious again. Werther had shown no signs, previously, of any affection for the female.
"You loved her?"
"From a distance, " Werther explained. "Duke of Queens, what can we do? Those parrots will ransom her savagely and mishandle her objects of virtue! "
"Dastardly poltroons! " roared the huge duke.
Elric could make little sense of this exchange. It dawned on him, then, that he could still hear the rousing music. He looked below. On some sort of dais in the middle of the bizarre landscape a large group of musicians was assembled. They played on, apparently oblivious of what happened above. This was truly a world dominated by Chaos.
Their ship began slowly to fall towards the band. It lurched. Elric gasped and clung to the side as they struck yielding ground and bumped to a halt.
The Duke of Queens, apparently elated, was already scrambling overboard. "There! We can follow on those mounts."
Tethered near the dais was a herd of creatures bearing some slight resemblance to horses but in a variety of dazzling, metallic colours, with horns and bony ridges on their backs. Saddles and bridles of alien workmanship showed that they were domestic beasts, doubtless belonging to the musicians.
"They will want some payment from us, surely, " said Elric, as they hurried towards the horses.
"Ah, true! " Werther reached into a purse at his belt and drew forth a handful of jewels. Casually he flung them towards the musicians and climbed into the saddle of the nearest beast. Elric and the Duke of Queens followed his example. Then Werther, with a whoop, was off in the direction in which the bird-monsters had gone.
The landscape of this world of Chaos changed rapidly as they rode. They galloped through forests of crystalline trees, over fields of glowing flowers, leapt rivers the colour of blood and the consistency of mercury, and their tireless mounts maintained a headlong pace which never faltered. Through clouds of boiling gas which wept, through rain, through snow, through intolerable heat, through shallow lakes in which oddly fashioned fish wriggled and gasped, until at last a range of moun
tains came in sight.
"There! " panted Werther, pointing with his own runesword. "Their lair. Oh, the fiends! How can we climb such smooth cliffs?"
It was true that the base of the cliffs rose some hundred feet before they became suddenly ragged, like the rotting teeth of the beggars of Nadsokor. They were of dusky, purple obsidian and so smooth as to reflect the faces of the three adventurers who stared at them in despair.
It was Elric who saw the steps put into the side of the cliff.
"These will take us up some of the way, at least."
"It could be a trap, " said the Duke of Queens. He, too, seemed to be relishing the opportunity to take action. Although a Lord of Chaos there was something about him that made Elric respond to a fellow spirit.
"Let them trap us, " said Elric laconically. "We have our swords."
With a wild laugh, Werther de Goethe was the first to swing himself from his saddle and run towards the steps, leaping up them almost as if he had the power of flight. Elric and the Duke of Queens followed more slowly.
Their feet slipping in the narrow spaces not meant for mortals to climb, ever aware of the dizzying drop on their left, the three came at last to the top of the cliff and stood clinging to sharp crags, staring across a plain at a crazy castle rising into the clouds before them.
"Their stronghold, " said Werther.
"What are these creatures?" Elric asked. "Why do they attack you? Why do they capture the Lady Christia?"
"They nurse an abiding hatred for us, " explained the Duke of Queens, and looked expectantly at Werther, who added:
"This was their world before it became ours."
"And before it became theirs, " said the Duke of Queens, "it was the world of the Yargtroon."
"The Yargtroon?" Elric frowned.
"They dispossessed the bodiless vampire goat-folk of Kia, " explained Werther. "Who, in turn, destroyed — or thought they destroyed — the Grash-Tu-Xem, a race of Old Ones older than any Old Ones except the Elder Old Ones of Ancient Thriss."
"Older even than Chaos?" asked Elric.
"Oh, far older, " said Werther.
"It's almost completely collapsed, it's so old, " added the Duke of Queens.
Elric was baffled. "Thriss?"
"Chaos, " said the Duke.
Elric let a thin smile play about his lips. "You still mock me, my lord. The power of Chaos is the greatest there is, only equalled by the power of Law."
"Oh, certainly, " agreed the Duke of Queens.
Elric became suspicious again. "Do you play with me, my lord?"
"Well, naturally, we try to please our guests…"
Werther interrupted. "Yonder doomy edifice holds the one I love. Somewhere within its walls she is incarcerated, while ghouls taunt at her and devils threaten."
"The bird-monsters…?" began Elric.
"Chimerae, " said the Duke of Queens. "You saw only one of the shapes they assume."
Elric understood this. "Aha! "
"But how can we enter it?" Werther spoke almost to himself.
"We must wait until nightfall, " said Elric, "and enter under the cover of darkness."
"Nightfall?" Werther brightened.
Suddenly they were in utter darkness.
Somewhere the Duke of Queens lost his footing and fell with a muffled curse.
9 In which Mrs Persson At Last Makes Contact with Her Old Friend
They stood together beneath the striped awning of the tent while a short distance away armoured men, mounted on armoured horses, jousted, were injured or died. The two members wore appropriate costumes for the period. Lord Jagged looked handsome in his surcoat and mail, but Una Persson merely looked uncomfortable in her wimple and kirtle.
"I can't leave just now, " he was saying. "I am laying the foundations for a very important development."
"Which will come to nothing unless Elric is returned, " she said.
A knight with a broken lance thundered past, covering them in dust.
"Well played Sir Holger! " called Lord Jagged. "An ancestor of mine, you know, " he told her.
"You will not be able to recognize the world of the End of Time when you return, if this is allowed to continue, " she said.
"It's always difficult, isn't it?" But he was listening to her now.
"These disruptions could as easily affect us and leave us stranded, " she added. "We would lose any freedom we have gained."
He bit into a pomegranate and offered it to her. "You can only get these in this area. Did you know? Impossible to find in England. In the thirteenth century, at any rate. The idea of freedom is such a nebulous one, isn't it? Most of the time when angry people are speaking of 'freedom' what they are actually asking for is much simpler — respect. Do those in authority or those with power ever really respect those who do not have power?" He paused. "Or do they mean 'power' and not 'freedom'. Or are they the same…?"
"Really, Jagged, this is no time for self-indulgence."
He looked about him. "There's little else to do in the Middle East in the thirteenth century, I assure you, except eat pomegranates and philosophize…"
"You must come back to the End of Time."
He wiped his handsome chin. "Your urgency, " he said, "worries me, Una. These matters should be handled with delicacy — slowly…"
"The entire fabric will collapse unless he is returned to his own dimension. He is an important factor in the whole plan."
"Well, yes, I understand that."
"He is, in one sense at least, your protege."
"I know. But not my responsibility."
"You must help."
There was a loud bang and a crash.
A splinter flew into Mrs Persson's eye.
"Oh, zounds! " she said.
10 In which The Castle is Assaulted and The Plot Thickened
A moon had appeared above the spires of the castle which seemed to Elric to have changed its shape since he had first seen it. He meant to ask his companions for an explanation, but at present they were all sworn to silence as they crept nearer. From within the castle burst light, emanating from guttering brands stuck into brackets on the walls. There was laughter, noise of feasting. Hidden behind a rock they peered through one large window and inspected the scene within.
The entire hall was full of men wearing identical costumes. They had black skull caps, loose white blouses and trousers, black shoes. Their eyebrows were black in dead white faces, even paler than Elric's and they had bright red lips.
"Aha, " whispered Werther, "the parrots are celebrating their victory. Soon they will be too drunk to know what is happening to them."
"Parrots?" said Elric. "What is that word?"
"Pierrots, he means, " said the Duke of Queens. "Don't you, Werther?" There were evidently certain words which did not translate easily into the High Speech of Melnibone.
"Ssh, " said the Last Romantic, "they will capture us and torture us to death if they detect our presence."
They worked their way around the castle. It was guarded at intervals by gigantic warriors whom Elric at first mistook for statues, save that, when he looked closely, he could see them breathing very slowly. They were unarmed, but their fists and feet were disproportionately large and could crush any intruder they detected.
"They are sluggish, by the look of them, " said Elric. "If we are quick, we can run beneath them and enter the castle before they realize it. Let me try first. If I succeed, you follow."
Werther clapped his new comrade on the back. "Very well."
Elric waited until the nearest guard halted and spread his huge feet apart, then he dashed forward, scuttling like an insect between the giant's legs and flinging himself through a dimly lit window. He found himself in some sort of store-room. He had not been seen, though the guard cocked his ear for half a moment before resuming his pace.
Elric looked cautiously out and signalled to his companions. The Duke of Queens waited for the guard to stop again, then he, too, made for the window and join
ed Elric. He was panting and grinning. "This is wonderful, " he said.
Elric admired his spirit. There was no doubt that the guard could crush any of them to a pulp, even if (as still nagged at his brain) this was all some sort of complicated illusion.
Another dash, and Werther was with them.
Cautiously, Elric opened the door of the store-room. They looked onto a deserted landing. They crossed the landing and looked over a balustrade. They had expected to see another hall, but instead there was a miniature lake on which floated the most beautiful miniature ship, all mother-of-pearl, brass and ebony, with golden sails and silver masts. Surrounding this ship were mermaids and mermen bearing trays of exotic food (reminding Elric how hungry he still was) which they fed to the ship's only passenger, Mistress Christia.
"She is under an enchantment, " said Elric. "They beguile her with illusions so that she will not wish to come with us even if we do rescue her. Do you know no counter-spells?"
Werther thought for a moment. Then he shook his head.
"You must be very minor Lords of Chaos, " said Elric, biting his lower lip.
From the lake, Mistress Christia giggled and drew one of the mermaids towards her. "Come here, my pretty piscine! "
"Mistress Christia! " hissed Werther de Goethe.
"Oh! " The captive widened her eyes (which were now both large and blue). "At last! "
"You wish to be rescued?" said Elric.
"Rescued? Only by you, most alluring of albinos! "
Elric hardened his features. "I am not the one who loves you, madam."
"What? I am loved? By whom? By you, Duke of Queens?"
"Sshh, " said Elric. "The demons will hear us."
"Oh, of course, " said Mistress Christia gravely, and fell silent for a second. "I'll get rid of all this, shall I?"
And she touched one of her rings.
Ship, lake and merfolk were gone. She lay on silken cushions, attended by monkeys.
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