by Anthology
Few were left of the thousand that had rallied to Grim Hagen. But another thousand were coming through the hedges from other lanes and streets. Although it was a gallant, ragged little army that Nea and Maya led, it would have lasted no longer than a straw in a whirlwind had it not been for the Kalis. They appeared to be enjoying themselves, even as Grim Hagen's men were not. They zig-zagged this way and that. They purred. They fed. They were stronger now and their movements were quicker. Their victims died faster.
* * * * *
And as they forged forward, Nea was growing in strength. She leaped after them, leaving Maya to command the small army. She screamed. She urged them on with a "Kill, kill, kill!" that froze the back of Odin's neck. Here was no girl trained to work in a laboratory. This was a high-priestess, long derided and forgotten, come back from the stars to wreak her vengeance.
"Good God," Odin was thinking. "What unexplored labyrinths are left in the human brain?"
Then there was no time for thinking. The Lorens who were trying to gain the stairway had finally dislodged the two bodies that Odin and Gunnar had flung down upon them. They came up like a surging tide, and for the next few minutes Odin and Gunnar were busy.
Gunnar had never been any happier in his life. He talked to his sword and he growled at those that he killed. He yelled at Ato's and Maya's wearying armies, urging them to go on and account themselves well. He stood by Odin's side, and the two hacked and thrust until the stairway was chocked with bodies and no one was left to assail them.
He and Odin were splashed with blood. The tumult was deafening. The tiger-screams of the Kalis, the agonized torment of their prey. The gun-blasts from Maya's army, the cry of Ato who had hacked his way almost to Gunnar and Odin, the victory-scream of Nea, the broken music! And even above this, the mad curses and commands of Grim Hagen!
Some of Grim Hagen's Lorens were in flight. Most of them were dead. But his white-skinned warriors held firm. Not over a dozen were left at Grim Hagen's side. Two were still working with the odd-shaped weapon.
There were other Lorens coming out of the hedges, but they held back. They had seen enough.
Had fortune favored Ato then, his army would have won.
But at the precise moment when the balance was swinging toward the Brons, Grim Hagen's gun-crew got the strange weapon unlimbered. The globe started turning. Unseen motors roared within it. As though spun out like gleaming strands of cobwebs, coils of light came flickering toward the attacking Brons. Like blue-white ripples they went across the fore-running Kalis. The ripples of light went on expanding. The shotgun in the hands of the old Bron suddenly burst to pieces. The old rifles fell apart. The newer machine-guns talked briefly, and then disappeared in a burst of flame that took their masters with them.
The first coil of light struck Odin. There was a tingling sensation, neither painful nor pleasant. But it went through his body like a mild opiate. He did not want to sleep. He merely wanted to relax and forget this slaughter. He fought against it. Gunnar leaned against him, suddenly weak and shaken.
* * * * *
More widening circles of light swept out upon them. Ato's and Maya's troops fell back. Those who had been armed with explosive weapons had died. Odin was almost too weak to lift his sword. From the stairway below came a scrabbling sound, as men pulled the corpses away from the stairs.
Nea's Kalis reeled back. She urged them on and they advanced like corks bobbing on ripples of light. Three moved slowly toward Grim Hagen's machine. A fourth faltered and fell back.
The Kalis were no longer screaming their frightful song. The purr of victory was gone. Instead they yowled a savage, tormented scream as though they had been cornered by an enemy they could not understand.
But the three moved forward, while the fourth hesitated behind them. As though struggling against a heavy flood they came on. The gun-crew died defending their whirling weapon. The three Kalis swarmed over it—like bees smothering the enemy, Odin thought. The pulsing coiling light died. There was a burst of flame. The weapon and the three Kalis suddenly became one immense sardonyx that blazed huge and grand for a brief moment. Then the jewel-blaze burned out, and a handful of ashes sifted to the ground.
The fourth Kali was undone. It tried to go forward against that jewel-fire. Then it hesitated and darted back. With a shrill cry of fear it flung itself into Nea's arms, its coppery tentacles holding her close in a last effort to escape destruction.
* * * * *
She had said before that the Kalis were the nearest things to human that could be made. She had been the poor relation, the daughter of a dreaming failure. Perhaps something of the fear and doubt which Nea had known all her life had gone into the making of the Kalis. She screamed once—more in bewilderment than pain, as though a favorite cat had suddenly clawed her. She must have been dead before she fell, and the last Kali clung to her bosom and spread its copper-wires about her face. It emitted one weak purr—then it stopped purring and moving forever.
Grim Hagen's Lorens who had been clinging to the hedges now came forward triumphantly. Strength came back to Gunnar and Odin. The attackers had cleared the stairway again. And once more Gunnar and Odin threw them back.
By now both Ato and Maya had swung their shattered little armies over to the subway entrance.
Hagen had retreated from the dais. Meeting the advancing Lorens, he led them forward.
Those on the stairway retreated as they saw that they were no longer against two warriors.
Gunnar rested his sword against his leg and reached out with huge arms and pulled Ato and Odin toward him. "Down there," he pointed toward the stairway. "There is plenty of room to fight, and those who have been coming up don't seem to be so strong. Force your way down there and make another stand. Make a barricade if you can. Up here you will soon be surrounded."
"But Grim Hagen will be at our heels—" Odin protested.
Gunnar laughed deep in his throat. "Oh, no. The stairway is narrow. A strong man could hold the entrance for some time—perhaps a long, long time. And Gunnar is strong. To get at you, Grim Hagen would either have to go down this stairway or take another entrance. These entrances, are few and far apart."
"Go with Maya, Ato," Odin said, "and I will stay here with Gunnar."
"No. The entrance is narrow. You would be in the way," Gunnar protested. "Now, go! Oh, but the valkyries will be busy tonight!"
* * * * *
Ato and Odin led the rush down the stairs. There were only a dozen men below and they had already tired of warfare. Three fell and the others rushed off into the shadows.
Ato's and Maya's fighters tumbled after them. There were only a few of the old people and children left.
Now they found themselves in a huge room which was filled with benches and small machines. It was evidently a wood-working shop. The room was lit by several of the high-flaring cressets of stone. It was rectangular, about the size of a football field. They were fortunate that there was no heavy machinery left here. From each side, dim-lighted tunnels led off into the distance. While Odin and the strongest soldiers guarded, Ato and his people shoved benches, tables and chairs to the four tunnels and set them afire. There were still quite a number of benches left, and some of these were stacked close together into one corner of the room, making a sort of rude balcony that looked down upon the littered floor. More benches and machines were left. These were made into a barricade a few yards in front of the balcony.
All was done now that could be done. So Odin rushed back to the stairway to help Gunnar. But his heart sank as he stood at the foot of the stairs. Up there was nothing but swirling, violet flame. Some liquid was burning furiously at the entrance-way, and blazing rivulets were pouring down the steps. There was no way to go through those flames. There was now no way to go around. Gunnar, if he lived at all, must fight alone. And Odin's eyes filled with tears as he cursed himself for deserting his old comrade.
* * * * *
The attackers were almost upon Gunnar before th
e last of Maya's rag-tag army had gone down the stairs. There were high bannisters around the entrance-way. These afforded plenty of protection to his back and flanks unless someone scaled them, which he doubted. One of the heavy cressets was burning nearby. It seemed to be no more than a huge, open lamp. Standing upon a circular base about three feet across, the twelve-inch stem went up nearly eight feet and then flared out into a tulip-shaped bowl that was filled with flickering violet fire. Bending low, Gunnar grasped the bottom of the stem and moved it a little closer to the stairway entrance. It took all of his strength, but it moved, complaining as it slid along the flagging. Now he was almost under it. The light was in his opponents' faces, and it gave a little added protection to his left side.
Gunnar braced himself, his long blade high over his shoulder, both hands locked to the long carved haft.
"Grim Hagen," he called mockingly. "Here we are at the edge of the stars. Just you and I left on top of this world. Just you and I of the two crews that sailed from Opal. The mad gods have made bonfires of the suns. Ragnarok has come and passed. I have no quarrel with these people, Grim Hagen. Come forward now and let the two of us end what should have been ended long ago—"
* * * * *
Grim Hagen silenced his men and screamed back: "Gunnar, what I say now I have said before. I promised you death. But I will let you go free—and all the frightened rats below can go free—if you will give me Wolden's secret—"
"I know nothing of Wolden's secret. It may be nothing but a twitch in your mad brain. The old Blood-Drinker and I know but one secret, Grim Hagen, the secret of death. Step forth like a man now and I promise you more peace than even Wolden's secret could give you."
Grim Hagen said no more to Gunnar. He sent four companies in the direction of other entrances to the underground city. Then he martialled his remaining men and threw them toward Gunnar in threes.
Three by three they came, and three by three they went down. Braced on his strong, short legs Gunnar flailed them like wheat. Screams and curses filled the night. And Gunnar piled the dead before him.
One by one the companies returned to Grim Hagen and reported that for the present there was no other way into the room below.
Grim Hagen held a short council of war. He had less than a score of the white-skinned soldiers left. These he sent at Gunnar in a body, and came following after with the remaining Lorens.
Gunnar cut them down, but a leaping soldier died as he buried his knife in Gunnar's side. The Lorens were throwing sticks and stones when they could. They closed in like dogs upon a wolf. Gunnar reeled back and then advanced once more as he swung his broadsword.
He cleared a path and sent his attackers back until they stood about him in a circle, their fangs ready.
And then Gunnar reached forth and took the stem of the huge torch high up in his hands and bowed his back. The lamp rocked upon its pedestal and then came crashing forward. Its fuel spilled down and caught fire as it fell. Flames leaped up and lashed out at the Lorens.
The fierce flames drove the attackers farther back. But in falling, the great lamp careened and half of its liquid had splashed across the entrance to the tunnel. It caught fire. Gunnar gasped as it struck him. Then he strode forward, like a dwarf-king advancing from Hell.
A thrown knife caught him in the chest. Gunnar took another step, and another knife caught him below the throat. He stood there, trying to go on, and a mace thudded against his temple.
Gunnar reeled back into the flames.
Chapter 17
A deadening quiet fell over the huge room where Maya's and Ato's little armies were making their last stand. The flames were dying out in the tunnels and on the stairway. They fed more fuel to the fires and waited.
Maya was at Odin's side now. They clung together. Jack Odin kissed her and swore that they would never be parted again.
"Until death—" Maya said and raised her lips to his.
He shivered. It was a promise and an assurance that might be kept too soon. The fires could not burn much longer. Grim Hagen's power over the Lorens might be questioned after the havoc that had been wreaked in the city above. But Hagen and his white-skinned soldiers could still fight. And Grim Hagen's hate was hotter than the fires that were now dying out in the tunnels.
Ato joined them. He had proven himself a general. Outnumbered all the way, he had broken Grim Hagen's lines time and again during that awful night.
"I think we had better wait behind the barricades and make our last stand upon the balcony," he said. "We can't defend five entrances at the same time."
Odin agreed.
"Some of Maya's people are unarmed. We still have a few of the Lorens who joined us. They are good fighters. Better than the Lorens who are with Grim Hagen. Apparently, he drew his following from the weakest among them."
"Aye," Val the Loren agreed. He had fought near Ato's side all through the night, and his lean left hand was rubbing two deep cuts across his chest. "They have already had enough. But they have asked the wild things of the moss-country to dine with them, and now they can't get rid of their guests. If Grim Hagen and his soldiers should die, they would give up in a minute."
"Are your men still armed, Val?" Odin asked.
"Aye. They know to hang on to their weapons."
"Not all of Maya's people are," Odin said. "I don't like the idea of the children and old men fighting."
"Children and old men have fought before," Ato answered simply. "If this should be the last time, then the battle would be worth the blood. Anyway, I have set them to fashioning lances and staves from wood that we saved from the fires."
They waited. All the troops and all the weapons were moved behind the barricade.
Some of the best throwers were mounted upon the improvised balcony. They had rigged up a rude catapult from some lumber and ropes. They had barrels of nails and spikes for ammunition. Odin wished for some good bowmen, but the bow was as foreign to the Lorens as it was to the Brons. There was nothing left to do except move all the workshop's water-pails and sand-buckets behind the barricade in case of fire.
Soon they heard the sound of war-cries and the splashing of water from the tunnels. Smoke poured into the room from the quenched and dying fires. It disappeared almost as fast as it came. Evidently the Lorens were masters of air-conditioning. Odin was thankful. Knowing Grim Hagen, he had been fearful of gas. Now that seemed unlikely. Even as Gunnar had predicted, this last fight would be with knife and sword and spear. Or, if it lasted long, with clubs and bare hands.
They had spanned space and had mocked at time. Now time was triumphant as always. Would they end up as pre-stone-age men throwing sticks at one another? And was this a sample of the end of all the thinking men who would follow after into space? If so, what a hollow, foolish end to such high endeavor. Odin remembered an old professor who had said that all races carry their own seeds of destruction with them wherever they go. The bees who steal the honey soon die, the old man had said, but the flowers are pollinated anew and life goes on forever.
But such bleak thoughts were short-lasting. For as soon as the tunnels and the stairway were cleared of smoke, Grim Hagen's army came pouring into the room. Grim Hagen had mustered at least two-thousand men. He had divided these into five groups, and they came through the five entrances at the same time. Yelling and brandishing swords and flares, they rushed the barricade.
Jack Odin had underestimated the catapult. The crew released it. And a shower of spikes tore the invading ranks apart. Odin saw a white-skinned warrior go to his knees and scream as he tried to pull a six-inch spike from his eye.
Ato had ordered his men to try for Grim Hagen's trained soldiers first. Odin saw an old Bron cast a home-made spear with as much ease as a trained javelin-thrower back home. A soldier tried to pull it out of his chest until his legs buckled beneath him and he tumbled over backwards.
Then a white-skinned warrior leaped at the barricade and Odin thrust him through.
* * * * *
&nb
sp; Torches began to rain down upon them. Half the defending forces were now busy with water and sand, beating out the flames.
Then, after what seemed to be hours, the catapult crew cranked their awkward weapon to the trigger-point again and sent another rain of spikes into Grim Hagen's ranks.
The floor beyond the barrier was littered with dead and slippery with blood before Grim Hagen's men broke the barrier.
There were only two hundred to meet the charge of two thousand. The end was inevitable.
As the barrier went down, Jack Odin and Maya urged their men to climb upon the balcony. Odin was the last to retreat. A soldier caught at him as he scrambled upward and Odin turned and slashed him across the face.
Ato was calling his men around him. They drew back to a corner where two thick walls met. Ato had placed one bench there. This he stood upon, calling out orders and cheering them on as the attackers climbed the unsteady tiers of benches and tables to reach them. The defenders gathered around. There were not over fifty of them left now. Odin thrust Maya behind him. A body fell at his feet. He bent and lifted up a twelve-year-old boy who was streaming from wounds. He handed the lad to Maya.
Grim Hagen led the attack. Odin braced himself. He took one step forward and waited. Seeing him, Grim Hagen veered toward him, screaming a mad battle-cry—his eyes wild with hate. Even in what appeared to be the last moment, Jack Odin saw that only three or four of the white-skinned soldiers were left; and not over a dozen of the Brons who had stayed with Grim Hagen during all those wasting years remained.
He did not take his eyes from Grim Hagen. He was conscious only of a sudden flickering, as of many lights twinkling on and off. But he did not know what was happening. Maya told him later.
