Hathor-Ka let her arms fall and she almost collapsed, but the strong arm of SenMut saved her from falling. "You must rest, mistress," he said.
"Even the strongest of mages would be exhausted by the pace you have kept."
"I shall, SenMut," she said, wearied beyond all previous experience.
"Purify the temple and store the tomes and devices securely. Double the guard. There is great danger of detection now."
"It shall be done, mistress."
Hathor-Ka retired to her chambers to bathe and rest.
She awoke from a deep and dreamless sleep to find Moulay standing by her bed, gently shaking her shoulder. "Awake, mistress. Your house has been broken into and despoiled."
"What?" She flung back the silk coverlet and arose. Her bed stood on a dais carved in the likeness of a coiled serpent, and she descended the tiers of its immense body to a small table. "Explain instantly." From the table she took a pitcher that contained a potion of herbs steeped in water. It was specially mixed to help her wake quickly.
"The crypt below your temple, where you keep your sorcerous screeds and instruments, has been entered. One of my men passed by the temple entrance on his rounds and smelled something amiss. It was blood. He ran to fetch me since he is forbidden to enter the temple. I went inside and saw corpses in the crypt. Even I dared not enter that room, so I came straightaway to wake you." His mistress was already striding from the chamber.
Hathor-Ka descended the steps to the crypt behind an acolyte who held high a lantern. Behind her came Moulay, with drawn sword. "Where is SenMut?" she asked.
"He was in the crypt, mistress," said the acolyte, whose hand made the lantern tremble slightly. "He and three others had the second watch this night. He seemed most eager to guard your possessions well."
"How so?" she asked, frowning.
"He bore with him a sword, something he had never done before."
With trepidation the acolyte stepped within the crypt. The lantern luridly illumined the ghastly scene inside. From the top of the steps, they had been able to glimpse only inert arms and legs. Now they saw three corpses, their blood carpeting the floor. One pale hand still pointed at an obscene statue set in a niche in the wall.
Moulay turned two of the bodies over with a foot. "Stabbed in the throat," he reported. "Done quickly. They were taken completely unawares. He must have had the blade in the third one's throat before the first struck the floor." None of the bodies was SenMut. "But how did he get past my guards?"
Hathor-Ka stepped past the dead, pointing hand to the niche. She turned to the acolyte. "Leave the lantern and go. Say nothing to the others before I return." When the acolyte was gone she twisted certain of the perverted excrescences upon the statue in the niche. A section of the wall swung away to reveal a dark tunnel. "This is where he went," she said.
"This crypt was the tomb of a high priest before my family built the temple and villa atop it. The tunnel was made by tomb robbers in ages past. It emerges in the fields not far from the river, beneath a small shrine.
One of my ancestors hid both entrances as a convenient escape route in times of danger.''
"How knew SenMut of this?"
"Never has the secret been outside my family," she said. "It must have been Thoth-Amon. Through his arts he has discovered this passage and suborned one of my acolytes." She was pale and shaking with fury. Moulay had never seen his mistress so overwrought. "How long? For how long has Thoth-Amon had free access to my house?"
"Why did he not come himself?" Moulay asked, "I have set sentries which he and his creatures cannot pass. But none of
them would prevent an acolyte of mine from leaving with stolen goods."
"What was taken?"
"Need you ask? The Skelos fragment, of course. He may have taken other things, but that is the important one. I must get it back."
"If Thoth-Amon has it in his possession, will it do any good to have it back?"
"Yes. The fragment is not like a schoolboy's lesson, to be memorized and used at will. The physical possession of such things adds great force to the sorcerer's spells. That is why the great books of magic are so valuable, while later copies with the same text are far less so." She made further adjustments to the statue, and the passage closed again. "On the morrow I shall have workmen fill the tunnel with stone. Now get some of your best men together, desert men adept at night raiding. We shall pay my colleague Thoth-Amon a visit tomorrow night."
For the rest of the night and through the next morning, Hathor-Ka rested. Then she began making preparations. With draughts and spells she fortified herself, gaining strength, speed, and endurance for the night's work. She would pay dearly for this in the days to come, but the stakes were such in this game that considerations of mere pain and exhaustion were trivial. She assembled arcane devices of crystal and bone, and studied occult spells, the mere reading of which chilled the air. As the sun lowered she entered her courtyard, where Moulay and his men were assembled.
Moulay had chosen a dozen warriors, all of his own tribe and fanatically loyal to Hathor-Ka. Each was muffled to the eyes in the cowl and veil of their tribe, and dressed in close-fitting trousers and tunic covered by a flowing robe. Their garments were dyed gray and tan to blend well with the desert. They bore swords, daggers, and short bows. Each man wore beneath his tunic a jerkin of fine mail sewn down to a silken vest so as to make no sound. Their black eyes gleamed with eagerness, for they were raiders by temperament and found their sentry duties here tedious.
"All is ready, my lady," Moulay said. Grooms led in their horses, bridled with rope and shod with rawhide for the sake of quiet. She signaled and they mounted.
"We climb the eastern escarpment to the high desert," Hathor-Ka announced. "By the time the moon stands high above the river we shall arrive at the sphinx of King Rahotep. We leave the horses there and proceed afoot. When we reach the house of Thoth-Amon you are to remember two things above all: No one is to offer violence to Thoth-Amon, and I want the traitor SenMut alive."
They sped from the gate and climbed the road toward the great escarpment that separated the fertile valley of the Styx from the high desert. Peasants trudged toward their hovels with tools shouldered, and they looked up curiously to see the horsemen pass. Horses were little used in Stygia, where most travel was by foot or by river. Only caravaneers rode camels, and few but the desert raiders rode horses.
The road that slanted up the escarpment has been carved from the solid rock in ages past as a means of moving troops quickly from the river landings to the border forts where they might be needed. Stygia had faced no enemies from that direction in many centuries, but it was still Hathor-Ka's duty, as owner of the adjacent land, to keep the road in good order against future need.
The desert atop the escarpment was all but uninhabited, yet it was dotted here and there with the ruins of ancient forts, temples erected to forgotten gods, the hovels of long-dead hermits and desert mystics, and the enigmatic statues and monuments that stand in every corner of Stygia. Despite the concentration of the vast bulk of the population in the narrow, fertile strip bordering the great river, the priest-kings felt it necessary to make their mark wherever they claimed sway over the land.
Moulay rode in the lead, unerringly finding their path through the desert night, while Hathor-Ka scanned the moonlit sky for sign of flying minions of her sorcerous rival. Should she catch sight of a batwinged form, she had spells ready to render it invisible to the watcher, or to bring it crashing to the desert. The drugs she had brewed and consumed caused her vision to reach farther than mortal eyes should see, and everything she perceived was bathed in shimmering silver light.
The sphinx of King Rahotep reared its immense bulk against the starry sky, and they reined their horses in the shadow between its great paws. No man now could say for what purpose it had been erected, or, rather, carved, for it had been hewn from a single outcropping of sandstone. So ancient was it that little now was known of Rahotep except for his name
and a reputation for abominable practices. Above the lion's body, with its dragon's wings, the face of the wizard-king glared into the desert as it had for uncounted centuries.
"I saw no watchers as we rode," Hathor-Ka said.
"There were none on the desert," Moulay told her. She removed her robe and stowed it in a saddlebag. Beneath it she wore garments similar to those of the men, save hers were made of fine black silk. She wore no mail and bore no weapons, but slung from her shoulder was a bag containing items of great potency.
Before setting out on the last leg of their journey, Moulay sent out two men to screen their flanks and another to travel a hundred paces ahead.
Then they set off, not at a walk but at a loping run. As they ran, the men chewed on the petals and leaves of the blue lotus for strength and stamina.
Mile after mile they covered, until they came to the crest of a ridge that overlooked a small oasis fringed with palms. Near the dark pond stood a featureless house surrounded by a high wall.
"Guards?" Hathor-Ka whispered.
"I see three atop the wall," Moulay said.
One of the desert men came to them and stretched forth an arm, pointing to a movement just north of the house. "Roving patrol," he reported. "They come this way."
"We can deal with them," Moulay told Hathor-Ka. "And we can gain the top of the wall undetected. Know you the way into the house?"
"I have had a spy there for many years," she said, "but now I do not know whether she has been sending me true information."
"Give us our orders, mistress, and we shall do your bidding," Moulay said.
"First, remove that patrol. Then, get me atop that wall. A glance should tell me whether my intelligence is correct. I shall have further orders for you at that time."
Creeping along the ground, keeping to the shadows painted on the
desert by moonlight, rock, and bush, Moulay and several of his men reached unseen a spot beside the track that Thoth-Amon's guards were treading. There was a faint clicking of harness as the guards drew nearer, and Moulay's men readied themselves, some drawing daggers, others holding bowstrings between their hands.
The approaching footsteps slowed and then stopped. The lead guardsman, wearing a helm never meant to encase a human head, turned this way and that, as if sensing something. It emitted a loud hiss but no more as a bowstring whipped around its neck and was drawn taut. At the same instant the other guards were suffering the same fate as a desert man garrotted each from behind while another man in front gutted it with a curved dagger. Sounds of struggle were brief and faint.
Hathor-Ka came close to examine the corpses as her men cleaned their weapons. "Lizardmen from the isles east of ancient Lemuria," she said.
"Thoth-Amon cast his net of conjury wide to find these."
With the same uncanny silence and swiftness, the raiding party approached the wall guarding the house. The guards atop the wall were oblivious of the recent slaughter and spoke to one another in the unmistakable voices of men. At the base of the wall one of the desert dwellers knelt on all fours and another stood atop him, back to the wall and cupped hands held before. A third sprang lightly up and his foot was caught by the second man, who boosted him to the top of the wall. In this fashion six men gained the walk inside the wall unseen and unheard.
Within the space of a few heartbeats one of the men was waving to those below and the rest ascended the wall. The sentries lay dead at their posts.
Hathor-Ka surveyed the courtyard with slitted eyes. There were no more guards in evidence, but that did not mean that the house was without protection. With her enhanced vision she could see a circle of strange runes investing the house in a narrow band on the ground.
"All of you follow me closely," she ordered.
They descended to the ground and followed Hathor-Ka until they stood in a small group next to the magical barrier.
"We must not interrupt the magical circle," Hathor-Ka said.
Moulay nodded, although he could see nothing on the ground to which
his mistress pointed.
She arranged the men in a tight huddle and took a short wand from her pouch. Starting at a point to one side of the band of men, she began to draw a loop of similar runes encircling them, rejoining the great circle on the other side. As she drew she saw the runes glow with a weird greenish light, though the others saw nothing. When the second circle was complete she erased the runes before them and led her men across the barrier. Behind them, the circle, now with a peculiar loop, continued to glow in a fashion only Hathor-Ka could see.
The great door stood open. Thoth-Amon apparently believed his human, unhuman, and sorcerous defenses to be more than adequate. The band entered the house, which was silent except for the sound of a small fountain that tinkled in the vestibule. No candle or lamp relieved the darkness, and Hathor-Ka muttered a spell. She could see, but her men needed light if they were to be of any use. A point of light appeared by her head and grew into a softly glowing sphere that drifted to the ceiling, revealing bizarre frescos of strange worlds and beings.
A single door opened from the vestibule, revealing only a rectangle of blackness. Hathor-Ka walked past the fountain and entered the room. The ball of sorcerous light followed, as did the men. She signaled for the others to halt. At the far end of the chamber, seated on a throne atop a low dais, was Thoth-Amon. The great mage wore an enveloping black robe, and all that was visible of him was his ascetic, shaven head and his hands.
"Is this what you seek, Hathor-Ka?" he asked, holding up a large ragged-edged piece of parchment.
"You know that well. Give it back to me, and all shall be as though naught has passed between us."
"Let us not bandy foolish words, Hathor-Ka. Would I have subverted your acolyte and revealed my knowledge of your hidden tunnel if I had intended to return what I took from you?"
"No. And you would not now be speaking if you had not some offer to make. Name your price."
"It is true," the wizard said, "that you entered so easily because I willed it so. What I have for you is not a price, but an offer of alliance."
"Alliance?" she said suspiciously. "Why should I wish to ally myself with you?"
"Because you have no chance of making yourself supreme mage otherwise." He held up the parchment once more. "This is useless to you without the full text of the Great Summoning of Powers."
"I command that spell!" Hathor-Ka insisted.
"You do not. Only two mages in all the world have the full knowledge of the greatest of all spells. I am one. The other is the Vendhyan, Jaganath.
Nine others have the incomplete version which you learned from Khepteh-Sebek, whom you seduced and then murdered."
Hathor-Ka bristled and glared, but she did not try to deny the accusation.
"Your efforts were wasted," Thoth-Amon continued. "Six lines of verse are missing from this version, along with five important gestures. To attempt this spell at the great conjunction would result only in a death unsurpassingly hideous. By Father Set I swear this."
"What is your proposal?"
"I shall instruct you in the proper ritual of the Great Summoning.
When you travel by the Double-Goer spell to Ben Morgh upon the equinox, you shall take with you my own spirit-double. When the ceremony is complete we shall be equally powerful and shall rule jointly."
''Trust him not, mistress," hissed Moulay. "If he has this spell, as well as the fragment, why does he not take all and become sole ruler?"
"Because he has no way of traveling to Ben Morgh by the equinox," she answered. "Had he found the Skelos fragment first, he would not be bargaining with me now."
"Do you accept?" Thoth-Amon demanded.
She considered the possibilities. Without the true Summoning she faced a horrible death. What if Thoth-Amon were to teach her a false spell? He had nothing to gain from that, as it would mean only that Jaganath would become supreme mage instead of her. Besides, there
would be plen
ty of time to betray Thoth-Amon later. "I accept. But I want the traitor SenMut."
"Agreed. I have no use for him. He would betray me as easily as he did you." Thoth-Amon gestured, and two of his human servants entered with SenMut bound between them.
Hathor-Ka stared at the traitor with reptilian eyes, and he shrank beneath her gaze. "There is yet one ceremony to perform," she said. "It requires a sacrifice. You will do nicely, SenMut." His eyes widened as he realized what she meant, and the servants dragged him away screaming.
Twelve
In the Caverns of the Demon
"There must be an opening somewhere," Chulainn said. The sun had been up for an hour or more, and they were combing the bizarre pit in search of an entryway to the subterranean lair of the evil beings they had seen.
Conan rapped at the stone futilely, using the pommel of his dirk.
Everything sounded and felt solid. Cha was examining the strange and grotesque formations scattered about the pit. Some of them were carved from the natural rock, others seemed to have been molded from melted stone. Still others were of no stone from this area and seemed in some odd way to have grown there.
"Khitan!" Conan called out. "Come help us find a way in. You can see the sights later."
"You too impatient," Cha said. "Much of interest here. Maybe never get opportunity to study such things again." He kicked one of the organic-looking stone objects lightly. "This thing not from this world. It is from the empty spaces beyond our planets. Never see its like before."
Conan, who was not sure what a planet was, refused to be impressed.
"No time for that. We must go in there and find our people and be out before the sun sets and they are on the mountain again."
The Khitan made a circuit of the walls and studied the floor of the pit.
The Conan Compendium Page 329
