The Quest for Tanelorn

  Soon they were ready. Hawkmoon had with him John ap-Rhyss, Enshon of Ariso, Keeth Woecarrier and Turning Nikhe, while Baron Gotterin, Thereod of the Caves, Chaz of Elaquol and Reingir the Rock, awakened at last from his drunken snoozings and stumbling Wearily in the wake of the rest, made up Corum's party. Privately, Hawkmoon felt he had the pick of the men.

  Into the mist they marched, and to the side of the ship. The anchor was already rattling, the ship already settling. They could see rocky land - an isle which looked distinctly inhospitable. Could it possibly shelter Tanelorn, the fabulous city of peace?

  John ap-Rhyss sniffed suspiciously, wiping the mist from his moustache, his other hand playing with the hilt of his sword. 'I have seen no place less welcoming,' he said.

  The Captain had left his cabin. His steersman stood next to him. Both held armfuls of brands.

  With a shock, Hawkmoon saw that the steersman's face was the twin of the Captain's - but the eyes were not blind. They were sharp, they were full of knowledge. Hawkmoon could hardly bear to look at the face as he accepted his brand and tucked it into his belt.

  'Only fire will destroy this enemy forever.' The Captain now handed Hawkmoon a tinder box with which to light the brand when the time came. 'I wish you success, warriors.'

  Now each man had a brand and a tinder box. Erekose was first over the side, swinging down the rope ladder, unclipping his sword so that it would not touch the water, and plunging into the milky sea up to his waist. The others followed him, wading through the shallows until they stood upon the shore, looking back at the ship.

  Hawkmoon noticed that the mist did not extend as far as the land, which had now taken on some colour. Normally, he would have thought how dull the surroundings were, but in contrast to the ship they were bright - red rocks festooned with lichen of several shades of yellow. And above his head was a great disc, bloody and still, which was the sun. It cast a great many shadows, thought Hawkmoon.

  It was only slowly that he began to notice just how many shadows were cast - shadows which could not possibly belong to the rocks alone - shadows of all sizes, of all shapes.

  Some, he saw, were the shadows of men.

  Chapter Four

  A City Haunted By Itself

  The sky was like a wound gone bad, full of dreadful, unhealthy blues, browns, dark reds and yellows, and there were shadows in it which, unlike those on the land, sometimes moved.

  One called Hown Serpent-Tamer, a member of Elric's party, whose armour was sea-green and scintillating, said: 'I have rarely been ashore, it's true, but I think the quality of this land is stranger than any other I've known. It shimmers. It distorts.’

  'Aye,' said Hawkmoon. He had noticed the same sweep of flickering light which passed from time to time over the island and distorted the outlines of the surrounding ground.

  A barbaric warrior, with braids and glaring eyes, called Ashnar the Lynx, was plainly much discomforted by all of this. 'And from whence come all these shadows?' he growled. 'Why cannot we see that which casts them?'

  They continued to march inland, though all were reluctant to leave the shore and the ship behind. Corum seemed the least disturbed. He spoke in a tone of philosophical curiosity.

  'It could be that these are shadows cast by objects existing in other dimensions of the Earth,' said the Prince in the Scarlet Robe. 'If all dimensions meet here, as has been sug­gested, that could be a likely explanation. This is not the strangest example I have witnessed of such a conjunction.'

  A black man, whose face bore a peculiar V-shaped scar, and who was called Otto Blendker, fingered the sword belt which crossed his chest and grunted. 'Likely? Pray let none give me an unlikely explanation, if you please!'

  Thereod of the Caves said: 'I have witnessed a similar peculi­arity in the deepest caves of my own land, but nothing so vast. There, I was told, dimensions met. So Corum is doubtless right.' He shifted the long, slender sword on his back. He spoke no more to the party in general, but fell to conversing with the dwarfish Emshon of Ariso who was, as usual, grumbling about something.

  Hawkmoon was still considering if they had been duped by the Captain. They still had no proof that the blind man truly meant them well. For all Hawkmoon knew the Captain himself had designs upon the worlds and was using them against their fellows. But he voiced nothing of this to the others, all of whom seemed prepared to do the Captain's bidding without ques­tion.

  Once more Hawkmoon found himself eyeing the shape of the sword beneath Ekic's cloak and wondering why it perturbed him so much. He became lost in his own thoughts, looking as little as possible at the disturbing landscape around him, re­viewing die events which had led to his finding himself in this company. He was aroused from his reverie by Corum's voice saying:

  'Perhaps this is Tanelorn - or, rather, all the versions of Tanelorn there have ever been. For Tanelorn exists in many forms, each form depending upon the wishes of those who most desire to find her.'

  Hawkmoon looked and he saw the city. It was a crazy assortment of ruins, displaying every possible idiosyncratic style of architecture, as if some god had collected examples of buildings from every world of the multiverse and placed them here, willy-nilly. All were in ruins. They stretched away to the horizon - tottering towers, shattered minarets, crumbling castles - and all cast shadows. Moreover, in this city, too, there were many shadows which had no apparent origin. Shadows of buildings not visible to their eyes.

  Hawkmoon was shocked. 'This is not the Tanelorn I expected to find,' he said.

  'Nor I.' Erekose spoke in a tone which echoed Hawkmoon's.

  'Perhaps it is not Tanelorn.' Elric stopped short, his crimson eyes scanning the ruins. 'Perhaps it is not.'

  'Or perhaps this is a graveyard.' Corum frowned. 'A grave­yard containing all the forgotten versions of that strange city?'

  Hawkmoon refused to pause. He kept walking until he had reached the ruins, and the others began to follow him, until they were all clambering through the broken stones, inspecting here a piece of engraving, there a fallen statue. Behind him, Hawkmoon heard Erekose speaking in a low voice to Elric.

  'Have you noticed,' said Erekose, 'that the shadows now represent something?'

  Hawkmoon heard Elric reply. 'You can tell from the ruins what some of the buildings looked like when they were whole. The shadows are the shadows of those buildings - the original buildings before they became ruined.'

  Hawkmoon looked for himself and saw that Elric was right. It was a city haunted by itself.

  'Just so,' said Erekose.

  Hawkmoon turned. 'We were promised Tanelorn. We were promised a corpse!"

  'Possibly,' said Corum, thoughtfully. 'But do not come to too hasty a conclusion, Hawkmoon.'

  'I would judge the centre to be over there, ahead of us,' said John ap-Rhyss. 'Would that be the best place to look for those we fight?'

  The others agreed and they altered the direction of their march a little, making for a cleared space amongst the ruins where a building could be seen, its outline sharp and clean where the outlines of the others were indistinct. Its colours, too, were brighter, with planes of curved metal going at all angles, connected by tubes which might have been of crystal and which glowed and throbbed.

  'It resembles a machine more than a building.' Hawkmoon found his curiosity aroused.

  'And a musical instrument more than a machine.' Corum's single eye viewed the building with a certain awe.

  The four heroes stopped and their men stopped with them.

  "This must be the dwelling of the sorcerers,' said Emshon of Ariso. ‘They do themselves well, eh? And look - it is really two identical buildings, connected by those tubes.'

  'A home for the brother and a home for the sister,' said Reingir the Rock. He belched and looked apologetic.

  Two buildings,' Erekose remarked. 'We were not prepared for this. Shall we split up and attack both?'

  Elric shook his head. 'I think we should go together into one, else our strength will be
weakened.

  'I agree," said Hawkmoon, wishing he knew why he was so reluctant, nonetheless, to follow Elric into the building.

  'Well, let us set to it,' Baron Gotterin said. 'Let us enter Hell, if this is not Hell already.'

  Corum gave the Baron an amused glance. 'You are certainly determined to prove your theory!'

  Again Hawkmoon took the initiative, heading over the level ground towards what he guessed to be the doorway of the near­est building - a dark, asymmetrical gash. As the twenty warriors approached, experienced eyes wary for attack by any possible defenders, the building seemed to take on a brighter glow, seemed to pulse with a steady beat, seemed to emit peculiar, almost inaudible, whispering noises. Used to the sorcerous tech­nology of the Dark Empire, Hawkmoon still found himself fearing the place, and suddenly he was holding back, letting Elric lead the way in, his four chosen comrades with him. Hawkmoon and his men went next through the black portal and they were in a passage which curved sharply almost as soon as they had entered; a humid passage which brought sweat to their faces. Again they paused, glancing at one another. Then they began to move again, ready to meet whatever defenders there were.

  They had gone some distance along the passage before its walls and floor began to shake so heavily that Hown Serpent-tamer was flung downwards, to lie sprawled and swearing while the others barely managed to keep their balance, and at the same time there came a booming, faraway voice from ahead - a voice full of querulous outrage.

  ‘Who? Who? Who?'

  Hawkmoon, gripped by inapposite humour, thought it the voice of a mad and gigantic owl.

  ‘Who? Who? Who invades me?'

  With the help of the others, Hown had regained his footing. They pushed on as the passage's motion became somewhat less violent, while the voice continued to mutter, distracted, as if to itself.

  ‘What attacks? What?'

  None had any explanation for the voice. All were bewildered by it. They said nothing, letting Elric lead them into a fairly large hall. Within the hall the air was even warmer and hard to breathe. Viscous fluid dripped from the ceiling and oozed down the walls. Hawkmoon found himself disgusted and quelled a strong desire to turn back. Then Ashnar the Lynx yelped and pointed at the beasts which squeezed themselves through the walls and came slithering at them, mouths gaping. They were snake-like things and sight of them brought bile to Hawkmoon's throat.

  ‘Attack!’ The voice cried again. 'Destroy this! Destroy it!' There was a terrible, mindless quality to the command.

  Instinctively the warriors formed themselves into four groups, standing back to back to meet the attack.

  Instead of real teeth, the beasts had sharp bone ridges in their mouths, like twin knives, making a horrid clashing sound as they drew their shapeless, disgusting bodies through the slime of the floor.

  Elric was the first to draw his sword and Hawkmoon was distracted for a second as he saw the huge black blade rise over the albino's head. He could have sworn that he heard the blade moan, that it glowed with a life which was its own. But then he was cutting at the beasts which slithered all around him, striking into flesh which parted with nauseating ease and which gave off a stink threatening to overwhelm them all. The air grew thicker and the fluid on the floor was deeper and Elric was shouting to them. 'Move on through them!' he cried. 'Hacking a path through as you go. Head for yonder opening.'

  Hawkmoon saw the doorway and he knew that Elric's plan was the best they could hope for. He began to press forward, his men moving with him, destroying a multitude of the horrid beasts as they went. As a result the stench increased and Hawkmoon was gagging now.

  ‘The creatures are not hard to fight!' Hown Serpent-tamer was panting. 'But each one we kill robs us a little of our own chances of life.'

  'Cunningly planned by our enemies, no doubt,' answered Elric.

  Elric was the first to reach the passage, waving them to join him.

  Thrusting, swinging, slicing, they gained the door and the beasts were reluctant to follow. Here the air was a little more breathable. Hawkmoon leaned against the wall of the passage, listening to the others debate, but unable to join the con­versation.

  'Attack! Attack!' ordered the faraway voice. But no further attack came.

  'I like not this castle at all.' Brut of Lashmar fingered a tear in his cloak. 'High sorcery commands it.'

  'It is only what we knew,' said Ashnar the Lynx, his bar­barian's eyes darting this way and that.

  Otto Blendker, another of Elric's men, wiped sweat from his black brow. ‘They are cowards, these sorcerers. They do not show themselves.' He was almost shouting. 'Is their aspect so loathsome that they are afraid lest we look upon them?' Hawkmoon realized that Blendker was speaking for the benefit of the two sorcerers, Agak and Gagak, hoping to shame them into appearing. But there was no response. Soon they were pushing on through the fleshy passages, which changed dimensions fre­quently and were sometimes all but impassable. The light, too, was inconstant, and often they moved in complete darkness, linking hands so as not to become separated.

  ‘The floor rises all the time,' murmured Hawkmoon to John ap-Rhyss, who was nearest to him. 'We must be fairly close to the top of the building.'

  ap-Rhyss made no reply. His teeth were clenched as if he tried not to betray his fear.

  ‘The Captain said that the sorcerers could probably change shape,' Emshon of Ariso said. They must change frequently, for these passages are not designed for creatures of any one particular size.'

  Elric, at the head of the twenty, said: 'I become impatient to confront these shape changers.'

  Ashnar the Lynx, next to him, growled: ‘They said there'd be treasure here. I thought to stake my life against a fair reward, but there's nought here of value.' He touched the wall. 'Not even stone or brick. What are these walls made of, Elric?'

  Hawkmoon had wondered the same thing and he hoped that the albino would offer an explanation, but Elric was shaking his head. ‘That has puzzled me, also, Ashnar.'

  Hawkmoon heard Elric draw in his breath, saw him raise his strange, heavy sword - and there were new attackers coming at them. These were beasts with red, snarling mouths and their bristling fur was orange. Yellow fangs dripped saliva. Elric was the first to be threatened, driving his sword deep into the first beast's belly even as its claws fell on him. It was like a huge baboon and the thrust had not killed it.

  Then Hawkmoon was engaged with another of the apes, slashing at it while it feinted, side-stepping his blows, and Hawkmoon was aware that he had little chance, individually, against it. He saw Keeth Woecarrier, careless of his safety, come blundering to his aid, big sword swinging, a look of resig­nation upon his melancholy face. The ape turned its attention to the Woecarrier, throwing the whole weight of its body at him. Keeth's blade ran it through the chest, but its fangs were on the large man's throat and blood was bursting from the jugular almost in an instant.

  Hawkmoon thrust under the ape's ribs, knowing that it was too late to save Keeth Woecarrier whose body was already sinking to the damp floor. Corum appeared, stabbing the creature from the other side. It snarled, turning on them, claws reaching for them. Its eyes glazed. It stumbled. It fell backwards on to the Woecarrier's corpse.

  Hawkmoon did not wait to be attacked, but sprang over the corpses to where Baron Gotterin was locked in the grip of another orange ape. Teeth snapped, tearing the fat face free of the skull. Gotterin yelled once, almost in triumph, almost as if he felt his theory vindicated. Then he died. Ashnar the Lynx used his sword like an axe, lopping off the head of Gotterin's assassin. He stood upon the body of another slain ape. Miraculously, he had taken two of the beasts singlehanded. He was roaring out some toneless battle song. He was full of joy now.

  Hawkmoon grinned at the barbarian and rushed to Corum's assistance, making a deep cut through the neck and back of the baboon. Blood shot into his eyes and blinded him for a moment so that he thought he was doomed. But the beast was finished. It twitched for only a few seconds
longer. Corum pushed it from him with the pommel of his sword.

  Hawkmoon saw that Chaz of Elaquol was also dead, but that Turning Nikhe still lived, nursing a deep gash in his face, grin­ning the while. Reingir the Rock lay upon his back, his throat torn out, while John ap-Rhyss, Emshon of Ariso and Thereod of the Caves had managed to survive the fight with only minor wounds. Erekose's men had fared less well. One had his arm hanging by strips of flesh alone, another had lost an eye and another had had his hand bitten clean off. The others were tending them as best they could. Brut of Lashmar, Hown Serpent-tamer, Ashnar the Lynx and Otto Blendker were also reasonably unhurt.

  Ashnar looked triumphantly upon the bodies of the two apes. ‘I begin to suspect this venture of being uneconomical,' he said. He was panting as a hound might pant after a successful kill. ‘The less time we take over it, the better. What think you, Elric?'

  'I would agree.' Elric shook blood from his fearsome sword. 'Come.'

  Without waiting for the others, he began to lead the way towards a chamber ahead. The chamber glowed with a peculiar pink light. Hawkmoon and the others followed him into it.

  Now Elric was looking down in horror. He bent and grasped something. And Hawkmoon felt his own legs seized. They were snakes, covering the floor of the chamber - long, thin reptiles, flesh-coloured and eyeless - tightening then- coils about his ankles. Wildly, Hawkmoon hacked downwards, severing two or three of the heads, but the coils did not relax. Around him, his surviving comrades were shouting with fear, trying to free themselves.

  And then the one called Hown Serpent-tamer, the warrior in the sea-green armour, began to sing.