{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_75233/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_75233","id":"gutenberg_75233","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75233","summary":null,"tags":["Atlantis (Legendary place) -- Fiction","Category: Adventure","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Science-Fiction & Fantasy","Fantasy fiction"],"text":"Dragon Moon\n\nA NOVELETTE OF LOST ATLANTIS\n\nBy HENRY KUTTNER\n\n_Author of \"The Watcher at the Door,\" \"Hydra,\" \"Spawn of Dagon,\" etc._\n\n[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from\nWeird Tales, January, 1941.\nExtensive research did not uncover any evidence that\nthe U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]\n\n_Out of the dark--out of the unknown--came Karkora ... rotting the\nsouls of the kings of Cyrena. For Karkora, the Pallid One, was a\ncreature more loathsome than anything on earth. It was beyond good or\nevil, a Presence from the Outside--a shadow of which the \"altar fires\nhad whispered.\"_\n\n\n\n\n_1. Elak of Atlantis_\n\n    Of great limbs gone to chaos,\n      A great face turned to night--\n    Why bend above a shapeless shroud\n    Seeking in such archaic cloud\n      Sight of strong lords and light?\n\n    --Chesterton.\n\n\nThe wharf-side tavern was a bedlam. The great harbor of Poseidonia\nstretched darkly to the southeast, but the waterfront was a blaze of\nbright lanterns and torches. Ships had made port today, and this tavern,\nlike the others, roared with mirth and rough nautical oaths.\nCooking-smoke and odor of sesame filled the broad low room, mingled with\nthe sharp tang of wine. The swarthy seamen of the south held high\ncarnival tonight.\n\nIn a niche in the wall was an image of the patron god, Poseidon of the\nsunlit seas. It was noticeable that before swilling liquor, nearly every\nman spilled a drop or two on the floor in the direction of the carved\ngod.\n\nA fat little man sat in a corner and muttered under his breath. Lycon's\nsmall eyes examined the tavern with some distaste. His purse was, for a\nchange, heavy with gold; so was that of Elak, his fellow adventurer. Yet\nElak preferred to drink and wench in this brawling, smelly tavern, a\nprediliction that filled Lycon with annoyance and bitterness. He spat,\nmuttered under his breath, and turned to watch Elak.\n\nThe lean, wolf-faced adventurer was quarreling with a sea captain whose\nhuge, great-muscled body dwarfed Elak's. Between the two a tavern wench\nwas seated, her slanted eyes watching the men slyly, flattered by the\nattention given her.\n\nThe seaman, Drezzar, had made the mistake of underestimating Elak's\npotentialities. He had cast covetous eyes upon the wench and determined\nto have her, regardless of Elak's prior claim. Under other circumstances\nElak might have left the slant-eyed girl to Drezzar, but the captain's\nwords had been insulting. So Elak remained at the table, his gaze wary,\nand his rapier loosened in its scabbard.\n\nHe watched Drezzar, noting the sunburnt, massive face, the bushy dark\nbeard, the crinkled scar that swept down from temple to jawbone,\nblinding the man in one gray eye. And Lycon, called for more wine. Steel\nwould flash soon, he knew.\n\nYet the battle came without warning. A stool was overturned, there was a\nflare of harsh oaths, and Drezzar's sword came out, flaming in the\nlamplight. The wench screamed shrilly and fled, having little taste for\nbloodshed save from a distance.\n\nElak crouched catlike, his rapier motionless in his hand. A glint of\nangry laughter shone in the cold eyes.\n\nDrezzar feinted; his sword swept out in a treacherously low cut that\nwould have disemboweled Elak had it reached its mark. But the smaller\nman's body writhed aside in swift, flowing motion; the rapier shimmered.\nIts point gashed Drezzar's scalp.\n\nThey fought in silence. And this, more than anything else, gave Elak the\nmeasure of his opponent. Drezzar's face was quite emotionless. Only the\nscar stood out white and distinct. His blinded eye seemed not to\nhandicap him in the slightest degree.\n\nLycon waited for a chance to sheathe his steel in Drezzar's back. Elak\nwould disapprove, he knew, but Lycon was a realist.\n\nElak's sandal slipped in a puddle of spilled liquor, and he threw\nhimself aside desperately, striving to regain his balance. He failed.\nDrezzar's lashing sword drove the rapier from his hand, and Elak went\ndown, his head cracking sharply on an overturned stool.\n\nThe seamen poised himself, sighted down his blade, and lunged. Lycon was\ndarting forward, but he knew he could not reach the killer in time.\n\nAnd then--from the open door came the inexplicable. Something like a\nstreak of flaming light lashed through the air, and at first Lycon\nthought it was a thrown dagger. But it was not. It was--flame!\n\nWhite flame, darting and unearthly! It gripped Drezzar's blade, coiled\nabout it, ripped it from the seaman's hand. It blazed up in blinding\nfiery light, limning the room in starkly distinct detail. The sword fell\nuselessly to the floor, a blackened, twisted stump of melted metal.\n\nDrezzar shouted an oath. He stared at the ruined weapon, and his bronzed\nface paled. Swiftly he whirled and fled through a side door.\n\nThe flame had vanished. In the door a man stood--a gross, ugly figure\nclad in the traditional brown robe of the Druids.\n\nLycon, skidding to a halt, lowered his sword and whispered, \"Dalan!\"\n\nElak got to his feet, rubbing his head ruefully. At sight of the Druid\nhis face changed. Without a word he nodded to Lycon and moved toward the\ndoor.\n\nThe three went out into the night.\n\n\n\n\n_2. Dragon Throne._\n\n    Now we are come to our Kingdom,\n    And the Crown is ours to take--\n    With a naked sword at the Council board,\n    And under the throne the snake,\n    _Now we are come to our Kingdom!_\n\n    --Kipling.\n\n\n\"I bring you a throne,\" Dalan said, \"but you must hold it with your\nblade.\"\n\nThey stood at the end of a jetty, looking out at the moonlit harbor\nwaters. The clamor of Poseidonia seemed far away now.\n\nElak stared at the hills. Beyond them, leagues upon leagues to the\nnorth, lay a life he had put behind him. A life he had given up when he\nleft Cyrena to gird on an adventurers blade. In Elak's veins ran the\nblood of the kings of Cyrena, northernmost kingdom of Atlantis. And, but\nfor a fatal quarrel with his stepfather, Norian, Elak would have been on\nthe dragon throne even then. But Norian had died, and Elak's brother,\nOrander, took the crown.\n\nElak said, \"Orander rules Cyrena. Do you ask me to join a rebellion\nagainst my brother?\" An angry light showed in the adventurer's cold\neyes.\n\n\"Orander is dead,\" the Druid said quietly. \"Elak, I have a tale to tell\nyou, a tale of sorcery and black evil that has cast its shadow over\nCyrena. But first--\" He fumbled in his shapeless brown robe and drew\nforth a tiny crystal sphere. He cupped it in his palm, breathed upon it.\nThe clear surface clouded, misted--and the fog seemed to permeate the\nentire globe. The Druid held a ball of whirling gray cloud in his hand.\n\nWithin the sphere a picture grew, microscopic but vividly distinct. Elak\npeered closely. He saw a throne, and a man who sat upon it.\n\n\"South of Cyrena, beyond the mountains, lies Kiriath,\" Dalan said.\n\"Sepher ruled it. And now Sepher still sits upon his throne, but he is\nno longer human.\"\n\nIn the globe the face of Sepher sprang out in startling clarity.\nInvoluntarily Elak drew back, his lips thinning. At a casual glance\nSepher seemed unchanged, a black-bearded, bronzed giant with the keen\neyes of a hawk, but Elak knew that he looked upon a creature loathsome\nbeyond anything on earth. It was not evil, as he knew it, but a thing\nbeyond good and evil as it was beyond humanity or deity. A Presence from\nOutside had touched Sepher and taken Kiriath's king for its own. And\nElak knew this was the most horrible being he had ever seen.\n\nDalan hid the crystal. He said coldly, \"Out of the unknown has come a\nbeing named Karkora. What he is I know not. I have cast the runes, and\nthey say little to me. The altar fires have whispered of a shadow that\nwill come upon Cyrena, a shadow that may spread over all Atlantis.\nKarkora, the Pallid One, is not human, nor is he a demon. He is--alien,\nElak.\"\n\n\"What of my brother?\" the adventurer asked.\n\n\"You have seen Sepher,\" Dalan said. \"He is possessed, a vessel of this\nentity called Karkora. Ere I left Orander, he, too, had--changed.\"\n\nA muscle twitched in Elak's brown cheek. The Druid went on.\n\n\"Orander saw his doom. Day by day the power of Karkora over him\nincreased, and the soul of your brother was driven further into the\nouter dark. He died--by his own hand.\"\n\nElak's face did not change expression. But for minutes he was silent, a\ndeep sorrow in his gray eyes.\n\nLycon turned to look out across the sea.\n\nThe Druid went on, \"Orander sent a message to you, Elak. You, in all\nAtlantis, are of the royal line of Cyrena. Yours, therefore, is the\ncrown. It will not be easy to hold. Karkora is not defeated. But my\nmagic will aid you.\"\n\nElak said, \"You offer me the dragon throne?\"\n\nDalan nodded.\n\n\"The years have changed me, Dalan. I have gone through Atlantis a\nvagabond and worse. I put my birthright behind me and forgot it. And I'm\nnot the same man who went from Cyrena years ago,\" Elak said softly,\nlaughing a little bitterly, and looking over the jetty's edge at his\nface reflected in the dark swell of the water, \"Only a king may sit on\nthe dragon throne. For me--it would be a jest. And a sorry one.\"\n\n\"You fool!\" the Druid whispered--and there was rage in the sibilant\nsound. \"Blind, mad fool! Do you think the Druids would offer Cyrena to\nthe wrong man? Blood of kings is in your veins, Elak. It is not yours to\ndeny. You must obey.\"\n\n\"Must?\" The word was spoken lightly, yet Lycon felt a tenseness go\nthrough him, tightening his muscles. \"Must?\" Elak asked.\n\n\"The decision is mine, Druid. By Mider! The throne of Cyrena means much\nto me. Therefore I shall not sit in it!\"\n\nDalan's toad face was gargoylish in the moonlight. He thrust his bald,\nglistening head forward, and his thick, stubby fingers twisted.\n\n\"Now am I tempted to work magic on you, Elak,\" he said harshly. \"I am\nno--\"\n\n\"I have given you my answer.\"\n\nThe Druid hesitated. His somber eyes dwelt on Elak. Then, without a\nword, he turned and went lumbering off into the night. His footsteps\ndied.\n\nElak remained staring out at the harbor. His cheeks were gray, his mouth\na tortured white line. And he whirled, abruptly, and looked at the hills\nof Poseidonia.\n\nBut he did not see them. His gaze went beyond them, far and far, probing\nthrough all Atlantis to the kingdom of the north--Cyrena, and the dragon\nthrone.\n\n\n\n\n_3. The Gates of Dream_\n\n    Churel and ghoul and Djinn and sprite\n    Shall bear us company tonight,\n    For we have reached the Oldest Land\n    Wherein the powers of Darkness range.\n\n    --Kipling.\n\n\nElak's sleep that night was broken by dreams--flashing, disordered\nvisions of many things. He stared up at the white moonlit ceiling of the\napartment. And--it was changed. The familiar room was gone. Light still\nexisted, but it was oddly changed--grayish and unreal. Unearthly planes\nand angles slipped past Elak, and in his ears a low humming grew. This\nchanged to a high-pitched, droning whine, and died away at last.\n\nThe mad planes reassembled themselves. In his dream Elak saw a mighty\ncrag upthrust against cold stars--colossal against a background of\njagged mountain peaks. Snow dappled them, but the darkness of the crag\nwas unbroken. On its top was a tower, dwarfed by distance.\n\nA flood seemed to lift Elak and bear him swiftly forward. In the base of\nthe crag, he saw, were great iron gates. And these parted and swung\naside, yawning for him as he moved through.\n\nThey shut silently behind him.\n\nAnd now Elak became conscious of a Presence. It was stygian black; yet\nin the tenebrous darkness there was a vague inchoate stirring, a sense\nof motion that was unmistakable.\n\nWithout warning Elak saw--the Pallid One!\n\nA white and shining figure flashed into view. How tall it was, how close\nor distant, the man could not tell. Nor could he see more than the bare\noutline. A crawling, leprous shimmer of cold light rippled over the\nbeing; it seemed little more than a white shadow. But a\nshadow--three-dimensional, alive!\n\nThe unearthly terror of Karkora, the Pallid One!\n\nThe being seemed to grow larger. Elak knew he was watched, coldly and\ndispassionately. His senses were no longer dependable. It did not seem\nas though he beheld Karkora with his eyes alone--he was no longer\nconscious of his body.\n\nHe remembered Dalan, and Dalan's god. And he cried silently upon Mider\nfor aid.\n\nThe shuddering loathing that filled him did not pass, but the horror\nthat tore at his mind was no longer as strong. Again he cried to Mider,\nforcing himself to concentrate on the Druid god.\n\nOnce more Elak called out to Mider. And, silently, eerily, a wall of\nflame rose about him, shutting off the vision of Karkora. The warm,\nflickering fires of Mider were a protective barrier--earthly, friendly.\n\nThey closed in--drew him back. They warmed the chill horror that froze\nhis mind. They changed to sunlight--and the sunlight was slanting in\nthrough the window, beside which Elak lay on his low bed, awake and\nshuddering with reaction.\n\n\"By the Nine Hells!\" he cursed, leaping up swiftly. \"By all the gods of\nAtlantis! Where's my rapier?\" He found it, and whirled it hissing\nthrough the air. \"How can a man battle dreams?\"\n\nHe turned to Lycon, slumbering noisily nearby, and kicked the small man\ninto wakefulness.\n\n\"Hog-swill,\" said Lycon, rubbing his eyes. \"Bring another cup, and\nswiftly, or I'll--eh? What's wrong?\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nElak was dressing hastily. \"What's wrong? Something I didn't expect. How\ncould I know from Dalan's words the sort of thing that's come to life in\nAtlantis?\" He spat in disgust. \"That leprous foulness shall never take\nthe dragon throne!\"\n\nHe slammed his rapier into its scabbard. \"I'll find Dalan. I'll go back\nwith him. To Cyrena.\"\n\nElak was silent, but deep in his eyes was a black horror and loathing.\nHe had seen the Pallid One. And he knew that never in words could he\nhope to express the burning foulness of alien Karkora.\n\nBut Dalan had vanished. It was impossible to find the Druid in teeming\nPoseidonia. And at last Elak gave up hope and determined to take matters\ninto his own hands. A galley called _Kraken_ was leaving that day, he\nlearned, and would beat up the western coast. In fact, by the time Elak\nhad hired a boatman to take him and Lycon to the vessel, the galley's\noars were already dipping into the swells.\n\nElak's cockleshell gained its side, and he clambered over the gunwale,\nhoisting Lycon after him. He tossed a coin to the boatman and saw the\nman depart.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe sweating backs of slaves were moving rhythmically under the lash of\nthe overseers. One of these came forward at a run, his bronzed face\nangry.\n\n\"Who are you?\" he hailed. \"What do you seek on the _Kraken_?\"\n\n\"Take us to your captain,\" Elak said shortly. His hand touched the heavy\npurse at his belt, and coins jingled. The overseer was impressed.\n\n\"We're putting to sea,\" he said. \"What do you want?\"\n\n\"Passage to Cyrena,\" Lycon snapped. \"Be--\"\n\n\"Bring them here, Rasul,\" a gruff voice broke in. \"They are friends.\nWe'll give them passage to Cyrena--aye!\"\n\nAnd Drezzar, Elak's opponent in the tavern brawl, hastened along the\npoop toward them, teeth gleaming in his bushy beard.\n\n\"Ho!\" he yelled at a nearby group of armed seamen. \"Seize those two!\nTake them--alive!\" \"You dog,\" Drezzar said with cold rage. He stood\nbefore Elak and lifted his hand as though to strike the captive.\n\nElak said stoically, \"I want passage to Cyrena. I'll pay well for it.\"\n\n\"So you will,\" Drezzar grinned, and ripped off Elak's purse. He opened\nit and ran golden coins through his thick fingers. \"You'll work for it,\ntoo. But you'll not reach Cyrena.\"\n\n\"Two more oarsmen for you, Rasul. Two more slaves.\n\n\"See that they work!\"\n\nHe turned and strode away. Unresisting, Elak was dragged to a vacant oar\nand chained there, Lycon shackled beside him. His hands fell in\nwell-worn grooves on the polished wood.\n\nRasul's whip cracked. The overseer called, \"Pull! Pull!\"\n\nThe _Kraken_ sped seaward. And, chained to his oar, straining at the\nunaccustomed toil, Elak's dark wolf-face bore a smile that was not\npleasant to see.\n\n\n\n\n_4. The Ship Sails North_\n\n    Orpheus has harped her,\n    Her prow has sheared the spray,\n    Fifty haughty heroes at her golden oarlocks sway,\n    White the wave before her flings,\n    Bright from shore she lifts and swings,\n    Wild he twangs the ringing strings--\n    Give way! Give way!\n\n    --Benet.\n\n\nThey drove down along the coast and skirted the southern tip of\nAtlantis. Then the galley crept northwest, up the long curve of the\ncontinent, and all the while the days were cloudless and fair, and the\nskies blue as the waters of the Ocean Sea.\n\nElak bided his time until the _Kraken_ dropped anchor one afternoon at\nan uninhabited island, to replenish the water supply. Drezzar went\nashore with a dozen others, leaving only a few men in charge of the\nship. This was apparently safe enough, with the slaves chained.\nMoreover, Drezzar had the only keys. But, at sunset, Elak nudged Lycon\nawake and told him to keep watch.\n\n\"What for?\" Lycon's voice was surly. \"Do you--\" He broke off, staring,\nas Elak took a tiny twisted bit of metal from his sandal and inserted it\ndelicately in the lock of his ankle-cuff, \"Gods!\" Lycon cursed. \"You\nhad that all the time--and you waited till now!\"\n\n\"These locks are easy to pick,\" Elak said. \"What? Of course I waited!\nWe've only a few enemies aboard now, instead of more than a dozen. Keep\nwatch, I tell you.\"\n\nLycon obeyed. Footsteps creaked upon the deck occasionally, and there\nwere lanterns here and there on the ship, but their illumination was\nfaint enough. The lapping of water against the hull drowned the soft\nscrape and click as Elak worked. Presently he sighed in satisfaction and\nopened the cuff.\n\nMetal clicked and scraped. Elak was free. He turned to Lycon--and then\nhurrying footsteps sounded on the raised deck. Rasul, the overseer, ran\nup, dragging his long whip. He peered down--and dragged out his sword,\ncursing. With the other hand he swept the whip in a great singing blow,\nsmashing down on Elak's unprotected shoulders.\n\nLycon acted. In one swift motion he flung himself forward, guarding\nElak; the lash ripped skin and flesh from Lycon's side. And then Elak's\nsinewy hand closed on the tough hide; he pulled mightily--pulled it from\nRasul's grasp.\n\n\"Ho!\" the overseer shouted. \"Ho! To me!\" His voice roared out over the\ndark sea. His long sword was a pale flickering light in the glow of the\nlanterns.\n\nTwo more men, armed, came running up behind Rasul. They spread out and\nclosed in on Elak. He grinned unpleasantly, as a wolf smiles. The whip\nwas coiled in his hand.\n\nIt sprang out suddenly, like a striking snake. The fanged, vicious tip\nhissed shrilly. In the dimness the lash was difficult to see, impossible\nto dodge. Rasul roared in pain.\n\n\"Slay him!\" the overseer shouted.\n\nThe three ran in, and Elak gave way, his wrist turning as he swung the\nwhip. A thrown dagger brought blood from the Atlantean's shoulder. And a\nman staggered back, screaming shrilly, clawing at his eyes that were\nblinded by the tearing rip of the lash.\n\n\"Slay me, then,\" Elak whispered, cold laughter in his eyes. \"But the\ndog's fangs are sharp, Rasul.\"\n\nHe caught a glimpse of Lycon, bent above his bonds, busily manipulating\nthe bit of metal that would unlock them. Voices called from the shore.\nRasul shouted a response, and then ducked and gasped as the whip\nshrieked through the dark air.\n\n\"'Ware my fangs, Rasul!\" Elak smiled mirthlessly.\n\nAnd now the two--Rasul and his companion--were in turn giving way. Step\nby step Elak forced them back, under the threat of the terrible lash.\nThey could not guard against it, could not see it. Out of the gloom it\nwould come striking, swift as a snake's thrust, leaping viciously at\ntheir eyes. The slaves were awake and straining in their chains, calling\nencouragement to Elak. The man who had been blinded made a misstep and\nfell among the rowers. They surged up over him; lean hands reached and\nclawed in the lantern-light. He screamed for a time, and then made no\nfurther sound.\n\nLycon's voice rose, shrill and peremptory, above the tumult.\n\n\"Row!\" he yelped. \"Row, slaves! Ere Drezzar returns--row for your\nfreedom!\" Alternately he cursed and threatened and cajoled them, and\nworked at his bonds with flying fingers.\n\nElak heard a whisper at his side, saw a slave thrusting a sword at him,\nhilt-first--the blade the blinded one had dropped. Gratefully he seized\nit, hurling the whip away. The feel of the cool, leather-bound hilt was\ngrateful. Tide of strength surged up Elak's arm from the sharp steel.\n\nIt was not his rapier--but it would do.\n\n\"My fangs, Rasul,\" he said, laughing--and ran in. His two opponents\nspread out, but he had foreseen that move. He turned his back on Rasul,\ncut at the other, and almost in the same motion whirled and leaped past,\ndodging a thrust by a hair's-breadth. And now Rasul only faced him. The\nother man was down, tearing at a throat sliced through to the spine.\n\nLycon shouted, \"Row, slaves! For your lives!\"\n\nThe long oars clacked and moved in confusion; then habit stepped in, and\nrhythmically, slowly, the blades dug into the sea. Lycon yelled a chant,\nand the slaves kept time to it. Gradually the galley gained way.\n\nOn the deck swords flamed and clashed. But Elak was not fated to slay\nRasul. The overseer stumbled, dropped to one knee--and hands reached for\nhim out of the dark. Shouting, he was dragged down among the slaves.\nVoices rose to a yelping crescendo of hate. Rasul screamed--and was\nsilent.\n\nLycon leaped up, free from his chains. He cursed the rowers; their\nmomentary inattention to their duty had caused confusion. An oar, caught\namong others, splintered and broke. The butt bent like a bow, snapped\nback, and smashed a slave's face to bloody ruin. From overside came\ncries and commands.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThe face of Drezzar rose above the rail, hideous, contorted, the scar\nflaming red. He gripped his sword between his teeth. After him armed men\ncame pouring.\n\nLycon, a captured blade bare in his hand, ran toward them, yelling\nobjurgations at the slaves. The oars moved again, tore at the sea, sent\nthe galley through the waves once more. A slave had long since cut the\nanchor-rope.\n\nA dozen armed men, swords gleaming, were ringed about Lycon, who, his\nback against the mast, was valiantly battling and cursing in lurid\noaths. A few steps away Drezzar came catlike, and murder was in his\neyes. He saw Elak stir, and ran in, blade ready.\n\nElak did not stoop to recover his sword. He sprang forward, under the\nsweep of the steel, which Drezzar had not expected. The two men went\ndown together, rolling on the blood-slippery deck.\n\nDrezzar tried to reverse the sword in his hand and stab Elak in the\nback. But Elak's supple body writhed aside, and simultaneously his lean,\nsinewy fingers closed on Drezzar's, above the hilt of the blade.\n\nDrezzar tried to turn the blow, but could not. Elak continued his\nenemy's thrust. And the sword went smoothly into Drezzar's belly,\nwithout pausing till it grated against the backbone.\n\n\"My fangs, Drezzar,\" Elak said very softly, and with no expression on\nhis wolf-face--and then drove the sword further in till it pinned the\ncaptain, like a beetle, to the deck. Drezzar's mouth opened; a roaring\nexhalation of breath, fraught with ghastly agony, seemed torn out of the\nman. His hands beat the deck; his body doubled up and arched like a bow.\n\nHe coughed blood, gnashed his teeth till they splintered and\ncracked--and so died.\n\nElak sprang up. He saw a heavy iron key hanging at Drezzar's belt. This\nhe tore away and cast down among the slaves. A grateful clamor came in\nresponse.\n\nLycon called frantically for aid. Elak responded. But now the outcome of\nthe battle was a foregone conclusion. One by one the freed slaves passed\nthe iron key to their neighbors and came springing up to add their\nnumbers to Elak's cause. And, presently, the last of the ship's masters\nlay dead on deck, and the oarsmen--no longer in chains, no longer\nslaves--sent the galley plunging through the dark sea to the north.\n\n\n\n\n_5. Aynger of Amenalk_\n\n    For the man dwelt in a lost land\n      Of boulders and broken men....\n\n    --Chesterton.\n\n\nThey came to a forbidding, bleak coast that loomed high above the\ngalley. The cold winds of Autumn filled the sails and let the weary\noarsmen rest. The sea turned smoothly gray, surging in long, foamless\nswells under a blue-gray sky. The sun gave little heat. The crew turned\ngratefully to the ship's stock--oil and wine and woven stuff, finding\nwarmth and comfort in it.\n\nBut Elak was chafed by inaction. He longed to reach Cyrena; endlessly he\npaced the decks, fingering his rapier and pondering on the mystery of\nthe thing called Karkora. What was this Pallid One? Whence had it come?\nThese problems were insoluble, and remained so till, one night, Elak\ndreamed.\n\nHe dreamed of Dalan. The Druid priest seemed to be standing in a forest\nglade; before him a fire flickered redly. And Dalan said:\n\n\"Leave your ship at the red delta. Seek Aynger of Amenalk. Tell him you\nseek the throne of Cyrena!\"\n\nThere was no more. Elak awoke, listening to the creaking of the galley's\ntimbers and the whisper of waves against the side. It was nearly dawn.\nHe rose, went on deck, and searched the horizon under a shielding palm.\n\nTo the right, breaking the gray cliffs, was a gap. Beyond it--an island.\nAnd on the island a castle loomed, part of the rock, it seemed, growing\nfrom it.\n\nThe galley swept on. And now Elak saw that a river ran between the\nbroken cliffs. At its mouth was a delta, made of reddish sand.\n\nSo, in the cold, lowering dawn, Elak and Lycon left the galley. Willing\noarsmen rowed them to shore. The two climbed the northern cliff and\nstood staring around. Inland the plateau stretched unbroken by tree or\nbush, windswept and desolate. To the west lay the Ocean Sea, chill and\nforbidding.\n\n\"Perhaps this Aynger of your dream dwells in that castle,\" Lycon said,\npointing and shivering. \"One of the men told me this is Kiriath. To the\nnorth, beyond the mountains, lies Cyrena.\"\n\nElak said somberly, \"I know. And Sepher rules over Kiriath--Sepher, whom\nKarkora has taken for his own. Well--come on.\"\n\nThey set out along the edge of the cliff. The wind blew coldly, and\nbrought to them a thin, high piping that seemed to come out of nowhere.\nSad, mournful, weird, it murmured half-heard in the air about the two.\n\nAnd across the plateau a man came--a great gray man, roughly clad, with\nunkempt hair and iron-gray beard. He played upon a set of pipes, but put\nthese away as he saw Elak and Lycon. He came closer and halted, with\nfolded arms, waiting.\n\nThe man's face might have been chipped from the rough rocks of this\nland. It was harsh and strong and forbidding, and the cool gray eyes\nwere like the sea.\n\n\"What do you seek here?\" he asked. His voice was deep and not at all\nunpleasant.\n\nElak hesitated. \"Aynger. Aynger of Amenalk. Do you know of him?\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\"I am Aynger.\"\n\nFor a heart-beat there was silence. Then Elak said, \"I seek the throne\nof Cyrena.\"\n\nLaughter sprang into the gray eyes. Aynger of Amenalk reached out a huge\nhand and gripped Elak's arm, squeezing it painfully. He said, \"Dalan\nsent you! Dalan!\"\n\nElak nodded.\n\n\"But it is not me you seek. It is Mayana--the daughter of Poseidon. You\nmust seek her there.\" He pointed to the distant castle on the island.\n\"Her power alone can aid you. But first--come.\"\n\nHe led the way to the cliff's edge. A perilous, narrow path led down the\njagged face; Aynger started along it with surefooted ease, and Elak and\nLycon followed more gingerly. Far below, the breakers tore upon the\nrocks; sea-birds called shrilly.\n\nThe path ended at a cave-mouth. Aynger entered, beckoning to the others.\nThe cavern widened into a high-arched chamber, obviously Aynger's home.\nHe gestured to a heap of furs, and gave each of his guests a great horn\nof mead.\n\n\"So. Dalan sent you. I had wondered. Orander is dead. Once the Pallid\nOne has set his seal on a man, there is escape in death alone.\"\n\n\"Karkora,\" Elak said musingly. \"What is he? Do you know, Aynger?\"\n\n\"You must seek your answer from Mayana, on the isle. Only she knows.\nMayana--of the seas. Let me tell you.\" The gray eyes grew bright with\ndream. A softness crept into the deep voice. \"This land, on the western\nshore, is Amenalk. Not Kiriath. Once, long ago, Amenalk stretched far to\nthe east. We were a great people then. But invaders came conquering, and\nnow only this bit of land is left to us. Yet it is Amenalk. And I dwell\nhere because in my veins runs the blood of kings.\"\n\nAynger flung back his gray, tousled head. \"And for ages the castle on\nthe isle had existed. None dwelt there. There were legends that even\nbefore the Amenalks held this land, an ancient sea-people made it their\nhome. Sorcerers they were, warlocks and magicians. But they died and\nwere forgotten. So, in time, my own people were scattered through\nKiriath, and I dwelt here alone.\n\n\"Sepher ruled, well and wisely. One night he walked alone on the cliffs\nof Amenalk, and when he returned to his palace, he brought a bride with\nhim. The bride was Mayana. Some say he found her in the island castle.\nSome say she rose from the waves. I think she is not human. She is one\nof the old sea-race--\n\n\"A shadow fell on the land. Out of the dark, out of the unknown, came\nKarkora. He took Sepher for his own. Mayana fled here, and dwells now in\nthe castle, protected by her sorcery. And Karkora rules.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAynger's gray beard jutted; his eyes were lambent pools. He said, \"My\npeople were a Druid race. We worshipped great Mider, as I do now. And I\ntell you that Karkora is a foulness and a horror--an evil that will\nspread through all the world if the Druids fail to destroy him. Mayana\nholds his secret. Mayana knows. You must go to her on her isle. For\nmyself--\" A mighty hand clenched. \"I have king's blood, and my people\nlive, though in bondage. I shall go through Kiriath and gather men. I\nthink you will need armies, ere you sit on Cyrena's dragon throne. Well,\nI have an army for you, and for Mider.\"\n\nAynger reached behind him, brought out a huge war-hammer, bound with\nthongs. Laughter touched his grim face.\n\n\"We shall fight in the old way, woad-painted, without armor. And I think\nHelm-Breaker will taste blood again. If you get aid from Mayana--well.\nBut with you or without you, man of Cyrena, Amenalk will go forth to\nbattle!\"\n\nThe great gray man towered against the cave-mouth, a grim, archaic\nfigure, somehow strong with primeval menace. He stood aside, pointing.\n\n\"Your way lies there, to the isle. Mine lies inland. When we meet again,\nif we do, I shall have an army to give you.\"\n\nSilently Elak moved past Aynger and went up the cliff path. Lycon\ntrailed him. On the windy, treeless plateau he stood unmoving, while the\ngray giant passed him without a word and strode away, his war-hammer\nover one muscular shoulder, beard and hair flying in the wind.\n\nAynger grew small in the distance. Elak nodded to Lycon.\n\n\"I think we have a strong ally there. We'll need him. But now--this\nMayana. If she can solve the riddle of Karkora, I'll find her though I\nhave to swim.\"\n\n\"You won't have to,\" Lycon said, wiping his mouth. \"Gods, that mead was\ngood! There's a bridge to the isle--see? A narrow one, but it will\nserve. Unless she's set a dragon to guard it.\"\n\n\n\n\n_6. Mayana_\n\n    By the tall obelisks, all seaweed-girt,\n      Drift the pale dead of long and long ago,\n    Lovers and kings who may not more be hurt,\n      Wounded by lips or by the dagger's blow.\n\n    --_The Sunken Towers._\n\n\nFrom the cliff's edge a narrow bridge of rock jutted, a natural\nformation worn by wind and rain. It ended on a jagged ledge, at the back\nof which a black hole gaped. Elak said, \"Lycon, wait here. I must take\nthis road alone.\"\n\nThe little man disagreed profanely. But Elak was firm.\n\n\"It will be safer. So we won't both fall into the same trap. If I'm not\nback by sundown, come after me--you may be of aid then.\" Lycon could not\nhelp but realize the truth of this. He shrugged fat shoulders.\n\n\"Very well. I'll wait in Aynger's cave. His mead was potent; I'm anxious\nto sample more. Luck, Elak.\"\n\nNodding, the Atlantean started along the bridge. He found it safer not\nto look down, but the surging roar of the breakers sounded disquietingly\nfrom beneath. Sea-birds mewed and called. The wind tore at his swaying\nbody.\n\nBut at last he was across, and felt the firm stability of the rocky\nground under his sandals. Without a backward glance he entered the\ncave-mouth. Almost immediately outside sounds dimmed and quieted.\n\nThe road led down--a natural passage, seemingly, that turned and twisted\nin the rock. Sand was gritty underfoot, with bits of shell here and\nthere. For a time it was dark, and then a greenish, vague luminous glow\nappeared, apparently emanated by the sand on which he trod.\n\nIt was utterly silent.\n\nStill the tunnel led down, till Elak's feet felt moisture beneath him.\nHe hesitated, staring around. The rocky walls were dewed and sweating. A\ndank, salty odor was strong in his nostrils. Loosening his rapier in its\nscabbard, he went on.\n\nThe green glow brightened. The passage turned; Elak rounded the corner,\nand stood motionless, staring. Before him a vast cavern opened.\n\nIt was huge and terrifyingly strange. Low-roofed, stalactites hung in\nmyriad shapes and colors over the broad expanse of an underground lake.\nThe green shining was everywhere. The weight of the island above seemed\nto press down suffocatingly, but the air, despite a salt sea-smell, was\nfresh enough.\n\nAt his feet a sandy half-moon of a beach reached down to the motionless\nsurface of the water. Further out, he could see far down vague shadows\nthat resembled sunken buildings--fallen peristyles and columns, and far\naway, in the center of the lake, was an island.\n\nRuined marble crowned it. Only in the center a small temple seemed\nunharmed; it rose from shattered ruins in cool, white perfection. All\naround it the dead and broken city lay, to the water's edge and beyond.\nA submerged, forgotten metropolis lay before Elak.\n\nSilence, and the pale green expanse of the waveless lake.\n\nSoftly Elak called, \"Mayana.\" There was no response.\n\nFrowning, he considered the task before him. He felt an odd conviction\nthat what he sought lay in the temple on the islet, but there was no way\nof reaching it save by swimming. And there was something ominous about\nthe motionless green of the waters.\n\nShrugging, Elak waded out. Icy chill touched his legs, crept higher\nabout his loins and waist. He struck out strongly. And at first there\nwas no difficulty; he made good progress.\n\nBut the water was very cold. It was salt, and this buoyed him up\nsomewhat; yet when he glanced at the islet it seemed no nearer.\nGrunting, Elak buried his face in the waters and kicked vigorously.\n\nHis eyes opened. He looked down. He saw, beneath him, the sunken city.\n\nStrange it was, and weird beyond imagination, to be floating above the\nwavering outline of these marble ruins. Streets and buildings and fallen\ntowers were below, scarcely veiled by the luminous waters, but\npossessing a vague, shadowy indistinctness that made them half-unreal. A\ngreen haze clothed the city. A city of shadows--\n\nAnd the shadows moved and drifted in the tideless sea. Slowly,\nendlessly, they crept like a stain over the marble. They took shape\nbefore Elak's eyes.\n\nNot sea-shapes--no. The shadows of men walked in the sunken metropolis.\nWith queer, drifting motion the shadows went to and fro. They met and\ntouched and parted again in strange similitude of life.\n\nStinging, choking cold filled Elak's mouth and nostrils. He spluttered\nand struck out, realizing that he was far beneath the surface, that,\nunconsciously holding his breath, he had drifted into the depths. He\nfought his way up.\n\nIt was oddly difficult. Soft, clinging arms seemed to touch him; the\nwater darkened. But his head broke the surface, and he drank deeply of\nthe chill air. Only by swimming with all his strength could he keep from\nsinking. That inexplicable drag pulled him down.\n\nHe went under. His eyes were open, and he saw, far below, movement in\nthe sunken city. The shadow-shapes were swirling up, rising, spinning\nlike autumn leaves--rising to the surface. And shadows clustered about\nElak, binding him with gossamer fetters. They clung feathery and\ntenacious as spider-webs.\n\nThe shadows drew him down into the shining depths.\n\nHe struck out frantically. His head broke water once more; he saw the\nislet, closer now.\n\n\"Mayana!\" he called. \"_Mayana!_\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRustling movement shook the shadows. A ripple of mocking laughter seemed\nto go through them. They closed in again, dim, impalpable, unreal. Elak\nwent under once more, too exhausted to fight, letting the shadows have\ntheir will with him. Only his mind cried out desperately to Mayana,\nstriving to summon her to his aid.\n\nThe waters brightened. The green glow flamed emerald-bright. The shadows\nseemed to pause with odd hesitation, as though listening.\n\nThen suddenly they closed in on Elak. They bore him through the waters;\nhe was conscious of swift movement amid whirling green fire.\n\nThe shadows carried him to the islet, bore him up as on a wave, and left\nhim upon the sands.\n\nThe green light faded to its former dimness. Choking, coughing, Elak\nclambered to his feet. He stared around.\n\nThe shadows had vanished. Only the motionless lake stretched into the\ndistance. He stood amid the ruins of the islet.\n\nHastily he staggered away from the water's marge, clambering across\nbroken plinths and fallen pillars, making his way to the central temple.\nIt stood in a tiny plaza, unmarred by time, but stained and discolored\nin every stone.\n\nThe brazen door gaped open. Unsteadily Elak climbed the steps and paused\nat the threshold. He looked upon a bare room, lit with the familiar\nemerald glow, featureless save for a curtain, on the further wall, made\nof some metallic cloth and figured with the trident of the sea-god.\n\nThere was no sound but Elak's hastened breathing. Then, abruptly, a low\nsplashing came from beyond the curtain. It parted.\n\nBeyond it was green light, so brilliant it was impossible to look upon.\nSilhouetted against the brightness for a moment loomed a figure--a\nfigure of unearthly slimness and height. Only for a second did Elak see\nit; then the curtain swung back into place and the visitant was gone.\n\nWhispering through the temple came a voice, like the soft murmur of\ntiny, rippling waves. And it said:\n\n\"I am Mayana. Why do you seek me?\"\n\n\n\n\n_7. Karkora_\n\n     And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and\n     seven heads, and on his horns ten diadems, and upon his heads names\n     of blasphemy ... and the dragon gave him his power, and his throne,\n     and great authority.\n\n     --Revelations 13:1.\n\n\nElak's wet hand crept to his rapier. There had been no menace in the\nwhisper, but it was strangely--inhuman. And the silhouette he had seen\nwas not that of any earthly woman.\n\nYet he answered quietly enough, no tremor in his voice:\n\n\"I seek the dragon throne of Cyrena. And I come to you for aid against\nKarkora.\"\n\nThere was silence. When the whisper came again, it had in it all the\nsadness of waves and wind.\n\n\"Must I aid you? Against Karkora?\"\n\n\"You know what manner of being he is?\" Elak questioned.\n\n\"Aye--I know that well.\" The metallic curtain shook. \"Seat yourself. You\nare tired--how are you named?\"\n\n\"Elak.\"\n\n\"Elak, then--listen. I will tell you of the coming of Karkora, and of\nErykion the sorcerer. And of Sepher, whom I loved.\" There was a pause;\nthen the low whisper resumed.\n\n\"Who I am, what I am, you need not know, but you should understand that\nI am not entirely human. My ancestors dwelt in this sunken city. And\nI--well, for ten years I took human shape and dwelt with Sepher as his\nwife. I loved him. And always I hoped to give him a son who would some\nday mount the throne. I hoped in vain, or so I thought.\n\n\"Now in the court dwelt Erykion, a wizard. His magic was not that of the\nsea, soft and kindly as the waves, but of a darker sort. Erykion delved\nin ruined temples and pored over forgotten manuscripts of strange lore.\nHis vision went back even before the sea-folk sprang from the loins of\nPoseidon, and he opened the forbidden gates of Space and Time. He\noffered to give me a child, and I listened to him, to my sorrow.\n\n\"I shall not tell you of the months I spent in strange temples, before\ndreadful altars. I shall not tell you of Erykion's magic. I bore a\nson--dead.\"\n\n[Illustration: \"I spent months in strange temples. His magic was not\nthat of the sea, soft and kindly as the waves, but of a darker sort.\"]\n\nThe silver curtain shook; it was long before the unseen speaker resumed.\n\"And this son was frightful. He was deformed in ways I cannot let myself\nremember. Sorcery had made him inhuman. Yet he was my son, my husband's\nson, and I loved him. When Erykion offered to give him life, I agreed to\nthe price he demanded--even though the price was the child himself.\"\n\n\"'I shall not harm him,' Erykion told me. 'Nay, I shall give him powers\nbeyond those of any god or man. Some day he shall rule this world and\nothers. Only give him to me, Mayana.' And I hearkened.\n\n\"Now of Erykion's sorcery I know little. Something had entered into the\nbody of my son while I bore him, and what this thing was I do not know.\nIt was dead, and it awoke. Erykion awoke it. He took this blind, dumb,\nmaimed man-child and bore it to his home in the depths of the\nmountains. With his magic he deprived it of any vestige of the five\nsenses. Only life remained, and the unknown dweller within.\n\n\"I remembered something Erykion had once told me. 'We have in us a sixth\nsense, primeval and submerged, which can be very powerful once it is\nbrought to light. I know how to do that. A blind man's hearing may\nbecome acute; his power goes to the senses remaining. If a child, at\nbirth, be deprived of all five senses, his power will go to this sixth\nsense. My magic can insure that.' So Erykion made of my man-child a\nbeing blind and dumb and without consciousness, almost; for years he\nworked his spells and opened the gates of Time and Space, letting alien\npowers flood through. This sixth sense within the child grew stronger.\nAnd the dweller in his mind waxed great, unbound by the earthly fetters\nthat bind humans. This is my son--my man-child--Karkora, the Pallid\nOne!\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nAnd silence. And again the whisper resumed.\n\n\"Yet it is not strange that I do not entirely hate and loathe Karkora. I\nknow he is a burning horror and a thing that should not exist; yet I\ngave him birth. And so, when he entered the mind of Sepher, his father,\nI fled to this my castle. Here I dwell alone with my shadows. I strove\nto forget that once I knew the fields and skies and hearths of earth.\nHere, in my own place, I forgot.\n\n\"And you seek me to ask aid.\" There was anger in the soft murmur. \"Aid\nto destroy that which came from my flesh!\"\n\nElak said quietly, \"Is Karkora's flesh--yours?\"\n\n\"By Father Poseidon, no! I loved the human part of Karkora, and little\nof that is left now. The Pallid One is--is--he has a thousand frightful\npowers, through his one strange sense. It has opened for him gateways\nthat should remain always locked. He walks in other worlds, beyond unlit\nseas, across the nighted voids beyond earth. And I know he seeks to\nspread his dominion over all. Kiriath fell to him, and I think Cyrena.\nIn time he will take all Atlantis, and more than that.\"\n\nElak asked, \"This Erykion, the wizard--what of him?\"\n\n\"I do not know,\" Mayana said. \"Perhaps he dwells in his citadel yet,\nwith Karkora. Not for years have I seen the sorcerer.\"\n\n\"Cannot Karkora be slain?\"\n\nThere was a long pause. Then the whisper said, \"I know not. His body,\nresting in the citadel, is mortal, but that which dwells within it is\nnot. If you could reach the body of Karkora--even so you could not slay\nhim.\"\n\n\"Nothing can kill the Pallid One?\" Elak asked.\n\n\"Do not ask me this!\" Mayana's voice said with angry urgency. \"One\nthing, one talisman exists--and this I shall not and cannot give you.\"\n\n\"I am minded to force your talisman from you,\" Elak said slowly, \"if I\ncan. Yet I do not wish to do this thing.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom beyond the curtain came a sound that startled the man--a low,\nhopeless sobbing that had in it all the bleak sadness of the mournful\nsea. Mayana said brokenly:\n\n\"It is cold in my kingdom, Elak--cold and lonely. And I have no soul,\nonly my life, while it lasts. My span is long, but when it ends there\nwill be only darkness, for I am of the sea-folk. Elak, I have dwelt for\na time on earth, and I would dwell there again, in green fields with the\nbright cornflowers and daisies gay amid the grass--with the fresh winds\nof earth caressing me. The hearth-fires, the sound of human voices, and\na man's love--my Father Poseidon knows how I long for these again.\"\n\n\"The talisman,\" Elak said.\n\n\"Aye, the talisman. You may not have it.\"\n\nElak said very quietly, \"What manner of world will this be if Karkora\nshould rule?\"\n\nThere was a shuddering, indrawn breath. Mayana said, \"You are right. You\nshall have the talisman, if you should need it. It may be that you can\ndefeat Karkora without it. I only pray that it may be so. Here is my\nword, then; in your hour of need, and not until then, I shall send you\nthe talisman. And now go. Karkora has an earthly vessel in Sepher. Slay\nSepher. Give me your blade, Elak.\"\n\nSilently Elak unsheathed his rapier and extended it hilt-first. The\ncurtain parted. Through it slipped a hand.\n\nA hand--inhuman, strange! Very slender and pale it was, milk-white, with\nthe barest suggestion of scales on the smooth, delicate texture of the\nskin. The fingers were slim and elongated, seemingly without joints, and\nfilmy webs grew between them.\n\nThe hand took Elak's weapon, and withdrew behind the curtain. Then it\nreappeared, again holding the rapier. Its blade glowed with a pale\ngreenish radiance.\n\n\"Your steel will slay Sepher now. And it will give him peace.\" Elak\ngripped the hilt; the unearthly hand made a quick archaic gesture above\nthe weapon.\n\n\"So I send a message to Sepher, my husband. And--Elak--kill him swiftly.\nA thrust through the eye into the brain will not hurt too much.\"\n\nThen, suddenly, the hand thrust out and touched Elak upon the brow. He\nwas conscious of a swift dizziness, a wild exaltation that surged\nthrough him in hot waves. Mayana whispered:\n\n\"You shall drink of my strength, Elak. Without it, you cannot hope to\nface Karkora. Stay with me for a moon--drinking the sea-power and\nPoseidon's magic.\"\n\n\"A moon--\"\n\n\"Time will not exist. You will sleep, and while you sleep strength will\npour into you. And when you awake, you may go forth to battle--strong!\"\n\nThe giddiness mounted; Elak felt his senses leaving him. He whispered,\n\"Lycon--I must give him a message--\"\n\n\"Speak to him, then, and he will hear. My sorcery will open his ears.\"\n\nDimly, as though from far away, Elak heard Lycon's startled voice.\n\n\"Who calls me? Is it you, Elak? Where--I see no one on this lonely\ncliff.\"\n\n\"Speak to him!\" Mayana commanded. And Elak obeyed.\n\n\"I am safe, Lycon. Here I must stay for one moon, alone. You must not\nwait. I have a task for you.\"\n\nThere was the sound of a stifled oath. \"What task?\"\n\n\"Go north to Cyrena. Find Dalan, or, failing that, gather an army.\nCyrena must be ready when Kiriath marches. Tell Dalan, if you find him,\nwhat I have done, and that I will be with him in one moon. Then let the\nDruid guide your steps. And--Ishtar guide you, Lycon.\"\n\nSoftly came the far voice: \"And Mother Ishtar be your shield. I'll obey.\nFarewell.\"\n\nGreen darkness drifted across Elak's vision.\n\nDimly, through closing eyes, he vaguely saw the curtain before him swept\naside, and a dark silhouette moving forward--a shape slim and tall\nbeyond human stature, yet delicately feminine withal. Mayana made a\nsummoning gesture--and the shadows flowed into the temple.\n\nThey swept down upon Elak, bringing him darkness and cool, soothing\nquiet. He rested and slept, and the enchanted strength of the sea-woman\npoured into the citadel of his soul.\n\n\n\n\n_8. The Dragon's Throne_\n\n    Dust of the stars was under our feet, glitter of stars above--\n    Wrecks of our wrath dropped reeling down as we fought and we spurned\n      and we strove.\n    Worlds upon worlds we tossed aside, and scattered them to and fro,\n    The night that we stormed Valhalla, a million years ago!\n\n    --Kipling.\n\n\nThe moon waxed and waned, and at last Elak awoke, on the further shore,\nby the cavern mouth that led to the upper world. The underground mere\nlay silent at his feet, still bathed in the soft green glow. In the\ndistance the islet was, and he could make out the white outline of the\ntemple upon it. The temple where he had slept for a month. But there was\nno sign of life. No shadows stirred in the depths beneath him. Yet\nwithin himself he sensed a secret well of power that had not been there\nbefore.\n\nPondering, he retraced his steps through the winding passage, across the\nrock bridge to the high ramp of the plateau. The plain was deserted. The\nsun was westering, and a cold wind blew bleakly from the sea.\n\nElak shrugged. His gaze turned north, and his hand touched the\nrapier-hilt.\n\n\"First, a horse,\" he grunted. \"And then--Sepher! A blade for the king's\nthroat!\"\n\nSo within two hours a mercenary soldier lay dead, his blood staining a\nleathern tunic, and Elak galloped north on a stolen steed. Hard and fast\nhe rode, through Kiriath, and whispers were borne to his ears on the\ngusting winds. Sepher was no longer in his city, they said. At the head\nof a vast army he was sweeping north to the Gateway, the mountain pass\nthat led to Cyrena. From the very borders of Kiriath warriors were\ncoming in answer to the king's summons; mercenaries and adventurers\nflooded in to serve under Sepher. He paid well and promised rich\nplunder--the sack of Cyrena.\n\nA trail of blood marked Elak's path. Two horses he rode to death. But at\nlast the Gateway lay behind him; he had thundered through Sharn Forest\nand forded Monra River. Against the horizon towered a battlemented\ncastle, and this was Elak's goal. Here Orander had ruled. Here was the\ndragon throne, the heart of Cyrena.\n\nElak rode across the drawbridge and into the courtyard. He cast his\nmount's reins to a gaping servitor, leaped from the horse, and raced\nacross the yard. He knew each step of the way. In this castle he had\nbeen born.\n\nAnd now the throne room, vast, high-ceilinged, warm with afternoon\nsunlight. Men were gathered there. Princes and lords of Cyrena. Barons,\ndukes, minor chieftains. By the throne--Dalan. And beside him, Lycon,\nround face set in unaccustomed harsh lines, for once sober and steady on\nhis feet.\n\n\"By Mider!\" Lycon roared. \"Elak! _Elak!_\"\n\nThe Atlantean pushed his way through the murmuring, undecided crowd. He\ncame to stand beside the throne. His hand gripped Lycon's shoulder and\nsqueezed painfully. The little man grinned.\n\n\"Ishtar be praised,\" Lycon murmured. \"Now I can get drunk again.\"\n\nDalan said, \"I watched you in the crystal, Elak. But I could not aid.\nThe magic of the Pallid One battled my own. Yet I think you have other\nmagic now--sea-sorcery.\" He turned to the mob. His lifted arms quieted\nthem.\n\n\"This is your king,\" Dalan said.\n\nVoices were raised, some in approbation, some in angry protest and\nobjection. A tall, lean oldster shouted, \"Aye--this is Zeulas, returned\nonce more. This is Orander's brother.\"\n\n\"Be silent, Hira,\" another snapped. \"This scarecrow Cyrena's king?\"\n\nElak flushed and took a half-step forward. Dalan's voice halted him.\n\n\"You disbelieve, Gorlias?\" he asked. \"Well--d'you know of a worthier\nman? Will you sit on the dragon throne?\"\n\nGorlias looked at the Druid with an oddly frightened air; he fell silent\nand turned away. The others broke into a renewed chorus of quarreling.\n\nHira silenced them. His lean face was triumphant. \"There's one sure\ntest. Let him take it.\"\n\nHe turned to Elak. \"The lords of Cyrena have fought like a pack of\nsnarling dogs since Orander's death. Each wanted the throne. Baron Kond\nyelled louder than the rest. Dalan offered him the dragon throne, in the\nname of Mider, if he could hold it.\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nFrom the others a low whisper went up--uneasy, fearful. Hira continued:\n\n\"Kond mounted the dais a month ago and sat on the throne. And he died!\nThe fires of Mider slew him.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Gorlias whispered. \"Let this Elak sit upon the throne!\"\n\nA chorus of assent rose. Lycon looked worried.\n\nHe murmured, \"It's true, Elak. I saw it. Red fire came out of nowhere\nand burned Kond to a cinder.\"\n\nDalan was silent, his ugly face impassive. Elak, watching the Druid,\ncould not read a message in the shallow black eyes.\n\nGorlias said, \"If you can sit on the throne, I'll follow you. If\nnot--you'll be dead. Well?\"\n\nElak did not speak. He turned and mounted the dais. For a moment he\npaused before the great throne of Cyrena, his gaze dwelling on the\ngolden dragon that writhed across its back, the golden dragons on the\narms. For ages the kings of Cyrena had ruled from this seat, ruled with\nhonor and chivalry under the dragon. And now Elak remembered how, in\nPoseidonia, he had felt himself unworthy to mount the throne.\n\nWould the fires of Mider slay him if he took his dead brother's place?\n\nSilently Elak prayed to his god. \"If I'm unworthy,\" he told Mider, with\nno thought of irreverence, but as one warrior to another, \"then slay me,\nrather than let the throne be dishonored. Yours is the judgment.\"\n\nHe took his place on the dragon throne.\n\nSilence fell like a pall on the great room. The faces of the crowd were\nintent and strained. Lycon's breath came fast. The Druid's hands, hidden\nunder the brown robe, made a quick, furtive gesture; his lips moved\nwithout sound.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nRed light flashed out above the throne. Through the room a cry rose and\nmounted, wordless, fearful. The fires of Mider flamed up in glaring\nbrilliance and cloaked Elak!\n\n[Illustration: \"Through the room a cry rose and mounted, wordless,\nfearful.\"]\n\nThey hid him in a twisting crimson pall. They swirled about him, blazing\nwith hot radiance.\n\nThey swept into a strange, fantastic shape--a coiling silhouette that\ngrew steadily more distinct.\n\nA dragon of flame coiled itself about Elak!\n\nAnd suddenly it was gone. Lycon was gasping oaths. The others were\nmilling about in a confused mob. Dalan stood motionless, smiling\nslightly.\n\nAnd on the dragon throne Elak sat unharmed! No breath of fire had\nscorched or blistered him; no heat had reddened his skin. His eyes were\nblazing; he sprang up and unsheathed his rapier. Silently he lifted it.\n\nThere was a clash of ringing blades. A forest of bright steel lifted. A\ngreat shout bellowed out.\n\nThe lords of Cyrena swore allegiance to their king!\n\nNow, however, Elak found that his task had scarcely begun. The armies of\nSepher were not yet in Cyrena; the king of Kiriath was waiting beyond\nthe mountain barrier till he had gathered his full strength. But he\nwould march soon, and Cyrena must by then be organized to resist him.\n\n\"Karkora didn't invade Kiriath,\" Elak said to Dalan one day as they rode\nthrough Sharn Forest. \"He invaded the mind of the king instead. Why does\nhe depend on armies to conquer Cyrena?\"\n\nDalan's shapeless brown robe flapped against his horse's flanks. \"Have\nyou forgotten Orander? He tried there, and failed. Then there was no\nsingle ruler here. If he'd stolen the mind of Kond or Gorlias he'd still\nhave had the other nobles against him. And conquer Cyrena he must, for\nit's the stronghold of Mider and the Druids. Karkora knows he must\ndestroy us before he can rule this world and others, as he intends. So\nhe uses Sepher and Kiriath's army. Already he's given orders to\nslaughter each Druid.\"\n\n\"What of Aynger?\" Elak demanded.\n\n\"A message came from him today. He has gathered his Amenalks in the\nmountains beyond the Gateway. They wait for our word. Barbarians,\nElak--but good allies. They fight like mad wolves.\"\n\nCyrena rose to arms. From steading and farm, castle and citadel, city\nand fortress, the iron men came streaming. The roads glittered with\nbright steel and rang to the clash of horses' hoofs. The dragon banners\nfluttered in the chill winds of winter.\n\nRise and arm! In the name of Mider and the Dragon, draw your blade! So\nthe messengers called; so the word went forth. Rise against Kiriath and\nSepher!\n\nThe defending swords of Cyrena flashed bright. They thirsted for blood.\n\nAnd Sepher of Kiriath rode north against the Dragon.\n\n\n\n\n_9. The Hammer of Aynger_\n\n    And a strange music went with him,\n      Loud and yet strangely far;\n    The wild pipes of the western land,\n    Too keen for the ear to understand,\n    Sang high and deathly on each hand\n      When the dead man went to war.\n\n    --Chesterton.\n\n\nThe first snows of winter lay white on the Gateway. All around towered\nthe tall, frosted peaks of the mountain barrier, and a bitter wind\ngusted strongly through the pass. Within a month deep snow and\navalanches would make the Gateway almost impassable.\n\nThe sky was cloudless, of chill pale blue. In the thin air everything\nstood out in startling clarity; voices carried far, as did the crunching\nof snow underfoot and the crackle of rocks deep-bitten by the iron cold.\n\nThe pass was seven miles long, and narrow in only a few spots. For the\nmost part it was a broad valley bounded by the craggy cliffs. Canyons\nopened into it.\n\nDawn had flamed and spread in the east. The sun hung above a snow-capped\npeak. South of a narrow portion of the Gateway part of Cyrena's army\nwaited. Behind them were reinforcements. Upon the crags were archers and\narbalesters, waiting to rain death upon the invaders. Steel-silver moved\nagainst a background of white snow and black grim rocks.\n\nElak was astride a war-horse upon a small hillock. Hira rode up, gaunt\nold face keenly alert, joy of battle in the faded eyes. He saluted\nswiftly.\n\n\"The bowmen are placed and ready,\" he said. \"We've got rocks and\nboulders into position to crush Sepher's army, should it get too far.\"\n\nElak nodded. He wore chain-armor, gold encrusted, with a close-fitting\nhelm of gleaming steel. His wolf face was taut with excitement, and he\ncurbed the steed as it curvetted.\n\n\"Good, Hira. You are in command there. I trust your judgment.\"\n\nAs Hira departed Dalan and Lycon arrived, the latter flushed and\nunsteady in his saddle. He gripped a drinking-horn and swilled mead from\nit occasionally. His long sword slapped the horse's flank.\n\n\"The minstrels will make a song of this battle,\" he observed. \"Even the\ngods will eye it with some interest.\"\n\n\"Don't blaspheme,\" Dalan said, and turned to Elak. \"I've a message from\nAynger. His savage Amenalks wait in that side canyon--\" The Druid flung\nout a pointing hand--\"and will come when we need them.\"\n\n\"Aye,\" Lycon broke in, \"I saw them. Madmen and demons! They've painted\nthemselves blue as the sky and are armed with scythes and flails and\nhammers, among other things. And they're playing tunes on their pipes\nand bragging, each louder than the other. Only Aynger sits silent,\nfondling his Helm-Breaker. He looks like an image chipped out of gray\nstone.\"\n\nAt the memory Lycon shivered and then gulped the rest of the mead.\n\"Faith,\" he said sadly, \"the horn's empty. Well, I must get more.\" And\noff he went, reeling in the saddle.\n\n\"Drunken little dog,\" Elak remarked. \"But his hand will be steady enough\non the sword.\"\n\nFar away a trumpet shouted shrilly, resounding among the peaks. Now the\nforeguard of Sepher's army was visible as a glitter of steel on casques\nand lifted spearheads. Along the pass they came, steadily, inexorably,\nin close battle formation. The trumpet sang and skirled.\n\nIn response drums of Cyrena snarled answer. They rose to a throbbing,\nmenacing roar. Cymbals clashed resoundingly. The banners of the dragon\nflung out stiffly in the cold blast.\n\nKiriath rode without a standard. In silence, save for the clashing of\nmetallic hoofs and the angry screaming of the trumpet, they came, a vast\narray that flooded into the valley. Pikeman, archers, knights,\nmercenaries--on they came, intent on conquest and plunder. Elak could\nnot see Sepher, though his gaze searched for the king.\n\nAnd slowly the invaders increased their speed, almost imperceptibly at\nfirst, and then more swiftly till through the Gateway Kiriath charged\nand thundered, lances lowered, swords flashing. The trumpet shouted\nurgent menace.\n\nDalan's gross body moved uneasily in his saddle. He unsheathed his long\nblade.\n\nElak looked around. Behind him the army waited. Everything was ready.\n\nThe king of Cyrena rose in his stirrups. He lifted his rapier and\ngestured with it. He shouted:\n\n\"_Charge! Ho--the Dragon!_\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nWith a roar Cyrena swept forward down the pass. Closer and closer the\ntwo vast forces came. The drums roared death. From the icy peaks the\nclamor resounded thunderously.\n\nA cloud of arrows flew. Men fell, screaming. Then, with a crash that\nseemed to shake the mountainous walls of the Gateway, the armies met.\n\nIt was like a thunderclap. All sanity and coherence vanished in a\nmaelstrom of red and silver-steel, a whirlpool, an avalanche of\nthrusting spears, speeding arrows, slashing blades. Elak was instantly\nsurrounded by foes. His rapier flew swift as a striking snake; blood\nstained its length. His horse shrieked and fell hamstrung to the ground.\nElak leaped free and saw Lycon charging to the rescue. The little man\nwas wielding a sword almost as long as himself, but his pudgy fingers\nhandled it with surprising ease. He lopped off one man's head, ruined\nanother's face with a well-placed kick of his steel-shod foot, and then\nElak had leaped astride a riderless steed.\n\nAgain he plunged into the fray. The brown bald head of Dalan was rising\nand falling some distance away; the Druid roared like a beast as his\nsword whirled and flew and bit deep. Blood soaked the brown robe.\nDalan's horse seemed like a creature possessed; it screamed shrilly,\nblowing through red, inflamed nostrils, snapped viciously and reared and\nstruck with knife-edged hoofs. Druid and charger raged like a burning\npestilence amid the battle; sweat and blood mingled on Dalan's toad\nface.\n\nElak caught sight of Sepher. The ruler of Kiriath bronzed, bearded giant\ntowered above his men, fighting in deadly silence. Smiling wolfishly,\nElak drove toward the king.\n\nFrom the distance came the thin high wailing of pipes. Out of the side\ncanyon men came pouring--barbarous men, half naked, their lean bodies\nsmeared blue with woad. The men of Aynger! At their head ran Aynger\nhimself, his gray beard flying, brandishing the hammer Helm-Breaker. The\ngray giant leaped upon a rock, gesturing toward the forces of Kiriath.\n\n\"Slay the oppressors!\" he bellowed. \"Slay! Slay!\"\n\nThe weird pipes of the Amenalks shrilled their answer. The blue-painted\nmen swept forward--\n\nFrom the ranks of Sepher an arrow flew. It sped toward Aynger. It\npierced his bare throat and drove deep--deep!\n\nThe Amenalk leader bellowed; his huge body arced like a bow. Blood\nspouted from his mouth.\n\nA battalion charged out from the ranks of Kiriath. They sped toward the\nAmenalks, lances lowered, pennons flying.\n\nAynger fell! Dead, he toppled from the rock into the lifted arms of his\nmen. The pipes skirled. The Amenalks, bearing their leader, turned and\nfled back into the valley!\n\nCursing, Elak dodged a shrewd thrust, killed his assailant, and spurred\ntoward Sepher. The hilt of his rapier was slippery with blood. His body,\nunder the chain armor, was a mass of agonizing bruises; blood gushed\nfrom more than one wound. His breath rasped in his throat. The stench of\nsweat and gore choked him; he drove over ground carpeted with the\nwrithing bodies of men and horses.\n\nDown the valley Dalan fought and bellowed his rage. The battle-thunder\ncrashed on the towering crags and sent deafening echoes through the\nGateway.\n\nStill the trumpets of Kiriath called; still the drums and cymbals of\nCyrena shouted their defiance.\n\nAnd still Sepher slew, coldly, remorselessly, his bronzed face\nexpressionless.\n\nKiriath gathered itself and charged. The forces of Cyrena were forced\nback, fighting desperately each step of the way. Back to the narrowing\nof the pass they were driven.\n\nHigh above the archers loosed death on Kiriath.\n\nWith ever-increasing speed Sepher's army thrust forward. A gust of panic\ntouched the ranks of Cyrena. A dragon banner was captured and slashed\ninto flying shreds by keen blades.\n\nVainly Elak strove to rally his men. Vainly the Druid bellowed threats.\n\nThe retreat became a rout. Into the narrow defile the army fled, jammed\ninto a struggling, fighting mob. An orderly retreat might have saved the\nday, for Kiriath could have been trapped in the narrow pass and crippled\nby boulders thrust down by the men stationed above. As it was, Cyrena\nwas helpless, waiting to be slaughtered.\n\nKiriath charged.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nQuite suddenly Elak heard a voice. In through the mountains. Above the\ncall of trumpets came the thin wailing of pipes. Louder it grew, and\nlouder.\n\nFrom the side canyon the blue barbarians of Amenalk rushed in disorderly\narray. In their van a group ran together with lifted shields. Upon the\nshields was the body of Aynger!\n\nWeirdly, eerily, the ear-piercing skirling of the pipes of Amenalk\nshrilled out. The woad-painted savages, mad with blood-frenzy, raced\nafter the corpse of their ruler.\n\nDead Aynger led his men to war!\n\nThe Amenalks fell on the rear of the invaders. Flails and scythes and\nblades swung and glittered, and were lifted dripping red. A giant sprang\nupon the shield-platform, astride the body of Aynger. In his hand he\nbrandished a war-hammer.\n\n\"Helm-Breaker!\" he shouted. \"He--Helm-Breaker!\"\n\nHe leaped down; the great hammer rose and fell and slaughtered. Casques\nand helms shattered under the smashing blows; the Amenalk wielded\nHelm-Breaker in a circle of scarlet death about him.\n\n\"_Helm-Breaker! Ho--slay! Slay!_\"\n\nKiriath swayed in confusion under the onslaught. In that breathing-space\nElak and Dalan rallied their army. Cursing, yelling, brandishing steel,\nthey whipped order out of chaos. Elak snatched a dragon banner from the\ndust, lifted it high.\n\nHe turned his horse's head down the valley. One hand lifting the\nstandard, one gripping his bared rapier, he drove his spurs deep.\n\n\"_Ho, the Dragon!_\" he shouted. \"_Cyrena! Cyrena!_\"\n\nDown upon Kiriath he thundered. Behind him rode Lycon and the Druid.\nAnd after them the remnants of an army poured. Hira led his archers\nfrom the cliffs. The arbalasters came bounding like mountain goats,\nsnatching up swords and spears, pouring afoot after their king.\n\n\"_Cyrena!_\"\n\nThe drums and cymbals roared out again. Through the tumult pierced the\nthin, weird calling of the pipes.\n\n\"_Helm-Breaker! Slay! Slay!_\"\n\nAnd then madness--a hell of shouting, scarlet battle through which Elak\ncharged, Dalan and Lycon beside him, riding straight for the bushy beard\nthat marked Sepher. On and on, over screaming horses and dying men,\nthrough a whirlpool of flashing, thirsty steel, thrusting, stabbing,\nhacking--\n\nThe face of Sepher rose up before Elak.\n\nThe bronzed face of Kiriath's king was impassive; in his cold eyes dwelt\nsomething inhuman. Involuntarily an icy shudder racked Elak. As he\npaused momentarily the brand of Sepher whirled up and fell shattering in\na great blow.\n\nElak did not try to escape. He poised his rapier, flung himself forward\nin his stirrups, sent the sharp blade thrusting out.\n\nThe enchanted steel plunged into Sepher's throat. Simultaneously Elak\nfelt his back go numb under the sword-cut; his armor tore raggedly. The\nblade dug deep into the body of the war-horse.\n\nThe light went out of Sepher's eyes. He remained for a heart-beat\nupright in his saddle. Then his face changed.\n\nIt darkened with swift corruption. It blackened and rotted before Elak's\neyes. Death, so long held at bay, sprang like a crouching beast.\n\nA foul and loathsome thing fell forward and rumbled from the saddle. It\ndropped to the bloody ground and lay motionless. Black ichor oozed out\nfrom the chinks of the armor; the face that stared up blindly at the\nsky was a frightful thing.\n\nAnd without warning darkness and utter silence dropped down and shrouded\nElak.\n\n\n\n\n_10. The Black Vision_\n\n     And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and\n     brimstone, where are also the beast and the false prophet; and they\n     shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.\n\n     --Revelations 20:10.\n\n\nHe felt again the dizzy vertigo that presaged the coming of Karkora. A\nhigh-pitched, droning whine rang shrilly in his ears; he felt a sense of\nswift movement. A picture came.\n\nOnce more he saw the giant crag that towered amid the mountains. The\ndark tower lifted from its summit. Elak was drawn forward; iron gates\nopened in the base of the pinnacle. They closed as he passed through.\n\nThe high whining had ceased. It was cimmerian dark. But in the gloom a\nPresence moved and stirred and was conscious of Elak.\n\nThe Pallid One sprang into view.\n\nHe felt a sense of whirling disorientation; his thoughts grew inchoate\nand confused. They were slipping away, spinning into the empty dark. In\ntheir place something crept and grew; a weird mental invasion took\nplace. Power of Karkora surged through Elak's brain, forcing back the\nman's consciousness and soul, thrusting them out and back into the void.\nA dreamlike sense of unreality oppressed Elak.\n\nSilently he called upon Dalan.\n\nDimly a golden flame flickered up, far away. Elak heard the Druid's\nvoice whispering faintly, out of the abyss.\n\n\"_Mider--aid him, Mider--_\"\n\nFires of Mider vanished. Elak felt again the sense of swift movement.\nHe was lifted--\n\nThe darkness was gone. Gray light bathed him. He was, seemingly, in the\ntower on the summit of the crag--the citadel of Karkora. But the place\nwas unearthly!\n\nThe planes and angles of the room in which Elak stood were warped and\ntwisted insanely. Laws of matter and geometry seemed to have gone mad.\nCrawling curves swept obscenely in strange motion; there was no sense of\nperspective. The gray light was alive. It crept and shimmered. And the\nwhite shadow of Karkora blazed forth with chill and dreadful radiance.\n\nElak remembered the words of Mayana, the sea-witch, as she spoke of her\nmonstrous son Karkora.\n\n\"_He walks in other worlds, beyond unlit seas, across the nighted voids\nbeyond earth._\"\n\nThrough the whirling chaos a face swam, inhuman, mad, and terrible. A\nman's face, indefinably bestialized and degraded, with a sparse white\nbeard and glaring eyes. Again Elak recalled Mayana's mention of Erykion,\nthe wizard who had created the Pallid One.\n\n\"Perhaps he dwells in his citadel yet, with Karkora. Not for years have\nI seen the sorcerer.\"\n\nIf this were Erykion, then he had fallen victim to his own creation. The\nwarlock was insane. Froth dribbled on the straggling beard; the mind and\nsoul had been drained from him.\n\nHe was swept back and vanished in the grinding maelstrom of the\nfrightful lawless geometrical chaos. Elak's eyes ached as he stared,\nunable to stir a muscle. The shadow of the Pallid One gleamed whitely\nbefore him.\n\nThe planes and angles changed; pits and abysses opened before Elak. He\nlooked through strange gateways. He saw other worlds, and with his\nflesh shrinking in cold horror he stared into the depths of the Nine\nHells. Frightful life swayed into motion before his eyes. Things of\ninhuman shape rose up out of nighted depths. A charnel wind choked him.\n\nThe sense of mental assault grew stronger; Elak felt his mind slipping\naway under the dread impact of alien power. Unmoving, deadly, Karkora\nwatched--\n\n\"Mider,\" Elak prayed. \"Mider--aid me!\"\n\nThe mad planes swept about faster, in a frantic saraband of evil. The\ndark vision swept out, opening wider vistas before Elak. He saw\nunimaginable and blasphemous things, dwellers in the outer dark, horrors\nbeyond earth-life--\n\nThe white shadow of Karkora grew larger. The crawling radiance shimmered\nleprously. Elak's senses grew dulled; his body turned to ice. Nothing\nexisted but the now gigantic silhouette of Karkora; the Pallid One\nreached icy fingers into Elak's brain.\n\nThe assault mounted like a rushing tide. There was no aid anywhere.\nThere was only evil, and madness, and black, loathsome horror.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nQuite suddenly Elak heard a voice. In it was the murmur of rippling\nwaters. He knew Mayana spoke to him by strange magic.\n\n\"In your hour of need I bring you the talisman against my son Karkora.\"\n\nThe voice died; the thunder of the seas roared in Elak's ears. A green\nveil blotted out the mad, shifting planes and angles. In the emerald\nmists shadows floated--the shadows of Mayana.\n\nThey swept down upon him. Something was thrust into his hand--something\nwarm and wet and slippery.\n\nHe lifted it, staring. He gripped a heart, bloody, throbbing--alive!\n\nThe heart of Mayana! The heart beneath which Karkora had slumbered in\nthe womb! The talisman against Karkora!\n\nA shrill droning rose suddenly to a skirling shriek of madness, tearing\nat Elak's ears, knifing through his brain. The bleeding heart in Elak's\nhand drew him forward. He took a slow step, another.\n\nAbout him the gray light pulsed and waned; the white shadow of Karkora\ngrew gigantic. The mad planes danced swiftly.\n\nAnd then Elak was looking down at a pit on the edge of which he stood.\nOnly in the depths of the deep hollow was the instability of the\nsurrounding matter lacking. And below was a shapeless and flesh-colored\nhulk that lay inert ten feet down.\n\nIt was man-sized and naked. But it was not human. The pulpy arms had\ngrown to the sides; the legs had grown together. Not since birth had the\nthing moved by itself. It was blind, and had no mouth. Its head was a\nmalformed grotesquerie of sheer horror.\n\nFat, deformed, utterly frightful, the body of Karkora rested in the pit.\n\nThe heart of Mayana seemed to tear itself from Elak's hand. Like a\nplummet it dropped, and fell upon the breast of the horror below.\n\nA shuddering, wormlike motion shook Karkora. The monstrous body writhed\nand jerked.\n\nFrom the bleeding heart blood crept out like a stain. It spread over the\ndeformed horror. In a moment Karkora was no longer flesh-colored, but\nred as the molten sunset.\n\nAnd, abruptly, there was nothing in the pit but a slowly widening pool\nof scarlet. The Pallid One had vanished.\n\nSimultaneously the ground shook beneath Elak; he felt himself swept\nback. For a second he seemed to view the crag and tower from a distance,\nagainst the background of snow-tipped peaks.\n\nThe pinnacle swayed; the crag rocked. They crashed down in thunderous\nruin.\n\nOnly a glimpse did Elak get; then the dark curtain blotted out his\nconsciousness. He saw, dimly, a pale oval. It grew more distinct. And it\nwas the face of Lycon bending above Elak, holding a brimming cup to the\nlatter's lips.\n\n\"Drink!\" he urged. \"Drink deep!\"\n\nElak obeyed, and then thrust the liquor away. He stood up weakly.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nHe was in the pass of the Gateway. Around him the men of Cyrena rested,\nwith here and there a blue-painted warrior of Amenalk. Corpses littered\nthe ground. Vultures were already circling against the blue.\n\nDalan was a few paces away, his shallow black eyes regarding Elak\nintently. He said, \"Only one thing could have saved you in Karkora's\nstronghold. One thing--\"\n\nElak said grimly, \"It was given me. Karkora is slain.\"\n\nA cruel smile touched the Druid's lipless mouth. He whispered, \"So may\nall enemies of Mider die.\"\n\nLycon broke in, \"We've conquered, Elak. The army of Kiriath fled when\nyou killed Sepher. And, gods, I'm thirsty!\" He rescued the cup and\ndrained it.\n\nElak did not answer. His wolf face was dark; in his eyes deep sorrow\ndwelt. He did not see the triumphant banners of the dragon tossing in\nthe wind, nor did he envision the throne of Cyrena that waited. He was\nremembering a low, rippling voice that spoke with longing of the fields\nand hearth-fires of earth, a slim, inhuman hand that had reached through\na curtain--a sea-witch who had died to save a world to which she had\nnever belonged.\n\nThe shadow was lifted from Atlantis; over Cyrena the golden dragon ruled\nunder great Mider. But in a sunken city of marble beauty the shadows of\nMayana would mourn for Poseidon's daughter.\n\n\n[The end of _Dragon Moon_ by Henry Kuttner]","title":"Dragon moon","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":13256}