Mad Moon of Dreams (13 page)
Read Mad Moon of Dreams Online
Authors: Brian Lumley
“Yes?” the others queried as a man.
“Except we're not going to let them.” Hero's smile was grim. “As soon as they make tracks for the moonâsignalling the beginning of the endâwe sail in, find Oorn's pit and do whatever we can toward preventing her aeon-deferred reunion with old Mnomquah.”
“Brilliant!” said Eldin with feeling.
“Glad you like it,” Hero remained grim.
“But
how
shall we deal with Oorn?” Gytherik was less sure.
how
shall we deal with Oorn?” Gytherik was less sure.
“We might seal her pit,” Hero shrugged. “Something like that.”
“How seal her pit?” Limnar now demanded.
“Hell's teeth, I don't know!” Hero growled. “With an avalanche, maybe. A landslide.”
“With fire!” cried Eldin. “A blazing ship to scorch her ⦠well, whatever she's got.”
“Good!” cried Hero, shaking a fist. “That's it! Now you've got the idea. Now get on with it.
Think,
you dodosâget your damned brains working! Me ⦠I'm knackered. As soon as I get some clothes on that fit me half decently, I'm for bed. I've had a rough old night, one way or another.
Think,
you dodosâget your damned brains working! Me ⦠I'm knackered. As soon as I get some clothes on that fit me half decently, I'm for bed. I've had a rough old night, one way or another.
“As for you lot: Cap'n Dass, you'd best get the flotilla mobile. Eldin: you can talk to the horned ones. Find out where the girls are. But don't hurt 'em, mind! Well, not a lot, anyway. And then you'd best get some sleep too.”
“What about me?” asked Gytherik, full of excitement.
“You look after those gaunts of yours,” ordered Hero. “Make sure they get a good day's rest. And Gytherikâ”
“Yes?”
“Give Sniffer and Biffer a kiss from me, will you? Not only did they track us, recover our swords, follow us to
Sarkomand and save our lives, but they did it with a great deal of ⦠of ⦔
Sarkomand and save our lives, but they did it with a great deal of ⦠of ⦔
“They did it right, eh?” grinned Gytherik.
“Damned
right!” Hero emphatically agreed. Then, seeing the gaunt-master's sudden grimace, he added: “Well, if not a kiss, a hug at least!”
right!” Hero emphatically agreed. Then, seeing the gaunt-master's sudden grimace, he added: “Well, if not a kiss, a hug at least!”
Strange Sanctuary
Ula and Una, as fine and desirable a pair of ladies as ever were lusted after (and won, however contrived the double “conquest” had been) by dreamland's most fabled-to-be questers, were in dire straits. Well-proportioned girlsâto say the leastâfrom an early age, their father Ham Gidduf of Andahad had used not so jokingly to threaten them with chastity belts if they so much as looked at boys. (Not that this had stopped boys looking at them!) How dearly they wished they might be secured in just such weighty nether-garments right now â¦
Dark-haired, green-eyed and delicately elfin-featured, despite their very worldly prominence in other areas, they were supple and willowy ⦠and very much on edge. Neither one of the girls had slept but in brief snatches for two days now, since the first reports had reached their captors of the approach of a flotilla of ships out of the south. For Ula and Una had known that they were merely bait on the hook, and that the hoped-for catch would be David Hero and Eldin the Wanderer.
If the Lengites and their allies could only remove these two obstacles to their Master's plans, then all should go very well indeed. Since it had been known well in advance that eventually the pair must be recruited on the side of the dreamlands, plans had early been laid first to lure, then to dispatch
them. And if anything at all were guaranteed to bring the questers a-running, surely it was the knowledge that former friends of theirsâand most certainly former loversâwere in trouble. Hence Ula and Una's this time very genuine abduction.
them. And if anything at all were guaranteed to bring the questers a-running, surely it was the knowledge that former friends of theirsâand most certainly former loversâwere in trouble. Hence Ula and Una's this time very genuine abduction.
And yet strangely, they had not been harmed. Perhaps there was logic in this, too: if the questers should get it into their heads that the girls had been mistreated, then perhaps they might carry such a notion to its ultimate conclusion and suspect that they had been murderedâhorribly. Which in turn would doubtless provoke or precipitate a berserker attack in which the men of the flotilla would fight like madmen, regardless of the cost. This might well endanger not only Oorn but the aeon-awaited arrival in the dreamlands of her Lord, the moon-god Mnomquah himself.
Last night, however, the luck of the twin beauties had seemed dramatically to change, and then it had become apparent that a certain promise made by the Dukes of Isharra to the degenerate human members of their ship's crew was about to be kept. Namely: that as soon as Hero and Eldin were in chains, then the twin daughters of Ham Gidduf would be handed over to the crew for their amusement. And the horned ones, who formed an even larger percentage of the ship's contingent, had likewise been offered whatever was left when the Isharrans were finished!
Which was why, as soon as they heard jubilant whispers that indeed Hero and Eldin had been trapped, Ula and Unaâwho thus far had enjoyed a small measure of freedomâhad contrived to lock, bolt and bar themselves into the comparative opulence of the Dukes' own cabin aboard the bad ship
Shantak.
Which was also why, when the questers had been delivered to the Dukes, the meeting had taken place in Sarkomand's ruins and not aboard
Shantak
herself. No, for there the crew's more rapacious members had been dicing for the doubtful privilege of being first, second, third and so on to attempt forced entries on the twins in their retreat.
Shantak.
Which was also why, when the questers had been delivered to the Dukes, the meeting had taken place in Sarkomand's ruins and not aboard
Shantak
herself. No, for there the crew's more rapacious members had been dicing for the doubtful privilege of being first, second, third and so on to attempt forced entries on the twins in their retreat.
One enterprising youth, the highest scorer and therefore the
first to try his hand, had got himself down in the ribs of the ship beneath the cabin refuge, where he had loosened a floorboard; and had then made the mistake of exploring the gap with a free hand. For the girls had found an assortment of weapons in the cabin, the outcome being that the luckless bravo had lost two of his fingers and one thumb, and had earned for himself a broken thigh in the resultant plunge from precarious perch in the rafters to hold's thick-planked bottom.
first to try his hand, had got himself down in the ribs of the ship beneath the cabin refuge, where he had loosened a floorboard; and had then made the mistake of exploring the gap with a free hand. For the girls had found an assortment of weapons in the cabin, the outcome being that the luckless bravo had lost two of his fingers and one thumb, and had earned for himself a broken thigh in the resultant plunge from precarious perch in the rafters to hold's thick-planked bottom.
When a second man had smashed in a small-paned leaded window, and after he had been fatally skewered through the left eye for his pains, then the horned ones had been invited to join in the game. Why, after all, should the humans hog all of the fun? Fair-minded fellows these Isharrans â¦
The Lengites had fared no better, however, though one of them made an attempt of sorts; had managed at least to carry out the preliminaries. He had climbed up onto the cabin's roof, stretched out flat and found himself a tiny peephole where a knot had fallen from the timbers. He had forgotten, alas, a basic principle (what may be seen into may also be looked out of) and paid the price of his folly. A single great
thump
had been heard; his prone, roof-hugging body had been seen to give a jerk; and when his corpse was taken down a second knothole had been discovered in the region of his heart, through which had been driven with considerable force a stout, sharp, six-inch ship's nail.
thump
had been heard; his prone, roof-hugging body had been seen to give a jerk; and when his corpse was taken down a second knothole had been discovered in the region of his heart, through which had been driven with considerable force a stout, sharp, six-inch ship's nail.
The girls had then plugged all remaining knotholes, reinforced the tiny windows and further barricaded the massy door; and so far no further intrusions had been attempted upon their privacy. Eventually they would weaken through starvation, or if things got desperate the cabin's door could be broken in with axes, though that would hardly be to the liking of the Dukes of Isharra. But in any case, all of this frustration and waiting about could only serve as fuel for lustful imaginations; and oh! the plans which were made for Ula and Unaâand all within their hearingâwhile their tormentors prowled outside, black-hearted and red-eyed.
And the girls had been there, barricaded in their cabin,
when the Dukes gave chase to Lathi's ship
Chrysalis
and Zura's
Shroud:
and with pounding hearts they had listened to the sounds of fighting: the clash of weapons, screams of crippled and dying men, and a certain bull-voice roaring which Una was almost certain had belonged to the Wanderer. And following all of this, much groaning and many low-muttered curses; and all through the night the girls had been left to themselves, to snatch what sleep they could during this brief respite, while the Dukes of Isharra counted the cost of the fighting and the wounded tended their injuries. And in their waking hours the girls had done a great deal of sobbing, for it seemed certain to them that Hero and Eldin had been overwhelmed and murdered.
when the Dukes gave chase to Lathi's ship
Chrysalis
and Zura's
Shroud:
and with pounding hearts they had listened to the sounds of fighting: the clash of weapons, screams of crippled and dying men, and a certain bull-voice roaring which Una was almost certain had belonged to the Wanderer. And following all of this, much groaning and many low-muttered curses; and all through the night the girls had been left to themselves, to snatch what sleep they could during this brief respite, while the Dukes of Isharra counted the cost of the fighting and the wounded tended their injuries. And in their waking hours the girls had done a great deal of sobbing, for it seemed certain to them that Hero and Eldin had been overwhelmed and murdered.
“That time in Bahama,” whispered Ula tearfully to her sister in the night, when they both sat awake and trembling in the creak-timbered cabin. “We used those lads so cruelly.”
“With never a thought for their welfare should they be caught,” Una added. “Indeed, our plan required that they be caughtâor at least discovered. And them branded rapists and abductors through our accusations! And getting nothing out of it at all.”
“Except us, our bodies.”
“Huh!” answered Una, bitterly, as might be imagined. “Even that was plotted, so that father wouldn't marry us off to these vile Dukes of Isharra. But Eldin ⦔ (and she sighed), he was ⦠such a capable lover.”
“Hero too,” sobbed Ula quietly. “At least, I've always assumed he wasâhaving no standards of reference, I mean.”
“Those two would be good by any standards, I'm sure,” Una sighed again. “And just think: we could have sailed away with them over the Southern Sea!”
“Instead of waiting here to be raped and soiled and murdered,” Ula added. “We didn't know what we were doing until it was much too lateâfor all of us.”
“We could have sailed away with them,” Una repeated in a low whisper, dabbing a teardrop from the end of her pretty nose. “Well, they'll go no more aâsailing now, poor lads. We
played them for fools and were ourselves fooledâand look what it's all come to.”
played them for fools and were ourselves fooledâand look what it's all come to.”
And so their tearful conversation had gone on until Una had fallen asleep. Later she had sat alert in the darkness while Ula drowsed and nodded fitfully; and so on until morning, when the
Shantak
had grown very still in the calm of the new day. Then the girls had heard a hubbub of seemingly concerned voices, and later they had opened up a peephole upon a scene of puzzling activity.
Shantak
had grown very still in the calm of the new day. Then the girls had heard a hubbub of seemingly concerned voices, and later they had opened up a peephole upon a scene of puzzling activity.
The Lengite fleet was apparently preparing for battle while yet at anchor, and every crewman seemed busy and full of feverish excitement. Even the lurkers about the cabin refuge aboard
Shantak
were called away to various tasks, and again the girls grabbed at this welcome respite from filthy jokes and horrifyingly depraved whispers, promises and threats. This activity of preparation went on through the whole of the morning without let-up and was not completed until shortly before noon, when a series of frightening events took place as harbinger to the great maelstrom yet to come.
Shantak
were called away to various tasks, and again the girls grabbed at this welcome respite from filthy jokes and horrifyingly depraved whispers, promises and threats. This activity of preparation went on through the whole of the morning without let-up and was not completed until shortly before noon, when a series of frightening events took place as harbinger to the great maelstrom yet to come.
For it was then, as the Captains and crews of the black (and one white, or at least gray) ships relaxed a little and the sniffers returned to prowl and threaten vilely through the stout planking of the cabin's walls, that the mad moon's proximity to the dreamlands began to make itself felt more physically, more fearsomely. Hearing cries of awe and wonder without, the girls once more employed their spyhole to see what was going on. At first they saw nothing; all looked gray and dreary as ever, and the only real change seemed to be in the weather, which was now utterly calm, with grim and motionless clouds above and eerily dissipating mists below (except in the cliff-guarded byways of primal Sarkomand itself, which seemed permanently misted); but then, seeing where
Shantak'
s crewmen were pointing, the eyes of the twins gazed toward the seaward horizon.
Shantak'
s crewmen were pointing, the eyes of the twins gazed toward the seaward horizon.
Strange shiny tubular structures stood far out at sea, towering like the legs of giants over the apparently still deeps and rushing to and fro, occasionally colliding and collapsing in
torrents of spray. Waterspouts, in amazing profusion, parading like blind suicidal guardsmen across the face of the ocean! Some of these monsters towered even higher as they approach the primal city's quays, and one even pushed its way to the mighty, ancient sea-wall itself before subsiding and melting down into the sea. For hours the display continued until, suddenly, the nodding colossi made off, rushing south in a seeming panic and disappearing over the gray horizon.
torrents of spray. Waterspouts, in amazing profusion, parading like blind suicidal guardsmen across the face of the ocean! Some of these monsters towered even higher as they approach the primal city's quays, and one even pushed its way to the mighty, ancient sea-wall itself before subsiding and melting down into the sea. For hours the display continued until, suddenly, the nodding colossi made off, rushing south in a seeming panic and disappearing over the gray horizon.
And as if to explain their panic-flight, in the space of a few more minutes a great wind began gusting that blasted the startled clouds southward in the wake of the waterspouts and screamed banshee-like through the fleet of moored ships. Several of the vessels were torn free of their moorings and driven out over the sea before their Captains could regain controlâby which time the winds were dying away as quickly as they came.
Then, in the gray northern daylight, before thoughts could be expressed or even gathered: a meteor shower! Great blazing boulders that howled across the tortured sky and hissed down through holes in the clouds to fall explosively into a now surging sea. And where they fell columns of steam rose up and the waters boiled, however briefly, to mark their deep green graves. Several of these aerial fireballs struck Sarkomand, shattering ruins yet more ruinously and spraying fire everywhere; and one, in its fiery passage to earth, scorched the topsail, rigging and mast from a Leng ship. Then, once more, all was still. Except for the sea â¦
Beyond the massive sea-wall the ocean seemed now to rush, first west in a racing tide, then east in choppy disorder, where mighty whirlpools formed swirling tunnels into tumultuous depths. And this was the highest tide the primal city had every known; or at least the highest since the raising of the hoary sea-wall, in predawn days by hands other than Man's. Great waves pounded against the wall, flinging spray a hundred feet and more into the air. And the rush and roar of ocean could be heard and felt more clearly, even aboard
the ships of the Lengites, even though the wind blew steadily southwards once more.
the ships of the Lengites, even though the wind blew steadily southwards once more.
And so the day grew to its close, and evening blew in with the winds from the north, and Ula and Una resigned themselves to another fearful night in the cabin aboard the creaking, rolling
Shantak.
Here was a very strange thing, however, and one which struck the girls as monstrously sinister. By now the Isharrans and horned ones of the
Shantak's
crew must know that they had peepholes from which they could gaze out upon whatever was happening; but something must now be happening (or about to happen) which the Dukes of Isharra did not wish them to see; for blankets were brought and nailed up all around the cabin, and as the evening grew toward night so the remaining light was entirely shut out.
Shantak.
Here was a very strange thing, however, and one which struck the girls as monstrously sinister. By now the Isharrans and horned ones of the
Shantak's
crew must know that they had peepholes from which they could gaze out upon whatever was happening; but something must now be happening (or about to happen) which the Dukes of Isharra did not wish them to see; for blankets were brought and nailed up all around the cabin, and as the evening grew toward night so the remaining light was entirely shut out.
Then, for a further half-hour or so, all that the terrified girls knew was the quiet creep of many feet and the occasional furtive whisper. They heard, too, the unmistakable but subdued accents of the Dukes themselves, and so knew them to be aboard; and of course they suspected that this was some new and elaborate plot to snatch them from their now very fragile-seeming sanctuary.
A plot it was, most certainly, but the girls could hardly have guessed that it centered not about them (although they stood in fact at its center) but about a certain pair of questers, late of the waking world, who were on their way here right now through darkening northern skiesââAnd who the Dukes of Isharra, their motley crew, and the entire Lengite alliance
knew
were coming!
knew
were coming!
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