The Dragon in the Sword (16 page)

“We shall,” the Announcer Elect promised. But first she intended to describe briefly her people’s history; how as a handful of survivors they had been driven further and further into hiding by the numerous forces of barbarian humans. Eventually they decided to escape into another realm where the Mabden could not follow. There they would begin life again. They had explored certain other worlds. Yet they wished to find one where humans had not settled. They devised a means of reaching such a world. Earlier explorers had brought back with them two great beasts whose own curiosity had led them to follow the explorers. It was already known that these beasts had some means of returning to their own world—of creating a new gateway through to it between the barriers. The Eldren planned to release the beasts and then follow them through. The creatures were not antagonistic towards the Eldren. Indeed, there was a kind of mutual respect between them which was hard to define. The Eldren felt they would have no difficulty living in the same world as the beasts. So it was that one party followed the male beast through the gateway it made. The second party, of women, were to follow a little later, when the men had made certain it was safe. So they waited and, hearing of no danger, they sent the female beast through. However, they were following in her wake when suddenly she vanished. There was a sense of struggle, a sense that the beast was trying to warn them of something, and then they had found themselves in this world. Somehow the beast which was to lead them to safety had either lost her way or been abducted.

“Somehow the gateway had shifted. The multiverse intersects like cogs in a clock. One tick of the pendulum and you find yourself in an entirely different world, perhaps many times removed from the one you sought. That is what happened to us. Until recently we never knew what became of the beast who was supposed to lead us through. In order to survive we were forced to use our knowledge of alchemy so that we could breed with males who had wandered here from human dimensions. At length we discovered we could buy such males from various traders in the Six Realms. Only at the Massing do all the realms intersect. At times, however, it is not difficult to visit perhaps one or two others whenever we choose. Meanwhile we have devoted ourselves to a study of what constitutes the multiverse, of how and when certain realms cross one another’s orbits. By means of our psychics, the same as those who contacted you, mistaking you for Sharadim, we have communicated very occasionally with our menfolk. It became clear that the only way to reach them was to find the beast which had intended to lead us through in the first place. Then a further disturbing problem came a few years ago. We discovered that the herbs we use in our alchemy to perpetuate ourselves were becoming rapidly scarcer. We do not know why. Perhaps a simple climatic change. We can grow plants very similar to them in our special gardens, but they do not have exactly the same properties. Therefore we have very few sources of supply left to us. We have almost no children. Soon we shall have none. Our race will perish. That is why our quest for help grew more urgent. Then came one to us who said that he knew where our beast could be found, but that only one creature in the whole multiverse was both fitted and fated to find her. He called this creature the Champion Eternal.”

Another woman spoke from where she sat on the floor. “We did not know if it were male or female, human or Eldren. All we had was the Actorios. The stone.”

“He told us we should find you by means of that stone,” said Phalizaarn. From a pouch at her hips she drew it out, displaying it on the flat of her hand. “Do you recognise it?”

Something within me knew the stone, but no memory would come to me. I made a helpless gesture.

Phalizaarn smiled. “Well, it seems to know you.”

The jewel, all smoky darkness, full of restless, nameless colours, seemed almost to writhe in her palm. I felt a great need for it. I wanted to reach out and take it from her but I restrained myself.

“It is yours,” said a voice from behind me. Both von Bek and I turned. “It is yours. Take it.”

No longer in black and yellow, but in enfolding purple, the black giant Sepiriz looked down at me with a kind of amused compassion. “It will always be yours, wherever you see it,” he continued. “Take it. It will help you. It has served its turn here.”

The stone was warm. It felt like flesh. I shivered as I held it in my fist. It seemed to send a thrill of energy through me. “Thank you.” I bowed to the Announcer Elect and to Sepiriz. I placed the stone in my belt purse. “Are you their oracle, Sepiriz? Do you bind them about with mysteries as you do me?” I could only speak with affection.

“That Actorios will one day sit in the Ring of Kings,” said the giant. “And you shall wear it. But for now there is a more immediate game to play. A game, John Daker, which could earn you at least part of what you most desire.”

“Not a very specific promise, Sir Knight.”

He accepted this. “It is only in certain matters that I dare be specific. The balance is singularly fine just now. I would not tip it. Not at this stage. Did my Lady Phalizaarn describe their lost she-beast?”

“I can remember the incantation very clearly,” I told him. “It was a firedrake. A dragon. And it is held prisoner, I take it. They seemed to want me—or Sharadim—to release the creature. Is it trapped in some world which only I can visit?”

“Not exactly. It is trapped in an object which only you are entitled to handle…”

“That damned sword!” I stepped backward, violently shaking my head. “No! No, Sepiriz, I will not bear it again! The Black Sword is evil. I do not like what it makes of me.”

“This is not the same sword,” he said calmly. “Not in this aspect. Some say the twin blades are the same. Some say they have a thousand forms. I do not believe that. The blade was forged to accept what we would call a soul—a spirit, a demon, whatever you like—and it was by unhappy coincidence that the she-dragon became trapped there, filling the vacuum, as it were, within the blade.”

“Those dragons are surely monstrous. And the blade—”

“Simple matters of Space and Time are scarcely relevant to the forces of which I speak and of which you must know something,” said Sepiriz, raising his hand. “The sword had but lately been forged. Those who had made it had not quite finished their work. The blade was, as it were, cooling. There was a massive movement throughout the multiverse. Chaos and Law even then fought for possession of the blade and its twin. Dimensions were warped, whole histories were altered in a space of moments, the very laws of nature were changed. It was then that the dragon—the second dragon—attempted to fling herself through the barriers between the realms and burst through to her own world. It was an unaccounted-for coincidence. As a result of those huge disturbances, she became trapped within the sword. No incantation could release her. The blade had been designed to be inhabited. Once possessed it could only release that which dwelled within it under certain portentous circumstances. And only you can release the dragon. It is a very powerful object, even without you. In the wrong hands it could damage everything we value, perhaps destroy it for ever. Sharadim herself believes in the sword. She heard the voices calling her. She asked certain questions and received certain answers. Now she would own that thing of power. Her plan is to rule all Six Realms of the Wheel. With the Dragon Sword she could easily have her way.”

“How did you learn that she was evil?” I asked Sepiriz. “Amongst the folk of the Six Realms—or at least most of them—she is regarded as a paragon of virtue.”

The Lady Phalizaarn spoke. “That is very simple. We made the discovery recently, after a trading expedition to the Draachenheem. We bought a batch of males, all of whom had been employed at Court. Many were nobles. To silence them, Sharadim had sold them to us. It frequently happens—since we are supposed to eat the men we buy—that we become a convenient means of disposing of unwanted people. Some of those men had actually witnessed Sharadim poisoning the wine she offered you on your return from whatever quest it was you had been on. She bribed some of the courtiers to side with her. The others she had arrested as conspirators, henchmen of Flamadin, and sold to us.”

“Why did she want to poison me?”

“You had refused to marry her. You hated her cunning and her cruelty. For years she had encouraged you to go adventuring abroad. This suited your temperament and she assured you that the kingdom was safe with her. Gradually, however, you began to realise what she was doing, how she was corrupting everything you believed noble in order to prepare the Draachenheem for war against the other realms. You swore you would tell all at the next Massing. Meanwhile she understood something of what the Eldren women had said. She realised that it was you they really sought. She had several motives for murdering you.”

“Then how am I here now?”

“That is puzzling, I agree. Several of the men here saw you in death. Stiff and bloodless, they said.”

“And what became of my corpse?”

“Some believe Sharadim still has possession of it. That she practises the most disgusting rites upon it…”

“That leaves the question ‘Who am I?’” I said. “If I am not Prince Flamadin.”

“But you are Prince Flamadin,” said Sepiriz. “All agree on that matter. What they cannot decide is how you escaped…”

“So you wish me to seek out this sword? And what then?”

“It must be brought to the Massing Ground. The Eldren women will know what to do.”

“Do you know where the sword may be found?”

“We have rumours only. It has changed hands more than once. Most who have attempted to put it to their own purposes have died quite terrible deaths as a result.”

“Then why not let Sharadim find it? When she is dead, I can bring the sword to you…”

“Your jests were never your strength, Champion,” said Sepiriz almost sadly. “Sharadim may have some means of controlling the blade. She may have devised a method by which she can make herself invulnerable to the sword’s particular curse. She is neither stupid nor ignorant. She will know how to make the best use of the sword once she finds it. Already she has sent out her minions to gather information.”

“She knows more, then, than you do, Lord Sepiriz?”

“She knows something. And that is more than enough.”

“Am I to try to reach the sword before she does? Or am I to stop her by some means? You are unclear as to what you expect of me, my lord.”

Sepiriz could tell that I was resisting him. I had no wish to set eyes on another sword like the Black Sword, let alone put a hand upon one.

“I expect you to fulfill your destiny, Champion.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You shall never know even a hint of freedom for eternity upon eternity. You shall suffer more terribly than those whom your selfishness will consign to everlasting horror. Chaos plays a part in this. Have you heard of the Archduke Balarizaaf? He is a most ambitious Lord of Chaos. Sharadim is negotiating with him, offering an alliance. If Chaos claims the Six Realms it will mean nothing but hideous destruction, frightful agony for the conquered peoples, Eldren or human. Sharadim cares only for power, whereby she can indulge her perverse whims. She’s a fitting medium for the Archduke Balarizaaf. And he, better than she, understands the significance of the sword.”

“So this is a matter between Law and Chaos?” I said. “And I am chosen to fight for Law this time.”

“It is the Will of the Balance,” said Sepiriz with a note of unwonted piety in his deep voice.

“Well, I trust you as cheerfully as I trust any of your ilk,” I told him. “I can do very little else. But I will do nothing unless you tell me that what I do will aid these Eldren women, for it is to the Eldren, not any great cosmic force, that I feel my greatest loyalty. If I succeed, will they be reunited with their men?”

“That I can promise you,” said Sepiriz. He seemed impressed by my statement rather than resentful of it.

“Then I shall do my best to find the Dragon Sword and release its prisoner,” I agreed.

“I have your oath on that now,” said Sepiriz with satisfaction. He seemed to be making a mental note. He also seemed somewhat relieved.

Von Bek stepped forward. “Forgive this interruption, gentlemen, but I would be much obliged if you could tell me if I, too, have a preordained destiny or if I am to do my best to make my own way home?”

Sepiriz placed a hand on the Saxon count’s right arm. “My young friend, matters are far simpler where you are concerned and I can speak plainer. If you continue with this quest and aid the Champion to fulfill his destiny, you will, I promise, achieve what you most desire.”

“The destruction of Hitler and his Nazis?”

“I swear it.”

It was difficult for me to remain silent. I already knew the Nazis had been defeated. But it then occurred to me that perhaps they might have succeeded, that it had been von Bek and myself who had been responsible for the destruction of the fascists. I had some faint understanding, now, of why Sepiriz was bound to speak in mysteries. He had more than a knowledge of the future. He had a knowledge of a million different futures, a million different worlds, a million ages…

“Very well,” von Bek was saying, “then I shall continue with this, at least for the time being.”

“Alisaard will also go with you,” said the Lady Phalizaarn. “She has volunteered, since she was one of those responsible for revealing too much to Sharadim. And, of course, you will take the men.”

“The men? Which men?” Foolishly I looked about me.

“Sharadim’s exiled courtiers,” she said.

“Why should I want them with me?”

“As witnesses,” put in Sepiriz, “since your first task is to go at once to Draachenheem and face your sister with an accusation and your evidence. If she is ousted from power, it will make your task considerably easier.”

“You think we could do that? Three of us and a handful of men?”

“You have no choice,” said Sepiriz gravely. “It is the first task you must accomplish if you would find the Dragon Sword. There is no better beginning. By confronting your evil twin, Sharadim, you will set the pattern for the rest of your quest. Remember, Champion, we forge time and matter as a consequence of our actions. That is one of the few constants in the multiverse. It is we who impose logic, for our own survival. Make it a good pattern and you shall come a step closer to achieving the destiny you most desire…”