Elric in the Dream Realms - Michael Moorcock [31]
“Why, sir,” said Alnac Kreb, dusting sand from his velvet breeches, “I’d thought you guessed. I am a dreamthief.”
CHAPTER FOUR
A Funeral at the Oasis
“The Silver Flower Oasis is rather more than a simple clearing in the desert as you’ll discover,” said Alnac Kreb, dabbing delicately at his beautiful face with a kerchief trimmed with glittering lace. “It is a great meeting place for all the nomad nations and much wealth comes to it to be traded. It is frequented by kings and princes. Marriages are arranged and often take place there, as do other ceremonies. Great political decisions are made. Alliances are maintained and fresh ones struck. News is exchanged. Every manner of thing is bartered. Not everything is conventional, not everything—material. It is a vital place, unlike Quarzhasaat, which the nomads visit reluctantly only when necessity—or greed—demands.”
“Why have we seen none of these nomads, friend Alnac?” Elric asked.
“They avoid Quarzhasaat. For them the place and its people are the equivalent of hell. Some even believe that the souls of the damned are sent to Quarzhasaat. The city represents everything they fear and everything that is at odds with what they most value.”
“I’d be inclined to see eye to eye with those nomads.” Elric allowed himself a smile. Still free of the elixir, his body was again craving it. The energy his sword had given him would normally have sustained him for a considerably longer time. This was further proof that the elixir, as explained by Manag Iss, fed off his very life-force to give him temporary physical strength. He was beginning to suspect that as well as feeding his own vitality he was also feeding the elixir. The distillation had come almost to represent a sentient creature, like the sword. Yet the Black Sword had never given him the same sense of being invaded. He kept his mind free of such thoughts as much as he could. “I feel a certain kinship with them already,” he added.
“Your hope, Prince Elric, is that they find you acceptable!” And Alnac laughed. “Though an ancient enemy of the lords of Quarzhasaat must have certain credentials. I have acquaintances amongst some of the clans. You must let me introduce you, when the time comes.”
“Willingly,” said Elric, “though you have yet to explain how you came to know me.”
Alnac nodded as if he had forgotten the matter. “It is not complicated and yet it is remarkably complex, if you do not understand the fundamental workings of the multiverse. As I told you, I’m a dreamthief. I know more than most because I am familiar with so many dreams. Let’s merely say that I heard of you in a dream and that it is sometimes my destiny to be your companion—though not for long, I’d guess, in my present guise.”
“In a dream? You have yet to tell me what a dreamthief does.”
“Why, steal dreams, of course. Twice a year we take our booty to a certain market to trade, just as the nomads trade.”
“You trade in dreams?” Elric was disbelieving.
Alnac enjoyed his astonishment. “There are dealers at the market who’ll pay for certain dreams. In turn they sell them to those unfortunates who either cannot dream or who have such banal dreams they desire something better.”
Elric shook his head. “You speak in parables, surely?”
“No, Prince Elric, I speak the exact truth.” He dragged the oddly hooked staff from his belt. It reminded Elric of a shepherd’s crook, though it was shorter. “One does not acquire this without having studied the basic skills of the dreamthief’s craft. I am not the best in my trade, nor am I likely ever to be, but in this realm, in this time, this is my destiny. There are few in this realm, for reasons you shall no doubt learn, and only the nomads and the folk of Elwher recognize our craft. We are not known, save to a few wise people, in the Young Kingdoms.”
“Why do you not venture there?”
“We are not asked to do so. Have you ever heard of anyone seeking the services of a dreamthief in the Young Kingdoms?”
“Never. But why should that be?”
“Perhaps because Chaos has so much influence in the West and South. There, the