Elric in the Dream Realms - Michael Moorcock [39]
“My people believed that Quarzhasaat destroyed herself for ever,” said Elric. “Would that they had or that Melniboné had shown less arrogance and completed what their wizards began!” He rarely betrayed such ferocious emotions towards those his race had defeated but now he knew only loathing for Lord Gho, whose men, he was sure, had done this terrible thing. He recognized the nature of the sorcery, for it was not unlike that he had learned himself, though his cousin Yyrkoon had shown more interest in those specific arts and cared to practise them where Elric did not.
“But who can save her now?” said Raik Na Seem softly, perhaps a little embarrassed by Elric’s outburst in this place of meditation.
The albino recovered himself and made a gesture of apology. “Are there no potions which will rouse her from this slumber?” he asked.
Raik Na Seem shook his head. “We have consulted everyone and everything. The spell was cast by the leader of the Sparrow Sect and he was killed when we took our premature revenge.”
In deference to those who sat within the Bronze Tent, Raik Na Seem now led them out into the desert again. Here guards stood, their lamps and torches casting great shadows across the sand, while the rays of the ruby moon drenched everything with crimson, so it was almost as if they drowned in a tide of blood. Elric was reminded how, as a youth, he had peered into the depths of his Actorios, imagining the gem as a gateway into other lands, each facet representing a different realm, for by then he had already read much of the multiverse and how it was thought to be constituted.
“Steal the dream which entraps her,” Raik Na Seem was saying, “and you know that all we have will be yours, Alnac Kreb.”
The handsome black man shook his head. “To save her would be all the reward I wanted, father. Yet I fear I have not the skills … Has no other tried?”
“We have been deceived more than once. Sorcerer Adventurers from Quarzhasaat, either believing themselves possessed of your knowledge or thinking they could accomplish what only a dreamthief can accomplish, have come to us, pretending to be members of your craft. We have seen them all go mad before our eyes. Several died. Some we let run back to Quarzhasaat in the hope they would be a warning to others not to waste their lives and our time.”
“You sound very patient, Raik Na Seem,” said Elric, remembering what he had already heard and clearer now as to why Lord Gho so desperately sought a dreamthief for this work. The news brought back to Quarzhasaat by the maddened Sorcerer Adventurers had been garbled. What little Lord Gho had made of it, he had passed on to Elric. But now the albino saw that it was the child herself who possessed the secret of the path to the Pearl at the Heart of the World. Doubtless, as the recipient of all her people’s wisdom, she had learned of its location. Perhaps it was a secret she must keep to herself. Whatever the reason, it was obvious that the girl, Varadia, must wake from her sorcerous sleep before any further progress could be made. And Elric knew that even if she did wake it was not in his nature to question her, to beg for a secret which was not his to know. His only hope would be if she offered the knowledge freely to him but he knew that no matter what occurred he would never be able to ask.
Raik Na Seem seemed to understand a little of the albino’s dilemma. “My son, you are a friend of my son,” he said in the formal manner of his people. “We know that you are not our enemy and that you did not come here willingly to steal what was ours. We know, too, that you had no intention of taking from us any treasure to which we are guardian. Know this, Elric of Melniboné, that if Alnac Kreb can save our Holy Girl, we shall do all we can to put you on the path to the Fortress of the Pearl. The only reason for hindering you would be if Varadia, awakened, warned us against giving this aid.