Elric in the Dream Realms - Michael Moorcock [88]
There was another great curving doorway ahead of them, all elaborate lattice-work and mosaic, bordered by bands of jade, blue enamel and silver. Two large doors of dark wood, hinges and studs of brass, blocked their way.
Oone did not know. She reached gently towards the doors and placed her fingertips against them. Gradually, just as with the other gate, the doors began to part. They heard a faint noise from within, almost a whimper. The doors opened wider and wider until they were completely back on their hinges.
For a moment Elric was overwhelmed by what he saw.
A grey-gold glow filled the great chamber which had been revealed to them. The glow came from a column about the height of a tall man which was topped by a globe. At the centre of the globe shone a pearl of enormous size, almost as big as Elric’s fist. Short flights of steps led up to the column from all sides and around these steps were what at first appeared to be ranks of statues. Then Elric realized that they were men, women, and children, dressed in all manner of costumes, though most of them in the styles favoured in Quarzhasaat and by the desert clans.
The old man came stumbling behind them. “Do not hurt this!”
“We defend ourselves, Sir Seneschal,” Oone told him without turning to look at him. “That is all you need to know from us.”
Slowly, still leading the silver horses, still with their silver swords in their hands, the light from the pearl touching their silver armour and their helmets and making these, too, glow with soft radiance, they made their way into the chamber.
“This is not to destroy. This is not to defeat. This is not to despoil.”
Elric shivered when he heard the voice. He looked over towards the distant walls of the room and there was the Pearl Warrior, his armour all cracked and slimed with blood, his face a terrible bruise, the eyes seeming alternately to fade and take fire. And sometimes they were Alnac’s eyes.
The warrior’s next words were almost pathetic. “I cannot fight you. No more.”
“We are not here to hurt,” said Oone again. “We are here to free you.”
There was a movement amongst the still figures. A blue-gowned veiled woman appeared. Queen Sough’s own eyes had a suggestion of tears. “With these you come?” she indicated the swords, the horses, the armour. “But our enemies are not here.”
“They will be here soon,” said Oone. “Soon, I think, my lady.”
Still baffled, Elric looked behind him, as if he would see their enemies. He made a movement towards the Pearl at the Heart of the World, merely to admire a marvel. At once all the figures came to life, blocking his path.
“You will steal!” The old man sounded even more wretched than before, even more impotent.
“No,” said Oone. “It is not our purpose. You must understand that.” She spoke urgently. “Raik Na Seem sent us to find her.”
“She is safe. Tell him she is safe.”
“She is not safe. Soon she will dissolve.” Oone turned her gaze on the whispering throng. “She is separated, as we are separated. The Pearl is the cause.”
“This is a trick,” said Queen Sough.
“A trick,” echoed the wounded Pearl Warrior and there was a faint chuckle from his spoiled throat.
“A trick,” said the seneschal, and held out the bags of gold.
“We come to steal nothing. We come to defend. Look!” Oone made a circular movement with her sword to show them what they had evidently not yet seen.
Emerging through the walls of the chamber, their hands filled with every imaginable weapon, came the hooded, tattooed soldiers of Quarzhasaat. The Sorcerer Adventurers.
“We cannot fight them,” said Elric quietly to his friend. “There are too many of them.” And he prepared himself for death.
CHAPTER TWO
The Destruction in the Fortress
Then Oone had mounted her silver horse and raised her silver sword. She called out: “Elric, do as I do!” and had urged the stallion into a canter so that its hoofs rattled like thunder in the chamber.
Prepared