Elric in the Dream Realms - Michael Moorcock [94]
Raik Na Seem still wept. Whenever he saw Oone and Elric he grasped them and pulled them to him, thanking them, telling them, as best he could, what it meant to him to have such friends, such saviours, such heroes.
“Your names will be remembered by the Bauradim for all time. And whatever favour you shall ask of us, so long as it be honourable, as we know it shall, then we shall grant it to you. If you are in danger ten thousand miles away you will send a message to the Bauradim and they will come to your aid. Meanwhile you must know that you have freed the spirit of a good-hearted child from dark captivity.”
“And that is our reward,” said Oone, smiling.
“Our wealth is yours,” said the old man.
“We have no need of wealth,” Oone told him. “We have discovered better resources, I think.”
Elric agreed with her. “Besides, there is a man in Quarzhasaat who has promised me half an empire if I but do him a small service.”
Oone understood Elric’s reference and laughed.
Raik Na Seem was a little disturbed. “You go to Quarzhasaat? You still have business there?”
“Aye,” said Elric. “There is a boy who is anxiously awaiting my return.”
“But you have time to celebrate with us, to talk with us, to feast with myself and Varadia? You have scarcely exchanged a word with the child!”
“I think we know her pretty well,” said Elric. “Enough to think highly of her. She is indeed the greatest treasure of the Bauradim, my lord.”
“You were able to hold conversations in that gloomy realm where she was held prisoner?”
Elric thought to enlighten the First Elder, but Oone was quick to interrupt, so familiar was she with such questions.
“Some, my lord. We were impressed by her intelligence and her courage.”
Raik Na Seem’s brow furrowed as another thought occurred to him. “My son,” he said to Elric, “were you able to sustain yourself in that realm without pain?”
“Without pain, aye,” said Elric. Then he realized what had been said. For the first time he understood what good had come about from his adventure. “Aye, sir. There are benefits to assisting a dreamthief. Great benefits which I had not until now appreciated!”
With relish now Elric joined in the feasting, treasuring these hours with Oone, the Bauradim and all the other nomad clans. Again he felt as if he had come home, so welcoming were the people, and he wished that he could spend his life here, learning their ways, their philosophies and enjoying their pastimes.
Later, as he lay beneath a great date-palm, rolling one of the silver flowers between his fingers, he looked up at Oone who sat beside him and he said: “Of all the temptations I faced in the Dream Realm, this temptation is perhaps the greatest, Oone. This is simple reality and I am reluctant to leave it. And you.”
“We have no further destiny together, I think.” She sighed. “Not in this life, at any rate, or this world, perhaps. You shall be first a legend, then there will be none left to remember you.”
“My friends will all die? I shall be alone?”
“I believe so. While you serve Chaos.”
“I serve myself and my people.”
“If you would believe that, Elric, you must do more to achieve it. You have created a little reality and perhaps will create a little more. But Chaos cannot be a friend without it betraying you. In the end, we have only ourselves to look to. No cause, no force, no challenge, will ever replace that truth …”
“It is to be myself that I travel as I do, Lady Oone,” he reminded her. He looked out over the desert, over the tranquil waters of the oasis. He breathed in the cool, scented desert air.
“And you