Elric Swords and Roses - Michael Moorcock [165]
Moonglum reached his hand towards it but his friend stopped him.
“The noibuluscus must be plucked at the optimum moment. We must wait until the moon is full. It’s not even twilight. We must somehow hold out against the savages until midnight.” He had waited so many months, he could feel the last of his strength ebbing out of him. He thought only of his own needs.
Dyvim Mar stared at his cousin in contempt. The princesses, too, knew what they had found, for their father had spoken of it, hoped to find it. Perhaps the noibuluscus was the treasure their father sought? Even Moonglum was troubled.
Elric cared nothing for what any of them thought. At last he need depend no longer either on herbs or hellsword. This, in turn, freed him from Arioch, from all those hideous pacts which had led, in his mind, at least, to the death of Cymoril. He knew a deep satisfaction. Everything he had hoped for was coming true. After tonight, his dependence on the supernatural would be over. All he had to do was survive …
“We’re heavily outnumbered, Elric.” Moonglum was reminding him. “We’re trapped.”
“This place can be readily defended,” Elric replied. “The only entrances are that gap in the wall through which we came and that smaller opening—” he pointed to a small, square, regular opening in the main structure of the great pyramid itself. “It seems to be some sort of outlet, perhaps for water, used in the original construction.” The battle leader he was trained to be, he positioned Dyvim Mar and Duke Orogino at the small, regular opening. The others were told to watch for activity beyond the wall. Any attackers could only come through one at a time. The walls themselves were too high to permit spears or arrows to be aimed at them.
When Elric turned to Princess Nahuaduar to explain this, she looked directly into his eyes and said firmly: “We are here to rescue my father, Prince Elric …”
“… and to save any of my men who survive,” Dyvim Mar added, peering down into the square opening and then leaning to look up, as if it was, indeed, some kind of sluice from above. “If only we could calculate the enemy numbers, we’d be better able to determine our strategy.”
Elric ignored them. He had already told them his purpose. While their mutual interests coincided, he would work with them. If they conflicted, he would have to concentrate on the black flower’s blossoming.
Moonglum went to stare through the gap in the wall at the horizon. The sun was already setting. He had long since accepted that Elric was driven by his own needs, but he had thought there was another quality in his friend, something which might just possibly on occasions put the greater good above his own. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Then he had a new thought. What if the savages, who had already demonstrated their sophisticated strategies, did not want to frighten them from the city at all? Perhaps the party had been deliberately offered this route. He whirled and as their eyes met it was clear Elric shared the same suspicion.
Elric cursed his desperation and need. “Is there time for a new strategy?” Hadn’t he already found what he had come to Soom to take? Why not do, however, what the mysterious tribesmen least expected and attack the pyramid? Apart from himself, there were only two experienced soldiers amongst them. True, the women were brave and willing, even trained to arms to a degree, yet they were scarcely strong enough for an assault. Not unless most of the defenders were already dead …
Suddenly a shout came from above. Elric could not see who it was but Hored Mevza, furthest away from