Elric_ The Sleeping Sorceress - Michael Moorcock [57]
“As am I,” said Erekosë the Champion Eternal.
“As am I,” said Elric of Melniboné, “though I am sworn to serve it.”
Elric looked at his two companions and it was possible to believe that these were two incarnations of himself. Certainly their lives, their struggles, their personalities, to some extent, were very similar.
“And why do you seek Tanelorn, Erekosë?” he asked.
“I have been told that I may find peace there—and wisdom—a means of returning to the world of the Eldren where dwells the woman I love, for it has been said that since Tanelorn exists in all planes at all times it is easier for a man who dwells there to pass between the planes, discover the particular one he seeks. What interest have you in Tanelorn, Lord Elric?”
“I know Tanelorn and I know that you are right to seek it. My mission seems to be the defense of that city upon my own plane—but even now my friends may be destroyed by that which has been brought against them. I pray Corum is right and that in the Vanishing Tower I shall find a means to defeat Theleb K’aarna’s beasts and their masters.”
Corum raised his jeweled hand to his jeweled eye. “I seek Tanelorn for I have heard the city can aid me in my struggle against Chaos.”
“But Tanelorn will fight neither Law nor Chaos—that is why she exists for eternity,” Elric said.
“Aye. Like Erekosë I do not seek swords but wisdom.”
Night fell and Darkvale grew gloomier. While the others watched the pit Elric tried to sleep, but his fears for Tanelorn were too great. Would Myshella try to defend the city? Would Moonglum and Rackhir die? And what could he possibly find in the Vanishing Tower which would aid him? He heard the murmuring of conversation as his other selves discussed how Darkvale had come to exist.
“I heard that Chaos once attacked the town which at that time lay in a quiet valley,” Corum told Erekosë. “The tower was then the property of a knight who gave shelter to one whom Chaos hated. They brought a huge force of creatures against Darkvale, raising and compressing the walls of the valley, but the knight sought the aid of Law which enabled him to shift his tower into another dimension. Then Chaos decreed that the tower should shift for ever, never being on one plane longer than a few moments. The knight and the fugitive went mad at last and killed each other. Then Voilodion Ghagnasdiak found the tower and became resident therein. Too late he realized his mistake as he was shifted from his own plane to an alien one. Since then he has been too fearful to leave the tower but desperate for company. He has taken to the habit of capturing whomever he can and forcing them to be his companions in the Vanishing Tower until they bore him. When they bore him, he slays them.”
“And your guide may soon be slain? What manner of creature is this Voilodion Ghagnasdiak?”
“He is a monstrous evil creature commanding great powers of destruction, that is all I know.”
“Which is why the gods have seen fit to call up three aspects of myself to attack the Vanishing Tower,” said Erekosë. “It must be important to them.”
“It is to me,” said Corum, “for the guide is also my friend and the very existence of the Fifteen Planes is threatened if I cannot find Tanelorn soon.”
Elric heard Erekosë laugh bitterly. “Why cannot I—we—ever be faced with a small problem, a domestic problem? Why are we forever involved with the destiny of the universe?”
Corum replied just as Elric began to nod into a half-doze. “Perhaps domestic problems are worse. Who knows?”
CHAPTER FIVE
Jhary-a-Conel
“It is here! Hasten, Elric!”
Elric sprang up.
It was dawn. He had already stood watch once during the night.
He drew his black sword from its scabbard noticing with some astonishment that Erekosë had already drawn his own blade and that it was almost identical to his own.
There was the Vanishing Tower.
Corum was running towards it even now.
The tower was in fact a small castle of grey and solid stone, but about its battlements played lights and its outline was not altogether clear at