Elric to Rescue Tanelorn - Michael Moorcock [116]
“Satisfied, no! The dog has vanished!”
“Gone—but…”
“He was more cunning than I thought. There are several caves and I sought him in all of them. In the farthest I discovered traces of sorcerous runes on the walls and floor. He has transported himself somewhere and I could not discover where, in spite of deciphering most of the runes! Perhaps he went to Pan Tang.”
“Ah, then our quest has been futile. Let us return to Dhakos and enjoy a little more of Yishana’s hospitality.”
“No—we go to Pan Tang.”
“But, Elric, Theleb K’aarna’s brother sorcerers dwell there in strength; and Jagreen Lern, the theocrat, forbids visitors!”
“No matter. I wish to finish my business with Theleb K’aarna.”
“You have no proof that he is there!”
“No matter!”
And then Elric was spurring his horse away, riding like a man possessed or fleeing from dreadful peril—and perhaps he was both possessed and fleeing. Moonglum did not follow at once but thoughtfully watched his friend gallop off. Not normally introspective, he wondered if Yishana had perhaps affected the albino more strongly than he would have wished. He did not think that vengeance on Theleb K’aarna was Elric’s prime desire in refusing to return to Dhakos.
Then he shrugged and slapped his heels to his steed’s flanks, racing to catch up with Elric as the cold dawn rose, wondering if they would continue towards Pan Tang once Dhakos was far enough behind.
But Elric’s head contained no thoughts, only emotion flooded him—emotion he did not wish to analyze. His white hair streaming behind him, his dead-white, handsome face set, his slender hands tightly clutching the stallion’s reins, he rode. And only his strange, crimson eyes reflected the misery and conflict within him.
In Dhakos that morning, other eyes held misery, but not for too long. Yishana was a pragmatic queen.
THE JADE MAN’S EYES
THE JADE MAN’S EYES
(1973)
…Now there was a certain sorcerer of Pan Tang called Theleb K’aarna. Elric, whose vengeful emotions had already brought much grief to himself and others, bore a grudge against the sorcerer and spent three years in pursuit of him until he was at last tracked to Bakshaan, a city rich enough to make all the other cities of the North East seem poor, where, in a melancholy adventure, he was slain at last.
…Short-statured Moonglum, of the red-hair and wide grin, wanted to head south-east for the peaceful lands of Ilmiora, but Elric was drawn back to the Southern Continent where he spent the winter squandering his treasure in the cities of Argimiliar, seeking an impossible consolation…
—The Chronicle of the Black Sword
CHAPTER ONE
OF ALL THE cities of the Young Kingdoms the city named Chalal was deemed the most beautiful. Some said that it ranked with Imrryr, the Dreaming City of Melniboné, but those who had seen both said that Chalal’s beauty was more humane.
Chalal had been built on both banks of the river Cha which ran through the country of Pikarayd, laid out by a line of artist kings according to the original conception of Mornir the First. Its broad avenues were overlooked by monuments, statues and widely spaced buildings of singularly delicate architecture. White marble, polished granite and alabaster shone in the clear, bright air and there were fine lawns, gardens and evergreens, fountains and mazes, all designed by the greatest artists of the Young Kingdoms through many generations. Chalal was Pikarayd’s greatest treasure and for a long while the country had been pauperized to create it.
It happened that one springtime two strange men came to Chalal. They rode their weary Shazarian horses along the quays of marble and lapis lazuli beside the fast-flowing river. One was very tall, with a bone-white skin, crimson eyes and hair the colour of milk and he carried a huge, scabbarded broadsword at his side. The other was short with red hair and a sardonic expression on his face. He bore two swords, one of which was long and curved while its mate was scarcely bigger than a dagger.
Both the men had evidently been traveling for some time, for their clothes