Elric to Rescue Tanelorn - Michael Moorcock [156]
With a sigh, Werther ordered the chariot to set down in the largest square. Here they waited until a few of the citizens began to arrive, cautious and angry, but evidently in no mood to give any further resistance.
Elric addressed them. “It was necessary to attack and conquer you, for I must return to my own realm, there to fulfill my great destiny. If you will take me to Melniboné, I will demand nothing further from you.”
“One of us really ought to take a translation pill,” said Werther. “These people probably have no idea where they are.”
A meaningless babble came from the citizens. Elric frowned. “They understand not the High Speech,” he said. “I will try the common tongue.” He spoke in a language neither Werther, the Duke of Queens nor the citizens of this settlement could understand.
He began to show signs of frustration. He drew his sword Stormbringer. “By the Black Sword, know that I am Elric, last of the royal line of Melniboné! You must obey me. Is there none here who understands the High Speech?”
Then, from the crowd, stepped a being far taller than the others. He was dressed in robes of dark blue and deepest scarlet and his face was haughty, beautiful and full of evil.
“I speak the High Tongue,” he said.
Werther and the Duke of Queens were nonplused. This was no-one they recognized.
Elric gestured. “You are the ruler of the city?”
“Call me that, if you will.”
“Your name?”
“I am known by many names. And you know me, Elric of Melniboné, for I am your lord and your friend.”
“Ah,” said Elric lowering his sword, “this is the greatest deception of them all. I am a fool.”
“Merely a mortal,” said the newcomer, his voice soft, amused and full of a subtle arrogance. “Are these the renegades who helped you?”
“Renegades?” said Werther. “Who are you, sir?”
“You should know me, rogue lords. You aid a mortal and defy your brothers of Chaos.”
“Eh?” said the Duke of Queens. “I haven’t got a brother.”
The stranger ignored him. “Demigods who thought that by helping this mortal they could threaten the power of the Greater Ones.”
“So you did aid me against your own,” said Elric. “Oh, my friends!”
“And they shall be punished!”
Werther began: “We regret any damage to your city. After all, you were not invited…”
The Duke of Queens was laughing. “Who are you? What disguise is this?”
“Know me for your master.” The eyes of the stranger glowed with myriad fires. “Know me for Arioch, Duke of Hell!”
“Arioch!” Elric became filled with a strange joy. “Arioch! I called upon thee and was not answered!”
“I was not in this realm,” said the Duke of Hell. “I was forced to be absent. And while I was gone, fools thought to displace me.”
“I really cannot follow all this,” said the Duke of Queens. He set aside his mace. “I must confess I become a trifle bored, sir. If you will excuse me.”
“You will not escape me.” Arioch lifted a languid hand and the Duke of Queens was frozen to the ground, unable to move anything save his eyes.
“You are interfering, sir, with a perfectly—” Werther too was struck dumb and paralyzed.
But Elric refused to quail. “Lord Arioch, I have given you blood and souls. You owe me…”
“I owe you nothing, Elric of Melniboné. Nothing I do not choose to owe. You are my slave…”
“No,” said Elric. “I serve you. There are old bonds. But you cannot control me, Lord Arioch, for I have a power within me which you fear. It is the power of my very mortality.”
The Duke of Hell shrugged. “You will remain in the Realm of Chaos for ever. Your mortality will avail you little here.”
“You need me in my own realm, to be your agent. That, too, I know, Lord Arioch.”
The handsome head lowered a fraction as if Arioch considered this. The beautiful lips smiled. “Aye, Elric. It is true that I need you to do my work. For the moment it is impossible for the Lords of Chaos to interfere directly in the world of mortals, for we should threaten our own existence. The rate of entropy would increase beyond even our control. The day has not yet come when Law and Chaos must decide the issue