Stormbringer - Michael Moorcock [49]
Even one man?
One man, one sword, one destiny?
—Chronicle of the Black Sword
Thirteen times thirteen, the steps to the sad giant's lair;
And the Chaos Shield lies there.
Seven times seven are the elder trees,
Twelve times twelve warriors he sees,
But the Chaos Shield lies there.
And the hero fair will the Sad Giant dare,
And the Black Sword wield for the Sad Giant's shield
On a mournful victory day.
One
Two days later they watched the battered survivors of the fleet sailing into the harbour. Moonglum, fully recovered thanks to Elric's healing herbs, counted despairingly. "Too few," he said. "This is a black day."
From behind them a trumpet sounded.
"An arrival from the mainland," Dyvim Slorm said.
They strode back to the Fortress of Evening in time to see a scarlet-clad archer dismounting from his horse. His near-fleshless face might have been carved from bone. He stooped with weariness.
Elric was surprised. "Rackhir! You command the Ilmioran coast. Why are you here?"
"We were driven back. The Theocrat launched not one fleet but two. The other came in from the Pale Sea and took us by surprise. Our defences were crushed, Chaos swept in and we were forced to flee. The enemy has established itself less than a hundred miles from Bakshaan and marches across country—if march is the word, rather it flows. Presumably it expects to meet up with the army the Theocrat intends to land here."
"Aaahh, we are surely defeated. . ." Moonglum's voice was little more than a sigh.
"We must have that shield, Elric," Dyvim Slorm said. "Where is Sepiriz?"
"Whether he comes or not, I must leave for Karlaak tonight. My Zarozinia is in danger." Elric could feel nothing but despair. He turned and led Rackhir through the courtyard and into the Fortress. "Come, Rackhir, you must rest and then tell us all you can."
But Sepiriz was waiting for him in the hall when he went there, having seen Rackhir to bed.
"Your face is full of anguish, Elric. You have heard?"
Elric nodded. "If this shield is our only hope, Sepiriz, then I must have it. Tell me how to get it!"
"In a moment. We have at last managed to contact the White Lords, but they can do little as yet. Somehow a path to their plane must be made through the barricades which Chaos has constructed against them. Jagreen Lern's earthly conquests are near complete. Once consolidated, they will give him more power to summon further allies from Chaos—the strongest forces of that realm will join with him. With the help of Pyaray and his Chaos Fleet he is already all but invincible—if Pyaray were to perish. . ."
"How can Pyaray be slain?"
"A man must strike for the crystal a-top his head—there is his life and his soul. But you cannot attempt that yet, Elric. You need Mordaga's shield first, in spite of your sword's increasing strength. You notice how swiftly it pours power into your body now?"
"True. Yet I seem even more reliant upon that power." He spoke flatly. "The power is stronger, but I am weaker, it seems."
Sepiriz said gravely: "That power is evilly-gained and evil in itself. The blade's strength will continue to increase but as Chaos-begotten power fills your being, you will have to fight yet more strongly to control the force within you. That also will take strength. So, you see, you must use part of the strength to fight the strength itself."
Elric gripped the sword's hilt. "Though the world crumbles and turns to boiling gas, I shall live now. I swear by the Cosmic Balance that Law shall triumph and the New Age come to this earth!"
"Let us hope so, Elric. Now—Mordaga's castle is virtually impregnable. It lies upon the topmost crag of a tall and lonely mountain, reached by a hundred and thirty-nine steps. Lining these are forty-nine elder trees, and of these you will have to be especially wary. Also Mordaga has a guard of a hundred and forty-four warriors. I'm explicit in giving the numbers, for they have