A Quest-Lover's Treasury of the Fantastic Page 32

  “Is that why, I wonder, your sorcery was so weak against me,” Elric said. “Because you wished Carolak to come and release you from your guilt.”

  “Possibly, Elric. You are wiser in some matters, it seems, than am I.”

  “What of the Crimson Gate?” Smiorgan growled. “Can that be opened? Have you still the power, Earl Saxif D'Aan?”

  “I think so.” From the folds of his bloodstained garments of gold, the sorcerer produced a large crystal which shone with the deep colors of a ruby. “This will not only lead you to the gate, it will enable you to pass through, only I must warn you…” Saxif D'Aan began to cough. “The ship—” he gasped, “the ship—like my body—has been sustained by means of sorcery—therefore…” His head slumped forward. He raised it with a huge effort and stared beyond them at the girl who still held the reins of the white stallion. “Farewell, Gratyesha, Princess of Fwem-Omeyo. I loved you.” The eyes remained fixed upon her, but they were dead eyes now.

  Carolak turned back to look at the girl. “How do you call yourself, Gratyesha?”

  “They call me Vassliss,” she told him. She smiled up into his youthful, battle-scarred face. “That is what they call me, Prince Carolak.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “I know you now.”

  “Will you come with me, Gratyesha? Will you be my bride, at last, in the strange new lands I have found, beyond the world?”

  “I will come,” she said.

  He helped her up into the saddle of his white stallion and climbed so that he sat behind her. He bowed to Elric of Melniboné. “I thank you again, Sir Sorcerer, though I never thought to be helped by one of the royal blood of Melniboné.”

  Elric's expression was not without humor. “In Melniboné,” he said, “I'm told it's tainted blood.”

  “Tainted with mercy, perhaps.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Prince Carolak saluted them. “I hope you find peace, Prince Elric, as I have found it.”

  “I fear my peace will more resemble that which Saxif D'Aan found,” Elric said grimly. “Nonetheless, I thank you for your good words, Prince Carolak.”

  Then Carolak, laughing, had ridden his horse for the rail, leapt it, and vanished.

  There was a silence upon the ship. The remaining ruffians looked uncertainly, one to the other. Elric addressed them:

  “Know you this—I have the key to the Crimson Gate—and only I have the knowledge to use it. Help me sail the ship, and you'll have freedom from this world! What say you?”

  “Give us our orders, captain,” said a toothless individual, and he cackled with mirth. “It's the best offer we've had in a hundred years or more!”

  VII

  IT WAS SMIORGAN WHO FIRST SAW THE CRIMSON GATE. HE HELD the great red gem in his hand and pointed ahead.

  “There! There, Elric! Saxif D'Aan has not betrayed us!”

  The sea had begun to heave with huge, turbulent waves and, with the mainsail still tangled upon the deck, it was all that the crew could do to control the ship, but the chance of escape from the world of the blue sun made them work with every ounce of energy and, slowly, the golden battle-barge neared the towering crimson pillars.

  The pillars rose from the gray, roaring water, casting a peculiar light upon the crests of the waves. They appeared to have little substance, and yet stood firm against the battering of the tons of water lashing around them.

  “Let us hope they are wider apart than they look,” said Elric. “It would be a hard enough task steering through them in calm waters, let alone this kind of sea.”

  “I'd best take the wheel, I think,” said Count Smiorgan, handing Elric the gem, and he strode back up the tilting deck, climbing to the covered wheelhouse and relieving the frightened man who stood there.

  There was nothing Elric could do but watch as Smiorgan turned the huge vessel into the waves, riding the tops as best he could, but sometimes descending with a rush which made Elric's heart rise to his mouth. All around them, then, the cliffs of water threatened, but the ship was taking another wave before the main force of water could crash onto her decks. For all this, Elric was quickly soaked through and, though sense told him he would be best below, he clung to the rail, watching as Smiorgan steered the ship with uncanny sureness towards the Crimson Gate.

  And then the deck was flooded with red light and Elric was half blinded. Gray water flew everywhere; there came a dreadful scraping sound, then a snapping as oars broke against the pillars. The ship shuddered and began to turn, sideways to the wind, but Smiorgan forced her round and suddenly the quality of the light changed subtly, though the sea remained as turbulent as ever and Elric knew, deep within him, that overhead, beyond the heavy clouds, a yellow sun was burning again.

  But now there came a creaking and a crashing from within the bowels of the battle-barge. The smell of mold, which Elric had noted earlier, became stronger, almost overpowering.

  Smiorgan came hurrying back, having handed over the wheel. His face was pale again. “She's breaking up, Elric,” he called out, over the noise of the wind and the waves. He staggered as a huge wall of water struck the ship and snatched away several planks from the deck. “She's falling apart, man!”

  “Saxif D'Aan tried to warn us of this!” Elric shouted back. “As he was kept alive by sorcery, so was his ship. She was old before he sailed her to that world. While there, the sorcery which sustained her remained strong—but on this plane it has no power at all. Look!” And he pulled at a piece of the rail, crumbling the rotten wood with his fingers. “We must find a length of timber which is still good.”

  At that moment a yard came crashing from the mast and struck the deck, bounding, then rolling towards them.

  Elric crawled up the sloping deck until he could grasp the spar and test it. “This one's still good. Use your belt or whatever else you can and tie yourself to it!”

  The wind wailed through the disintegrating rigging of the ship; the sea smashed at the sides, driving great holes below the waterline.

  The ruffians who had crewed her were in a state of complete panic, some trying to unship small boats which crumbled even as they swung them out, others lying flat against the rotted decks and praying to whatever gods they still worshiped.

  Elric strapped himself to the broken yard as firmly as he could and Smiorgan followed his example. The next wave to hit the ship full-on lifted them with it, cleanly over what remained of the rail and into the chilling, shouting waters of that terrible sea.

  Elric kept his mouth tight shut against swallowing too much water and reflected on the irony of his situation. It seemed that, having escaped so much, he was to die a very ordinary death, by drowning.

  It was not long before his senses left him and he gave himself up to the swirling and somehow friendly waters of the ocean.

  He awoke, struggling.

  There were hands upon him. He strove to fight them off, but he was too weak. Someone laughed, a rough, good-humored sound.

  The water no longer roared and crashed around him. The wind no longer howled. Instead there was a gentler movement. He heard waves lapping against timber. He was aboard another ship.

  He opened his eyes, blinking in warm, yellow sunlight. Redcheeked Vilmirian sailors grinned down at him. “You're a lucky man—if man you be!” said one.

  “My friend?” Elric sought for Smiorgan.

  “He was in better shape than were you. He's down in Duke Avan's cabin now.”

  “Duke Avan?” Elric knew the name but, in his dazed condition, could remember nothing to help him place the man. “You saved us?”

  “Aye. We found you both drifting, tied to a broken yard carved with the strangest designs I've ever seen. A Melnibonéan craft, was she?”

  “Yes, but rather old.”

  And with a smile, more tranquil than most, he fell back into his slumbers.

  About the Authors

  C.J. CHERRYH

  C.J. Cherryh is the creator of the encompassing Union-Alliance
future-history series, which chronicles the interplay of intergalactic commerce and politics several millennia hence. Praised for its inventive extrapolations of clinical and social science and deft blends of technology and human interest, the series enfolds a number of celebrated subseries, including her Faded Sun trilogy (Kesrith, Shon'jir, Kutath). Her Chanur cycle (The Pride of Chanur, Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strikes Back, Chanur's Homecoming, Chanur's Legacy), also part of the series, tells of a race of sentient lion-like creatures and is notable for its alien viewpoint and illuminating perspectives on the human race rendered from outside it. Much of her fiction is concerned with the impact of environment—family, politics, culture—on the values and ideologies of the individual. Cherryh has also authored the four-volume Morgaine heroic fantasy series and the epic Galisien sword-and-sorcery trilogy, which includes Fortress in the Eye of Time, Fortress of Eagles, and Fortress of Owls. She is the creator of the Merovingian Nights shared-world series and co-creator of the multivolume Heroes in Hell shared-world compilations.

  KARL EDWARD WAGNER

  Karl Edward Wagner (1945–1994) wrote the first of what was later to be termed “dark fantasy” fiction with his series character Kane, who is based on the biblical Cain, a wandering immortal who takes up arms for his own side in the eternal battle of good versus evil. He also collaborated with other authors, notably David Drake in the space alien meets Roman Empire adventure novel Killer. He continued the exploits of one of the pulp era's mightiest heroes, Conan the Barbarian. A prolific editor, his annual Best Horror Stories anthology showcased the most powerful tales of terror for more than two decades, and continued until his untimely death. A four-time recipient of the British Fantasy Award, he also won the World Fantasy Award twice.

  POUL ANDERSON

  Mention the name Poul Anderson and instantly dozens of excellent science fiction novels and short stories spring to mind. However, like many authors, he has also tried his hand at fantasy fiction, with equally impressive results. Two of his novels that deserve mention are Three Hearts and Three Lions and The Broken Sword, the latter based on the Norse eleven myths. He has also written in universes as diverse as Shakespeare's comedies and Robert E. Howard's Conan mythos. A seven-time winner of the Hugo Award, he has been awarded three Nebulas and the Tolkien Memorial Award.

  CHARLES L. FONTENAY

  Charles L. Fontenay is best known for his Kipton series, a young-adult collection of books featuring a girl solving mysteries and outwitting villains in a science fiction universe. He has also contributed to several anthologies, including CatFantastic III and IV, Barbarians II, and such noted magazines as If, Analog, and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. He lives and writes in St. Petersburg, Florida.

  TANYA HUFF

  Tanya Huff lives and writes in rural Ontario with her partner, four cats, and an unintentional Chihuahua. After sixteen fantasies, she's written her first space opera, Valor's Choice, and is currently working on a sequel to Summon the Keeper called The Second Summoning. In her spare time she gardens and complains about the weather.

  NEIL GAIMAN

  Neil Gaiman is, quite simply, a world-class fantasist. Whether in his graphic novel series The Sandman or in his prose novels or story collections, he shows us—and the world around us—in the slightly skewed perspective that writers from Lord Dunsany to Ray Bradbury to Clive Barker to Terry Prachett favor. In truth, his unique voices manage to incorporate just about every major strain of traditional and modern fantasy and yet remain just that: unique, and unlike anyone else's. Recent books include The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Stardust, and the New York Times–best-selling American Gods.

  LOIS TILTON

  Lois Tilton is an author who has made a name for herself in the fantasy and horror fields. Other work by her appears in Grails: Quests, Visions and Occurrences, Witch Fantastic, Enchanted Forests, and Alternate Generals. She lives in Illinois.

  ORSON SCOTT CARD

  Although best known for his Nebula and Hugo Award-winning science fiction novels Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card is also an accomplished fantasy and horror writer. Among his other achievements are two Locus Awards, a Hugo Award for nonfiction, and a World Fantasy Award. Currently he is working on the Tales of Alvin Maker series, which chronicles the history of an alternate nineteenth-century America where magic works. The Alvin Maker series, like the majority of his work, deals with messianic characters and their influence on the world around them. His short fiction has been collected in the anthology Maps in a Mirror.

  RICHARD PARKS

  Richard Parks lives in Mississippi, works with computers, and writes. He has a wife named Carol, whose first date with him was a campus screening of Psycho. As for other details of his personal existence, well, the less said the better. He firmly believes that his stories, which can be found in Robert Bloch's Psychos, Elf Magic, Realms of Fantasy, Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and Amazing Stories, are much more interesting than he is.

  MERCEDES LACKEY

  Mercedes Lackey was born in Chicago and has worked as a lab assistant, security guard, and computer programmer before turning to fiction writing. Her first book, Arrows of the Queen, the first in the Valdemar series, was published in 1985. She has since written more than thirty-five novels, and won the Lambda Award for Magic's Price and Science Fiction Book Club Book of the Year for the The Elvenbane, co-authored with Andre Norton. Along with her husband, Larry Dixon, she is a federally licensed bird rehabilitator, specializing in the care of wild birds. She shares her home with a menagerie of parrots, cats, and a Schutzhund-trained German shepherd. Recent novels include The Serpent's Shadow and Take a Thief.

  MICHAEL MOORCOCK

  Michael Moorcock's elegantly dark fantasies and science fiction have been garnering him awards and legions of fans ever since his first novel, The Golden Barge, which, strangely, wasn't published until more than a decade after it was written. Be that as it may, from the beginning he has explored a multidimensional universe (what he calls the “multiverse”) that is unlike anything else in fantasy. His tragic, doomed heroes include the albino lord Elric of Melniboné, forever cursed with the knowledge that he was responsible for destroying his own race; the medieval adventurer, soldier, and killer Graf Ulrich von Bek; and Corum, who fights his own epic battle against the gods of Chaos. Along the way he has won the British Science Fiction Association Award, the Nebula Award, the Guardian fiction prize, the Campbell Memorial Award, the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Award, and been a four-time recipient of the Derleth Award. He has also edited many excellent anthologies, including the critically lauded New Worlds series.