Night Arrant Page 3

  As the aurochs thundered down upon him. Chert managed to sidestep one of the great horns that was aimed right at the barbarian's belly. As the beast bellowed and screeched past its intended victim. Chert brought his massive blade down upon the animal's shoulder. Brool bit deep, but the shaft was ripped from Chert's grasp as the bull quickly skidded into a perfectly executed turn. Blood streamed down the animal's side, and this same sanguine hue lit its eyes as it came back with a look of vengeance the likes of which Chert had never before seen in man or beast!

  All the huge hillman could do was grapple with the monster. Yelling like a madman. Chert ran directly at the bull, grabbed one of the massive horns, and twisted. But he wasn't quite quick enough and his leverage was off. The aurochs tossed its head, and its thickly muscled neck shot up and back. The barbarian sailed through the air and landed with a thump, twenty feet behind the enraged beast. The bull spun, brought its forward-curving horns parallel to the turn, and trotted ahead, horns parting the low grass as it came. Chert was on his feet instantly and he did the only thing left to do — he ran in the opposite direction. The bull's head shot up at that, and it quickened its pace to a lumbering, deceptively rapid run. The distance between man and animal narrowed rapidly. The monster's hot breath was beginning to warm Chert's back when the barbarian threw himself to one side, crouched and rolled. One hooking horn gouged a bloody groove across his calf, but he was otherwise unhurt. Somehow Chert managed to regain his feet quickly, a difficult act for the clumsy barbarian. He immediately sprang after the bull. Keeping to the flank in which his axe was still imbedded. Chert began a game with the animal.

  The cobra was readying itself to spit again. Desperately, Gord took aim and hurled his long dagger. But the monstrous reptile weaved its head at that moment, so the blade failed to take it full in its gaping mouth. Instead the dagger's edge passed along the snake's skull, not piercing it, but slicing the thing's eye. Hissing in pain, the cobra struck, knowing that being blind on one side would assure its death.

  Gord was nearly taken by the sudden attack, for he had been poised to counter a venomous missile when the strike came instead. He managed to bat the cobra's head aside with the flat of his sword, then darted ahead among the huge reptile's coils. Once, twice, the shortsword slashed, then Gord was beyond the writhing body. The cobra slithered so as to come at him again, and Gord decided that he had to get to close quarters quickly. He leaped to attack again, blade pointed ahead. The cobra reared higher, pulling its head back. Gord was on its blind side now. and, wasting no time, he jumped at the opportunity to finish the creature. Gord's blade struck upward. The tip went through the cobra's lower jaw from below, pierced its mouth, sliced its brain, and protruded from the reptile's thick skull in one smooth plunge. The snake thrashed in its death throes and Gord, utterly exhausted, stood by and watched till it died. Then he wasted no time in rushing to his friend's side.

  The bull sent Chert flying with a sideways kick, but the barbarian managed to hang onto Brool. The bit came free, and Chert was ready and waiting for the aurochs when it charged again. This time he stood squarely in the huge animal's path as it bellowed and snorted in its charge. The great axe was above the hillman's head as the bull approached. In a blur of motion. Brool flashed down and split the heaviest portion of the auroch's skull, the poll, and passed clean through in the process. The animal's momentum continued, dead on its feet as it was. Gord screamed a warning as the charging beast struck Chert, flung him backwards, and parted man from axe once again. Then the aurochs crashed to the blood-splattered grass, kicked convulsively and finally lay still.

  "Are you all right?" Gord asked, rushing over to where his friend lay like a heap of bloody rags. Chert's eyes were closed, and he seemed lifeless.

  "Oh, Chert!" Gord moaned, dropping beside his bulky friend. "If only i'd refused that dastardly wizard's proposal in the first place, you'd still be alive!" Gord was beside himself with grief and guilt. He allowed his head to fall on his friend's chest and the sobs came freely.

  "Hey! Don't drown me!" Chert's eyelids snapped open suddenly, and the barbarian flashed a mischievous grin. "Fooled you! But I’m happy to hear you'd miss me if I were ever to depart from this very strange plane." Obviously the barbarian was battered and bruised, and the gouge on his leg trickled gore. But his wounds were definitely not fatal.

  "Buffoon! You scared me out of a year," Gord said in disgust as he stood quickly, the back of his hand attempting to wipe away any telltale signs of premature mourning. Then he added in as disgusted a tone as he could muster, a hard task since he was feeling nothing but relief, "Well, I see you didn't get off without some pain, at least. And I say it serves you right. Anyone who'd pull a nasty prank like the one you just pulled on me deserves to suffer," Gord said with mock severity.

  "The cobra wasn't too much for you, I see." Chert remarked, ignoring Gord's lecture.

  "Piece of pie — snake pie," Gord said with a smug grin. "I'll bind your leg. and then you can help me find my dagger. ..." The thiefs voice trailed off then because a resounding screech from the roc reminded him that the wizard was still in jeopardy.

  "Balls. Gord, that bird's going to finish Eneever Zig in a moment unless we do something — fast!" Now it was Chert's turn to panic.

  "Well, what are you waiting for?" Gord called over his shoulder as he trotted toward the struggling wizard. "Don't stand there gawking, come on!" The young thief made it there before the hobbling Chert could come anywhere near.

  Gord's shortsword was a puny pin against a creature with a wingspread of more than sixty feet and strength sufficient to lift an elephant. Nonetheless, the bold adventurer rushed ahead and hacked at the roc's tail. The blade severed monstrous feathers and must have cut the bird's skin as well. It squawked mightily again, pivoted on its encaging left foot, and glared at Gord.

  "Oh, shit!" The exclamation rose unbidden to his throat as Gord saw that the roc was now intent on snapping him in twain with its huge beak.

  Just at that moment Chert, limping along as quickly as he could, finally joined the group, and the roc was distracted for a crucial instant. Eneever Zig had been left alone long enough to recover his breath, gather his wits and cast a spell. With a courage bom of desperation, the wizard completed his dweomercraefting and grabbed fast to the nearest huge talon of the monstrous bird. One instant the glaring eye of the roc glittered menacingly at Gord as the bird's neck approached. The next, feathers were a uniform gray, eye stony, and talons calcious. "Run. Gord!"

  Gord took Chert's shouted warning to heart, scampering away as fast as he could. The petrified bird was toppling over with majestic slowness, but the pull of gravity would soon cause the fall to quicken. If Gord were anywhere under the thing, there would be nothing left of him but a smear on the ground!

  The crash of petrified bird upon the earth made the ground shake. "Wow!"

  "I'll second that Chert!"

  "Good," a dry voice said, breaking their awed reverie. "I see that you two have managed to handle your lesser challenges well enough, although I deplore the condition you both appear to be in. Tend to yourselves immediately, while I settle matters with the Element Master," Eneever Zig ordered.

  "How about a thank you?" Gord asked, amazed at the lack of gratitude on the part of the wizard.

  "Duty carried out deserves no praise, nor any thanks. It is duty," the wizard said with no hint of emotion.

  "Come on, chum, help me with this bandage," Chert said. "No sense in starting a quarrel with him now."

  Both adventurers were in fair shape when the wizard came stumping back with the Element Master. "I told you, these two need not be bothered in this matter," he said crossly to the druidlike figure.

  "Nonsense, little wizard. They passed their tests, and now I must inform each of his personal options. You have these choices as well but you can not speak for these other two. Each is free to decide for himself."

  Lips compressed, Eneever Zig stood back and watched the Element Master address
the two young men. "Having won fairly, you each are entitled to select one of the two following options. You may accept a prize that I will bestow upon you and then return the way you came. Or you may opt to go from here, without any reward save such passage. The choice is yours."

  Of course there was no real choice, although both men considered the aspect of the first option. Treasure and return would be useless, for the way back was unknown to them. They had to press on. "I told you so!" the wizard said smugly as the Element Master heard the two young adventurers opt for going ahead. The tall man shrugged, spread his arms, and the light was gone. The three were in a tunnel that sloped gently downward. Behind them a cavern was obscured by alternating colors and conditions.

  "Now for the Lord of Balance!" Eneever Zig said, almost gleefully, as he rubbed his long hands together briskly.

  Soon enough they came to the place where this personage was ensconced. That was evident from the nature of the cavern. The sign of the balance was only one indication, and a huge metal scale before them another. The cavern was half-lighted, half dark. Flames shot from a pool, but the fire burned in only half of the basin, for the other portion was crystal-clear, placid water. Gord saw that it was so crystalline and still because it was solid ice. Everything else seemed to contradict something as well. Lush grass sprang from barren rock, while dead plants thrust up from rich, dark soil. Colorless trees were bedecked with a riotous array of blossoms of all hues, only one such tree had tiny ones, another huge-petaled blooms. The ugly and beautiful, delicate and coarse, wholesome and poisonous, soft and hard, wet and dry, male and female, tall and short, and every other sort of contrast was everywhere — and nowhere at the same time, it seemed!

  "Welcome, strangers. Why come to the place of Yangyin?"

  The wizard stepped forth, hands raised, palms outward and before him. "I recognize you, Lord of Balance, Master Yangyin," he intoned. "I demand passage through this place."

  "And what of me?" a soprano voice cried. "I recognize you. Lady of Balance, Mistress Yin-yang. I beg leave to pass through your realm."

  "Enter," the male voice commanded. "Stay out!" the female voice countered. Gord peered left and right, but he could detect no one. Chert was likewise looking for speakers with the same result. Eneever Zig seemed untroubled, however, and marched into the strange place without hesitation. Again, the two young adventurers had no choice but to follow. After walking for what seemed like an hour, they came to a place that was the center of the cavern. There suddenly appeared before them two figures, one a male of purest white color, the other a female of pure black. The wizard bowed slightly, and Gord and Chert hastened to follow suit.

  "Will you pay our price?" the male figure asked.

  "We will and will not," the wizard replied.

  "Good," said the female.

  "Bad!" the wizard cried in answer.

  Who will serve as the contestant?" Master Yangyin demanded.

  Eneever Zig was ready. "He on my right, big, he on my left, small. Two will contest for our passage."

  "Now I see why the combination of Chert and Gord was chosen for this mission," the small thief whispered to his huge friend. "I guess we're what you'd call 'in balance'"

  "One will live!" the man said, looking at Chert as he spoke.

  "One will die," the ebony female announced in a sultry tone as she gazed at Gord.

  "That is in Fate's hands." the wizard countered. "Balance!"

  At that both figures scowled, for the words of the spell-binder were a counter to their pronouncements. Then they smiled. The white male figure turned without speaking and beckoned them to follow, while the black female stepped among the three and spoke.

  "It is seldom indeed that strangers enter our realm through this portal," the seductive Lady Yin-yang purred.

  "It is often," her male counterpart snapped in disagreement.

  The lady ignored his rebuff. "May I offer hospitality and assistance?"

  Gord quickly took the initiative. "No. We do not ask for your weal, for then he would counter with woe." the young thief said, pointing to the pale Lord Yangyin.

  Chert immediately caught his friend's meaning. "Nor do we want your assistance. Dark Mistress, for then the White Lord would surety do his equal best to hinder us."

  Making a moue of disappointment. Lady Yin gave a shrug and turned away from them at the barbarian's rejection. The snow-white Yang, in contrast, turned and came to them, a look of gratification on his face.

  The two young adventurers had the measure of this place now.

  "Let's get on with the challenge." Eneever Zig said.

  The two rulers of the place looked at each other. "Dead to contest with the living?" asked Lady Yin.

  "No, these men are too strong for such puny opposition."

  "Actually," Lady Yin said, visually assessing Gord and Chert, "they are too weak."

  "Allow me a moment to consider," replied Lord Yang.

  "I won't consider it at all," Yin said in a definitive tone.

  "Do as you wish," the wizard said forcefully, "but we are going." With that the gray-locked fellow strode off, his rusty black robes swishing. Gord and Chert were more than willing to follow him, so all three marched away toward the place where they supposed the exit to the cavern lay.

  "We shall join you, yes?" asked Yang.

  "Sure," Chert told the two. "Come along."

  "No, we'll manage ourselves," Gord said almost simultaneously.

  "A balance," Zig noted without expression.

  Lord and lady stared hard at all three of their guests. "We will go along all the same," Yang said.

  "Speak for yourself. I will stay," Lady Yin said.

  It had taken an hour to walk to the midpoint of the hemi-plane that the cavern represented. But the trek across the remainder took only a minute, of course. It was disturbing because they seemed to be traveling no faster, yet the terrain slid past on either side as if they rode the swiftest of coursers. Very soon they were at a place where a dark arch showed where a tunnel must run. a gently sloping passage going through solid stone, leading down and elsewhere.

  "This has been somewhat disappointing," Yang confessed. "But there is one bright ray of sunlight peeking through this otherwise cloudy encounter." Yang smiled and continued. "There is still the matter of balances yet to be made. Strangers, who will now go back to balance your going ahead?"

  "You will!" Gord shot back at the pale man without thinking.

  A male cry of rage and a female laugh of delight faded away in the distance as Lord Yang was magically sent back along the path the adventurers had followed. Lady Yin's mocking laughter could be heard all the way through the cavern.

  "There are powers beyond them which even Yang and Yin must obey," the wizard said with a barking laugh, "and a good thing it was you stumbled upon the counter to Yang's plan, too. thief! I was fearful that they would have us contest with undead — balance between life and death, of course. That is why I left so quickly. By rushing them we managed to thwart that possibility, but Yang decided to accompany us to see if we'd make some slip along the way." Then he laughed again. "Now I know why, although I must admit, I didn't have it figured out until you had already acted on our behalf, thief. You're turning out to be much more help than I had dared hope." The wizard was obviously delighted.

  "How did Yang's going back balance our going on?" Chert inquired as they moved along the hand-hewn passageway.

  Eneever Zig stopped his harsh chuckling, but a smile still showed on his gaunt features. "Fool! Do you think one of us alone is enough to counter either of those two powerful creatures?" Eneever asked derisively. "Since Lady Yin chose to stay behind, although she did so to maintain balance, she actually threw it off, just enough to allow us to escape. Apparently the three of us going far are equal to one of them going back but a little. Balance was maintained, all right, but not the way Yang and Yin intended it to be." With that the wizard burst into uproarious laughter.

  As they approached y
et another cavern. Chert stopped and demanded of Eneever Zig, "Where are the treasures you told us would be ours? So far we have been lucky to escape with our lives, and there isnt a jot of wealth to show for it!"

  "Knowledge is an unsurpassed treasure, barbarian. Consider how much you have learned in the course of this quest."

  "Yes, we have learned never to trust spell-binders," Gord murmured to his friend. "That piece of knowledge alone will profit us in the end — if we live to escape this place."

  Chert hefted his big battle-axe and eyed the wizard. "Stop that doltishness!" Zig commanded. "It will gain us nothing. Besides, if my information is correct, there will be material rewards for us ahead, so let us stop this idle banter and progress."

  "Just what does lie ahead, Zig?" Gord asked.

  "The cavern ahead is an extension of the Realm of Thought, and the final obstacle between me and my heart's desire. Once through, we will be ready to delve to the depths where it lies. Now follow!"

  The cavern was a formless place where colors and shapes kept wavering and changing. Nothing remained stable, and it was impossible to determine directions once the three had gone beyond the place where they could see the mouth of the passage they had entered from. Soon it seemed evident that they were wandering aimlessly.

  "This is not what I expected," Eneever said crossly. "I must ponder a moment," he added, and with that he sat down. Both young men were surprised to see that the wizard rested on an ornately carved chair inscribed with mystic sigils.