—Unless the night-gaunts sank them first!
Man-o’-war
The boat tilted farther yet, until Hero felt himself sliding head first into leagues of sky—but in another moment there came Eldin’s grunt of exertion, the whistle of his straight sword slicing air, and the sweet
thwack
of its blade biting deep into rubbery flesh. Then Hero heard his friend’s hoarse cry of delight, which almost immediately turned to a croak of alarm as the boat abruptly, violently, rocked back the other way; so violently that Hero was thrown upright against the mast. Feeling his legs under him and steady once more (or nearly so), he drew his sword and sliced at the first alien thing he saw: the half-severed leg of a gaunt where the creature clung to the port gunwale and flapped its mighty bat-wings in a frenzy of agony.
His stroke was good; the curved Kledan steel finished the job Eldin’s blade had begun; the gaunt lifted off minus a paw and lower limb and flapped erratically aloft. Hero fancied he could almost hear its screams, and if the thing had had a mouth then certainly he would have heard them. But the crippled gaunt was forgotten in another moment. It was not important. Nothing was important except …
where the hell was Eldin?
Then something heaved and thrashed in the belly of the boat and Hero felt his leg grasped in a steely grip. He gave a great sigh of relief as the heaped nets parted and Eldin emerged red-eyed and roaring. “Gaunt, did you say?” he yelled. “Gaunt? In the singular? Man, there’s half-a-dozen of the damned things! I haven’t seen such a flock since our little scrap with Thinistor Udd. And that one there—” he pointed with his sword at the lopsided shape that fluttered jerkily in the sky high overhead “—he almost had me overboard … Look out, lad—here they come again!”
There were indeed six gaunts in all, including the one they had crippled, and as Hero turned from his companion he saw four of the remaining five come winging in to the attack. As for the fifth—that one was a giant! The biggest gaunt Hero could possibly have imagined, but for all his great size he kept well away from the boat. Hero slitted his eyes in the dawn light and just before the four flyers struck he could have sworn that he saw—a rider? A man or youth, seated well back on the neck of the huge faceless fifth beast. And then—then he was obliged to give all of his attention to more pressing matters. Namely, the attempted wrecking of the stolen boat by these weirdly purposeful gaunts.
No real chance for the adventurers to use their swords now, for the gaunts came at them from below, tilting the boat this way and that with their necks and back in an earnest and dreadfully
urgent
attempt to tip it over. Then one of the rubbery monsters backed off and hurtled in like a dart, its wings folding back at the last moment, to strike the boat such a blow with its arched back that the starboard strakes were stove in. Not only did this action damage the boat but the gaunt too, for following its near-suicidal swoop it rapidly lost height and spiraled down into the cloudbank far below.
“Two down and four to go!” Eldin hoarsely cried as he hastily roped one of his legs to the tiller.
“No, only three,” Hero contradicted, hanging onto the wildly swaying mast and waving his curved blade aloft as the specified trio swooped about the wallowing craft, apparently pondering fresh tactics.
“Three?” Eldin queried.
“Yon big fellow has a rider,” yelled Hero, “but whoever he is he’s a poor general. He commands his troops from the rear. Do you see him?”
“Aye, I see him now,” Eldin answered. “Little more than a youth from his looks. But … a youth with power over night-gaunts? What in hell’s all this about? What’s he got against us?”
“Search me,” said Hero. “If we can hang on a few minutes more, though, I reckon we’ll come out of this in one piece.”
“Oh?” yelled Eldin as the three circling gaunts turned inward and came at them in a concerted rush. “And how did you come to that conclusion?”
“It’s daylight,” cried Hero, slashing at one of the three and causing it to swerve and collide with the mast, which snapped off at its base and was carried off, sail and all. “Gaunts aren’t supposed to like daylight.”
“You’d better tell them that!” Eldin roared as one of the brutes hit the port strakes such a blow that they shattered inward and showered the pair with splinters of wood.
The boat was obviously done for now. Only the keel held it together where it lay low in the stern and listing badly to port. “This is madness,” Hero shouted, gazing wildly and uselessly about. “How the hell do we bail her out?”
“Forget it,” Eldin yelled his answer. “Here they come
again—and it seems we’ve no choice but to go down with out ship!”
They braced themselves for what must be the final assault as the gaunts came at the boat from below. One after the other the hideous creatures hurled themselves at the keel and the bottom strakes, and the boat shuddered and bucked with each fresh strike. It was surely all over now.
Then—
Blinding rays of light stabbed with startling suddenness out of the east, soundlessly seeking out the attacking gaunts where they now flapped and fluttered in a frenzy of terror. The great gaunt and its rider, barely avoiding these raking beams from their as yet unknown source, now veered sharply away across the sky to enter a cloudbank where it lay like so much cotton wool to the west.
The other gaunts immediately followed suit, but as they went one of them was caught by twin beams of brilliant white fire. There was a rasping, rending sound then, and a moment later all that remained of the stricken creature was several tatters of black rubbery stuff, exploding outward and spinning dizzily downward into oblivion.
In a matter of seconds the sky was empty of enemies, and the men in the foundering boat shielded their eyes against the sun which now emerged fully from the clouds to the east. Hero blinked, screwed up his eyes and blinked again, then gasped as he saw a fully-rigged man-o’-war riding the cloud-crests. Sailing directly out of the sun, its decks were lined with the bright mirrors of numerous ray-projectors.
“A warship!” cried Hero. “But what a vessel—a ship of the clouds!”
“A light in the sky,” rumbled Eldin, not nearly so elated.
“Hey!” yelled Hero, standing up and waving a strip of sail-cloth at faces which peered down from the railed deck. “By all that’s good, take us aboard, lads. Quickly now, or we’ll surely go down with our brave little boat …”
“Either way, we’re sunk,” growled Eldin under his breath as the ship gracefully drew alongside.
This time Hero heard him. “Sunk?” he repeated. “Man, we’re saved!” But seeing his companion’s worried frown, he asked: “How do you mean, sunk?”
“This is one of Kuranes’ ships,” Eldin explained, “kept in good fighting trim since the Bad Days. He has a great armada of them. Don’t ask me what it’s doing out here—and I suppose we’re lucky to be pulled of this damned hulk anyway—but one thing’s certain: we’re bound for Serannian.”
“And that’s bad, eh?” said Hero, grabbing at a rope ladder where it came snaking down from the ship’s rail. “Is it worse than falling a couple of miles out of the sky in a cockleshell boat? What’s so bad about Serannian?”
“Nothing,” grunted Eldin. “It’s a beautiful place—except Kuranes is there. He spends his time between Celephais and Serannian, remember?”
Climbing the ladder, Hero said: “So?”
Close behind him Eldin gave an impatient snort. “He’s constantly in touch with Celephais,” he explained. “They use pigeons. Old Leewas Nith, he might just have told Kuranes all about us.”
Hero looked down at Eldin’s upturned face. “What? Are we notorious, then? What we did in Celephais wasn’t so bad … Considering.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Eldin growled deep in his throat. “But quiet now, they’re waiting for us.”
As they reached the rail willing hands helped them climb aboard. Too willing, as it transpired, for when at last they stood upon the deck it was without their swords. They had been deftly removed and passed into the hands of members of the ship’s crew where they stood behind a uniformed circle of pikemen. The pikes of the latter were all centered upon Eldin and Hero.
“Here, lads,” said Eldin in a gruff hurt voice, “is this any way to welcome a pair of fellow sea dogs?” Holding his stomach in from the points of the pikes, he looked askance at his companion.
The pikemen were all small men, but sturdy, and many of them had the aristocratic looks of men of Ilek-Vad. “Who are you?” their commander asked. “And what were you doing out on the Cerenerian Sea in a small boat?”
“Us?” Hero tried his hardest to look innocent. “Why, we’re, er, fishermen, of course. Blown off course by a storm—and then attacked by night-gaunts.”
“From which you rescued us,” added Eldin, “which proves our story.”
The commander nodded. “Oh, we rescued you from gaunts, all right—but what’s this about a storm?” He frowned. “Why, there’s been nought but fair weather for a threemonth!”
Now the vessel’s captain came forward, pushing through the pikemen until he faced the newcomers. He was tall for a native of the dreamlands, bearded and keen-eyed. His eyes narrowed now as he stared at the two, and a grin spread slowly across his face. “By all that’s—” he began. “Why! It’s Eldin the Wanderer and David Hero!” He grasped Hero’s hand and pumped it, then thumped Eldin’s shoulder with a clenched fist.
Eldin roared delightedly and returned to the punch.
“Look who it is, David!” he cried. “Why, it’s old—er—old …”
“Dass,” the captain prompted him. “Limnar Dass.” He smiled broadly and turned to Hero. “Don’t you remember me? That fight in the tavern at Barrugas—the way we had to make a run for it?”
“Eh?” said Hero, wildly searching his memory. There had been a good many brawls in a good many places. Finally he said, “Of course we remember you, er, Dass, certainly.” But despite his assurance a niggling doubt was growing in the back of his mind. “We remember him, don’t we, Eldin?”
“Damn right!” cried Eldin, pummeling the captain’s shoulder again for good measure.
But Dass had stopped smiling. “I never saw you in my life before,” he coldly stated. “But at least we now know for sure that you are who we thought you were. As for Barrugas: I was never there. Since it’s a snake’s nest of thieves, however, I was pretty sure that you two would know it—Eldin the Wanderer and David Hero!”
“That was a dirty trick,” Eldin snarled, reaching for the captain’s throat with hands like great hams. A pike prodded him in the midriff and another lifted to point at his heart.
“Easy, old lad,” said Hero softly, his hands tight knots of iron hanging at his sides. “Now is not the time. You’re right though—it was a damned dirty trick.”
“Perhaps it was,” said Dass. “And perhaps I should have made you ‘swim,’ as you made the owner of your stolen boat! No, no, you two—don’t talk to me about dirty tricks. Would you have preferred to stay aboard yon hulk there?” He pointed to the little fishing vessel where it slid slowly downward into clouds, its prow pointing skyward until, gaining speed, it disappeared from view.
“All right,” said Hero with a shrug. “As it happens you’ve done us a favor. And you know all about us. Which only leaves one question. What now?”
Now the captain’s grin was an honest one. He looked the pair up and down in open admiration. “You’re a couple of cool ones, I’ll grant you that,” he said. “As for what happens now: you may as well relax, for we won’t be in Serannian for another three or four hours yet. And there’s only one way off this ship … Straight down! I was about to take a meal. Will you join me?”
“Food?” said Hero, realizing how empty his belly felt. “That’s not a bad idea.”
“What?” cried Eldin. “Eat? With a dog who’d play that sort of dirty trick on me? Not likely!”
Dass shrugged, took Hero’s arm and began to turn away. “Hold!” growled Eldin; and more quietly: “What’s on the menu?”
“Duck,” said Dass, “with small potatoes and green peas. And liqueurs and brandy from Iztar-Iln.”
“Brandy?” Eldin’s mouth watered.
“Aye,” Dass nodded. “Not so fiery as the brandy of the waking world, they tell me, but good for that. Well, are you coming? Or would you prefer good bread and cheese with the pikemen, and a cup of strong green tea to wash it down?”
Eldin considered for a moment, then said: “I accept your apology!”
Leading them to his quarters, Captain Limnar Dass chuckled inwardly at the style of these two rogues. He wasn’t sure why King Kuranes wanted to see them, but he would find it a great pity if they were to be punished too harshly. He liked their cut. The dreamlands could do with a few more like these two—
But only a few …
City in the Sky
While Hero and Eldin enjoyed the captain’s company, food and drink, above decks a pigeon was taken from its basket and a message inserted into the tiny cylinder attached to its leg; and while yet the adventurers sipped their liqueurs, the bird was airborne over the ship’s billowing red sails and winging for Serannian. Thus it was that as the man-o’-war breasted the cloud-crests for port—which was still distant by more than a good hour’s sailing—knowledge of its coming, and of the passengers it carried, passed into the hands of King Kuranes.
This was not the first communication the King had received in respect of the two men aboard the man-o’-war. Indeed, over the past twenty-four hours there had been three such messages. This was the first, however, from one of the three ships Kuranes had sent out to search the Cerenerian Sea for a small fishing boat, that same craft stolen by Hero and Eldin in Celephais …
As for the other messages: they had all been from Leewas Nith. The first had been in the form of the magistrate’s weekly report of court proceedings, in which the case of Eldin the Wanderer and David Hero was
given brief mention; the second had been to report certain matters of burglary, assault and piracy, which crimes had also allegedly involved the same pair of adventurers; and the third had been a wordy report which told a most strange and astounding tale.
For it seemed that following the enforced exit of the pair from Celephais, proof of their fantastic claims had begun to trickle in. Merchants from Ilek-Vad had brought stories from the court of Randolph Carter himself, where recently a most unlikely pair of rogues had been royally entertained as reward for deeds away and beyond any call of duty. Also, word had arrived from Theelys on the River Tross, where the good wizard Nyrass had his castle. The word was that two men and a girl had flown a huge leaf into Nyrass’ gardens, and that now a Great Tree was growing there.
Fantastic stories were echoing across the dreamlands from all quarters, tales which seemed to corroborate the many things Eldin the Wanderer had told Leewas Nith in the main courtroom of Celephais. And so the High Magistrate had set about to correlate these many small pieces of information, including what he remembered of Eldin’s seemingly boastful narrative. Except that the Wanderer’s story no longer seemed quite so boastful.
Eldin had maintained that he and David Hero were real heroes. Now, from what Leewas Nith could see of it, it appeared that they were indeed. In which case he had wronged them—if only a little. If they had been feted when first they arrived in Celephais, then none of this would have happened. If he, Leewas Nith, had known of their heroics sooner … If, if, if!
Too late now, but nevertheless he finished piecing together their recent history and sent it, via carrier pigeon, to Kuranes in Serannian. As to why he told his King the whole story: that is easily answered. If a sailor sets out
from Celephais across the Cerenerian, unless he knows that sea most intimately, then surely will he sail into those regions where the sea meets the sky, where gravity-defying Serannian is builded upon an ethereal shore of clouds.
As for Kuranes himself: he had paid little heed to the first two notes. There were plenty of rogues in the dreamlands and these men from the waking world seemed to be just a couple more. Besides, he had other things on his mind, problems which troubled him sorely.
But on receipt of the third message an irresistible idea had occurred to Kuranes. Here was he, seeking an answer to a momentous problem—one which may well affect all the lands of Earth’s dreams in their entirety—and somewhere out on the Cerenerian Sea, at this very moment, the answer he sought might well be drifting with the aerial tides … in the shape of a couple of cut-purses whose origins lay in the waking world. Well, and why not? Kuranes himself was once a waking-worlder, though he had been known by a different name then. Yes, and Randolph Carter, too, the King of Ilek-Vad.
And yet again Kuranes read Leewas Nith’s minuscules, which told the tale of the two as the High Magistrate of Celephais had finally pieced it together. If only half of it were true, then indeed these men were heroes!
Apparently their adventures had started in Theelys and had taken them to the source of the Tross in the Great Bleak Range of mountains. There, they had destroyed the evil sorcerer Thinistor Udd; not to mention an avatar of the dark demon god Yibb-Tstll, in the shape of a hideous stone idol which walked at Thinistor’s command. There too had they rescued Aminza
Anz, darling of Ilek-Vad and long-stolen from that fair city by the sorcerer’s gaunts.
Moreover, they had climbed a great Keep of the First Ones, with the result that all three of them (for Aminza Anz went with them) had then set out upon a grand quest across all the lands of Earth’s dreams. During their ensuing adventures they had ridden a raft for endless leagues through nighted bowels of earth, and the life-leaf of a Great Tree across the dawn skies of dreamland; they had burned demon-cursed Thalarion to the ground and gathered up three stolen Wands of Power; and finally they had returned to the keep in the mountains to free the sleeping First Ones from eons of enforced slumbers.
All of these and other wonders the men from the waking world had performed, and now …? Perhaps Kuranes could find something else for them to do. He must give the matter some very serious thought …
Kuranes was still thinking things over when the man-o’-war of Captain Limnar Dass sailed into Serannian’s harbor and moored at a quay of blood-hued marble. Since the day was already half-spent he had decided against giving the adventurers audience until the evening, and between times Captain Dass could entertain them.
Which was why, when Dass and his—guests?—came down the gangplank onto the quayside, Kuranes’ special courier was there to meet them and hand the captain a message in the King’s hand. After reading the King’s note, Dass turned a speculative eye upon the adventurers.
“Seems I’m to look after you for few hours longer,” he told them. “The King won’t see you till tonight.”
“Is that bad?” asked Hero.
Dass shrugged. “Normally you’d be handed over to
the peacekeepers,” he said, “and eventually you’d be tried. On this occasion—” he paused and frowned.
“Well?” growled Eldin.
“It’s just that it’s so unusual for Kuranes himself to sit in judgment,” Dass answered. “Tell me, apart from your boat-stealing activities and all, what else have you two been up to?”
“Nothing much,” Eldin airily answered. “A bit of spirited boozing, some brawling.” He looked at Hero sideways. “A little womanizing.”
Hero returned his look with a snort. “Not to mention a spot of arson about!” he said.
“Hmm,” mused Dass. “Well, it seems to me that none of that is really worthy of Kuranes’ personal attention. P’raps there’s something you’ve forgotten to mention … Anyway,” he quickly went on, changing the subject, “what would you say to an air-bath?”
“A what?” asked Hero.
Dass grinned. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
As they made from the quayside and into the streets of the amazing aerial city proper, Eldin cast furtive eyes all about, taking in everything he saw. There were no pikemen now, just Eldin, Hero, and the man-o’-war’s captain. Dass spotted his covert squirming—both physical and mental—and said:
“Whatever it is you’re thinking about, Eldin—or thinking of thinking about—I’d better warn you now that it’s probably unthinkable.”
Hero looked at his companion’s scowling face and asked: “Were you thinking things, old lad? Well, I reckon Dass is right. I’ve had a few thoughts myself and they all lead me to one conclusion. There’s simply no way off this airborne rock, so we’d just better face up to what we’ve got coming. Dass,” he turned to the captain, “Where’s this air-bath of yours?”
“In here,” smiled Dass, ushering them in through an arched doorway from which issued copious clouds of scented steam. He tossed a golden triangular tond to a man in a crimson towel where he sat behind a desk of moisture-slick marble, then led the way through a second archway to where an attendant in a green towel loomed suddenly out of hot banks of steam to confront them.
The attendant waited until (not without a great deal of grumbling and grousing on Eldin’s part) they had all three shed their garments to stand pink and naked; and then, gathering up their discarded clothing, he guided them to a huge stone table studded with massive iron staples. From each staple there hung a great length of light but extremely strong chain. Here the three were given wide leather belts to fasten about their waists, to each of which the attendant attached the loose end of a chain.
They were now firmly secured to the table, and when the attendant was satisfied that their fastenings were safe he led all three of them forward through the steam to a rim of marble where the floor fell away into billowing clouds of exotically perfumed, rose-tinted vapors. Many other lengths of chain disappeared downward into this great cauldron, jangling and rattling against its slippery marble lip.
“When we’re done,” Dass explained, “our clothes will have been spruced up for us and we’ll all feel like new men.”
“Oh?” Hero chuckled. “Well, of course you two can suit yourselves, but as for me—I’ll settle for a new woman!” He slapped Eldin on the shoulder and the two roared with laughter.
While this was going on Dass positioned himself behind them. Now, as they suddenly sensed his intention
and turned toward him, he stepped forward and gave them each a push, so that they skidded on the slippery surface before sliding over the curved lip and into the rolling vapor-clouds. As they went they managed to grab hold of each other, so that they were not separated as they whirled in air and moisture-laden cloud.
For a second or two the pair were too stunned to utter a sound, too shocked even to think, but as it dawned on them that there was no sensation of falling—that indeed they were suddenly weightless and that no danger threatened—so they relaxed and began to enjoy the invigorating experience of being suspended in air and washed by hot, spicy, billowing vapors. Dass, too, had entered the “pool,” and he quickly made his way to where the pair floated at the ends of their chains.
“How do you do that?” asked Hero breathlessly as Dass emerged from opaquely swirling walls of vapor, his arms and legs sculling like the limbs of some great frog. “Are you swimming?”
“Yes,” answered Dass with a grin. “It’s not as fast as water swimming, but you get there in the end.” He turned on his back, placed his hands under his head and closed his eyes. “I’m for a nap,” he informed. “You’d be advised to do the same. About an hour from now the sprays will wake us up.”
“Sprays?” Eldin repeated him. “What sprays?”
“Hot and cold water sprays that hit you from all sides, so that you don’t know whether to freeze or fry,” Dass answered. “Very uplifting …” And he drifted off to sleep.
Now the adventurers began to experiment, twisting this way and that and hauling themselves along their chains. Delighted with the weird sensation of weightlessness, Eldin said, “Why, it’s like a free–fall sauna!”
“A what?” questioned Hero, equally exhilarated.
“Something from the waking world,” said Eldin with a frown as vague, half-glimpsed memories faded back into forgotten regions of his mind. “I think.”
They played and floundered and fell about like fools for a few minutes more until, from close at hand, suddenly they heard female voices chattering and giggling. Now the pair twisted about until they faced each other with widening eyes. Women? Girls used the air-baths too? Mixed bathing? In the nude?
The sight of Eldin imitating a great frog was more than Hero could bear. He doubled with laughter as his burly companion went sculling away into the billowing vapors; but a few moments later, as Eldin’s uproarious chortling reached back to him intermingled with the delighted
Oohs
and
Aahs
and coy giggles of a dozen girlish voices …
“That’s a neat trick,” said Hero much later, as they dined in a restaurant that looked out over the Cerenerian Sea. “The air-bath, I mean. How’s it done, Limnar? How do they suspend you like that in the mid-air?”
“Shh!” Dass answered. “Just sit still for a minute and listen … There, do you hear it?”
“I hear it,” said Eldin, nodding. “I’ve been hearing it ever since we stepped off your ship onto the quayside. A deep down throbbing and humming. What does it mean?”
“Those are the mighty engines that manufacture the essence which keeps Serannian afloat,” Dass explained. “And the air-baths-they were built above the vents where the city’s engineers blow the stuff off. As its potency wanes, so it’s vented. Add a mixture of steam and a few exotic scents—”
“Amazing!” said Hero. “And you were right. So invigorating, so refreshing—”
“So sexy!” Eldin interrupted. “All those girls.”
“Ahem!” said Dass. “Yes, well, you’re not really supposed to go cavorting with the females, Eldin.”
“Oh, I don’t know,” answered the Wanderer. “What say you, David?”
Hero looked up with a broad smile on his face. “The air-baths were a lot of fun, Limnar,” he said, “but you can keep them for me. I’ll settle for a good cavort any old time!”