(eng) Michael Moorcock - Eternal Champion 02 by Phoenix in Obsidian

Author:Phoenix in Obsidian [Obsidian, Phoenix in]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

BOOK THREE

VISIONS AND REVELATIONS

Destiny’s Champion,

Fate’s Fool.

Eternity’s Soldier,

Time’s Tool.

— The Chronicle of the Black Sword

1

THE LAUGHING DWARF

THE FIGHT WITH the sea-stag had so exhausted me that, after a while, I fell asleep with my back against the rock and my legs stretched before me on the ledge.

When I awoke it was with some of my courage returned, though I could see no easy solution to my plight.

From the mouth of the cave below, the stench had increased as the stag’s flesh began to rot. There was also an unpleasant slithering sound. Peering over the edge I saw that small snakelike creatures were wriggling into the cave in their thousands. Doubtless these were the carrion eaters of the sea. Hundreds of black bodies were tangled together as they moved up the rock to where the sea-stag lay.

Any thought I might have entertained of using the stag’s carcass as meat to sustain me disappeared completely. I hoped the disgusting creatures would finish their meal quickly and leave. At least there were harpoons in the cave. As soon as I could reach them I would gather them up. They would be useful for defence against any other monster that might lurk in these waters and there might also be fish of some kind in the shallows, though I rather doubted it.

It occurred to me that Bishop Belphig might have planned to maroon me all along, simply because my questions were embarrassing him.

Had he planned the hunt with that in mind? If so, by going with the men into the sea-stag’s lair, I had played completely into his hands.

For want of anything else to do, I made a circuit of the island. It did not take long. My first impression had been the right one. Nothing grew here. There was no drinkable water. The people of Rowernarc got their water from melting ice, but there was no ice on that jagged spur of obsidian.

The writhing carrion creatures were still entering the cavern which was now filled with a slithering and hissing as they fought over the carcass.

Momentarily a rent appeared in the bank of clouds overhead and the faint rays of the dying sun were reflected on the black waters.

I returned to my ledge. There was nothing to do until the carrion eaters had finished their meal.

Hope of finding Ermizhad had waned, for it was unlikely I could ever return to Rowernarc. And if I died I might find myself in an incarnation worse than this one. I might not even remember Ermizhad, just as I could now not remember why the Black Sword was such an important factor in my destiny.

I remembered Ermizhad’s lovely face. I recalled the beauty of the planet to which I had brought tranquility at the cost of genocide.

I began to doze again and soon I was no longer alone, for the familiar visions and voices returned. I fought to drive them from my brain, keeping my eyes open and staring into the gloom. But soon the visions imposed themselves against the clouds and the sea, the words seemed to come from all sides.

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