Read Online The Cellar Beneath the Cellar (Bell Mountain) by Lee Duigon - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lee Duigon
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little sad.
“Don’t get any funny ideas!” Jack said to Ellayne; and that made her laugh.
By midmorning they reached their destination, the mouth of a cave in a thickly wooded hillside. A man was waiting for them, someone whom they’d met before.
“Helki!” Ellayne cried.
“Helki the Rod!” Jack echoed.
There he was, a giant of a man in crazy rags that helped him blend into the leaves and shadows, with his deadly staff in his hand and a broad grin on his face.
“You made good time getting here,” he said. “I’d have come for you, if I’d known you needed me. But I’ve only just this morning heard about it from the little folk.
“But I reckon there’s a lot more for me to know. You went east with Obst and come back with this fellow from the Temple. That’s twice you’ve been yanked out of Squint-eye’s clutches, friend! Try to avoid going for a third time.
“Tell me all your tale—no secrets! But first I reckon you’ll want a bite to eat and a good, long drink of water.” He turned back toward the cave. “Peeper-baby!” he bellowed like a bull. “Come on out and meet Daddy Helki’s friends.”
Out of the cave came the last thing Jack, Ellayne, and Martis would ever have expected to see—a little girl.
And she carried a horrendous monster in her arms.
CHAPTER 10
Jandra Prophesies
Orth was the best preacher in Obann, in the First Prester’s opinion. Even better, he eagerly preached whatever message the First Prester wished him to preach. This morning, in front of the crowd that packed the great chamber of the Temple, he was at the top of his form.
“I want you all to take a good look across the river today,” he said, the high, curved ceiling of the hall amplifying his voice. “I want you to see the vast, shapeless pile of rubble that used to be the greatest city in the world.
“There was a Temple there, a much greater Temple than this one. When the Empire fell, a thousand years ago, and the entire city was destroyed, that great Temple was destroyed, too. You can see what’s left of it, right across the river.
“But a thousand years before that, there was another destruction, of yet another Temple, on the same site as the greater one. This was the First Temple, the heart of the kingdom of Obann. The last king, Ozias, was the last of Obann’s kings to worship there. Rebels drove him into exile; and then the Heathen came.”
He paused for effect. He had a hard face, an iron-grey fringe of beard with a clean-shaved upper lip. Great lamps on thick gold chains hung over his head, concentrating light on him. From his throne at the right of the preacher’s podium, Lord Reesh looked on him with approval.
“They came in numbers uncountable,” Orth resumed. “They came like locusts, say the Scriptures: like a flood. They starved the city for a year; no one could get in or out. And then a traitor opened one of the sally ports to them. A handful of invaders entered the city by stealth, overwhelmed the guard at the Commerce Gate, and threw the doors open; and the Heathen host poured into the city. They slew with the sword until the streets were choked with corpses and the gutters ran with blood. They put the city to the torch. How it burned! Nor did they leave off until they had destroyed everything: the whole city had to be rebuilt.
“Now they are about to come again, in power and might and number greater than the world has ever seen. Their aim is to destroy this city and leave uninhabitable ruins on both sides of the river. That’s why I want you to take a good look at what’s left of the old city. That’s what this city, your city, will look like, if the Heathen have their way. And they are coming—soon!”
He held the crowd in silence; they waited on his every word.
“By now you have all heard various people, supposedly imbued with the spirit of prophecy, claim that King Ozias’ bell on Bell Mountain has rung out, proclaiming the imminent destruction of the
“Don’t get any funny ideas!” Jack said to Ellayne; and that made her laugh.
By midmorning they reached their destination, the mouth of a cave in a thickly wooded hillside. A man was waiting for them, someone whom they’d met before.
“Helki!” Ellayne cried.
“Helki the Rod!” Jack echoed.
There he was, a giant of a man in crazy rags that helped him blend into the leaves and shadows, with his deadly staff in his hand and a broad grin on his face.
“You made good time getting here,” he said. “I’d have come for you, if I’d known you needed me. But I’ve only just this morning heard about it from the little folk.
“But I reckon there’s a lot more for me to know. You went east with Obst and come back with this fellow from the Temple. That’s twice you’ve been yanked out of Squint-eye’s clutches, friend! Try to avoid going for a third time.
“Tell me all your tale—no secrets! But first I reckon you’ll want a bite to eat and a good, long drink of water.” He turned back toward the cave. “Peeper-baby!” he bellowed like a bull. “Come on out and meet Daddy Helki’s friends.”
Out of the cave came the last thing Jack, Ellayne, and Martis would ever have expected to see—a little girl.
And she carried a horrendous monster in her arms.
CHAPTER 10
Jandra Prophesies
Orth was the best preacher in Obann, in the First Prester’s opinion. Even better, he eagerly preached whatever message the First Prester wished him to preach. This morning, in front of the crowd that packed the great chamber of the Temple, he was at the top of his form.
“I want you all to take a good look across the river today,” he said, the high, curved ceiling of the hall amplifying his voice. “I want you to see the vast, shapeless pile of rubble that used to be the greatest city in the world.
“There was a Temple there, a much greater Temple than this one. When the Empire fell, a thousand years ago, and the entire city was destroyed, that great Temple was destroyed, too. You can see what’s left of it, right across the river.
“But a thousand years before that, there was another destruction, of yet another Temple, on the same site as the greater one. This was the First Temple, the heart of the kingdom of Obann. The last king, Ozias, was the last of Obann’s kings to worship there. Rebels drove him into exile; and then the Heathen came.”
He paused for effect. He had a hard face, an iron-grey fringe of beard with a clean-shaved upper lip. Great lamps on thick gold chains hung over his head, concentrating light on him. From his throne at the right of the preacher’s podium, Lord Reesh looked on him with approval.
“They came in numbers uncountable,” Orth resumed. “They came like locusts, say the Scriptures: like a flood. They starved the city for a year; no one could get in or out. And then a traitor opened one of the sally ports to them. A handful of invaders entered the city by stealth, overwhelmed the guard at the Commerce Gate, and threw the doors open; and the Heathen host poured into the city. They slew with the sword until the streets were choked with corpses and the gutters ran with blood. They put the city to the torch. How it burned! Nor did they leave off until they had destroyed everything: the whole city had to be rebuilt.
“Now they are about to come again, in power and might and number greater than the world has ever seen. Their aim is to destroy this city and leave uninhabitable ruins on both sides of the river. That’s why I want you to take a good look at what’s left of the old city. That’s what this city, your city, will look like, if the Heathen have their way. And they are coming—soon!”
He held the crowd in silence; they waited on his every word.
“By now you have all heard various people, supposedly imbued with the spirit of prophecy, claim that King Ozias’ bell on Bell Mountain has rung out, proclaiming the imminent destruction of the
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