Read Online The Curious Quests of Brigadier Ffellowes by Sterling E. Lanier - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Sterling E. Lanier
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of waiting. I felt a wave of cold, alien and charged with malice, coming from the right of the room where the unseen drummer must lurk in the shadow of one of the niches.
"It was James who broke the silence. He took three more steps, which placed him to the left of the fire, forcing his brother to turn also and giving to me full view of both their profiles. The Earl's was calm, with the brooding calm of majesty which I had earlier noted. His strange garb in no way detracted from his towering good looks, and I felt that any clothes would have meant nothing. He was what he was now, and clothes were extraneous.
" 'I have come to end it,' his voice rumbled out. 'I know why you are here and what you have summoned. The Hunter has been sent back to the hills, from whence only your vile arts could have roused him. Your servants, the spawn of ancient and black sorcery in the dolmens and monoliths of the lost, sunken lands of Brittany, lie dead over your head. I know, too, who seeks to be free, with his night wandering and frightening of the countryside. I know, too, how he is to be freed and what a price you will pay for it. Not even a thing like you, with your years of foreign delving into that which should have been long forgot, I say, not even you can fully know what it would cost you, and the world as well, if what sleeps here would once more come into full life!'
"The hatred left Lionel's face for a moment to be replaced by wonder. It was a shock to hear his despised brother, I think, whom he had held in such contempt for years, challenging him on his own ground and, yes, with such a wealth of apparent knowledge. Then his face hardened.
" 'You think to defy me?' he shouted incredulously, 'me, with that stupid sword? You break in here, to this place of the most ancient mystery in the isles, the cavern of the Dark Prince, where lies his tomb? You bring that cretin in the door to attack me, who have sought for knowledge of this place the world over? It is you who are mad! In the name of the Lost One who lies here, I defy you! You have a sword, have you! Well, look on this then, you whom all the world call my brother! Look on the ax of him who lies here, laid in his tomb by the faithful, when he was cheated of his rights by the Christ-worshipers in that last battle, when dying he took with him the enemy of all his hopes!' He rattled out a string of uncouth syllables, and once more that horrid drum began to pulse from its hiding place.
"Lionel had crouched at the base of the great ebon block, which I had thought an altar but which now appeared in its true light. It was a mighty catafalque. I could barely make out the faint, time-scored line of the massive lid.
"When Lionel rose, he had thrown off his cloak and in his left hand carried a great ax, double-headed, with lunate curves, its somber blades giving back no more light than the tomb at whose marge it had lain. On his right forearm hung a small round shield, of apparently the same metal with a spiked boss in the center. A grim and dangerous figure he looked as he circled the black, basalt-hued block and moved in, seeking an opening. I strained to join in, for the shield gave him a deadly advantage, and James had no such defense.
"But I had been given a charge, and I knew I could not yield to impulse. As the drumming rose in volume, I stole a glance over my shoulder to the tunnel at my back. It was well I did.
"Something as pale as white bone was creeping up on me, indistinct in the fire's murky light I caught a glimpse of long thin arms, the fingers ending in huge claws, a face like a starved baboon's skull, all bone and yellowed fangs, with two eyes of opaque flame, pupilless and blinking. That I had turned at the last moment was
"It was James who broke the silence. He took three more steps, which placed him to the left of the fire, forcing his brother to turn also and giving to me full view of both their profiles. The Earl's was calm, with the brooding calm of majesty which I had earlier noted. His strange garb in no way detracted from his towering good looks, and I felt that any clothes would have meant nothing. He was what he was now, and clothes were extraneous.
" 'I have come to end it,' his voice rumbled out. 'I know why you are here and what you have summoned. The Hunter has been sent back to the hills, from whence only your vile arts could have roused him. Your servants, the spawn of ancient and black sorcery in the dolmens and monoliths of the lost, sunken lands of Brittany, lie dead over your head. I know, too, who seeks to be free, with his night wandering and frightening of the countryside. I know, too, how he is to be freed and what a price you will pay for it. Not even a thing like you, with your years of foreign delving into that which should have been long forgot, I say, not even you can fully know what it would cost you, and the world as well, if what sleeps here would once more come into full life!'
"The hatred left Lionel's face for a moment to be replaced by wonder. It was a shock to hear his despised brother, I think, whom he had held in such contempt for years, challenging him on his own ground and, yes, with such a wealth of apparent knowledge. Then his face hardened.
" 'You think to defy me?' he shouted incredulously, 'me, with that stupid sword? You break in here, to this place of the most ancient mystery in the isles, the cavern of the Dark Prince, where lies his tomb? You bring that cretin in the door to attack me, who have sought for knowledge of this place the world over? It is you who are mad! In the name of the Lost One who lies here, I defy you! You have a sword, have you! Well, look on this then, you whom all the world call my brother! Look on the ax of him who lies here, laid in his tomb by the faithful, when he was cheated of his rights by the Christ-worshipers in that last battle, when dying he took with him the enemy of all his hopes!' He rattled out a string of uncouth syllables, and once more that horrid drum began to pulse from its hiding place.
"Lionel had crouched at the base of the great ebon block, which I had thought an altar but which now appeared in its true light. It was a mighty catafalque. I could barely make out the faint, time-scored line of the massive lid.
"When Lionel rose, he had thrown off his cloak and in his left hand carried a great ax, double-headed, with lunate curves, its somber blades giving back no more light than the tomb at whose marge it had lain. On his right forearm hung a small round shield, of apparently the same metal with a spiked boss in the center. A grim and dangerous figure he looked as he circled the black, basalt-hued block and moved in, seeking an opening. I strained to join in, for the shield gave him a deadly advantage, and James had no such defense.
"But I had been given a charge, and I knew I could not yield to impulse. As the drumming rose in volume, I stole a glance over my shoulder to the tunnel at my back. It was well I did.
"Something as pale as white bone was creeping up on me, indistinct in the fire's murky light I caught a glimpse of long thin arms, the fingers ending in huge claws, a face like a starved baboon's skull, all bone and yellowed fangs, with two eyes of opaque flame, pupilless and blinking. That I had turned at the last moment was
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