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Authors: Michael Moorcock
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realm.”
“Not quite—and not so much as in her brother Mabelode’s realm… There is a city in her realm which has resisted all she could have brought against it. It is called the City in the Pyramid and the people who dwell in it are of a highly sophisticated civilization. If you can reach the City in the Pyramid, you may find the allies you need.”
“But how can we travel to Xiombarg’s realm?” Corum said reasonably. “We have no such powers.”
“I can make it possible for you to do that.”
“And how, in five planes, shall we find a single city?” Jhary asked.
“You must ask,” said Arkyn simply. “Ask for the City in the Pyramid. The city which has resisted Xiombarg’s attacks. Will you go? It is all that I can suggest if you would be saved…”
“And if you, too, are to be saved,” Jhary pointed out with a smile. “I know you gods and I know that you manipulate mortals only to achieve those things you cannot yourselves achieve, for mortals may scurry where gods may not go. Have you other motives in encouraging this course of action, Lord Arkyn?”
Lord Arkyn looked humorously at Jhary. “You know the ways of gods, as you say. But I can tell you no more save that I gamble with your lives as freely as I gamble with my own destiny. What you risk, I risk. If you do not succeed in all I hope, then I will perish, all that is gentle and good in this realm will perish. And you need not go to Xiombarg’s realm…”
“If there are potential allies there, then we will go,” Corum said firmly.
“Then I will open the Wall Between the Realms,” said Arkyn quietly.
He turned and walked back into the shadows.
“Ready yourselves,” he said. He was now invisible.
Corum heard a sound in his head—a sound that was soundless, but which blocked out all other sounds. He looked at the others. They were evidently experiencing the same thing. Something moved in front of his eyes—a dim pattern superimposed on the more solid scene which showed his companions and the simple walls of the temple. Something vibrated.
And then it was there.
A cruciform shape stood in the middle of the temple. They moved around it in wonder but, from whatever angle they regarded it, it retained the same perspective. It was a shimmering silver in the cool darkness of the temple and through it, as through a window, they could see part of a landscape.
Arkyn’s voice came from behind them.
“There is the entrance to Xiombarg’s domain.”
Strange black birds flew across the section of sky they could observe through the peculiar window. A distant sound of cackling.
Corum shivered. Rhalina moved closer to him.
Now King Onald’s voice: “If you would stay here, I will think no less of you…”
“We must go,” Corum said almost dreamily. “We must.”
But Jhary, with a suggestion of defiant jauntiness, was the first to step through and stand there, looking up at the unpleasant birds, stroking his cat.
“How shall we return?” Corum said.
“If you are successful, then you will find the means to return,” said Arkyn. His voice was growing weaker. “Hurry. It takes much from me to hold the gateway open.”
Hand in hand with Rhalina, Corum stepped through and looked back.
The cruciform shape of shimmering silver was fading. They saw Onald’s concerned face for an instant and then it was gone.
“So this is Xiombarg’s realm,” said Jhary with a sniff. “It has a brooding air about it.”
Black mountains lay on two sides and the sky was bleak. The horrid birds flew into the mountains, still screaming. Ahead, a foul sea washed a rocky shore.
BOOK TWO
IN WHICH PRINCE CORUM AND HIS COMPANIONS GAIN THE FURTHER ENMITY OF CHAOS AND EXPERIENCE A STRANGE, NEW FORM OF SORCERY
1
THE LAKE OF VOICES
“ W HICH WAY ?” J HARY looked about him. “The sea or the mountains? Neither’s inviting…”
Corum sighed deeply. The morbid landscape had instantly depressed him. Rhalina touched his arm, her eyes full of
“Not quite—and not so much as in her brother Mabelode’s realm… There is a city in her realm which has resisted all she could have brought against it. It is called the City in the Pyramid and the people who dwell in it are of a highly sophisticated civilization. If you can reach the City in the Pyramid, you may find the allies you need.”
“But how can we travel to Xiombarg’s realm?” Corum said reasonably. “We have no such powers.”
“I can make it possible for you to do that.”
“And how, in five planes, shall we find a single city?” Jhary asked.
“You must ask,” said Arkyn simply. “Ask for the City in the Pyramid. The city which has resisted Xiombarg’s attacks. Will you go? It is all that I can suggest if you would be saved…”
“And if you, too, are to be saved,” Jhary pointed out with a smile. “I know you gods and I know that you manipulate mortals only to achieve those things you cannot yourselves achieve, for mortals may scurry where gods may not go. Have you other motives in encouraging this course of action, Lord Arkyn?”
Lord Arkyn looked humorously at Jhary. “You know the ways of gods, as you say. But I can tell you no more save that I gamble with your lives as freely as I gamble with my own destiny. What you risk, I risk. If you do not succeed in all I hope, then I will perish, all that is gentle and good in this realm will perish. And you need not go to Xiombarg’s realm…”
“If there are potential allies there, then we will go,” Corum said firmly.
“Then I will open the Wall Between the Realms,” said Arkyn quietly.
He turned and walked back into the shadows.
“Ready yourselves,” he said. He was now invisible.
Corum heard a sound in his head—a sound that was soundless, but which blocked out all other sounds. He looked at the others. They were evidently experiencing the same thing. Something moved in front of his eyes—a dim pattern superimposed on the more solid scene which showed his companions and the simple walls of the temple. Something vibrated.
And then it was there.
A cruciform shape stood in the middle of the temple. They moved around it in wonder but, from whatever angle they regarded it, it retained the same perspective. It was a shimmering silver in the cool darkness of the temple and through it, as through a window, they could see part of a landscape.
Arkyn’s voice came from behind them.
“There is the entrance to Xiombarg’s domain.”
Strange black birds flew across the section of sky they could observe through the peculiar window. A distant sound of cackling.
Corum shivered. Rhalina moved closer to him.
Now King Onald’s voice: “If you would stay here, I will think no less of you…”
“We must go,” Corum said almost dreamily. “We must.”
But Jhary, with a suggestion of defiant jauntiness, was the first to step through and stand there, looking up at the unpleasant birds, stroking his cat.
“How shall we return?” Corum said.
“If you are successful, then you will find the means to return,” said Arkyn. His voice was growing weaker. “Hurry. It takes much from me to hold the gateway open.”
Hand in hand with Rhalina, Corum stepped through and looked back.
The cruciform shape of shimmering silver was fading. They saw Onald’s concerned face for an instant and then it was gone.
“So this is Xiombarg’s realm,” said Jhary with a sniff. “It has a brooding air about it.”
Black mountains lay on two sides and the sky was bleak. The horrid birds flew into the mountains, still screaming. Ahead, a foul sea washed a rocky shore.
BOOK TWO
IN WHICH PRINCE CORUM AND HIS COMPANIONS GAIN THE FURTHER ENMITY OF CHAOS AND EXPERIENCE A STRANGE, NEW FORM OF SORCERY
1
THE LAKE OF VOICES
“ W HICH WAY ?” J HARY looked about him. “The sea or the mountains? Neither’s inviting…”
Corum sighed deeply. The morbid landscape had instantly depressed him. Rhalina touched his arm, her eyes full of
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