Then I saw it!
One building was fairly well illuminated by torches from within and brands on the ramparts.
But this is not what I noticed so much as the great, brooding banner that flew from a mast on the central keep of the building.
It was the N'aal Banner that adorned Horguhl's tent oh the battlefield outside-a larger version, but the same design.
It was little to go on-but it was something. I would make for the building with the banner.
I resheathed my sword and clambered over the other side of the wall, beginning to climb slowly down towards the ground.
I was nearly at the bottom with perhaps only a dozen feet to go when a detachment of Argzoon warriors suddenly rounded a building near the wall and marched towards me. I wondered if I had been seen-whether they had been sent to deal with me. But then they began to pass beneath me.
I was only a couple of feet above the head of the tallest as he passed. I clung like a fly to the wall, praying that I would not slip and betray myself.
As soon as they were out of sight, I climbed the remaining distance to the ground and dashed across to the cover of a building, fashioned from the same roughly-heaped stone as the wall.
Knowing that the Argzoon warriors had not had many mounts, I guessed that only a few had returned as yet, which explained why the city seemed virtually deserted.
This was another thing that I welcomed and which was to my advantage.
Soon I had reached the building I was headed for.
The sides of this were somewhat smoother, but I thought I could tackle it. The only problem here was that the walls were fairly well illuminated and I might be seen.
There was nothing for it but to risk it, for no other time would be better. I would try to reach a window and swing myself in. Once inside the building I might be able to hide myself better and at least discover something, by watching and listening, of where Shizala was being kept.
I got a hold on a piece of projecting stone and hauled myself up, inch by inch. It was slow going and increasingly difficult. All the windows-little more than holes in the rock-were some distance above the ground, none less than twenty feet, and the one I had decided to try was probably higher.
I deduced that fear of attack was the reason why the windows were positioned so high.
But at last I managed to make the window and peered over the sill to see if the room beyond was occupied. It did not appear to be.
I entered quickly.
It appeared that I was in a store-room of some kind, for there were wicker baskets of dried fruit and meat, herbs and vegetables. I decided to make use of some of the food stuff, obviously looted in an earlier raiding expedition. I selected the most palatable items and ate them. I was thirsty, too, but there was no readily available source of water.
I would have to wait for a drink.
Feeling refreshed, I explored the room. It was fairly large and very draughty. Perhaps because of the draughts, it had not been used as a living accommodation for a long while-judging by the old and near-rotted pieces of basket that littered the floor.
I found the door and tried it.
To my great disappointment it was lockedbarred from the outside, probably as a precaution against thieves!
I was very weary and my eyes kept closing involuntarily as I fought sleep. The pursuit had been long and arduous; we had allowed ourselves little time for rest. I decided that I would be more use to Shizala if I were rested.
I clambered over the baskets and made myself a kind of nest in the centre by removing some baskets and piling them around me. That way I would be warmer, and if anyone entered the room they would not see me. Feeling fairly secure, I lay down to sleep.
An increase in the glow of firelight entering the window told me that it was a new Argzoon 'day'.
But, I realized immediately, that was not what had awakened me.
There was someone else in the room.
Very cautiously, I stretched my cramped limbs and began to stand up, peering through a crack in my barricade.
I was astonished.
The man collecting food from the baskets was not an Argzoon. He was a man similar in build to myself, but with a pale complexion-perhaps caused by living in the sunless vaults of the Blue Giants.
His face had a strange, dead appearance. His eyes were dull, his features frozen as he mechanically transferred meat and vegetables from the baskets to a smaller basket he held in his left hand.
He was unarmed. His shoulders were bowed, his hair lank and uncared for.
There was no questioning his situation and function in the cavern-world of the Argzoon.
The man was a slave and seemed to have been one for a long time.
Being a slave he would, of course, have no love for his masters. On the other hand, how much had he been cowed by them? Could I reveal myself in the hope of receiving help from him, or would he be frightened and shout for help?
I had taken many risks to get this far. I must take a further risk now.
As silently as I could I climbed from cover and crept across the tops of the baskets towards him.
He was half turned away from me and only seemed to notice me when I was almost on top of him.
When he saw me, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped, but he made no sound.
"I am a friend," I whispered.
"F-friend…?" He repeated the word dully as if it meant nothing to him.
"An enemy of the Argzoon-a slayer of many of the Blue Giants."
"Aah!" He backed away in fear, dropping his basket.
I leapt to the ground and dashed towards the door, closing it. He turned to face me, his mouth trembling now, his eyes still wide in ghastly fear.
It was evidently not me he feared so much as something that I represented to him.
"Y-you must go to the Queen-y-you must surrender yourself. D-do that and y-you may escape the N'aal Beast!"
"The Queen? The N'all Beast? I've heard the name-what is it?"
"O-oh, d-do not ask me!"
"Who are you? How long have you been here?" I tried a different line of questioning.
"I-I think my name was Ornak Dia… Y-yes, that was it, that was my name… I d-do not know h-how long… s-since w-we f-followed the Argzoon h-here and w-were led into ambush. Ththey had only sent half their strength against the lands of the south-we did n-not r-realize…"
With these memories he seemed to remember something of the man he must have been previously, for his shoulders straightened a little and he held his mouth better.
"You were part of the force led by the Bradhi of the Karnala-is that right?" I asked him. I wondered what kind of hardships could have turned a warrior into this servile thing in such a comparatively short space of time.
"Th-that is right."
"They lured you down here where the rest of their army was waiting-it had been a calculated tactic-and when you reached the floor of the cavern-world they attacked you and wiped out your army. Isn't that what happened?" I had already guessed most of this, of course.
"Y-yes. They took prisoners. I am amongst the last of them left alive."
"How many prisoners?"
"Several hundreds."
I was horrified. Now it was plain that, as I had surmised, this move of the Argzoon had been carefully planned for years. The first force had been badly defeated, but it had severely weakened the strength of the southern nations. Secondly, the southern army's punitive force that had followed the Argzoon here had been led into a carefully laid trap and the weary warriors must have been fairly easy game for a force of fresh Argzoon warriors waiting in ambush. Then the Argzoon had put the second half of their strategy into operation, going secretly south in small numbers with the object of taking the south by surprise, beginning with Varnal. Something had disrupted this strategy-perhaps my slaying of their master-mind-and the plan had broken down. But much damage had been done. The south would take years recovering from the blow and while recovering would face constant danger from other, stronger would-be aggressors.