They reached the black mountains on the following day and nervously Shaarilla led them along the rocky route she had memorized.
She no longer pleaded with Elric to return-she was resigned to whatever fate awaited them. Elric's obsession was burning within him and he was filled with impatience-certain that he would find, at last, the ultimate truth of existence in the Dead Gods' Book.
Moonglum was cheerfully skeptical, while Shaarilla was consumed with foreboding.
Rain still fell and the storm growled and crackled above them. But, as the driving rainfall increased with fresh insistence, they came, at last, to the black, gaping mouth of a huge cave.
"I can lead you no further," Shaarilla said wearily. "The Book lies somewhere beyond the entrance to this cave."
Elric and Moonglum looked uncertainly at one another, neither of them sure what move to make next. To have reached their goal seemed somehow anti-climactic-for nothing blocked the cave entrance-and nothing appeared to guard it.
"It is inconceivable," said Elric, "that the dangers which beset us were not engineered by something, yet here we are-and no-one seeks to stop us entering. Are you sure that this is the right cave, Shaarilla?"
The girl pointed upwards to the rock above the entrance. Engraved in it was a curious symbol which Elric instantly recognized.
"The sign of Chaos!" Elric exclaimed. "Perhaps I should have guessed."
"What does it mean, Elric?" Moonglum asked.
"That is the symbol of everlasting disruption and anarchy," Elric told him. "We are standing in territory presided over by the Lords of Entropy or one of their minions. So that is who our enemy is! This can only mean one thing-the Book is of extreme importance to the order of things on this plane-possibly all the myriad planes of the multiverse. It was why Arioch was reluctant to aid me-he, too, is a Lord of Chaos!"
Moonglum stared at him in puzzlement. "What do you mean, Elric?"
"Know you not that two forces govern the world-fighting an eternal battle?" Elric replied. "Law and Chaos. The upholders of Chaos state that in such a world as they rule, all things are possible. Opponents of Chaos-those who ally themselves with the forces of Law- say that without Law nothing material is possible.
"Some stand apart, believing that a balance between the two is the proper state of things, but we cannot. We have become embroiled in a dispute between the two forces. The Book is valuable to either faction, obviously, and I could guess that the minions of Entropy are worried what power we might release if we obtain this book. Law and Chaos rarely interfere directly in Men's lives-that is why only adepts are fully aware of their presence. Now perhaps, I will discover at last the answer to the one question which concerns me-does an ultimate force rule over the opposing factions of Law and Chaos?"
Elric stepped through the cave entrance, peering into the gloom while the others hesitantly followed him.
"The cave stretches back a long way. All we can do is press on until we find its far wall," Elric said.
"Let's hope that its far wall lies not downwards," Moonglum said ironically as he motioned Elric to lead on.
They stumbled forward as the cave grew darker and darker. Their voices were magnified and hollow to their own ears as the floor of the cave slanted sharply down.
"This is no cave," Elric whispered, "it's a tunnel-but I cannot guess where it leads."
For several hours they pressed onwards in pitch darkness, clinging to one another as they reeled forward, uncertain of their footing and still aware that they were moving down a gradual incline. They lost all sense of time and Elric began to feel as if he were living through a dream. Events seemed to have become so unpredictable and beyond his control that he could no longer cope with thinking about them in ordinary terms. The tunnel was long and dark and wide and cold. It offered no comfort and the floor eventually became the only thing which had any reality. It was firmly beneath his feet. He began to feel that possibly he was not moving-that the floor, after all, was moving and he was remaining stationary. His companions clung to him but he was not aware of them. He was lost and his brain was numb. Sometimes he swayed and felt that he was on the edge of a precipice. Sometimes he fell and his groaning body met hard stone, disproving the proximity of the gulf down which he half-expected to fall.
All the while he made his legs perform walking motions, even though he was not at all sure whether he was actually moving forward.
And time meant nothing-became a meaningless concept with relation to nothing.
Until, at last, he was aware of a faint, blue glow ahead of him and he knew that he had been moving forward. He began to run down the incline, but found that he was going too fast and had to check his speed.
There was a scent of alien strangeness in the cool air of the cave tunnel and fear was a fluid force which surged over him, something separate from himself.
The others obviously felt it, too, for though they said nothing, Elric could sense it. Slowly they moved downward, drawn like automatons towards the pale blue glow below them.
And then they were out of the tunnel, staring awe-struck at the unearthly vision which confronted them. Above them, the very air seemed of the strange blue colour which had originally attracted them.
They were standing on a jutting slab of rock and, although it was still somehow dark, the eerie blue glow illuminated a stretch of glinting silver beach beneath them. And the beach was lapped by a surging dark sea which moved restlessly like a liquid giant in disturbed slumber.
Scattered along the silver beach were the dim shapes of wrecks-the bones of peculiarly designed boats, each of a different pattern from the rest. The sea surged away into darkness and there was no horizon- only blackness. Behind them, they could see a sheer cliff which was also lost in darkness beyond a certain point. And it was cold-bitterly cold, with an unbelievable sharpness. For though the sea threshed beneath them, there was no dampness in the air-no smell of salt. It was a bleak and awesome sight and, apart from the sea, they were the only things that moved-the only things to make sound, for the sea was horribly silent in its restless movement.
"What now, Elric?" whispered Moonglum, shivering.
Elric shook his head and they continued to stand there for a long time until the albino-his white face and hands ghastly in the alien light said: "Since it is impracticable to return-we shall venture over the sea."
His voice was hollow and he spoke as one who was unaware of his words.
Steps, cut into the living rock, led down towards the beach and now Elric began to descend them. Staring around them, their eyes lit by a terrible fascination, the others allowed him to lead them.
Chapter Four
Their feet profaned the silence as they reached the silver beach of crystalline stones and crunched across it. Elric's crimson eyes fixed upon one of the objects littering the beach and he smiled. He shook his head savagely from side to side, as if to clear it. Trembling, he pointed to one of the boats, and the pair saw that it was intact, unlike the others. It was yellow and red-vulgarly gay in this environment and nearing it they observed that it was made of wood, yet unlike any wood they had seen. Moonglum ran his stubby fingers along its length.
"Hard as iron," he breathed. "No wonder it has not rotted as the others have." He peered inside and shuddered. "Well the owner won't argue if we take it," he said wryly.
Elric and Shaarilla understood him when they saw the unnaturally twisted skeleton which lay at the bottom of the boat. Elric reached inside and pulled the thing out, hurling it on the stones. It rattled and rolled over the gleaming shingle, disintegrating as it did so, scattering bones over a wide area. The skull came to rest by the edge of the beach, seeming to stare sightlessly out over the disturbing ocean.