The Eternal Champion

My marshals called after me: 'Lord Erekose-where do do you go?'

'To the Eldren camp!' I called back, and laughed at their consternation.

The herald turned in his saddle, hearing the hoofbeats of my horse. 'Lord Erekose?' he said questioningly.

'Ride on, herald-and I'll ride with you.'

And so, together, we came at last to the Eldren camp, and we stopped as the outer guards hailed us.

'What would you here, humans?' some low-ranking officer asked, peering with his blue-flecked eyes through the gloom.

The moon came out and shone silver. I took my banner from where it lay against my horse's side. I raised it and I shook it out. The moon picked up the motif.

'That is Erekose's banner,' said the officer.

'And I am Erekose,' I said.

A look of disgust crossed the Eldren's face. 'We heard what you did at Paphanaal. If you were not here under the truce flag I would…'

'I did nothing at Paphanaal I am ashamed of,' I said.

'No. You would not be ashamed.'

'My sword was sheathed during the whole stay at Paphanaal, Eldren.'

'Aye-sheathed in the bodies of babes.'

'Think what you will,' I said. 'Lead me to your master. I'll not waste time with you.'

We rode through the silent camp until we came to the simple pavilion of Prince Arjavh. The officer went inside.

Then I heard a movement in the tent and from it stepped a lithe figure, dressed in half-armour, a steel breastplate strapped over a loose shirt of green, leather hose beneath leg greaves, also of steel, and sandles on his feet. His long black hair was kept away from his eyes by a band of gold bearing a single great ruby.

And his face-his face was beautiful. I hesitate to use the word to describe a man, but it is the only one that will do justice j those fine features. Like Ermizhad he had the tapering skull, the slanting, orbless eyes. But his lips did not curve upwards as lid hers. His mouth was grim and there were lines of weariness about it. He passed his hand across his face and looked up at us.

'I am Prince Arjavh of Mernadin,' he said in his liquid voice. What would you say to me, Erekose, you who abducted my sister?'

'I came, personally, to bring the traditional challenge from the hosts of Humanity,' I said.

He raised his head to look about him. 'Some plot, I gather. Some fresh treachery?'

'I speak only the truth,' I told him.

There was melancholy irony in his smile when he replied. 'Very well, Lord Erekose. On behalf of the Eldren, I accept your gracious challenge. We will battle, then, shall we? We will kill each other tomorrow, shall we?'

'You may decide when to begin,' I said. 'For it is we who made the challenge.'

He frowned. 'It has been perhaps a million years since the Eldren and Humanity fought according to the Code of War. How can I trust you, Erekose? We have heard how you butchered the children.'

'I butchered no children,' I said quietly. 'I begged that they be spared. But at Paphanaal I was advised by King Rigenos and his marshals. Now I control the battle forces and I choose to fight according to the Code of War. The Code of War, I believe, that I originally drew up…'

'Aye,' Arjavh said thoughtfully. 'It's sometimes called Erekose's Code. But you are not the true Erekose. He was a mortal like all men. Only the Eldren are immortal.'

'I am mortal in many respects,' I said shortly, 'and immortal in others. Now, shall we decide the terms of battle?'

Arjavh spread his arms. 'Oh, how can I trust all this talk. How many times have we agreed to believe you humans and have been betrayed time after time? How can I accept that you Erekose, the Champion of Humanity, our ancient enemy whom, even in our legends, we respect as a noble foe? I would believe you, you who calls himself Erekose, but I cannot afford to…'

'May I dismount?' I asked. The herald glanced at me in astonishment.

'If you wish.'

I clambered from the back of my armoured horse and unbuckled my sword and hung it over the pommel of the saddle and I pushed the horse to one side and walked forward and stood there confronting Prince Arjavh face to face.

'We are a stronger force than you,' I said. 'We stand a good chance of winning the battle tomorrow. It is possible that within a week even the few who escape the battle will be dead at the hands of our soldiers or our peasants. I offer you the chance to fight a noble battle, Prince Arjavh. A fair battle. I suggest that the terms can include the sparing of prisoners, medical treatment for all captured wounded, a counting of the dead and of the living…' I was remembering it all as I spoke.

'You know Erekose's Code well,' he said.

'I should.'

He looked away and up at the moon. 'Is my sister still alive?'

'She is.'

'Why did you come, thus, with your herald to our camp?'

'Curiosity, I suppose,' I told him. 'I have spoken much with Ermizhad. I wanted to see if you were the devil I heard you were-or the person Ermizhad described.'

'And what do you see?'

'If you are a devil, you are a weary one.'

'Not too weary to fight,' he said. 'Not too weary to take Necranal if I can.'

'We expected you to march on Paphanaal,' I told him. 'We thought it logical that you would try to recapture your main port.'

'Aye-that's what I planned. Until I learned that you had abducted my sister.' He paused. 'How is she?'

'Well,' I said. 'She was placed under my protection and I have seen to it that she has been treated with courtesy wherever possible.'

He nodded.

'We come, of course, to rescue her,' he said.

'I wondered if that was your reason.' I half smiled. 'We should have expected it, but we did not. You realise that they will, should you win tomorrow's battle, threaten to kill her if you do not retreat.'

Arjavh pursed his lips. 'They will kill her, anyway, will they not? They will torture them. I know how they treat Eldren prisoners.'

I could say nothing to the contrary.

'If they kill my sister,' Prince Arjavh said. 'I will burn down Necranal, if I am the only one left to do it. I will kill Rigenos, his daughter, everyone…'

'And so it goes on,' I said softly.

Arjavh looked back at me. 'I am sorry. You wished to discuss the terms of battle. Very well, Erekose', I will trust you. I agree to all your proposals-and offer a term of my own.'

'That is?'

'Deliverance of Ermizhad from captivity if we should win. It will save you and us many lives.'

'It would,' I agreed, 'but it is not for me to make that bargain. I regret it, Prince Arjavh, but it is the king who holds her. If she were my prisoner and not just under my protection, I would do as you suggest. If you win, you must go on to Necranal and lay siege to the city.'

He sighed. 'Very well, Sir Champion. We shall be ready at dawn tomorrow.'

I said hurriedly: 'We outnumber you, Prince Arjavh. You could go back now-in peace.'

He shook his head. 'Let the battle be fought.'

'Until dawn, then, Prince of the Eldren.'

He moved his hand tiredly in assent. 'Farewell, Lord Erekose'.'

'Farewell.' I wheeled my horse and rode back to our camp in a sorrowful mood, the puzzled herald at my side.

Once again I was divided. Were the Eldren so clever they could deceive me so easily?

Tomorrow would tell.

That night in my own pavilion I slept as badly as ever, but I accepted the dreams, the vague memories, and I did not attempt to fight them, to interpret them. It had become clear to me that there was no point to it. I was what I was-I was the Eternal Champion-the Everlast Wager of War. I would never know why.

Before dawn our trumpets warned us to awake and make ourselves ready. I buckled on my armour, my sword and my lance's cover was ripped off to reveal the long, metal-shod spear.

I went out into the chill of the dying night. The day was not yet with us. Silhouetted against what little light there was, my cavalry were already mounting. There was a cold, clammy sweat on my forehead. I wiped it with a rag time after time, but it remained there. I raised my helm and brought it down over my head, strapping it to my shoulder plates. My squires handed me my gauntlets and I pulled them on. Then, stiff-legged in my armour, I stalked towards my steed, was helped into the saddle, was handed my shield and my lance and cantered up the line to the head of my troops.