Surely they must perish.
Fiery venom splashed across the scene and again there was only golden light.
"What did we see?" Corum whispered. "Do you know, Jhary?"
"Aye. I know. I have been there-or will be there. We see another age, another plane. The mightiest battle between Law and Chaos, Gods and Mortals, that I have ever witnessed. The white-faced one I served in a different guise. He is called Elric of Melnibone."
"You mentioned him once, when we first met."
"He is, like you, a champion chosen by destiny to fight so that the equilibrium of the Cosmic Balance might be preserved." Jhary's voice sounded sad. "I remember his friend Moonglum, but his friend Moonglum does not remember me…"
The remark seemed inconsequential to Corum.
"What does it mean to us, Jhary?"
"I do not know. Look-something else comes upon the stage."
There was a city upon a plain. Corum felt that he knew it, but then realized that he had never seen it before, for it was not like any city in Bro-an-Vadhagh or Lywm-an-Esh. Of white marble and black granite, it was simple and it was magnificent. It was under siege. Silver-snouted weapons were upon its walls, directed at the attackers-a great horde of cavalry and infantry which had pitched its tents below. The attackers were clad in massive armor, but the defenders wore light protection and they, too, like the one Jhary had called Elric, were more like the Vadhagh than like other mortals. Corum began to wonder if the Vadhagh occupied many plains.
A horseman in bulky armor rode from the camp toward the black-and-white walls of the city. He carried a banner and seemed to have come to parley. He called up at the walls and eventually a gate opened to admit him. The watchers could not see his face.
The scene changed again.
Now, strangely, the one who had been attacking the city was defending it.
Sudden glimpses of terrible massacres. The humans were being destroyed by weapons even more powerful than those possessed by the folk of Gwlas-cor-Gwrys and it was one of their own kind who directed their murder… It was gone. Golden, pure light returned.
"Erekose," murmured Jhary. "I think I see significance in these scenes. I think it is the Balance and it is hinting at something. But the implications are so profound that my poor head cannot contain them."
"Speak of them, please!" Corum begged into the darkness, his eyes still upon the golden stage.
"There are no words. I have told you already that I am a Companion to Champions-that there is only one Champion and only one Companion, but that we do not always know each other, or even know of our fate. Circumstances change from time to time, but the basic destiny does not. It was Erekose's burden that he should be aware of this-aware of all his previous incarnations, his incarnations to come. You, at least, are spared that, Corum."
Corum shuddered. "Say no more."
Rhalina said, "And what of this hero's lovers? You have spoken of his friend…"
And a new scene came upon the golden stage before she could continue.
The face of a man, wracked with pain, covered in sweat, a dark, throbbing jewel imbedded in his forehead. He drew down over this face a helm of such highly polished metal that it became a perfect mirror. In the mirror could be seen a group of riders who at first appeared to be men with the heads of beasts. Then it became plain that these heads were in fact helmets, fashioned to resemble pigs, goats, bulls, and dogs.
There was a pitched battle. There were several riders in the same polished helms. They were greatly outnumbered by their enemies in the beast masks.
One of those in the mirror helmets-perhaps the man they had first seen-held something aloft-a short staff from which pulsed many-colored rays. This staff struck fear into the beast riders and many had to be driven on by their leaders.
The fight continued.
The scene vanished, to be replaced, once more, by nothing but the pure, golden light.
"Hawkmoon," murmured Jhary. "The Runestaff. What can all this mean? You have witnessed yourself, Corum, in three other incarnations. I have never experienced such a thing before."
Corum was trembling. He could not bear to consider Jhary's words. They suggested that it was his fate to experience an eternity of battle, of death, of misery.
"What can it mean?" Jhary said again. "Is it a warning? A prediction of something about to take place? Or has it no special significance?"
Slowly the blackness descended on the golden light until there was only a faint line of gold, and then that, too, vanished.
They hung once more in Limbo.
Jhary's voice came to Corum. The tone was distant, as if the dandy spoke to himself. "I think it means we must find Tanelorn. There, all destinies meet-there, all things are constant. Neither Law nor Chaos can effect Tanelorn's existence, though her occupants can sometimes be threatened. But even I do not know where Tanelorn lies in this age, in these dimensions. If I could only discover some sign which would give me my bearings…"
"Perhaps it is not Tanelorn we should seek," Rhalina said. "Perhaps these events we have been shown indicate some different quest?"
"It is all bound up together," Jhary mused, seeming to answer a question he had put to himself. "It is all bound up together. Elric, Erekose, Hawkmoon, Corum. Four aspects of the same thing, as I am another aspect of it, as Rhalina is a sixth aspect. Some disruption has occurred in the universe, perhaps. Or some new cycle is about to take place. I do not know…"
The sky ship lurched. It moved as if along a crazily undulating track. Massive teardrops of green and blue light began to fall all around them. There was the sound of a raging wind, but no wind touched them. An almost human voice, echoing on and on and on. And then they were flying through swiftly moving shadows-the shadows of things and people all rushing in the same direction.
Below, Corum saw a thousand volcanoes, each one spewing red cinders and smoke, but somehow the cinders and smoke did not touch the sky ship. There was a stink of burning and it was suddenly replaced by the smell of flowers. The volcanoes had become so many huge blossoms, like anemones opening red petals.
Singing came from somewhere. A joyful, martial tune like the song of a victorious army. It died away. There was a laugh, cut off short.
The bulk of enormous beasts rose from seas of excrement and the beasts raised their square snouts to the skies and groaned before sinking again beneath the surface.
A mottled, pink-white plain, apparently of stones. It was not stones. The plain was comprised entirely of corpses, each one neatly laid beside the other, each one face down.
"Where are we Jhary, do you know?" Corum called, peering through disturbed air at his friend.
"This place is ruled by Chaos, that is all I know at present, Corum. What you see is Chaos unbounded. Law has no power here at all. I believe we must be in Mabelrode's Realm and I am attempting to take the sky ship out of it, but it will not respond."
"We are moving through the dimensions, however," Rhalina said. "The scenes change so rapidly. That must be the case."
Jhary offered her a desperate grin as he turned to look at her over his shoulder. "We are not moving through the dimensions. This is Chaos, Lady Rhalina. Pure, unchained Chaos."
The Second Chapter
THE CASTLE BUILT OF BLOOD
"It is surely Mabelrode's Realm," Jhary said, "unless Chaos has conquered suddenly and all fifteen Planes are once again under its domination."
Foul shapes flew about the sky ship for a moment and then were gone.
"My brain reels," Rhalina gasped. "It as if I am mad. I can hardly believe I do not dream."
"Someone dreams," Jhary told her. "Someone dreams, lady. A god."
Corum could not speak. His head was aching. Peculiar memories threatened to come to him, but they remained elusive.