"Then I have helped you," Corum said bitterly, “when I wished to hinder you…"
Arioch's laughter filled the hall. "Yes. Exactly. A fine joke, eh? Now, give me my heart, little Vadhagh.”
Corum pressed his back to the wall and drew his blade. He stood there with the heart of Arioch in his left hand and his sword in his right. "I think I will die first, Arioch."
"As you please."
The monstrous hand reached out for Corum. He dodged it, Arioch bellowed with laughter again and plucked two of the Mabden warriors from the floor. They screamed and writhed as he drew them toward his great, wet mouth, full of blackened teeth. Then he popped them into his maw and Corum heard their bones crunch. Arioch swallowed and spat out a sword. Then he returned his gaze to Corum.
Corum jumped behind a pillar. Arioch's hand came round it, feeling for him. Corum ran.
More laughter, and the hall reverberated. The God's mirth was echoed by the tittering voices of his Mabden parasites. A pillar crashed as Arioch struck at it, seeking Corum.
Corum dashed across the floor of the hall, leaping over the broken bodies of the Mabden who had fallen from the corpulent body of the God.
And then Arioch saw him, seized him, and his chuckles subsided.
"Give me my heart now."
Corum gasped for breath and freed his two hands from the soft flesh that enclosed him. The giant's great hand was warm and filthy. The nails were broken.
"Give me my heart, Little Being."
"No!" Corum drove his sword deep into the thumb, but the God did not notice. Mabden clung to the hair of the chest and watched, their grins blank.
Corum's ribs were near to breaking, but still he would not release the Heart of Arioch that lay in his left fist.
"No matter," said Arioch, his grip relaxing a trifle, "I can absorb both you and the heart at the same time."
Now Arioch began to carry his great hand toward his open mouth. His breath came out in stinking blasts and Corum choked on it, but still he stabbed and stabbed. A grin spread over the gigantic lips. All Corum could see now was that mouth, the scabrous nostrils, the huge eyes. The mouth opened wider to swallow him. He struck at the upper Up, staring into the red darkness of the God's throat.
Then his left hand contracted. It squeezed the heart of Arioch. Corum's own strength could not have done it, but once again the Hand of Kwli was possessed of a power of its own. It squeezed.
Arioch's laughter faded. The vast eyes widened and a new light filled them. A bellow came from the throat. The Hand of Kwll squeezed tighter still. Arioch shrieked.
The heart began to crumble in the hand. Rays of a reddish blue light sprang from between Corum's fingers. Pain flooded up his arm.
There was a high whistling sound. Arioch began to weep. His grasp on Corum weakened. He staggered backward.
"No, Mortal. No…" The voice was pathetic. "Please, Mortal, we can…"
Corum saw the God's bloated form begin to melt into the air. The hand that held him began to lose its shape.
And then Corum was falling toward the floor of the hall, the broken pieces of Arioch's heart scattering as he fell. He landed with a crash, tried to rise, saw what was left of Arioch's body writhing in the air, heard a mournful sound, and then Corum lost consciousness, hearing, as he did so, Arioch's last whispered words.
"Corum of the Vadhagh. You have won the eternal bane of the Sword Rulers…"
The Eighth Chapter
A PAUSE IN THE STRUGGLE
Corum saw a procession passing him.
Beings of a hundred different races marched or rode or were carried in that procession and he knew that he watched all the mortal races that had ever existed since Law and Chaos had begun their struggle for domination over the multitudinous planes of the Earth. In the distance, he saw the banners of Law and of Chaos raised, side by side, the one bearing the eight radiating arrows, the other bearing the single straight arrow of Law. And over all this hung a huge balance in perfect equilibrium. In each of the balance's cups were marshaled other beings, not mortal. Corum saw Arioch and the Lords of Chaos in one and he saw the Lords of Law in the other.
And Corum heard a voice which said, "This is as it should be. Neither Law nor Chaos must dominate the destinies of the mortal planes. There must be equilibrium."
Corum cried out, "But there is no equilibrium. Chaos rules All!"
The voice replied, saying, "The balance sometimes tips, It must be righted. And that is the power of mortals, to adjust the balance."
"How may I do that?"
"You have begun the work already. Now you must continue until it is finished. You may perish before it is complete, but some other will follow you."
Corum shouted, "I do not want this. I cannot bear such a burden!"
"YOU MUST!"
The procession marched on, not seeing Corum, not seeing the two banners flying, not seeing the Cosmic Balance that hung over them.
Corum hung in cloudy space and his heart was at peace.
Shapes began to appear and then he saw that he was back in Arioch's hall. He sought for his sword, but it was gone.
"I will return your sword before you leave, Prince Corum of the Vadhagh."
The voice was level and it was clear.
Corum turned.
He drew a sudden breath. "The Giant of Laahr!" The sad, wise face smiled down on him. "I was called that, when I was in exile. But now I am no longer exiled and you may address me by my true name. I am Lord Arkyn and this is my palace. Arioch has gone. Without his heart he cannot assume flesh on these planes. Without flesh, he cannot wield power. I rule here now, as I ruled before."
The being's substance was still shadowy, though not as formless as before.
Lord Arkyn smiled. "It will take time before I assume my old form. Only by a great power of will did I enable myself to remain on this plane at all. I did not know when I rescued you, Corum, that you would be the cause of my restoration. I thank you."
"I thank you, my lord."
"Good breeds good," Lord Arkyn said. "Evil breeds evil."
Corum smiled, "Sometimes, my lord.”
Lord Arkyn chuckled quietly. "Aye, you are right-sometimes. Well, mortal, I must return you to your own plane."
"Can you transport me to a particular place, my lord?"
"I can, Prince in the Scarlet Robe."
"Lord Arkyn, you know why I embarked upon this course of mine. I sought the remnants of the Vadhagh race, my folk. Tell me, are they all gone now?"
Lord Arkyn lowered his head. "All, save you."
"And cannot you restore them?"
"The Vadhagh were always the mortals I loved most, Prince Conun. But I have not the power to reverse the very cycle of time. You are the last of the Vadhagh. And yet…" Lord Arkyn paused. "And yet there might come a moment when the Vadhagh will return. But I see nothing clearly and I must speak no more of that."
Corum sighed. "Well, I must be content. And what of Shool? Is Rhalina safe?"
"I think so. My senses are still not capable of seeing all that happens and Shool was a thing of Chaos and is therefore much harder for me to see. But I believe that Rhalina is in danger, though Shool's power has waned with the passing of Arioch."
"Then send me, I beg you, to Svi-an-Fanla-Brool, for I love the Margravine."
"It is your capacity for love that makes you strong, Prince Corum."
"And my capacity for hate?"
"That directs your strength."
Lord Arkyn frowned, as if there was something he could not understand.
"You are sad in your triumph, Lord Arkyn? Are you always sad?"