Rackhir said grimly: "I serve neither Chaos nor Law! "
"One day you will be taught that neutrality is more dangerous than side-taking, renegade! " The harmonious voice was now almost vicious.
"You cannot harm me, " Rackhir said. "And if Elric returns with us to Tanelorn, then he, too, may rid himself of your evil yoke! "
"Elric is of Melnibone". The folk of Melnibone all serve Chaos-and are greatly rewarded: How else would you have rid this throne of Theleb K'aarna's demon?"
"Perhaps in Tanelorn Elric would have no need of his Ring of Kings, " Rackhir replied levelly.
There was a sound like rushing water, the boom of thunder and Arioch's form began to grow larger. But as it grew it also began to fade until there was nothing left in the hall but the stench of its garbage.
Elric dismounted and ran to the throne. Reaching
under it he drew out dead Urish's chest and hacked it open with Stormbringer. The sword murmured as if resenting the menial work. Gems, gold, artifacts scattered through the muck as Elric sought his ring.
And then at last he held it up in triumph, replacing it on his finger. His step was lighter as he returned to his horse.
Moonglum had in the meantime dismounted and was scooping the best of the jewels into his pouch. He winked at Rackhir, who smiled.
"And now, " Elric said, "I go to Troos to seek Theleb K'aarna there. I have still to take my vengeance upon him."
"Let him rot in Troos's sickly forest, " Moonglum said.
Rackhir placed a hand on Elric's shoulder. "If Theleb K'aarna hates you so, he will find you again. Why waste your own time in the pursuit?"
Elric smiled slightly at his old friend. "You were ever clever in your arguments, Rackhir. And it is true that I am weary-both gods and demons have fallen to my blade in the little while since I came to Nadsokor."
"Come, rest in Tanelorn-peaceful Tanelorn, where even the greatest Lords of the Higher Worlds cannot come without permission."
Elric looked down at the ring on his finger. "Yet I have sworn Theleb K'aarna shall perish...."
"There will be time yet to fulfil your oath."
Elric ran his hand through his milk-white hair and it seemed to his friends that there were tears in his crimson eyes.
"Aye, " he said. "Aye. Tune yet...."
And they rode away from Nadsokor, leaving the beggars to brood in the stink and the foulness and regret that they had aught to do with sorcery or with Elric of Melnibone. They rode for Eternal Tanelorn. Tanelorn, which
had welcomed and held all troubled wanderers who came upon it. All save one.
Doom-haunted, full of guilt, of sorrow, of despair, Elric of Melnibone prayed that this time Tanelorn might hold even him....
BOOK THREE
Three Heroes with a Single Aim
"... Elric, of all the manifestations of the Champion Eternal, was to find Tanelorn without effort. And of all those manifestations he was the only one to choose to leave that city of myriad incarnations..."
-The Chronicle of the Black Sword
CHAPTER ONE
Tanelorn Eternal
Tanelorn had taken many forms in her endless existence, but all those forms, save one, had been beautiful.
She was beautiful now, with the soft sunlight on her pastel towers and her curved turrets and domes. And banners flew from her spires, but they were not battle banners, for the warriors who had found Tanelorn and had stayed there were weary of war.
She had been here always. None knew when Tanelorn had been built, but some knew that she had existed before Tune and would exist after the end of Time and that was why she was known as Eternal Tanelorn.
She had played a significant role in the struggles of many heroes and many gods and because she existed beyond Tune she was hated by the Lords of Chaos who had more than once sought to destroy her. To the north of her lay the rolling plains of Ilmiora, a land where justice was known to prevail, and to the south of her lay desolation which was the Sighing Desert, endless wasteland over which hissed a constant wind. If Ilmiora represented Law, then the Sighing Desert certainly mirrored something of the barrenness of Ultimate Chaos. Those who dwelled in her had loyalty neither to Law nor to Chaos and they had chosen to have no part in the Cosmic Struggle which was waged continuously by the Lords of the Higher Worlds. There were no leaders and there were no followers in Tanelorn and her citizens lived in harmony with each other, even
though many had been warriors of great reputation before they chose to stay there. But one of the most admired citizens of Tanelorn, one who was often consulted by the others, was Rackhir of the ascetic features who had once been a fierce warrior-priest in P'hum where he had gained the name of the Red Archer because his skill with a bow was great and he dressed all in scarlet. His skill and his dress remained the same, but his urge to fight had left him since he had come to live in Tanelorn.
Close to the low west wall of the city lay a house of two storeys surrounded by a lawn in which grew all manner of wild flowers. The house was of pink and yellow marble and, unlike most of the other dwellings in Tanelorn, it had a tall, pointed roof. This was Rackhir's house and Rackhir sat outside it now, sprawled on a bench of plain wood while he watched his guest pace the lawn. The guest was his old friend the tormented albino Prince of Melnibone.
Elric wore a simple white shirt and britches of heavy black silk. He had a band of the same black silk tied around his head to keep back the mane of milk-white hair which grew to his shoulders. His crimson eyes were downcast as he paced and he did not look at Rackhir at all.
Rackhir was unwilling to intrude upon his friend's reverie and yet he hated to see Elric as he was now. He had hoped that Tanelorn would comfort the albino, drive away the ghosts and the doubts inhabiting his skull, but it seemed that even Tanelorn could not bring Elric tranquillity.
At last Rackhir broke his silence. "It has been a month since you came to Tanelorn, my friend, yet still you pace, still you brood."
Elric looked up with a slight smile. "Aye-still I brood. Forgive me, Rackhir. I am a poor guest."
"What occupies your thoughts?"
"No particular subject. It seems that I cannot lose myself in all this peace. Only violent action helps me
drive away my melancholy. I was not meant for Tanelorn, Rackhir."
"But violent action-or the results of it-produces further melancholy does it not?"
"It is true. It is the dilemma with which I live constantly. It is a dilemma I have been in since the burning of Imrryr-perhaps before."
"It is a dilemma known to all men, perhaps, " Rackhir said. "At least to some degree."
"Aye-to wonder what purpose there is to one's existence and what point there is to purpose, even if it should be discovered."
"Tanelorn makes such problems seem meaningless to me, " Rackhir told him. "I had hoped that you, too, would be able to dismiss them from your thoughts. Will you stay on in Tanelorn?"
"I have no other plans. I still thirst for vengeance upon Theleb K'aarna, but I now have no idea of his whereabouts. And, as you or Moonglum told me, Theleb K'aarna is sure to seek me out sooner or later. I remember once, when you first found Tanelorn, you suggested that I bring Cymoril here and forget Melnibone. I wish I had listened to you then, Rackhir, for now, I think, I would know peace and Cymoril's dead face would not be infesting my nights."