"But sir!"
"Quickly, Nevitta! There is no time!"
Nevitta saluted reluctantly and withdrew.
"Help me with my harness, Alys," ordered Kieron forgetful of majesty.
"Kieron, you can't ride!"
"I have to ride, Alys. Listen to me. I drove a dagger into Freka three
times ... and he has not died! One man can tell us why, and we must
know. _That man is Geller of the Marshes!_"
* * * * *
Neg was a shambles. The advent of the Valkyrs had been a signal for the
brutish population to go mad. Mobs had thronged the streets, smashing,
killing and looting. The few Kalgan warriors left behind to guard
the city had had to aid the Valkyrs in restoring order. It seemed to
Kieron, as he rode along the now sullenly silent streets, that Kalgan
and Neg had been deliberately abandoned as having served a purpose. If
Freka still lived, as they said, then he was something unique among
men, and not meant for so unimportant a world as Kalgan.
Shops and houses had been gutted by fire. Goods of all kinds were
strewn about the streets, and here and there a body--twisted and
dismembered--awaited the harrassed burial detachments that roamed the
shattered megalopolis.
Kieron and Alys rode slowly toward the marshy slums of the lower city,
Nevitta following them at a short distance. The three war horses,
creatures bred to war and destruction, paced along easily, flaring
nostrils taking in the familiar smells of a ruined city.
Along the street of the Black Flames there was nothing left standing
whole. Every hovel, every tenement had been gutted and looted by the
mobs. Presently, Kieron drew rein before a shuttered shanty between two
structures of fire-blackened stone.
Nevitta rode up with a protest. "Why do you seek this beloved of
demons, Kieron?" he asked fearfully. "No good can come of this!"
Kieron stared at the shanty. It stared back at him with veiled
ghoulish eyes. The writhing mists shrouded the grey street in the
eternal twilight of Kalgan. Kieron felt his hands trembling on the
reins. This was the lair of the warlock.
The stench of the marshes was thick and now the mists turned to soft
rain. Kieron dismounted.
"Wait for me here," he ordered Nevitta and Alys.
With pounding heart, he drew his sword and started for the door that
gaped like the black mouth of a plague victim. Alys touched his elbow,
disregarding his instructions. Her eyes were bright with fear, but
she followed him closely. Secretly glad of her companionship, Kieron
breathed a prayer to his Valkyr gods and stepped inside....
The place was a wreck. Old books lay everywhere, ripped and tattered.
In a corner, someone had tried to make a bonfire of a pile of
manuscripts and broken furniture and had half succeeded.
"The mob has been here," Alys said succinctly.
Kieron led the way through the rubble toward the door of a back room.
Carefully, he pushed it ajar with the point of his blade. It creaked
menacingly, revealing another chamber--one filled with strange machines
and twisted tubes of glass. Great black boxes stood along one wall,
coils of bright wire running into the jumbled mass of shattered
machines that dominated the center of the room. The air of the cold,
silent room had a strange and unpleasant tang. The smell, thought the
Valkyr, of the Great Destroyer!
The tip of his sword touched one of the bright copper coils springing
from the row of black boxes along the wall, and a tiny blue spark
leaped up the blade. Kieron yanked his weapon away, his heart racing
wildly. A thin curl of smoke hung in the air, and the steel of the
blade was pitted. Kieron fought down the urge to run in terror.
"I'm afraid, Kieron!" whispered Alys, clinging to him.
Kieron took her hand and moved cautiously around the pile of broken
machinery. He found Geller then, and tried to stop Alys from seeing.
"The Great Destroyer he served failed him," Kieron said slowly.
The warlock was dead. The mob, terrified--and hating what they could
not understand--had killed him cruelly. The staring eyes mocked Kieron,
the blackened tongue lolled stupidly out of the dry lips. Geller's
mystery, thought Kieron, was still safe with him....
On the way out, Kieron stopped and picked up the remnants of a book of
sigils. It was incredibly old, for the characters on the cover were
those of the legendary First Empire. With some difficulty he made out
the title.
"'_Perpetually Regenerating Warps and their Application in Interstellar
Engines_'...."
The words meant nothing to him. He dropped the magic book and picked up
two others. This time his eyes widened.
"What is it, Kieron?" Alys asked fearfully.
"Long ago," Kieron said thoughtfully, "on Valkyr, it was said that the
ancients of the First Empire were familiar with the secrets of the
Great Destroyer...."
"That's true. That is why the Interregnum came, and the dark ages,"
said Alys.
"I wonder," mused Kieron looking at the books. "What was this Geller
known best for?"