Elak got to his feet, rubbing his head ruefully. At sight of the Druid
his face changed. Without a word he nodded to Lycon and moved toward the
door.
The three went out into the night.
_2. Dragon Throne._
Now we are come to our Kingdom,
And the Crown is ours to take--
With a naked sword at the Council board,
And under the throne the snake,
_Now we are come to our Kingdom!_
--Kipling.
"I bring you a throne," Dalan said, "but you must hold it with your
blade."
They stood at the end of a jetty, looking out at the moonlit harbor
waters. The clamor of Poseidonia seemed far away now.
Elak stared at the hills. Beyond them, leagues upon leagues to the
north, lay a life he had put behind him. A life he had given up when he
left Cyrena to gird on an adventurers blade. In Elak's veins ran the
blood of the kings of Cyrena, northernmost kingdom of Atlantis. And, but
for a fatal quarrel with his stepfather, Norian, Elak would have been on
the dragon throne even then. But Norian had died, and Elak's brother,
Orander, took the crown.
Elak said, "Orander rules Cyrena. Do you ask me to join a rebellion
against my brother?" An angry light showed in the adventurer's cold
eyes.
"Orander is dead," the Druid said quietly. "Elak, I have a tale to tell
you, a tale of sorcery and black evil that has cast its shadow over
Cyrena. But first--" He fumbled in his shapeless brown robe and drew
forth a tiny crystal sphere. He cupped it in his palm, breathed upon it.
The clear surface clouded, misted--and the fog seemed to permeate the
entire globe. The Druid held a ball of whirling gray cloud in his hand.
Within the sphere a picture grew, microscopic but vividly distinct. Elak
peered closely. He saw a throne, and a man who sat upon it.
"South of Cyrena, beyond the mountains, lies Kiriath," Dalan said.
"Sepher ruled it. And now Sepher still sits upon his throne, but he is
no longer human."
In the globe the face of Sepher sprang out in startling clarity.
Involuntarily Elak drew back, his lips thinning. At a casual glance
Sepher seemed unchanged, a black-bearded, bronzed giant with the keen
eyes of a hawk, but Elak knew that he looked upon a creature loathsome
beyond anything on earth. It was not evil, as he knew it, but a thing
beyond good and evil as it was beyond humanity or deity. A Presence from
Outside had touched Sepher and taken Kiriath's king for its own. And
Elak knew this was the most horrible being he had ever seen.
Dalan hid the crystal. He said coldly, "Out of the unknown has come a
being named Karkora. What he is I know not. I have cast the runes, and
they say little to me. The altar fires have whispered of a shadow that
will come upon Cyrena, a shadow that may spread over all Atlantis.
Karkora, the Pallid One, is not human, nor is he a demon. He is--alien,
Elak."
"What of my brother?" the adventurer asked.
"You have seen Sepher," Dalan said. "He is possessed, a vessel of this
entity called Karkora. Ere I left Orander, he, too, had--changed."
A muscle twitched in Elak's brown cheek. The Druid went on.
"Orander saw his doom. Day by day the power of Karkora over him
increased, and the soul of your brother was driven further into the
outer dark. He died--by his own hand."
Elak's face did not change expression. But for minutes he was silent, a
deep sorrow in his gray eyes.
Lycon turned to look out across the sea.
The Druid went on, "Orander sent a message to you, Elak. You, in all
Atlantis, are of the royal line of Cyrena. Yours, therefore, is the
crown. It will not be easy to hold. Karkora is not defeated. But my
magic will aid you."