Full of increasing anxiety were the days following my escape from Ea.
At dawn, while high in the shadowy Mountains of the Mist, I heard the
alarm beaten in the distant city below, and could just distinguish,
through the cloud of vapour, troops of horsemen leaving the brazen gates
to scour the country in search of me. Istar had, no doubt, recovered,
and, perhaps, had declared that I had made an attempt upon her life. A
determined effort would, I knew, be made to secure me; therefore, having
found the path I recognised as having before traversed, I pushed onward,
day by day, until I reached the ruins of the great temple which had held
me in wonderment when first I had entered that mysterious realm; then,
striking due north, through forest and fertile, park-like country, I
came to a river which I remembered was not far distant from the small,
half-concealed hole whence I had emerged. Proceeding along its sedgy
bank at early morning, I came round a sharp bend, espying, to my
amazement, a cluster of tents before me, and held back only just in time
to escape detection. Already my pursuers were ahead of me!
Nevertheless, taking a circuitous route, and sleeping in a tree that
night, my eyes, after long and diligent search, were gladdened by the
sight of the spot I sought.
As I stood before it, I reflected that, although I had defeated the evil
design of Istar, I was still in a position equally as perilous as
before, because of the raging, foaming torrent, which, descending from
the Lake of the Accursed through its funnel-like aperture, formed a
natural and insurmountable barrier to my freedom. Ea was indeed the
Land of the No Return.
I had eaten my frugal morning meal, and was about to leisurely enter the
long, natural chamber beneath the rock, and there decide upon some plan
of action, when suddenly the bright gleam of arms through the greenery
attracted my attention, and a moment later I found myself confronted by
two of Istar's soldiers, who had evidently been watching me.
They called upon me to surrender, at the same time shouting to their
comrades; but, without an instant's hesitation, I evaded their grasp and
scrambling up into the hole, plunged into the dark fissure and sped
quickly along over rocks and stones, heedless of where I went. Hurrying
footsteps sounded behind me, the voices of my eager pursuers echoing
loudly through the place, causing the flock of bats and birds nesting
there to fly out into the sunlight in a dense, screaming crowd, while I,
dashing onward, fled like a rat before a ferret.
The chase in the pitch darkness was long, wearying and desperate. It
was a race for life. By their voices I could distinguish that the
soldiers were gradually gaining upon me; yet, struggling on, now and
then falling and cutting my knees as I scrambled over the sharp rocks,
being always compelled to keep my hands stretched forth lest I should
stun myself against the rough sides of the natural passage. Still, I
was determined to hold out until the last, although not a single ray of
hope glimmered through the dispiriting gloom. Istar had told me that,
as bearer of the Mark of the Asps, I was doomed. Although I struggled
forward I had been compelled to abandon all hope of returning again to
Azala.
Close behind me were my pursuers, yelling like fiends. The place sent
back weird, unearthly echoes from its uneven, vaulted roof, yet, in the
utter darkness, they could not see me, but only pressed forward, eager
to run me to earth and ascertain the extent of the strange, unknown
grotto.
Suddenly I held my breath, feeling myself treading for an instant upon
air, and uttering a loud shriek when I realised the truth. I had
forgotten the great chasm into which I had so nearly fallen when last I
had passed there, and had now plunged headlong into it! Down, down, I
felt myself falling, until the fearful velocity with which I descended
rendered me giddy. Those moments in mid-air seemed an hour, until,
after dropping a long distance, I felt a sudden blow on the back that
drove the breath from my body and held me paralysed. I knew then that I
was lost.
When, a few minutes later, I again became conscious, I heard excited
voices far above uttering words of caution. My shriek had evidently
been noticed by my pursuers, who, surmising that some evil had befallen
me, halted, and feeling their way carefully forward, had discovered the
wide chasm which I had believed unfathomable. I was lying in soft dust
which, preventing any of my bones being broken, had also deadened the
sound when, long ago, I had cast stones into the pit to ascertain its
depth. Slowly I struggled to my feet, and finding myself uninjured,
began groping about in the darkness to ascertain the accurate dimensions
of the abyss. Half choked by the fine dust, I stumbled about, with
outstretched hands, but could discover neither sides nor roof, when
suddenly a soldier's robe, which had been saturated in some oil from a
lantern and was flaming, tumbled down upon the spot where I had fallen.
My pursuers had done this to ascertain the depth of the chasm.
The welcome light revealed to me that, instead of being in an abyss, I
had been precipitated into a lower and larger cavern, the roof of which
was hung with huge stalactites, glittering with prismatic fire, and of
dimensions so enormous that the fitful glare did not reveal its opposite
extremity.
Fortunately, in my efforts to discover the extent of the weird place, I
had advanced some little distance from the bottom of the pit, therefore
my pursuers saw me not.
"He hath vanished!" I heard one man cry. "Of a verity he is the
Destroyer, the son of Anu, whom to attempt to capture is as futile as
the endeavour to make water run up hill."
"He sprang into the gulf, and disappeared like a spirit," cried another,
as he peered over into the yawning chasm. "It was his intention that we
should follow and be dashed to pieces on the rocks. His cry alone saved
us."
"Come," I heard another voice exclaim, "let us leave this noisome abode
of Anu, or his hand may wither and destroy us as it destroyed the Temple
of Sin."
Soon the light died down to glowing tinder, and the voices, growing
fainter, were quickly lost in distant echoes.
I knew I was entombed. To search for any exit seemed hopeless.
Nevertheless, with a supplication to Allah to lighten his servant's
burdens, I tore a strip from my robe, unravelled it, and by blowing upon
the glowing tinder, obtained a light for my torch. Then, having
improvised several more torches in case of necessity, I started forward.
On every side was a cavernous blackness, so large was the natural
chamber into which I had fallen. Still I strove on, determined at least
to ascertain its true dimensions.
Presently I raised a loud shout, and listened. In a thousand distant
echoes my voice came back, showing that the cavern was of wondrous
extent. The ground was not uneven, though here and there were large
masses of rock, thrown up, as if by the same earthquake as had formed
the Lake of the Accursed, and, hurrying forward, I gazed about me to
discover something in the impenetrable blackness on every hand.
One fact alone gave me courage. The air was good, showing that
somewhere was an outlet to the world above.
Thus, with frantic effort, I struggled on, lighting a second torch, and
keeping straight ahead, until at last, to my dismay, I was confronted by
the damp wall of rock that formed the end of the cavern. Turning at
right angles, I walked beside this wall to ascertain the width of the
chamber, when, having proceeded about thirty paces, I discovered a
fissure, or tunnel-like passage of considerable width, which led away
into the deep gloom beyond.
Determined, at least, to explore its length, I plunged into it, holding
my torch high above my head. At first it descended slowly, then rose
with gradual ascent, sometimes narrowing, at others widening, until I
again came to a blank wall of rock.