"The room pleases you, Lord?"
"Well enough," I answered shortly.
To my utter amazement she laughed and flung back her head, so that for the first time we saw clearly the face beneath her tangled mass of copper curls. Anatan rose to his feet with a sharp cry of mixed discovery and chagrin.
"Analia!"
"Even so, brother." Again she laughed. Then, going to our right, she twitched the curtain hanging there. Thran stepped forth, all signs of drunkenness gone from him, again the keen, masterful figure I had seen that morning in the Hall of the Nine Princes.
And he led Da by the hand, but now there was a subtle difference in her bearing as if beneath her paint lay hidden another identity.
"Do you not know me, Lord Garan?" she asked softly.
And immediately I was on my knees, staring open-mouthed into that hideously defiled face, for it was my Lady Thrala who stood there, disguised beneath the paint and garish robes of the women of Arct.
She turned to Thran with a smile. "We are better mummers than we had thought, my Lord. Nay, Garan, I am not the Da you saw before. Ha and Lania are—elsewhere for this hour. We take their places. The real Da is somewhat different—"
"Which is not surprising," observed Thran dryly, since she is a creature of Kepta's. Now let us get down to business. The hours fly only too swiftly when danger spins the world."
Chapter Five
The Taking of Thrala
"Is it altogether wise to speak here?" demanded Zacat bluntly. "Walls of pleasure palaces are reputed to possess more than one set of ears."
"Not here. This room is safe. Ha and Kepta have seen to that, for it serves their purposes at times,'* answered Thran. "And what has happened to the Lord of Ru that he has developed so suspicious a mind?"
"Naught—that I can lay hand to," he growled.
"Naught that you can lay hand to. That may be well said of all of us. And yet for two years you, Lord Garan, have pried and spied in closed ways. Even in distant Gorl there has been uneasiness in the air. Nor are we wrong, any of us"—his voice rose triumphantly—"for this very place wherein we sit gives lie to the confident peace of our world. Do you know who is behind Ila, who so subtly planned each soul-tarnishing joy of this muckheap? Kepta, the Koomian! He, who this very morning attemped to involve you with the council, Lord Garan, and so rid himself of one who was beginning to suspect too much.
"That night-demon Da is his match for twisted wits and this whole wonder box her trap to capture those Kepta wishes, Kanddon of Stal, Palkun, and all the rest. And who are we who are not yet blinded, who can still see clearly enough to turn aside from Kepta and all his works? A handful against a world. Some twenty of my caste, the Lord of Ru, you and your young aide here. And whom can you lean upon?"
"Frankly no one except those you have named. My entire corps is pervaded by a taint to which I can lay no name. In my mind the whole of Yu-Lac is rotted by some vile distemper."
"For Yu-Lac substitute Krand and you will be nearer the truth. Kepta has built better than even he guesses. For, if he knew his power, we would all suddenly cease to be. To be plain, Kepta has been an earnest seeker after what we know as the 'Dark Knowledge' and he is very pleased with the powers which have answered his summoning, so pleased that he wishes to make all Krand partake of his joy."
"We have been at fault, we Learned Ones," broke in Thrala. "Too long have we drifted, losing interest in everything but the depths of our own learning. Had we been alert, sentries against the forces of the Outer Dark as we were in the older days, this evil would not have come among us. Would See-leen, the founder of our race, have suffered Kepta to live one hour beyond the discovery of his practices?"
"You forget"—there was sadness in Thran's rich voice— "See-leen headed a united people. What army follows us? Nay, we must fight alone, perhaps a losing fight."
"And how do you propose we fight?" Zacat cut in. "By force of arms? I think Kepta has more potent weapons."
"Just so. Therefore we must penetrate his defenses by guile, for, before we lay our plans, we must know the purpose and place of his attack. One of us must enter Koom."
"Impossible," I said curtly.
"Why?"
"Do you think that I haven't tried it?" I rounded on him. Learned or no, I knew my duty and had always performed it to the best of my ability. "When I took leave three months ago I made a personal attempt. I returned no wiser. With this—" I unbuckled my war cloak and pulled it away from my throat to expose a thin blue scar line. "That was to be a death blow."
"So." Thran eyed me intently. "I did not know of that"
"Nor anyone else until now. What man is proud of failure?"
"But our problem remains," said the Gorlian.
Inrala shook her head. "To the contrary, it is solved."
"What do you mean?"
"That I shall go to Koom. Kepta will not suspect me. Why should he? Have I not kept apart from all laboratory work, shown no interest in knowledge seeking, so that even my father thinks me a discredit to our caste? I will go to Koom for a pleasant adventure and its Master will suspect nothing." .
"Nay!" The word burst from between my lips with the force of a sword thrust. "You cannot do it! If what I suspect of Koom is true, no clean living mortal dares to venture there and hope to come forth again unbesmirched. Kepta plays with pitch."
"And who is Lord Garan to say me aye or nay?"
Surely then, in that one wild moment, I must have revealed my jealously guarded secret for all the world to gape at.
"The humblest of your many servants, Royal Lady. Yet even I dare to say no to your will in this matter."
"He is right enough," agreed Zacat heavily. "Koom is no place for a woman."
Thran nodded in agreement. But Thrala was unconvinced. What further arguments she would have brought forward to bolster up her plan, we never knew, for suddenly from the domed roof above us came the soft tones of a chime. Thran and Thrala froze and then looked at each other with eyes in which excitement burned like a flame.
"That is a warning," said the Gorlian. "Someone is coming along the passage. We must go."
"The inner corridor," suggested Thrala. "Show them, Thran."
He arose and stepped to the curtain from behind which he and Thrala had entered. The bare wall split into halves, revealing a narrow door through which we squeezed, one by one. .
"You get through, Thran," whispered Thrala. "Remember, a woman's voice alone closes this portal."
Obediently he joined us in the corridor beyond but the Lady Thrala did not follow. Instead the halves came to with a snap, and we were left bewildered in the dark. Thran flung himself at that blank wall.
"It's the rankest folly!" he stormed. "She cannot play Da well enough to deceive any of that woman's intimates."
At his words I comprehended for the first time the trick Thrala had played upon us. Having rid the room of us, she was about to face the newcomer, whomever he might be. My shoulder was beside Thran's in a futile attack upon that stubborn door.
Someone dug fiercely at my back with long nails.
"Let be!" It was Analia screaming in my ear. "This door opens Ht the sound of a voice alone. Let me try."
Accordingly, Thran and I stepped back, granting her the position she demanded. We kept silent while.she repeated some formula in the high, shrill voice that was Lania's.
A dark crack appeared lengthwise and with its coming we could both see and hear what passed in the Chamber of the Grippons. I, for one, was not surprised to see Kepta's dark handsome face with its faintly sneering smile. But behind him stood another. Thran clutched my arm.
"Da!"
The real Ha it was, the Ila of the white and black chamber, with her starved body and glorious hair, her painted face and her spite-filled voice. Facing her, proudly erect, was Thrala. Two lias, yet how different.
"—an unexpected pleasure," Kepta's smooth tones ran on. "The Lady Ila is honored that you should find pleasure in wearing the type of d
ress she has introduced to Yu-Lac. Yet I fear that we must be rude enough to ask the cause of this delightful meeting—"
Da put an end to his baiting of Thrala, for she had seen the telltale billowing of the curtain across the secret door where we crouched. These tapestries had been woven so that they were transparent to those behind them but solid to those within the room.
"Fool!" she spat at Kepta. "She is not alone. Get her away—"
At that I ripped aside the curtain and sprang forward, sword in hand, but I was too late. For Kepta, with the quickness of one of those tree reptiles which inhabit the forests of Qur, jerked Thrala toward him and thrust her fighting form into Ha's merciless arms. He met my attack by spinning the divan across my path.
I went down, cursing, and a moment later Thran and Zacat were on me. But I caught a glimpse of Anatan hurtling our bodies and now but two paces behind the Koomian.
Raging savagely I gained my feet. Zacat, bellowing vengeance, was already off and I was not far behind him. But we had not far to go, for rounding a turn in the corridor we came upon Anatan beating furiously at the wall with fist and sword hilt.
"They passed through herel" he cried as we came up to him.
But on the smooth curve of the wall there was no mark of door. There Thran and Analia found us bafiled. The Learned One had mastered his rage.
"They have fled to Koom," he announced with finality. "Only in Koom will they be safe, for they know all Yu-Lac will be aroused against them."
"Koom it is." I admitted the force of his argument. "It is well that—"
I turned when he caught my wrists. "Where are you going?"
"To Koom."
"How?"
"I have a flier—"
He interrupted at once. "They would bring you down within six miles of their sea wall. There is another way."
"And that?"
"Through that place where you saw the dancers of Qur. That hall is part of the ancient Ways of Darkness, the corridors hollowed out beneath the shell of Krand by those entities who labored here before man came to rule. The way to Koom is there for that man who dares to take it."
"I dare any road," I returned hotly.
Zacat showed his yellow teeth. "With good steel in hand a man may pick and choose his road. When do we start?"
Thran drew a sheaf of writing leaves from his belt pouch and held them out to me. "Make out a request for instant leave for you and Zacat—"
"Anatan also!" cried the boy. "Nay," he added, seeing dissent in my face, "I will go if I must follow after in your tracks."
"For the three of you then. I will see that it reaches the proper authorities. We must have provisions and weapons—"
Zacat touched his sword but Thran shook his head.
"Some of the dangers we must face, if legend speaks true, are to be met with something more potent than steel."
"So?" I broke in. "Well, the resources of my office lie open to us. Give me half an hour within the great armory and I swear I can provide us with the means of leveling all Koom to dust."
It was Analia who made the decision for us. "Let Lord Garan return to his armory and get the weapons he has spoken of. I will see him through the private ways. And an hour before dawn we will meet in the tenth court. You go with Lord Garan, Anatan."
"An hour before dawn? So long?" I demanded, ever seeing Thrala struggling in the bony arms of that she-demon and Kepta's slow smile hinting of nameless evils. To go about calmly, collecting weapons, provisions— Every throbbing nerve within me rebelled wildly. I wished to rush in upon the Master of Koom, to slay and slay until the red blood bubbled across the floor. The knowledge that Koom lay a hundred air miles off our coast, and that it would be longer by the Ways, did nothing to temper my impatience.
"He dare not harm her," Thran said quietly. "Nor would he if he could."
"You mean?"
"Today he asked the Emperor for Thrala as his mate."
My fingers curled as if to seek a shadowy throat. Never had my hatred of Kepta been so intense. That creeper in the dark to aspire to—her! I smiled and saw Analia shrink from that smile.
"Another score between us," I muttered and then added aloud, "Of your kindness, show me these private ways of yours, mistress. The sooner I am about my business, the sooner we can march upon the spoor of this hunter of the Pit"
"An hour before dawn in the tenth court," Thran reminded us.
I nodded curtly and, with Anatan, followed the quickwitted Analia from the room. By diverse winding, hidden ways hollowed in the walls, we stumbled after her. I learned later that from the first those three, Thran, Thrala, and Analia, had watched the building of the pleasure palace, having guessed its purpose. The master designer of its wonders had parted with his own set of plans for a price. Plans wherein each secret lay plainly marked. For whole days and nights at a time since its opening, Thrala and Analia had played their parts within its walls, coming and going with ease through passages that Kepta and Ha thought known only to themselves.
We came out at last into a narrow alley, ill-lit and deserted.
"Mark this place well," Analia bade us as she let us out. "When you return here, tap three times with your sword hilt. Now go quickly before you are sighted."
Once out of that dark lane Anatan had little difficulty in finding the way to the public landing stage where we had left the flier. We had little time, for already the city was quieting down for the few hours of slumber before sunrise. I was, I will admit, taking small notice of the street along which we hurried, for my thoughts were intent upon the contents of my military storehouse and I was mentally listing those weapons and accouterments which would prove of greatest service to us.
Thus it happened that the first warning I had of trouble was when a raving, slavering something charged at me out of an opening between two buildings. I strove to draw my sword, but abandoned the effort at once. There was no time for steel.
I caught a fleeting glimpse of my attacker before he closed with me. His features were set in the horrible rigidity of the rait user. Foam dribbled from his cracked lips. His crooked fingers were extended ready to dig at my eyes, a favorite form of attack of those whom rait turns into beasts. And, to my added horror, I saw that he wore the trappings of an under officer in my own force.
My startled cry and the shrieks of my attacker brought Anatan around too late. Fast clasped as I was in the fellow's grip, he dared not strike for fear of wounding me.
I braced myself against the shock of meeting and managed to get in a sharp blow upon the side of his throat just before his stubby fingers dug and tore at the flesh of my neck above the edge of my corselet. It was that one blow which must have saved me, for it landed, more by the luck of fate than by any intention of mine, upon a nerve and so momentarily checked him.
With a crash of body armor we landed on the pavement, my attacker still tearing at my throat, while I, wriggling like a serpent of the outer sea, strove to free myself from his hold. With a snap his stained teeth came together a scant half inch from my flesh and I realized with a mixture of fear and horror that I was struggling in the hands of one of those unfortunates whom rait turns into carnivorous hunters. I was only meat to appease his ravenous and unnatural hunger.
Now freed from the first shock of surprise, I caught his wrists in one of those holds taught by the Lapidians, by which they can force a man to break his own bones. The thing astride me howled and snapped again, this time grazing my skin.
I bore down upon his wrists and then his teeth closed upon my left hand, piercing it to the bone. By the Grace of On, I managed to hold my grip long enough for Anatan to come to my rescue. With all his force he brought the heavy pommel of his dress sword down upon the rait smoker's unprotected head.
The man blinked and sighed, then rolled away from me. I was able to scramble up unsteadily. Blood dripped from my wounded hand to spatter on the pavement. But to my utter amazement we were alone. The noise of our fight and the cries of my attacker had brought no one.
I looked about the deserted street and then at Anatan. He nodded soberly and I knew that the same thought which whirled through my dizzy head occupied him also. We had been set upon by design.
Someone had laid a trap and we had walked heavy-footed into it. The rait smoker had been placed there for our disadvantage.
"Let him lie." Anatan jerked his head toward the limp body of my late opponent. "We had better reach the flier while we are still able."
Agreeing heartily, I twisted the corner of my cloak about my bloody hand and we took to our heels in earnest. Though we passed into more brilliantly-lighted and well-peopled avenues we did not slacken our pace. Shortly we were panting up the ramp to the landing stage.
There we must wait while the sleepy attendant brought out our flier. And I, for one, did not breathe freely again until we were both within the narrow confines of its closed cabin.
"Make for the armory," I directed Anatan, "and land on its roof. I shall take no more chances this night. When we return, try to make a landing within that alley."
"Difficult business," he commented.
"But better than another meeting with a rait smoker. And it can be done by a careful man."
A second later our landing gear touched upon the flat roof of the squat armory wherein were kept the secrets of my force for the protection of all Yu-Lac.
Chapter Six
The Ways of Darkness
By the mist of light from the tiny radium rod I carried in my belt pouch I located the trap door covering the ramp which led from the roof. Around my neck night and day I wore the key which unlocked this and every other door within the confines of the military quarter. I now put this to use.
But it required Anatan's strength as well as mine to raise that ponderous slab of metal-bound stone and lay it back upon the roof. Again my radium rod came into use, lighting the thick dark below us.
Having in mind just which storerooms I wished to plunder, I sped down the ramp and through the maze of narrow corridors it gave upon, until, at last, I came to a door marked with a broad scarlet strip. I unlocked this, my fingers trembling so that the key clinked against the lock plate, for I firmly believed that I was running a race with time itself,