Monster Of The Maze

Chapter 12

Blade was a royal prisoner and treated as such. For near a month he had been a captive of the Hitts, and he still did not know their intentions toward him. He knew his own intentions-escape as soon as possible. If possible. And it might be. He glanced at the pile of sewn-together skins in a corner of his hut and smiled. Just possible-if his crude balloon worked and the Hitts did not kill him first.

Thane was dead. Poor Thane. He had been right all along, as had Ogier. Ogier had taken the army and retreated across the narrow water after laying waste to as much of the coastal area as time permitted. He had destroyed both pontoons.

Blade left the hut and wandered across the stone plateau to the edge of the escarpment. In effect, the hut was a penthouse and he marooned in it. They kept him prisoner atop a tower of sandstone five hundred feet high and falling sheer on every side. There were higher cliffs around and he was watched from them. Now and then a leather-man glided across the plateau, checked on him and dropped to a lower peak. It was a most efficient prison.

He went to a jumble of rocks near the precipice and seated himself on a boulder. The air was clear and cold and he could see for miles. He gazed south and held up a wetted finger to test the air. And smiled a little. The wind was to the south again today and that made eighteen days out of twenty-five that it had been so. He had been counting them.

Before him rolled line after line of jagged peaks, stone fangs with snow in their jaws overlooking dark and twisting valleys. Nearby, below him and spreading all around the plateau were the caves and houses of the Hitts, carven from the soft sandstone. Thousands of chambers and apartments dug out of the living rock and reached by a complicated system of wooden ladders. Scattered throughout the valleys were bee-hive huts carved from the same soft rock.

There came a faint hissing overhead. Blade glanced up in time to see a leather-man glide over, the hostile blue eyes staring down at him. Odd, he thought, that they can make gliders and put men into them, and yet do not conceive of a balloon. For they did not, else they would not have permitted him the skins and the needles and sinew and rawhide. They did not guess at what he was up to-or did they? Were the Hitts playing games with him?

As he gazed at the far horizon the thoughts came unbidden. Blade groaned softly and knotted his forehead in anguish. He tried not to think it, but the haunting would not be denied. The thoughts came when they would and it was always painful. He had been a fool and he was paying for it. But poor Thane had paid for it too, and therein lay the greater suffering.

They had found the tunnel leading from the beach, and Thane, suffering direly from wine, had tried a last time to beg off the venture, to dissuade Blade.

«There are other and safer ways to come at Bloodax and the diamonds,» he said. They stood in a vast cavern into which the first tunnel had led them. The party was of Blade and Thane, the girl Sariah and twenty men found sober enough to understand and obey. They all carried torches.

Thane waved his torch toward a dozen dark passages leading from the cavern. «How are we to know which one Bloodax used? Or where he lies now? It is my guess that he will not linger, but will escape into his mountains and form a new army. But that is only a guess. He and his warriors may be lying in wait for us around any bend. This is too chancy, Blade.»

Blade was stubborn, perhaps wrong. He knew it and yet would not be deterred. If he did not take Loth Bloodax speedily he would not take him at all. If he waged an orthodox campaign he would soon be ensnared in the treacherous terrain, in the valleys and mountains, and might never come up with the Hitt chief, might never reach the treasure he sought. Thane was right. It was chancy. But Blade deemed it the only way.

«We will push on, he said. «We will split into small, separate parties and scout carefully in these tunnels. Use the line we brought from the ships to guide us back to this place. There must be no fighting, no engagement, if the enemy is sighted. He who does so will return here at once and warn the others. When we have found Bloodax, if he is here, I will determine a plan to take him.»

Thane groaned. «I wish I had wine. I would not mind this foolishness so much if I had wine.»

The girl Sariah spoke then. «I have been through this place once when I was small and played with my brother on the beach. There is one tunnel that goes for miles and comes into a valley that in turn leads into the mountains.»

«That would be it,» Blade said. «I'll wager it. Which tunnel, Sariah?»

She pointed it out and they entered. A hundred yards into the tunnel they found a Hitt dead of wounds. Thane moved the body with his foot. «They came this way, right enough. But what of it-we have but twenty men and they not at their best. Nor am I. That leaves you and a girl.» He glowered at Sariah. «And I am not sure I would trust her.»

The girl stared at them and shrugged. «I cannot force trust on you. I care not.»

Blade studied her and could read nothing in her eyes or on her face. Thane was probably in the right of it, but it was a chance that must be taken.

«I have told the truth,» Sariah said. «This tunnel leads into a valley, and that valley leads into the mountains and to the place of the Hitt kings. I saw it as a child and I have never forgotten. Do as you will.»

« You are no more than a child now,» growled Thane, «and since you have gotten your belly full and are safe from rape you are a snotty child!» He raised his hand.

«Forego that,» ordered Blade. «We will push on. Sariah will go first, as far as possible ahead of us and still in sight.» He gave a command to a bowman. «Keep her well in view. If she seeks to escape, to run, kill her.»

Sariah smiled.

It was very cold on the plateau. Blade's fingers and lips were numb and blue. He went back to his hut and huddled by the fire.

He was still not positive that Sariah had led them into the trap. There was no proof and how could she have known that Loth Bloodax and his men were lying in wait?

They had pushed on for half an hour before entering another cavern. The floor was littered and jumbled with stone pillars and there were ledges all about the cavern. Sariah, carrying a torch, advanced beyond the center and pointed to another tunnel leading away. «This one.»

The Hitts struck them. They came yelling from the ledges and behind the pillars and in the semigloom and confusion it was soon over. Blade and Thane fought back to back and slew a dozen Hitts before rope nets were tossed over them and they went down. They were trussed up and lashed to poles and carried off. The Hitts cut off the heads of Blade's men and stuck them on lances. There was no sign of Sariah.

Blade went now to his fire and poked it up. He added more wood. The Hitts fed him well and kept him well supplied with wood and all other things for which he asked. That Bloodax had plans for him Blade did not doubt, though what those plans were he could not begin to guess. In the meantime he was treated well and his wishes indulged. He regarded the pile of skins he was fashioning into a balloon and the rawhide tube that would conduct the smoke into it. Blade smiled. It was simple enough. The Hitts could not dream of a balloon any more than an ordinary person in Home Dimension could dream of Dimension X. They might puzzle at Blade's demands and think him a bit mad, but they would never guess at what he was making. Until the moment came to use it. That would be risky. He had not forgotten the leather-men. They would be after him.

He sat cross-legged and began to sew, and thoughts of Thane came back. The big man had been recognized and condemned immediately to die as a traitor, as a Hitt who had deserted to the Zirnians. Blade, held in isolation in a bee-hive hut, had been told nothing but that Thane was to die a traitor's death. And that he must watch it.

Blade put away his needle. He had tears in his eyes and he was not ashamed of them. His fault. All his fault. Thane had been a drunk and a hard man to handle, but he had been loyal. At engineering he had been a genius by Zirnian standards. But most of all he had been Blade's friend.

Blade had watched. They took him to the place of execution in a valley. Loth Bloodax was there and the man called Galligantus, though Blade was not permitted near them. He near forgot Bloodax, for he so longed to be at the throat of Galligantus, a lean and sinewy man with a mean, pinched face and eyes like dull diamonds. Galligantus who was victor in the end.

Thane died well. He spat in the face of Galligantus. Blade shouted in fury and frustration and was gagged. He willed himself not to watch it and failed. He looked. He had to look.

It was explained to him. The punishment for traitors was the Death of Five Strokes. Galligantus had begged to be executioner and his wish had been granted.

Thane's left hand was struck off. Then his left foot. Then his right hand and right foot. He was left to grovel in the dirt, his face twisting in agony. He did not scream and he tried as best he could, scrabbling on bloody stubs, to get to Galligantus. At the very last he spat again.

Galligantus stepped near and cut off his head.

The head of Thane was stuck on a pole and brought to Blade, and he was made to look at it for an hour. His mind turned at the end of the time and he thought he saw Thane grin and ask for wine. After that he became dizzy and sick and only half aware of what went on. When he came to himself again he was in the hut on his plateau prison. He lay ill for a week, sometimes raving, only dimly sensing that people came and went and that he was being cared for. He was sure he dreamt, and then not so sure, that a girl tended him. Once, in a moment of lucidity, she called herself Lisma and said that she was daughter of Loth Bloodax. Another time, though of this he was never positive, he thought she made love to him, that she aroused him and had her fill of him and he half conscious.

Blade heard the trapdoor rise and clatter and put his needle away. He pushed the pile of skins back into a corner. He had not dreamt it all-her name was Lisma and she was daughter to Bloodax and she had made love to him then. And many times since. Lisma came to him three times a week. Her purpose, as she explained without guile, was to become pregnant. It was Hitt logic, Dimension-X fantasy, and Blade could not fault it. It was pleasant enough and it killed the time. He did not like her, nor trust her, and it did not matter. No doubt she felt the same way about him. She was, Lisma explained, only being dutiful to her father's wishes when she came to him.

Now, as he watched her fit the trapdoor back into place and start toward the hut, Blade determined to force the issue. He must have an audience with Loth Bloodax. So far he had been denied this, for Bloodax showed little interest in his prisoner, and with every day Blade grew more frustrated and enraged. How could he cozen Bloodax, or win him over, if he could not come to see him!

He stepped away from the door and bowed as Lisma entered. She bore her usual grave and unsmiling look. She was a small girl, fragile in bone, with a tiny waist and slim legs and large breasts that belied the rest of her. She brushed past Blade and went directly to a chair and perched on the edge of it like a wary bird.

Lisma Bloodax was in her early twenties, at his guess. She had the blue eyes and flaxen hair of her race. Her teeth were good and she wore her hair long to her waist, caught up behind with a band of beaded leather. The Hitt women, at least some of them, covered their breasts. Lisma wore a bandeau of soft worked leather. Her midriff was bare and she wore tight breeches to her knees. On her feet were high-laced buskins with long, curling toes.

Lisma put her chin in her hand and stared at Blade. «You are well? You wish for anything?»

He smiled. Every visit began with the same inquiry.

«I am well and I want for nothing-save for an audience with your father. How much longer am I to be kept in solitary on this crag, Lisma? I find it most strange. Does your father not want to see his prisoner? I would have thought he would-if only to take his revenge at first hand. I am not a common soldier, you know. It was I who defeated him and smashed his army. Has he no curiosity about such a man?»

Lisma said, «My father's greatest curiosity is that I am not yet pregnant. He begins to think that your seed is poor. Galligantus swears it so and also swears that you are no god. He took the girl Sariah to wife but three short weeks ago and already her monthly blood does not flow. Galligantus asks every day that he be allowed to kill you.»

Sariah had married Galligantus. She was a Hitt to the core and had led them into the trap.

Blade went to crouch by the fire and eye Lisma. «And what does your father say?»

Lisma shrugged. «Every day he says no. He still believes you a god-for how else could you have defeated him? — and he wants me pregnant by you. If it is a son, it will be at least half a god and bring the Hitts luck in everything-war and peace, crops, rain when we need it, strong children and bold leaders. He bids Galligantus hold his peace-at times they come near to quarrel over it. But we are wasting time, Blade. I have not all day for this. Put your man weapon in me and have done.»

It struck Blade that he had been missing a bet. He had not been thinking right. He put thought into action at once. He went to her and, as she would have moved to the pallet to lie for him, he caught her to him and kissed her hard. He had never kissed her before.

At first she struggled. He crushed her to him and sought her lips and kissed her until she went limp in his arms. Her tongue crept into his mouth and began to respond.

«I will show you something of loving,» Blade muttered. He carried her to the pallet. She was a simple little thing, a savage, and if he could not get around her he had no business in Dimension X. Why had he not thought of it before?

When he had done with Lisma she lay limp and gasping, her eyes soft as she caressed his face. Blade thought briefly of the Princess Hirga, whom he could never satisfy or dominate. Something wrong there-something he meant to discover, if and when he ever got back to Zir.

Lisma peered up at him through half-closed lids. «I near to swooned, Blade. How is it that I never felt like this before? I saw visions and my spirit fled this room and into the skies. How is it? Why have I not known such pleasure before?»

«Because you have not loved before,» said Blade. «and I did not love. Now we both love and want each other and it is different. You will be pregnant soon, Lisma.»

Her fingers toyed with his dark beard. «Do we love? I had no thought of that. You are a prisoner, even if a god, and I am the daughter of a king.»

«I had not thought of it either,» said Blade. «Now I know. I love you, Lisma, and you love me. We have found our destiny.»

He met her glance without difficulty. It was no great task. He had faked love many times before.

He did not give her time to think. He entered her again and for an hour rang every sexual change he knew. When she left him she had promised to arrange an audience with her father as soon as possible. When he walked with her to the trapdoor she clung to him and whispered, «I will have you out of this place soon, Blade. You will be consort and lover to me. We cannot marry, for Hitt law does not permit marriage to a foreigner, but we will be together. I vow it.»

«Beware of Galligantus,» said Blade, «for I think he is my real enemy.»

She stood on tiptoe to kiss him. «I have my father's right ear-Galligantus has only his left.»

Blade went back to sew on his balloon. His spirits were back and he felt more alert and confident than in weeks. The old Blade was back. No more bewailing the past and blaming himself. What was past was done and could not be changed. Look to the future. Look to himself.

That night the crystal worked again for the first time since his capture. The computer, meaning Lord L, was worried about his mental condition, more so than his present physical peril, for based on past performance he would somehow extricate himself.

Blade concentrated long enough to tell them of his plans, of the balloon, and then had the best night's sleep in many a day. The following morning they came for him.

He was not bound or chained. He walked inside a square of armed guards. He was taken down through passages and stairs and out into a valley, past crowds of staring Hitts, to a cavern where Loth Bloodax held his court. There, in the garish light of a hundred torches, he found Bloodax sitting on a natural seat of stone that served as throne. He was attended by warriors and by his council, the latter wearing iron chains of office and with blue marks of rank painted on their forehead.

Lisma squatted at her father's feet. She smiled as Blade was brought forward. To the king's right was the man Galligantus and his new wife, the girl Sariah. She did not look at Blade. Galligantus stared and his lip curled in contempt. In that moment, even before he had spoken, Blade determined to kill Galligantus if possible. It would be some revenge for Thane.

Loth Bloodax leaned to peer at Blade. The man was short-sighted. He was also enormous, not tall, but with a span to him that bespoke great strength going a little to blubber. He wore an iron crown, and beneath it his hair was thin and dry, the yellow fading into gray. He wore a dress kilt and light chest armor. His eyes, a pale, washed-out blue, were set too close to a blobby nose. Nothing distinguished about him, thought Blade, and then he remembered how the man had fought.

Blade did not bow. He had noted that Hitts never bowed or were in any way obsequious. Loth Bloodax had a low, harsh voice.

«You have worked a new magic, Prince Blade. My daughter who came to you first for child now comes to me for your life and comfort. She tells me that you seek to live with her, to be her lover and man and warrior. This is true?»

Blade inclined his head. «It is true.»

Galligantus glared meanly at Blade and spat. «It is false, Loth. He is weary of his perch atop our rock, and lonely, and in fear of his miserable life. He has fooled Lisma and now he is trying to fool you. I will kill him for you. A pleasant enough task.»

Bloodax waved him off. «There will be no killing until I say so. I gave you the man Thane to carve as you pleased. Be content for now.»

He looked at Blade for a moment, frowning and plucking at his teeth with a forefinger. He dislodged a bit of meat and spat it out.

«Is it true, Blade, that in Zir you grew from a babe to full man in a month?»

«That is true.»

Bloodax nodded slowly. «My spies brought word of it. I did not believe it.»

«I still do not believe it,» said Galligantus.

«I begin to,» said Bloodax. «And I will not tell you again, Galligantus. I am king here, not you. Hold your tongue.»

Galligantus subsided, muttering, but his glance toward Blade was hate-filled. Blade's likewise. Somehow he must find means to kill this man.

«You defeated me,» said Loth Bloodax, «and that was no small thing. I know how you crossed the water behind me, for I watched your Captain Ogier tear up the hidden bridge. But it would have taken a god to think of that. I have use for a new god, Prince Blade, for our old ones have deserted us. But tell me-can you work that magic again?»

Blade was puzzled for the moment. «What magic?»

Bloodax slapped his hand on an enormous thigh in impatience. «Make babes into men in so short a while! I need warriors. I have babes beyond counting and few men who can wield an axe or sword. You have bled me of men, Prince Blade, and I think you owe me this magic to restore my armies.»

So that was it. Blade knew that this was a ticklish moment. He must go cautiously, and yet he must seize the opportunity.

«I can do that,» he said, «but it will take a little time to prepare. And I will need your help-I will also need many of the shining stones. I am told that you Hitts have mountains of them?»

Loth Bloodax was excited now, eager. He clapped his hands and stared hard at Blade. «You swear you can do this?»

«I swear it. If I am not interfered with and am given leave to go my own way freely. First I must be taken to the place of the shining stones.»

Bloodax frowned. «You keep speaking of shining stones. I do not wholly understand this. Do you mean-«

One of the counselors came forward. «I think he means this, Loth. See-I use it to sharpen my dagger.»

In his hand was a diamond as large as a baseball in HD. Blade was not an avaricious man and so did not have to cloak it, but nonetheless he hooded his eyes. And reached for the stone. Bloodax nodded and the counselor handed it to Blade. He hefted it. Not half the weight of the stone Casta had shown him, but a fine gem just the same. Blade handed it back.

«That is what I mean. But I must have larger stones, much larger. For if I am to make warriors out of babes, I must first make an image-and it must be life-size.»

Silence came down like a pall. Bloodax stared at Blade, his pale eyes hard and unblinking. Galligantus could contain himself no longer. He leaped to his feet and pointed a trembling finger at Blade, shouting.

«This is not magic, Loth. This is witchery. How else could he know of our sacred place, of the place of Kings and Queens? And how could he know that the images are made of the shining rock-such matters are never spoken of. I say kill him now. At once! If he is a god he is an evil one.»

The girl Sariah had been sitting quietly, head down, not looking at Blade. Now she spoke. «He is not evil. I do not know if he is a god or not, but he is not evil. He was kind to me and kept his word. He guarded me while I slept, so I was not raped or slain. I am a Hitt and am married to a Hitt, but still I must say this.»

Galligantus turned on her with a snarl. He struck her across the face. «Keep your tongue, wife! Women do not speak up in the councils of men.»

Loth Bloodax laughed. He patted his belly and roared and pointed at Galligantus. «You would marry her, Galligantus. Now you see what you have taken into your bed. You will live to rue it, but this is your worry and not mine.»

Lisma had been keeping silent, half smiling at Blade and occasionally nodding encouragement to him. She also spoke now. And glared at Galligantus.

«I have never liked you, man, and I like you less with each hour that passes. You defy my father too much. You interfere. You are fortunate that I am not yet queen.»

She turned to her father. «You are king, father, you are Loth Bloodax. I beg you do as the Prince Blade asks-for you would have soldiers and I would have him.» She rose and went to her father and whispered, twirling her fingers in his hair as she did so, smiling and cozening. Blade heard the last of her words.

«I already feel his seed stirring in me, I tell you. Soon you will have a god as grandson. Do this thing for me, father. I will see that all is well. I promise. And you can have him well guarded, to put your mind at ease.»

Bloodax drew her into his lap and kissed her and ruffled her hair. He grinned. «I can deny you nothing, child. It shall be so. Galligantus, you will take an escort of warriors and show Prince Blade the sacred place of Kings and Queens. And I charge you this-he must return safely or your head will join that of the man Thane on a pole.»

2

Leather-men glided over the line of march occasionally, flitting from peak to peak. Galligantus did not bind Blade, but kept him well guarded. He had fifty men, all heavily armed, the last of the royal guard. The others had died on the beach.

Galligantus went a little out of his way so that Blade would have to view Thane's head on its pole. It had been set into the rock near a valley entrance. The eyes were gone and most of the flesh, and Thane's last grin was ivory and terrible.

Galligantus, sneering, called a halt and pointed to the head. «One smell of treachery, Prince, and you will join your friend. You would be with him now were I not obedient and loyal to Loth Bloodax.» He lowered his voice. «Though he can be a great fool at times and lets his daughter Lisma coax him into anything.»

Blade ignored him. He forced himself to look at the head. Poor Thane. No more wine. No more huge laughter and crude jokes. No more battles or building.

After a time he said, «I have seen and I have heard. Shall we march?»

Galligantus glared at him, then gave the order. They left that valley and entered another. And another and another. Their march was a succession of valleys. Blade noted what landmarks he could and tried to keep himself oriented. They were heading to the southeast and in that direction must lie the channel, the narrow water.

The last valley ended in an open plain. Not unlike the Plain of Pyramids back in Zir. In the center of the plain a mountain stood alone. The sun was dying in the west, but a last ray struck over the mountains and cliffs and valleys and caressed one black flank of the mountain on the plain. In that moment it came alive, sequined, glowing and sparking and flashing. Blade stood awe-stricken. Here was literally a mountain of diamonds. Stones that by some X-Dimension chemistry did not need to be polished but were thrown up already glittering. He made himself think as Richard Blade of Home Dimension-such a treasure would be worth countless billions, if the market could be controlled, for industrial use alone here was a fortune- If, if, if. Blade went back to thinking in terms of Dimension X.

Galligantus and his men were not impressed. Indeed, the troops were bored and weary. Galligantus gave the order to move on.

As they grew near the diamond mountain Blade saw that it was in reality a volcano-long dead, for no wisp of smoke floated from the deep-scarred crater. They made camp near a mine entrance, a shaft leading into the side of the mountain, and Galligantus sought out Blade. He was in a sarcastic mood now.

«If you are not too weary, Prince God, we will go in this very night. The men will complain, but I wish to have done with it. You will see and you will tell me what you need and it shall be done. Are you ready?»

Blade was glad he had no weapon. His temper was uncertain and he did foolish things these days. He nodded. «I am ready.»

Galligantus selected ten of his best men and they entered the shaft. One man went ahead with a flaring torch. They made their way through a burrow of narrow passages with width for only one man. At times they crawled on hands and knees.

They broke out into a chamber and Blade was nigh blinded by the reflections of the torches in the diamond face. It was a hall of mirrors, deep beyond knowing, a billion facets catching light and distorting it. Blade gazed and had trouble with his breath. The far side of the chamber was fifty feet high and some hundred across. Solid diamond. Like a coal face to be chipped away and loaded and hauled out, only this was crystallized carbon. Diamond. Formulae floated through his dazed brain. H10-specific gravity 3.52. Teleport it back to Home Dimension and you were the richest nation in the world-if you could keep the politicians and the merchants, the grabbers, from muddling things. Ah, well, that was not his worry.

Galligantus had been watching his reaction, a cunning smile on his mean features. But he was astute.

«I see greed,» he said, «and I do not understand. How do you gain of it, of this stone? But to make an image and persuade Loth that you can work magic with it? Which mayhap you can. I do not deny it-yet, though I have my own thoughts as to it. But you gaze on this useless stone as a man might on a woman or a fine weapon.»

«The images,» said Blade. «I must see them.»

Galligantus drew his sword. He had a brief whispered talk with his men and then gestured to Blade. «Walk ahead of me. We will go to the place of Kings and Queens alone. These commoners are not permitted to see.»

There was a narrow opening to one side of the diamond face. Galligantus prodded Blade through it with his point. «Walk well ahead but not too far. Do not tempt me, Prince Blade. I would as lief kill you and take my chances with Loth. I admit it. But I will not unless you force me.»

Blade carried a torch. The passage was short and ended on a wide ledge. There was a chasm, wide and deep and black, and across the chasm was another ledge, smaller, narrower, a gallery of glinting figures.

Blade advanced to the brink of the chasm and raised his torch to see better. It guttered and smoked, and the yellow flame wavered in a fetid draft from the pit, but he saw well enough. He stood dumfounded, locked in awe and near disbelief, for here some artisan had wrought close to the quick of life.

There were dozens of them close-packed along the gallery. Men in armor and women in robes or breeches or kilts. All were life-size and all appeared to move and breathe in the uncertain light. Blade moved along the ledge on his side of the chasm, peering, trying to catch his breath.

«Mind you the edge.,» said Galligantus behind him. «If I am not to have the pleasure of killing you I would not have the pit take you.»

He picked up a chip of diamond and flung it into the chasm. «Listen, and tell me what you hear.»

Blade heard nothing. He gazed into the chasm and over it. At the narrow point he reckoned it to be fifteen feet across. He drew back a little and wandered farther down the ledge. And saw her.

She stood a little alone, on a natural plinth that jutted out over the chasm. She was naked and her arms were outstretched in welcome. Her glittering diamond smile seemed to welcome the torch, the light brought into the pit, and as Blade gaped she appeared to move. Warmth glowed in that perfect body. She spoke to Blade across the chasm and the years and he knew he must have her. From that moment on he reckoned himself a little mad and must live with it. But only half of him was mad.

Galligantus was close behind him now. Blade felt the swordpoint against his flesh. When the man spoke, Blade knew that he too felt the spell of this diamond goddess.

«That is Janina,» he said softly. «First Queen of the Hitts a thousand years ago. What a woman she was.»

«And is still,» Blade breathed. «And is yet. She is not dead. She lives far more than you or me, Galligantus.»

After a brief silence the Hitt said, «I see your reasoning, Prince Blade, and do not dispute it. But we cannot linger here all night. You have seen the images and can guess their measurement. What more do you want?»

A plan formed in Blade's mind. It was his death if matters went wrong, but he meant to do it if he could. He must hold Galligantus in talk.

He pointed over the chasm. «I must have a closer view. I would have one of the images for study, to compare and to show the artisan who will work it. If I am to make an image of a warrior it must be exact, or the magic will not work.»

Galligantus began to laugh. «You ask too much. Even if it were possible, it could not be done-it is forbidden to touch the images once they have been placed on that ledge. In any case, we cannot come at them. Unless,» and his voice held mockery, «unless you would leap over and fetch it back.»

Blade gazed at the narrowest point. About fifteen feet. He might leap that far. But not now. He moved a little farther back from the edge.

«They were placed there,» he said. «And what is placed can be fetched back.»

Galligantus could not resist the temptation. «I will tell you how that goes,» he said. And prodded Blade in the buttocks with his sword.

«When a king or queen dies, an image is made. It is brought to this place. So are all the young and strong men, or women, who would be king or queen of the Hitts. They draw lots for it-to see who leaps the chasm first. Do you begin to understand?»

Blade moved along the ledge until he was at the narrowest point. Fifteen feet. It was a challenge to numb the brain, an incredible dare. Below him the black pit gaped. He remembered that he had never heard the diamond chip strike bottom.

«Do many fail?»

«Many, Prince Blade. They fall and that is an end to them.» Galligantus was closer now. Blade did not look at him. He held the torch away from his face. He did not want the man to see his eyes.

«Did Loth Bloodax come to the crown this way?»

«He did. He was the tenth to try. Loth made it and then lines were thrown and nets laid and the image lifted across. It was of his father. See yonder.» Galligantus pointed to a statue just across from them, bearded and glowering and bearing a marked resemblance to Bloodax.

Blade moved a little toward Galligantus. The Hitt did not notice.

«And then? How did he get back?»

Something happened to the Hitt's voice. It grew surly, whiny, envenomed.

«He leaped back. It is required that a Hitt king make the leap twice.»

Blade made a closer inspection of the ledge over the way. It was so narrow! No running room, no place to maneuver. The gallery was barely five feet deep and packed with statues. He remembered the thick legs of Loth Bloodax. Fat now, but they had been all muscle when he leaped.

Blade saw the truth then and recognized it and spoke it, for it came readily to hand and fitted his plan. He instilled disdain and contempt into his voice.

«You and Bloodax are of an age,» he said. «Or nearly so. You were young then and no doubt the son of a leader. How was it that you did not leap, Galligantus?»

Blade heard a catch of breath behind him. The man was close. Blade waited for the swordstroke that did not come. He hurried on. He was into it now, the chance was there, and he must be careful not to be cut. There must be no wound or he would never live to tell his lie.

«I do not blame you,» Blade said with just the right amount of derision in his tone. «It is a fearful leap. I would not do it. But cowards live longer than brave men. Yet it must have galled you all these years-«

Galligantus made a strangled noise in his throat. He leaped and swung his sword.

«No man or god speaks so to me! I will-«

Blade ducked low and caught Galligantus between the ankles and knees. The sword whispered over him. Blade straightened and flung the Hitt over his shoulder and into the chasm.

Galligantus screamed once and there was no echo. Blade lingered, listening, but heard no sound.

He examined his body carefully in the light of the torch. He bore no wound other than the battle scratch, and that was near healed and accounted for. Lisma herself had bathed and anointed it. He began to make his way out of the place, then went back to gaze once more at the naked woman on her plinth.

Janina. What did a name matter? Or a thousand years. She was not dead. She lived. For Blade she lived, and he meant more than ever to have her. How he did not know, or when, but have her he must. She gazed back over the dark pit and held out her arms. It was then he saw her move and beckon. Her lips moved. The words came hauntingly sweet across the abyss. «Come to me.»

Blade raised the torch in salute. «In time, Janina. In time.»