[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
also. But the walls went up vertically until they were lost in a place to
which the light around them, for which there seemed no particular source,
failed to reach. There was no way to be sure whether it was a true cavern in
the sense that the stone walls finally arched together to completely close it
in, or not.
Reason said that there had to be a roof up there somewhere. They had fallen
so far that a good deal of the earth's crust must lie between them and the
surface above. Also, the light was neither the light of the sun nor of the
moon or stars. It was a strange, unnatural light, such as might be found
underground.
They stood all together, like prisoners in a three-sided cage, looking down
at the floor of the cavern. It was thronged with people, men and women, in
what seemed to be black uniforms, wearing strange hiltless knives almost the
length of a sword, and carrying round, targetlike shields. They were all
perfectly visible in the strange light, with one exception.
As Jim looked directly at their faces, he recognized none of them, but as his
gaze shifted around, it seemed to him that out of the corner of his eye, a
face he had looked at just a moment before altered and became the face of
someone he had once known and liked, if not loved. But all these faces seemed
frozen, distorted into an expression mixed of almost insane hate, fear, and
terror.
The one space clear of this multitude was thirty yards directly ahead of
their landing; and twenty yards ahead of the foremost of the blackclad figures
below; and this space was clear except for two enormous thrones on which sat
two equally enormous figures.
One was male, one female. They wore loose robes that covered them from the
upper chest to just below the knees. Their arms were extended along the arms
of their thrones. Their most marked difference from the humans, outside of
their size for they must be, Jim thought, at least twenty feet tall were their
abnormally long necks, which accounted for a good four or five feet of their
height.
Above his neck, the head of the man was a handsome one, with dark hair and
piercing eyes, the hair clinging tightly to his round head. The woman's hair
was also black and clung closely to her head; and she was darkly beautiful.
Both faces were expressionless. It was not, however, until Jim's gaze shifted
from them back to the blackclad horde below, that he recognized the real
peculiarity about the two on the thrones.
Just as the faces of those in black had seemed to shift and change just
before they moved out of the range of his vision, so the faces of the
enthroned man and woman if that was what they could be called seemed to shift;
her face to that of a serpent, his to that resembling a jackal. But this
animal aspect of them could not be seen when Jim focused directly on them. It
was only just as he glimpsed them peripherally that he could see the snake
head and jackal head.
Whatever else this was, it was not a place for Jim and the rest. Jim turned
swiftly to the door behind him, took hold of the handle on this side, and
tried to pull the door open. But it was now as solid and immovable as the
surrounding rock. Swiftly, he wrote on the inside of his forehead:
Page 209
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
ALL LOCKS, LATCHES?RETREAT
He concentrated on the image of the bolts and latches withdrawing into their
recesses and leaving the door free from the frame in which it stood.
It did not give. But his attempt produced a response from one of the mighty
figures.
"So!" A great voice rolled toward them. The male of the two enthroned figures
was speaking."Violation upon violation! One of you is a magician. Having
already sinned inOur eyes by coming here alive all of you one of you is sealed
to forbidden arts. Your kind has always been prohibited from this place,
magician and, as you see, your magic will not work here. Here, nothing rules
butOur laws."
"God save us all!" said Giles.
"Your God can do nothing for you here, either." Again the great voice rolled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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also. But the walls went up vertically until they were lost in a place to
which the light around them, for which there seemed no particular source,
failed to reach. There was no way to be sure whether it was a true cavern in
the sense that the stone walls finally arched together to completely close it
in, or not.
Reason said that there had to be a roof up there somewhere. They had fallen
so far that a good deal of the earth's crust must lie between them and the
surface above. Also, the light was neither the light of the sun nor of the
moon or stars. It was a strange, unnatural light, such as might be found
underground.
They stood all together, like prisoners in a three-sided cage, looking down
at the floor of the cavern. It was thronged with people, men and women, in
what seemed to be black uniforms, wearing strange hiltless knives almost the
length of a sword, and carrying round, targetlike shields. They were all
perfectly visible in the strange light, with one exception.
As Jim looked directly at their faces, he recognized none of them, but as his
gaze shifted around, it seemed to him that out of the corner of his eye, a
face he had looked at just a moment before altered and became the face of
someone he had once known and liked, if not loved. But all these faces seemed
frozen, distorted into an expression mixed of almost insane hate, fear, and
terror.
The one space clear of this multitude was thirty yards directly ahead of
their landing; and twenty yards ahead of the foremost of the blackclad figures
below; and this space was clear except for two enormous thrones on which sat
two equally enormous figures.
One was male, one female. They wore loose robes that covered them from the
upper chest to just below the knees. Their arms were extended along the arms
of their thrones. Their most marked difference from the humans, outside of
their size for they must be, Jim thought, at least twenty feet tall were their
abnormally long necks, which accounted for a good four or five feet of their
height.
Above his neck, the head of the man was a handsome one, with dark hair and
piercing eyes, the hair clinging tightly to his round head. The woman's hair
was also black and clung closely to her head; and she was darkly beautiful.
Both faces were expressionless. It was not, however, until Jim's gaze shifted
from them back to the blackclad horde below, that he recognized the real
peculiarity about the two on the thrones.
Just as the faces of those in black had seemed to shift and change just
before they moved out of the range of his vision, so the faces of the
enthroned man and woman if that was what they could be called seemed to shift;
her face to that of a serpent, his to that resembling a jackal. But this
animal aspect of them could not be seen when Jim focused directly on them. It
was only just as he glimpsed them peripherally that he could see the snake
head and jackal head.
Whatever else this was, it was not a place for Jim and the rest. Jim turned
swiftly to the door behind him, took hold of the handle on this side, and
tried to pull the door open. But it was now as solid and immovable as the
surrounding rock. Swiftly, he wrote on the inside of his forehead:
Page 209
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
ALL LOCKS, LATCHES?RETREAT
He concentrated on the image of the bolts and latches withdrawing into their
recesses and leaving the door free from the frame in which it stood.
It did not give. But his attempt produced a response from one of the mighty
figures.
"So!" A great voice rolled toward them. The male of the two enthroned figures
was speaking."Violation upon violation! One of you is a magician. Having
already sinned inOur eyes by coming here alive all of you one of you is sealed
to forbidden arts. Your kind has always been prohibited from this place,
magician and, as you see, your magic will not work here. Here, nothing rules
butOur laws."
"God save us all!" said Giles.
"Your God can do nothing for you here, either." Again the great voice rolled [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]