by Peter Ponzo
"A dream? You say he spoke the words in a dream? And how did you invoke this dream?"
Gordon was staring at the still body of Daniel of Woller, covered in a black robe that lay haphazard across his back. Then he turned slowly, confused, looking up at the dragon.
"I ... uh, it was a, uh, hypnosis. I hypnotized Dan, and he said the words."
The dragon rocked his head, the smoke from his nostrils rising in a spiral, his eyes flashing upon the man below. It spoke a single word, a query: "Hypnosis?"
"Yes, hypnosis. I can invoke such a dream. I can cause you to enter into such a trance-like state. I can -"
"Silence!" the brute shouted. "You can do none of these things for I am Lord of Sharlain!" Then he fluttered to the ground, towering over Gordon Chaplain. "If you have the power to do this thing, then I would see it done."
"You mean, you want me to hypnotize you?"
The great dragon fell silent and Gordon began to chant: "You are getting sleepy, you are -"
"Silence!" the beast roared and returned to his pedestal
Then came a flurry of wings and a second dragon, smaller and with head bowed, it came onto a stony protrusion below Eba-evin and bent to gain his ear and spoke in a low voice, a growl, a whimper. Eba-evin spread his wings and rose from the pedestal and swooped out over the edge of the vault, beyond the ledge which fell into the Abyss and rose up and vanished and the other dragon followed, and Gordon was alone with the body of Daniel of Woller.
"Dan? Are you hurt?" Gordon bent to the still body and drew his hand across the sweated brow. Daniel opened his eyes.
"Why did you tell him about the words? That I spoke them. He could have killed me."
Gordon smiled and sat on the rocky floor beside Daniel.
"Look Dan, I think you're in hot water and maybe we should both try to get out of this, this place." Gordon scanned the vault, a semicircular chamber in the side of the volcanic core, well below the rim of the volcano. At the edge, the core dropped into a smoking pit, red and without bottom. The walls of the chamber rose on all sides into a spherical dome high above them. He turned again to Daniel. "How the hell did you get in here?"
Daniel rose to his feet, staggered to a wall and sat again, on a rock.
"Eba sends for me. He sends a dragon or sometimes a beast of Filope and I come to him, sometimes here, sometimes -"
"You mean you don't have any way out of here? You mean you're stuck here too? You're kidding, surely. I thought you were some kind of Prince. Are you telling me that you're at the beck and call of this horny dragon?"
Daniel dropped his head and whispered. "Yes." He slipped from the rock to the floor, waited for a long moment then continued. "I am a Prince, of the Kingdom of Woller. That Kingdom is the ancestral home of most creatures of Sharlain and my family has ruled since the beginning. But now Eba-evin is in charge. He has almost all of Sharlain on his side. I - I -"
"Why did you leave Sharlain, for my world?" asked Gordon, sitting on a rock. "And how did you get there? And back here?"
Daniel of Woller sighed and began to speak, his head still lowered, staring at the stone floor. "The dragons of Monash have the power to create doors into other worlds. That power was given to them by the King of Light and they used it, Eba used it, to create a door from Sharlain directly into my house, an entrance into my basement, into your world. The entrance is guarded by a fierce beast. My mission was to study the people of your world, determine their weaknesses, prepare for an eventual invasion by the forces of Sharlain."
"And kill the leaders of my world?" asked Gordon.
Dan paused, looked up at Gordon. "Yes., one by one."
"Were there any others in my world, from Sharlain?"
"No. Just me and my Queen, and the old man."
"The old man that you killed, poisoned?"
Daniel did not answer, but once more lowered his head.
"Tell me how you killed the governor," said Gordon, his voice shaking slightly. "There was nobody in the tank. The tank that fired on the governor was empty. Who -"
"An Arden of Wilo-ard was sent to your world. It did what Eba instructed, then returned."
"You mean someone from Sharlain can just appear, anywhere in my world, then disappear again?"
"If that's what Eba wants, he can arrange it."
"Jesus," whispered Gordon. "That's hard to protect against."
Daniel of Woller rose to his feet and stared down on Gordon. "There is no way you or your world can protect yourself from Eba-evin. He will invade, entering your world at will, leaving just as suddenly, and he will win." Daniel walked slowly to the edge of the rocky precipice and the spires of smoke curled about him and thin tongues of flame rose from the depths. He turned and spoke again to Gordon. "The only way you can save yourself is to join forces with Eba-evin ... as I have."
*****
The light streaming dimly into the Abyss grew faint and the chamber dark but for the flames flickering at the edge which dropped into the depths, for night had fallen in the land of Sharlain. Then a loud cry, a rush of air and Eba-evin descended and carefully folded its wings, resting on the pedestal, horny head arched, nostrils aflame.
"Your friends have arrived in Sharlain, and left again. They are fools." The black dragon raised its voice in a harsh cry, a cackle, a sonorous bellow.
Daniel, Prince of Woller, stepped forward to address the Dark Lord, tentatively, head slightly lowered.
"My Lord, you must understand that they may return with weapons from the other world. If you intend to -"
"Silence!" The dragon screamed, its wings unfolding and rising sinister above its head. "Let them come! I am ready!"
Gordon laughed and the black dragon arose on its pedestal, shaking with anger.
"Listen Eba," Gordon said, "when they return with an army you're in big trouble. Flying horses and horny dragons are no match for -"
"Silence!" Eba-evin flew from his perch and Gordon fell to the ground as the black dragon swept out over the ledge and vanished into the depths of the Abyss.
"Gordon, don't make him angry," whispered Daniel. "He has powers you wouldn't imagine. He can vanish and reappear, anywhere, anytime."
"Wait as minute. Why is he the only dragon with these powers? Why not other dragons?"
Daniel slipped onto a rock and lowered his head, gazing at the rocky ground, then looked up at Gordon, standing before him.
"The King of Light gave the powers to the dragons of Monash so they might be his messengers, go anywhere, see everything, then report to him. Eba-evin, the King of the kingdom of Monash, was made the leader and given additional powers, I'm not sure what these are, but I'll tell you, the other dragons sure regard him as invincible. Of course, the King of Light didn't intend that Eba-evin use these powers for evil purposes, but when Eba discovered that he could enter other worlds he began to think in terms of domination of all worlds, not just Sharlain. He's been planning this for some time."
"This King of Light, who is he? Where does he live? Is he still around? Can't he just take back these powers, so easily given?"
"The King is not a person, at least I don't think so. I've never seen him, or it, but I know he's been around since the beginning of time, in Sharlain, and -"
"Dan, can you tell me about Sharlain, from the beginning? It's a bit frightening, but also fascinating. Do you study the history of this world, in school or something?"
Daniel smiled weakly and leaned back and Gordon sat on the ground next to him and Daniel began the story of Sharlain:
When the world of Sharlain was created, by the King of Light, or so the legend goes, there was only the Kingdom of Woller. The people of Woller were good and lived from the land, growing what they needed and pleasing the King, but he was not satisfied and he created the Sea of Chalma so that all could delight in its cool waters and he ringed the Kingdom of Woller with the waters of the sea so that it was an island. And still he was not satisfied and created lan
ds beyond the sea and named them Wilo-ard and Dragomir and he took children from Woller and placed them in these new lands that they might flourish and glorify him and he placed mountains in the land of Wilo-ard so that he may look down upon his creations and be pleased. But the Ardens of Wilo-ard and the Miriens of Dragomir fought over the lush forest which separated their lands so the King turned the forest to desert so that his children would have no cause for discontent, but the people of Woller looked with envy at the mountains in Wilo-ard and the verdant forest and built rafts to cross the Sea and invade Wilo-ard. The King was angry and in his fury he tore a great trench from the ground to separate the kingdoms of Woller and Wilo-ard, the trench running from the Sea to beyond the lands of Woller and he created the land of Filope to lie between Woller and Wilo-ard and placed beasts in this land, and the trench and the Beasts of Filope and the waters of the sea which now ran in a river were enough so that the people of Woller could not pass, and the King was pleased.
Now the creatures who lived in Sharlain were separated by trench or river or desert and no one thought to cross these barriers lest the King be displeased, so the world was at peace for many generations and the people adapted to their new environment, changing in physical characteristics, growing in numbers and soon they began to look again with envy to beyond their borders and the world had become too large and the King could not keep watch on all parts so he created the land of Monash, separated from Dragomir by a great cliff and he placed the dragons there and gave them powers to move at will among the lands of Sharlain and report what they saw.
Daniel shook his head and frowned and Gordon asked: "What's wrong?" and Daniel answered. "That's when the trouble began."
The Lord of Monash, Eba-evin, was to oversee these activities and was given the power to dominate the dragon-messengers of Monash. With such power came greed and Eba-evin soon placed secret doorways into every kingdom so that he might study the peoples of Sharlain and this he did and soon used his powers to dominate them, and yet it was not enough and the Lord of Monash sought to displace the King of Light.
Daniel of Woller stopped, arose from the rock and walked slowly to the lip of the vault, staring into the pit from which came wisps of gray smoke and tongues of flame, then he turned and stared at Gordon.
"That's when this, this Abyss was formed."
The secret doorway to Woller was placed beyond the River of Monash, beyond the land of Filope, beyond the Woller Trench, in the Kingdom of Woller and by the Sea, and Eba-evin entered Woller through this Door of Monash with an army of dragon-messengers and began an invasion of the ancient lands of Woller, and the King was angry and created the land of Chalma next to Woller and placed in this land a single Wizard with awesome powers, to defeat the Dark Lord. The Wizard entered the Door which led into Woller and turned it to a volcano and the eruption destroyed much of the army of Eba-evin and in his rage the Dark Lord pursued the Wizard of Chalma to Wilo-ard where she raised an army of Ardens, then to Dragomir where she enlisted the aid of the Miriens who joined with the Ardens. But they were afraid to do battle with the Dark Lord and the Wizard appealed to the King and water clear and sparkling appeared from his mountain and ran swiftly across the desert and through Dragomir and on to the lands of Monash and the King instructed all to drink of these waters and they did and the Ardens and Miriens became strong and fearless and sang songs of war and triumph and followed this Stream of Life to the land of Monash, to the principal city of Kloma where a great battle ensued.
"Hold on." Gordon raised his hand and leaned forward. "That volcano that destroyed the army of dragons, is that this hole? I mean, the hole we're in now?"
"Yes, the Wizard of Chalma created the Black Abyss to destroy Eba-evin, but he escaped the fires of the Abyss with many of his dragon-warriors and pursued the Wizard to Kloma. There, the Wizard would appeal to Eba-evin to give up his thoughts of domination over other worlds."
"That makes little sense, you know," grunted Gordon. "If this King can create the world of Sharlain surely he can eliminate Eba-evin with a flourish of his arm, assuming he has an arm. In any case, if he gave powers to Eba, surely he can remove them?"
Daniel waited patiently, then continued, smiling, seeming to ignore Gordon's comments.
During the battle of Kloma, the Wizard was killed and that enraged the King who sent her ghost to lure Eba to the Abyss. Eager to finish what he had begun, Eba-evin followed the Ghost of Chalma and when he entered the Abyss found that all his powers had gone. The King had taken what he had given, as you suggested he could, and the King exercised his domination over the dragons of Monash who then guarded the entrance to the Abyss to ensure that Eba-evin never left. Unfortunately, Eba-evin eventually had the dragons convinced that he was to be the next King and they let him escape ...
Daniel's voice dropped off and Gordon leaned forward, waiting, then asked: "Then what? How did Eba get back his powers?"
"He never lost them, not really," mumbled Daniel. "The King seemed able to temporarily suspend Eba's ability to use the powers, but they came back, and now he's even more powerful in the World of Sharlain than before."
"And the King? Where's he?"
"No one knows. Of course you must understand that much of this is legend. Nobody has actually seen any King of Light although many have seen the Ghost of Chalma. The current thought is that the King created this world for his amusement, became angry at how it developed, then just left us to our own devices."
"You mentioned the King living in some mountains, in Wilo-ard, I think you said. Are they the Mountains of the Moon?"
Daniel nodded.
"According to legend, Sharlain was created from the breath of the King and in the ancient tongue of Woller, the word 'mune' means 'breath', as well as the ancient name of the King; hence the Mountains of Mune. Not moon, as you may think, for there is neither sun nor moon in this world, nor are there days of constant length. Once there were stars, to please the eye and invoke the glory of the King, but when he became angry, the King darkened the night sky."
"Maybe he's still there? I mean this King, in the Mountains of the Mune."
Daniel shook his head negatively. "No. If he were, I'm sure he would have been angered by what's happened and done something about it. His silence has given Eba the courage to continue in his quest for world domination, this world and yours."
Gordon slid against a rock and mumbled, running his hands through his hair, then placing his chin upon his knees. Daniel watched, smiled and said: "So you see, Eba now has free reign and you should think seriously about being on the winning side."
*****
Gordon slept fitfully, moaning from time to time and rolling on the hard ground, waking, then sleeping once more. It was not until the dim light of another day glowed yellow about the rim of the abyss that he struggled wearily to his feet and saw that Daniel was gone. He was alone on the rocky ledge within the volcano and he walked about his small domain and inspected the walls to see that no exit existed save the way he had entered. He thought of the King of Light and whether he believed all that Dan had told him and he became determined to escape and make his way to the Mountains of Mune in search of the King.
Leaning out over the edge he could see the sheer walls that rose to the rim, but no way to climb. He held his breath so that the acrid fumes from the depths did not fill his lungs and he peered into the abyss. What he saw surprised him, for there were several chambers similar to the one within which he now stood, each deeper by several meters than his own, and running down beyond sight into the hot and smoking pit. He fell to his knees and inspected the rocky wall just beyond the edge, but found no foothold with which to descend. Yet the next chamber was no more than three meters deeper than his own and he lowered himself carefully over the edge, holding to the lip, feet dangling, fumes filling his lungs, the heat unbearable. The edge of the next chamber projected somewhat farther into the abyss than did his own chamber and, with luck, he could fa
ll onto this and ... Gordon let go his grip and slid down the rocky wall, his shirt ripping, his chest scraping, landing precariously on the lower ledge and began to fall backward, into the flaming abyss, his arms swinging wildly. Then the rocks at the edge broke and he slipped straight down and reached out and held to the lip of the chamber, his body crashing against the wall, his fingers bleeding. Slowly he pulled himself up, into the dark chamber, out of the rising columns of smoke and crept on all fours to a cooler corner, turned and collapsed in a faint.
When Gordon Chaplain awoke he saw that this chamber was identical to the one he had left, with naught but sheer walls of stone. His chest hurt and his hands were numb and he lay until his head cleared. This abyss was, at one time, a Door of Monash. Isn't that what Dan had said? Did that mean that he might be able to pass through this door, wherever it was, into, where?
His sight became blurry and the chamber clouded into gray wisps of steam which began to glow, to shimmer and form the outline of a figure dressed in a white robe. He rubbed his eyes.
"Gordon Chaplain," said the vision, "you must not stay here for Eba-evin returns and will be angry. You must leave at once."
Gordon moaned. "Leave? How?" It seemed a dream and he fell back and closed his eyes, but the vision appeared in his mind and he saw that it was a woman, beautiful and ghostly.
"I am the Ghost of Chalma and you must use the Door of Monash which lies deep in the bowels of the Abyss. You will not be harmed by the fires which rise from the pool below. Have faith that you will succeed."
The vision faded and Gordon opened his eyes to see the smoke rising from the Abyss, but no woman in white robe. He crept to the edge of the chamber and looked down. He had been dreaming. There was no way he could reach the next chamber below as the flames licked the edge which lay beyond his reach; the flames which rise from the pool below. The pool below? Is that what the vision, the ghost, had said? Was there a pool below? A pool of what? A pool of water?
He sat on the edge, his feet dangling over the side amid the smoky haze. Have faith that you will succeed. That's what she said, but was she real or was she a dream? The pool below. A pool of water, cool and clear, from which the fires rose, he would drop amid the flames, through the rising column of smoke, his hands over his face, holding his breath until he fell into the cool waters. It was not real. It was simply a dream. Gordon looked down and shuddered, pushed himself to the ledge, then heard the angry roar from above, the scream of rage. Eba-evin had returned and was angry. Soon he would descend and find him. Gordon looked up to see the black wings of the dragon poised above, then the horny head with nostrils flaring, red eyes fiery in the dim light. Eba-evin looked down upon him, roared once more, raised his wings, leaped into the abyss.