Lord of Light

by Roger Zelazny

  "Yes."

  "Let there be no bugles within our ranks, Siddhartha. For this is not battle, but slaughter."

  "Yes."

  The zombies slew everything they passed, and when they fell they went down without a word, for it was all the same with them, and words mean nothing to the unliving.

  They swept the field, and fresh waves of warriors came at them. But the cavalry had been broken. The foot soldiers could not stand before the lancers and the Rakasha, the zombies and the infantry of Keenset.

  The razor-edged battle chariot driven by Death cut through the enemy like a flame through a field. Missiles and hurled spears turned in mid-flight to speed off at right angles before they could touch upon the chariot or its occupants. Dark fires danced within the eyes of Death as he gripped the twin rings with which he directed the course of the vehicle. Again and again, he drove down without mercy upon the enemy, and Sam's lance darted like the tongue of a serpent as they passed through the ranks.

  From somewhere, the notes of a retreat were sounded. But there were very few who answered the call.

  "Wipe your eyes, Siddhartha," said Death, "and call a new formation. The time has come to press the attack. Manjusri of the Sword must order a charge."

  "Yes, Death, I know."

  "We hold the field, but not the day. The gods are watching, judging our strength."

  Sam raised his lance in signal and there was fresh movement among the troops. Then a new stillness hung about them. Suddenly, there was no wind, no sound. The sky was blue. The ground was a gray-green trampled thing. Dust, like a specter hedge, hovered in the distance.

  Sam surveyed the ranks, moved his lance forward. At that moment, there came a clap of thunder.

  "The gods will enter the field," said Death, looking upward.

  The thunder chariot passed overhead. No rain of destruction descended, however.

  "Why are we still alive?" asked Sam.

  "I believe they would rather our defeat be more ignominious. Also, they may be afraid to attempt to use the thunder chariot against its creator—justly afraid."

  "In that case . . ." said Sam, and he gave the signal for the troops to charge.

  The chariot bore him forward. At his back, the forces of Keenset followed.

  They cut down the stragglers. They smashed through the guard that attempted to delay them. In the midst of a storm of arrows, they broke the archers. Then they faced the body of the holy crusaders who had sworn to level the city of Keenset.

  Then there came the notes of Heaven upon a trumpet.

  The opposing lines of human warriors parted.

  The fifty demigods rode forth.

  Sam raised his lance.

  "Siddhartha," said Death, "Lord Kalkin was never beaten in battle."

  "I know."

  "I have with me the Talisman of the Binder. That which was destroyed upon the pyre at Worldsend was a counterfeit. I retained the original to study it. I never had the chance. Hold but a moment and I will brace it about you."

  Sam raised his arms and Death clasped the belt of shells around his waist.

  He gave sign then to the forces of Keenset to halt.

  Death drove him forward, alone, to face the half-gods.

  About the heads of some there played the nimbus of early Aspect. Others bore strange weapons to focus their strange Attributes. Fires came down and licked about the chariot. Winds lashed at it. Great smashing noises fell upon it. Sam gestured with his lance and the first three of his opponents reeled and fell from the backs of their slizzards.

  Then Death drove his chariot among them.

  Its edges are razors and its speed three times that of a horse and twice that of a slizzard.

  A mist sprang up about him as he rode, a mist tinged with blood. Heavy missiles sped toward him and vanished to one side or the other. Ultrasonic screams assailed his ears, but somehow were partly deadened.

  His face expressionless, Sam raised his lance high above his head.

  A look of sudden fury crossed over his face, and the lightnings leapt from its tip.

  Slizzards and riders baked and crisped.

  The smell of charred flesh came to his nostrils.

  He laughed, and Death wheeled the chariot for another pass.

  "Are you watching me?" Sam screamed at the heavens. "Watch on, then! And watch out! You just made a mistake!"

  "Don't!" said Death. "It is too soon! Never mock a god until he is passed!"

  And the chariot swept through the ranks of the demigods once again, and none could touch upon it.

  Trumpet notes filled the air, and the holy army rushed to succor its champions.

  The warriors of Keenset moved forward to engage them.

  Sam stood in the chariot and the missiles fell heavy about it, always missing. Death drove him through the ranks of the enemy, now like a wedge, now like a rapier. He sang as he moved, and his lance was the tongue of a serpent, sometimes crackling as it fell with bright flashes. The Talisman glowed with a pale fire about his waist.

  "We'll take them!" he said.

  "There are only demigods and men upon the field," said Death. "They are still testing our strength. There are very few who remember the full power of Kalkin."

  "The full power of Kalkin?" asked Sam. "That has never been released, oh Death. Not in all the ages of the world. Let them come against me now and the heavens will weep upon their bodies and the Vedra run the color of blood! . . . Do you hear me? Do you hear me, gods? Come against me! I challenge you, here upon this field! Meet me with your strength, in this place!"

  "No!" said Death. "Not yet!"

  Overhead, the thunder chariot passed once again. Sam raised his lance and pyrotechnic hell broke loose about the passing vessel.

  "You should not have let them know you could do that! Not yet!"

  The voice of Taraka came to him then, across the din of the battle and the song within his brain.

  "They come up the river now, oh Binder! And another party assails the gates of the city!"

  "Call then upon Dalissa to rise up and make the Vedra to boil with the power of the Glow! Take you of the Rakasha to the gates of Keenset and destroy the invader!"

  "I hear, Binder!" and Taraka was gone.

  A beam of blinding light fell from the thunder chariot and cut through the ranks of the defenders.

  "The time has come," said Death, and he waved his cloak in gesture.

  In the rearmost rank, the Lady Ratri stood up in the stirrups of her mount, the black mare. She raised the black veil that she wore over her armor.

  There were screams from both sides as the sun covered its face and darkness descended upon the field. The stalk of light vanished from beneath the thunder chariot and the burning ceased.

  Only a faint phosphorescence, with no apparent source, occurred about them. This happened as the Lord Mara swept onto the field in his cloudy chariot of colors, drawn by the horses who vomited rivers of smoking blood.

  Sam headed toward him, but a great body of warriors interposed themselves; and before they won through, Mara had driven across the field, slaying everyone in his path.

  Sam raise his lance and scowled, but his target blurred and shifted; and the lightnings always fell behind or to the side.

  Then, in the distance, within the river, a soft light began. It pulsed warmly, and something like a tentacle seemed to wave for a moment above the surface of the waters.

  Sounds of fighting came from the city. The air was full of demons. The ground seemed to move beneath the feet of the armies.

  Sam raised his lance and a jagged line of light ran up into the heavens, provoking a dozen more to descend upon the field.

  More beasts growled, coughed and wailed, racing through both ranks, killing as they passed those of both sides.

  The zombies continued to slay, beneath the prodding of the dark sergeants, to the steady beating of the drums; and fire elementals clung to the breasts of the corpses, as though feeding.

  "We have b
roken the demigods," said Sam. "Let us try Lord Mara next."

  They sought him across the field, amidst screams and wails, crossing over those who were soon to become corpses and those who already were.

  When they saw the colors of his chariot, they gave chase.

  He turned and faced them finally, in a corridor of darkness, the sounds of the battle dim and distant. Death drew rein also, and they stared across the night into each other's glowing eyes.

  "Will you stand to battle, Mara?" cried Sam. "Or must we run you down like a dog?"

  "Speak not to me of your kin, the hound and the bitch, oh Binder!" he answered. "It is you, isn't it, Kalkin? That's your belt. This is your sort of war. Those were your lightnings striking friend and foe alike. You did live, somehow, eh?"

  "It is I," said Sam, leveling his lance.

  "And the carrion god to drive your wagon!"

  Death raised his left hand, palm forward.

  "I promise you death, Mara," he said. "If not by the hand of Kalkin, then by my own. If not today, then another day. But it is between us also, now."

  To the left, the pulsing in the river became more and more frequent.

  Death leaned forward and the chariot sped toward Mara.

  The horses of the Dreamer reared and blew fire from their nostrils. They leapt ahead.

  The arrows of Rudra sought them in the dark, but these were also turned aside as they blazed toward Death and his chariot. They exploded upon either side, adding for a moment to the faint illumination.

  In the distance, elephants lumbered, raced and squealed, pursued by the Rakasha across the plains.

  There came a mighty roaring sound.

  Mara grew into a giant, and his chariot was a mountain. His horses spanned eternities as they galloped forward. Lightning leapt from Sam's lance, like spray from a fountain. A blizzard suddenly swirled about him, and the cold of interstellar space itself entered into his bones.

  At the last possible instant, Mara swerved his chariot and leapt down from it.

  They struck it broadside and there came a grinding sound from beneath them as they settled slowly to the ground.

  By then the roaring was deafening and the pulses of light from the river had grown into a steady glow. A wave of steaming water swept across the field as the Vedra overflowed its banks.

  There were more screams, and the clash of arms continued. Faintly, the drums of Nirriti still beat within the darkness, and there came a strange sound from overhead as the thunder chariot sped toward the ground.

  "Where'd he go?" cried Sam.

  "To hide," said Death. "But he cannot hide forever."

  "Damn it! Are we winning or losing?"

  "That's a good question. I don't know the answer, though."

  The waters foamed about the grounded chariot.

  "Can you get us moving again?"

  "Not in this darkness, with the water all around us."

  "Then what do we do now?"

  "Cultivate patience and smoke cigarettes." He leaned back and struck a light.

  After a time, one of the Rakasha came and hovered in the air above them.

  "Binder!" reported the demon. "The new attackers of the city wear upon them that-which-repels!"

  Sam raised his lance and a line of lightning fled from its point.

  For one photoflash of an instant, the field was illuminated.

  The dead lay everywhere. Small groups of men huddled together. Some lay twisting in combat upon the ground. The bodies of animals were strewn among them. A few large cats still wandered, feeding. The fire elementals had fled from the water, which had coated the fallen with mud and soaked those who still could stand. Broken chariots and dead slizzards and horses made mounds upon the field. Across the scene, empty-eyed and continuing to follow orders, the zombies wandered, slaying anything living that moved before them. In the distance, one drum still beat, with an occasional falter. From the city there came the sounds of continued battle.

  "Find the lady in black," said Sam to the Rakasha, "and tell her to break the darkness."

  "Yes," said the demon, and fled back toward the city.

  The sun shone again and Sam shielded his eyes against it.

  The carnage was even worse under the blue sky and the golden bridge.

  Across the field, the thunder chariot rested upon high ground.

  The zombies slew the last of the men in sight. Then, as they turned to seek more life, the drumming ceased and they fell to the ground themselves.

  Sam stood with Death within the chariot. They looked about them for signs of life.

  "Nothing moves," said Sam. "Where are the gods?"

  "Perhaps in the thunder chariot."

  The Rakasha came to them once more.

  "The defenders cannot hold the city," he reported.

  "Have the gods joined in that assault?"

  "Rudra is there, and his arrows work much havoc."

  "The Lord Mara. Brahma, too, I think—and there are many others. There is much confusion. I hurried."

  "Where is the Lady Ratri?"

  "She entered into Keenset and abides there in her Temple."

  "Where are the rest of the gods?"

  "I do not know."

  "I will go on to the city," said Sam, "and aid in its defense."

  "And I to the thunder chariot," said Death, "to take it and use it against the enemy—if it can still be used. If not, there is still Garuda."

  "Yes," said Sam, and levitated.

  Death sprang down from the chariot. "Fare thee well."

  "Thou also."

  They crossed the place of carnage, each in his own fashion.

  He climbed the small rise, his red leather boots soundless on the turf.

  He swept his scarlet cloak back over his right shoulder and surveyed the thunder chariot.

  "It was damaged by the lightnings."

  "Yes," he agreed.

  He looked back toward the tail assembly, at the one who had spoken.

  His armor shone like bronze, but it was not bronze.

  It was worked about with the forms of many serpents.

  He wore the horns of a bull upon his burnished helm, and in his left hand he held a gleaming trident.

  "Brother Agni, you have come up in the world."

  "I am no longer Agni, but Shiva, Lord of Destruction."

  "You wear his armor upon a new body and you carry his trident. But none could master the trident of Shiva so quickly. This is why you wear the white gauntlet on your right hand, and the goggles upon your brow."

  Shiva reached up and lowered the goggles over his eyes.

  "It is true, I know. Throw away your trident, Agni. Give me your glove and your wand, your belt and your goggles."

  He shook his head.

  "I respect your power, deathgod, your speed and your strength, your skill. But you stand too far away for any of these to aid you now. You cannot come at me but I will burn you before you reach me here. Death, you shall die."

  He reached for the wand at his belt.

  "You seek to turn the gift of Death against its giver?" The blood-red scimitar came into his hand as he spoke.

  "Good-bye, Dharma. Your days are come to an end."

  He drew the wand.

  "In the name of a friendship which once existed," said the one in red, "I will give you your life if you surrender to me."

  The wand wavered.

  "You killed Rudra to defend the name of my wife."

  "It was to preserve the honor of the Lokapalas that I did it. Now I am God of Destruction, and one with the Trimurti!"

  He pointed the fire wand, and Death swirled his scarlet cloak before him.

  There came a flash of light so blinding that two miles away upon the walls of Keenset the defenders saw it and wondered.

  The invaders had entered Keenset. There were fires now, screams, and the blows of metal upon wood, metal upon metal.

  The Rakasha pushed down buildings upon the invaders with whom they could not clos
e. The invaders as well as the defenders were few in number. The main bodies of both forces had perished upon the plains.

  Sam stood atop the highest tower of the Temple and stared down into the falling city.

  "I could not save you, Keenset," he stated. "I tried, but was not sufficient."

  Far below, in the street, Rudra strung his bow.

  Seeing him, Sam raised his lance.

  The lightnings fell upon Rudra and the arrow exploded in their midst.

  When the air cleared, where Rudra had been standing there was now a small crater in the center of a space of charred ground.

  Lord Vayu appeared upon a distant rooftop and called forth the winds to fan the flames. Sam raised his lance once more, but then a dozen Vayus stood upon a dozen rooftops.

  "Mara!" said Sam. "Show yourself. Dreamer! It you dare!"

  There was laughter all around him.

  "When I am ready, Kalkin," came the voice, out of the smoky air, "I will dare. The choice, though, is mine to make. . .. Are you not dizzy? What would happen if you were to cast yourself down toward the ground? Would the Rakasha come to bear you up? Would your demons save you?"

  Lightnings fell upon all the buildings near the Temple then, but above the noise came the laughter of Mara. It faded away into the distance as fresh fires crackled.

  Sam seated himself and watched the city burn. The sounds of fighting died down and ceased. There was only flame.

  A sharp pain came and went in his head. Then it came and would not go. Then it racked his entire body, and he cried out.

  Brahma, Vayu, Mara and four demigods stood below in the street.

  He tried to raise his lance, but his hand shook so that it fell from his grasp, rattled on brick, was gone.

  The scepter that is a skull and a wheel was pointed in his direction.

  "Come down, Sam!" said Brahma, moving it slightly so that the pains shifted and burned. "You and Ratri are the only ones left alive! You are the last! Surrender!"

  He struggled to his feet and clasped his hands upon his glowing belt.

  He swayed and said the words through clenched teeth:

  "Very well! I shall come down, as a bomb into your midst!"