The Queen of the Swords

by Michael Moorcock

  'He is dead!' shrieked the leader of the Grim Guard. 'Our king! Vengeance!'

  Waving his sword he rushed at Corum. But again Corum depressed the grip and he, too, died in the manner of his king. Corum pointed the weapon several times. Each time a Grim Guard fell until there were no more Grim Guards living.

  He looked back at the King Without a Country. Noreg-Dan was smiling. 'We used such things against Xiombarg's minions. That is one of the reasons why she expresses such rage. It will take her time to create new mortal things to do her work.'

  'But she has defied the Balance in one thing,' Corum said. 'She may defy it in another.'

  The monstrous, beautiful, furious face of the Queen of the Swords rose higher over the horizon and now her shoulders could be seen, her breasts, her waist.

  'AH! CORUM! DREADFUL ASSASSIN OF ALL I LOVE!'

  The voice was so loud that it made Corum's ears throb with pain. He staggered backwards against the battlements, watching, transfixed, as the great sword filled the sky and Xiombarg's eyes blazed like two mighty suns. She was engulfing the world with her presence. The sword began to fall and Corum readied himself for death. Rhalina rushed to his arms and they hugged one another.

  Then: 'YOU HAVE MOCKED THE RULING OF THE COSMIC BALANCE, SISTER XIOMBARG!'

  Against the far horizon stood Arkyn, as gigantic as the Queen of the Swords. Lord Arkyn of Law in all his godly finery, with a sword in his hand as large as Xiombarg's. And the city and its inhabitants were more insignificant than a tiny ant-nest and its occupants would be to two humans confronting each other in a meadow.

  'YOU HAVE MOCKED THE BALANCE, QUEEN OF THE SWORDS.'

  'I AM NOT THE FIRST!'

  'THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO HAS SURVIVED AND HE IS THE NAMELESS FORCE! YOU HAVE RELINQUISHED YOUR RIGHT TO RULE YOUR REALM!'

  'NO! THE BALANCE HAS NO POWER OVER ME!'

  'BUT IT HAS. . .'

  And the Cosmic Balance, that Corum had seen once before in a vision after he had banished Arioch of Chaos, appeared in the sky between Lord Arkyn and Queen Xiombarg, and it was so great that it dwarfed them.

  'IT HAS,' said a voice that was not the voice of Xiombarg or Arkyn. And the Balance began to tip towards Arkyn.

  'IT HAS.'

  Queen Xiombarg screamed in fear and it was a scream that shook the whole world and threatened to send it spinning from its course about the sun.

  'IT HAS.'

  The sword that was the symbol of her power was wrenched effortlessly from her hand and appeared for an instant in the bowl of the Balance which tilted towards Lord Arkyn.

  'NO!' begged Queen Xiombarg. 'IT WAS A TRICK - ARKYN PLANNED THIS. HE LURED ME HERE. HE KNEW. . .' Her voice was fading. 'He knew. . . He knew. . .'

  And the substance of Queen Xiombarg began to disperse. It drifted away like wisps of cloud and then was gone.

  For a moment the Cosmic Balance remained framed in the sky, then that, too, disappeared.

  Only Lord Arkyn remained now, all clothed in white radiance, his white sword in his hand.

  'IT IS DONE!' said his voice and it seemed that warmth flooded through all the world.

  'IT IS DONE!'

  Corum cried, 'Lord Arkyn! Did you know that Xiombarg's fury would be so great that she would risk the Wrath of the Balance and enter this Realm.'

  'I HOPED IT. I MERELY HOPED IT.'

  'Then much of what you have asked me to do was with this in mind?'

  'AYE.'

  Corum thought of all the bitterness he had experienced, all the strife. He thought of Prince Gaynor's thousands of faces flickering before him. . .

  'I could come to hate all gods,' he said.

  'IT WOULD BE YOUR RIGHT. WE MUST USE MORTALS FOR ENDS WE CANNOT OURSELVES ACHIEVE.'

  And then Lord Arkyn had vanished also and all that was left were the circling Sky Ships of Gwlãs-cor-Gwrys sending down invisible death to the shrieking, terrified barbarians who were scattering now all over the churned lawns, avenues and gardens of Halwyg-nan-Vake.

  Beyond the walls a few barbarians were fleeing, but the Sky Ships found them. The Sky Ships found them all.

  Corum noted that the Army of the Dog and the Army of the Bear had gone, as had the creatures of Chaos he had summoned to his aid. Had they been recalled by their masters - the Dog and the Horned Bear - or were they now occupying the Cavern of Limbo. He put a finger to his jewelled eye-patch but then dropped it. He could not bear, for a long time, to look upon that netherworld.

  The King Without a Country came forward. 'You see how useful the gift was, Prince Corum.'

  'Aye.'

  'And now Xiombarg is banished from her Realm only one more Realm has a Sword Ruler. Mabelode must fear us now.'

  'I am sure that he does,' said Corum without joy.

  'And I am no longer a King Without a Country. I can begin to rebuild my kingdom once I have returned to my own plane.'

  'That is good,' said Corum tonelessly.

  He went to the battlements and he looked down at the corpse-strewn city. A few of the citizens were beginning to emerge from their houses. The power of the Mabden barbarians was ended for ever. Peace had come to Arkyn's Realm and peace, no doubt, would come to the Realm now to be ruled by his brother Lord of Law.

  'Shall we return to Moidel in the sea?' Rhalina asked him softly, stroking his haggard face.

  He shrugged. 'I doubt if it exists. Glandyth would have razed it.'

  'And what of Earl Glandyth?' Jhary-a-Conel stroked the chin of his purring, winged cat which sat again upon his shoulder. 'Where is he? What became of him.'

  'I do not think he is dead,' said Corum. 'I think I shall encounter him again. I have served Law and performed all the deeds Arkyn asked of me. But I have still to take my vengeance.'

  A Sky Ship came towards them. In its prow stood the old, handsome Vadhagh Prince Yurette. He was smiling as the ship of the air settled on the roof. 'Corum. Will you guest with us at Gwlãs-cor-Gwrys? I wish to speak on matters concerning the restoration of Vadhagh lands, of Vadhagh castles - so that your land may once again be called Bro-an-Vadhagh. We will send the remaining Mabden back to their original kingdom of Bro-an-Mabden and the pleasant forests and fields will bloom again.'

  And, at last Corum's gaunt face softened and he smiled.

  'I thank you, Prince Yurette. We should be honoured to guest with you.'

  'Now that we have returned to our own Realm, I think we shall cease our venturings for a while,' said Prince Yurette.

  'And,' Corum added feelingly, 'I hope that I, too, may cease my own venturings. A little tranquillity would be welcome.'

  Far out across the plain the City in the Pyramid was beginning to descend to Earth.

  Epilogue

  Glandyth-a-Krae was weary, as were his men, the charioteers who massed behind him. From the cover of the hill he had witnessed the confrontation between Queen Xiombarg and Lord Arkyn and he had seen his folk destroyed by the Vadhagh Shefanhow in their sorcerous flying craft.

  For many months he had sought Corum Jhaelen Irsei and the gast of a renegade, the Margravine Rhalina. And at last he had turned from his search to join the main army in its attack upon Halwyg-nan-Vake, only to witness the sudden defeat of the Mabden horde and its allies.

  Earl Glandyth glowered. It was he who was the outlaw now - he who must hide and scheme and know fear - for the Vadhagh had returned and Law ruled All.

  At last, as night fell, and the world was illuminated by the strange green glow from the monstrous, sorcerous city, Glandyth ordered his men to go back along the road they had travelled, back to the sea and into the dark forests of the North East. And he vowed he would yet find an ally strong enough to destroy Corum and all that Corum loved.

  And he believed he knew whom to summon.

  He believed he knew.

  This Ends The

  Second Book Of Corum

 
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