«I know only a fragment of the spell for summoning the Water King, » Dyvim Slorm said. «I know the whole rune. I had best make haste to meditate upon it, for our fleets will clash in two hours or less and then I'll have no time for the summoning of spirits but will have to keep tight hold on my own less sothe Chaos creature releases it»
Elric moved towards the prow of the ship, and, leaning over, stared into the ocean depths, turning his mind inward and contemplating the strange and ancient knowledge which lay there. He became almost hypnotised as he lost contact with his own personality and began to identify with the swirling ocean below.
Involuntarily, old words began to form in his throat and his lips began to move in the rune which his ancestors had known when they and all the elementals of the Earth had been allies and sworn to aid one another long ago in the dawn of the Bright Empire, more than ten thousand years before.
The spoken rune was merely a vocalisation of the actual invocation which was produced mentally and went plunging into the depths, through the dark green corridors of the sea until it finally found Straasha in his domain of curving, coral-coloured, womb-like constructions which were only partially in the natural sea and partially in the plane where the dementals spent a large part of their immortal existence. Straasha knew of the Ships of Hell rising to the surface and had been pleased that his domain was now cleared of them, but Elric’s summons awakened his memory and he remembered the folk of Melnibone upon whom all the elementals had once looked with a sense of comradeship; he remembered the ancient invocation, and felt bound to answer it, though he knew his people were badly, weakened by the effect Chaos had had in other parts of the world. Not only humans had suffered; the elemental spirits of nature had been sorely pressed as well.
But he stirred so that water and the stuff of his other plane were both disturbed. He summoned some of his followers and began to glide upwards into the domain of the Air.
Semi-conscious now, Elric knew that his invocation had bet with success. Sprawled in the prow, he waited.
At last the waters heaved and broke and a great green figure, with turquoise beard and hair, pale green skin that seemed made of the sea itself, and a voice that was like a rushing tide.
«Once more Straasha answers thy summons, mortal. Our destinies are bound together. How may I aid thee, and, in aiding thee, aid myself?»
«In the throat-torturing speech of the elemental, Elric answered, telling the sea king of the forthcoming battle and what it implied.
«So at long last it has come to pass! I fear I cannot aid you Elric, for my folk are already suffering terribly from the deprecations of our mutual enemy. We shall attempt to aid you if we can. That's all I promise.»
The sea king sank back into the waters and Elric watched him depart with a feeling of acute disappointment. It was with a brooding mind that he left the prow and went to the main cabin to tell his captains the news.
They received it with mixed feelings, for only Dyvim Slonn was used to dealing with supernaturals. Moonglum had always been dubious of Elric's powers to control his wild, elemental friends, while Kargan growled that Straasha may have been an ally of Elric's folk but had been more of an enemy to his. The four of them, however, could plan with slightly more optimism and face the coming ordeal with better confidence.
Four
The fleet of Jagreen Lern bore towards them and' in its wake, the boiling stuff of Chaos hovered.
Elric gave the command and the rowers hauled at their curs, sending Timber-tearer rushing towards the enemy. So far his elemental allies had not appeared, but he could not afford to wait for them.
As Timber-tearer rode the foaming waves, Elric hauled his sword from its scabbard, brought the side wings of his helmet round to cover his face and cried the age-old ululating warshout of Melnibone, a shout full of joyous evil. Stormbringer's eerie voice joined with his, giving vent to a thrumming song, anticipating the blood and the souls it would soon feast upon.
Jagreen Lern’s flagship now lay behind three rows of man-o-war and behind that the ships of death.
Timber-tearer's iron ram ripped into the first enemy ship and the rowers leaned on their oars, backing away and turning to pierce another ship below the water line. Showers of arrows sprayed from the holed ship and clattered on deck and armour. Several rowers went down.
Elric and his three companions directed their men from the main deck and suddenly they saw the streaking balls of green fire come curving out of the sky.
«Prepare to quench fires! » Kargan yelled and the group of men already primed for this leapt for the tubs containing a special brew, which Elric had told them how to make earlier. This was spread on decks and splashed on canvas and, when the fire-balls landed, they were swiftly put out by the stuff.
«Don't engage unless forced to, » Elric called to the seamen, «keep aiming for the flagship. If we take that our advantage will be good! »
«Where are your allies, Elric?» Kargan asked sardonically, shuddering a little as he saw the Chaos stuff in the distance suddenly move and erupt tendrils of black matter into the sky.
«They'll come, never fear, » Elric answered, but he was unsure.
Now they were in the thick of the enemy fleet, the ships of their squadron followed behind. The war-engines of their own fleet sent up a constant barrage of fire and heavy stones.
Only a handful of Bine's craft broke through the enemy's first rank and reached the open sea, sailing towards Jagreen Lern»s flagship.
As they were observed, the enemy ships sailed to protect the flagship and the scintillating ships of death, moving with fantastic speed for their size, surrounded the Theocrat's vessel.
Shouting over the waters, Kargan ordered their diminished squadron into a new formation.
Moonglum shook his head in astonishment «How can things of that size support themselves on the water?» he said to Elric.
Elric said: «It's unlikely that they actually do.» As then ship manoeuvred into its new position, he stared at the huge craft, twenty of them, dwarfing everything else on the sea. They seemed covered with a kind of scintillating wetness which flashed all the colours of the spectrum so that their outlines were hard to see and the shadowy figures moving about on their gigantic decks could not easily be observed. Whisps of dark stuff began to drift across the scene, close to the water, and Dyvim Slonn, from the lower deck, pointed and shouted:
«See! Chaos comes. Where is Straasha and his folk?»
Elric shook his head, perturbed. He had expected aid by now.
«We cannot wait. We must attack! » Kargan's voice was pitched higher than usual.
A mood of bitter recklessness came upon Elric then he smiled. «Come then. Let's do so! »
Speedily the squadron coursed towards like disturbing ships of death.