The Eternal Champion

'This is Lord Erekose,' King Rigenos told them. 'He is a great warrior and my honoured guest. Treat him as you would treat me-obey him as you would obey me. All that he wishes shall be his.'

To my embarrassment the assemblage fell to its knees again and chorused: 'Greetings, Lord Erekose.'

I spread my hands. They rose. I was beginning to take this sort of behaviour for granted. There was no doubt that part of me was used to it.

'I shall not burden you with ceremony for tonight,' Rigenos said. 'If you would like to refresh yourself in the apartments we have set aside for your use, we shall visit you later.'

'Very well,' I said. I turned to lolinda and put out my hand to take hers. She extended it after a moment's hesitation and I kissed it. 'I look forward to seeing you both again in a little time,' I murmured, looking deep into her marvellous eyes. She dropped her gaze and withdrew her hand, and I allowed the servants to escort me upstairs to my apartments.

Twenty large rooms had been set aside for my use. These contained quarters for a staff of some ten personal slaves and servants and they were most of them extravagantly furnished with an eye to luxury that, it seemed to me, the people of the twentieth century had lost. Opulent was the word that sprang to mind. I could not move, but a slave would come forward and take my surcoat or help me pour a glass of water or arrange the cushions of a divan. Yet I was still somewhat uneasy and it was a relief, when exploring the apartments, to come upon the more austere rooms. These were weapon-lined warrior's rooms, without cushions or silks or furs, but with solid benches and blades and maces of iron and steel, brass-shod lances and razor-sharp arrows.

I spent some time in the weapon rooms and then returned to eat. My slaves brought me food and wine and I ate and drank heartily.

When I had finished I felt as if I had been asleep for a long time and had awakened invigorated. Again I paced the rooms, exploring them further, taking more interest in the weapons than in the furnishings which would have delighted even the most jaded sybarite. I stepped out on to one of the several covered balconies and surveyed the great city of Necranal as the sun set over it and deep shadows began to flow through the streets.

The faraway sky was full of smoky colour. There were purples, oranges, yellows and blues, and these colours were reflected in the domes and steeples of Necranal so that the entire city seemed to take on a softer texture, like a pastel drawing.

The shadows grew blacker. The sun set and stained the topmost domes scarlet, and then the night fell and fire flared suddenly all around the distant walls of Necranal, the yellow and red flames leaping upward at intervals of a few yards and illuminating much of the city within the walls. Lights appeared in windows and I heard the calls of night-birds and insects. I turned to go in and saw that my servants had lit lamps for me. It had grown colder but I hesitated on the balcony and decided to stay where I was, thinking deeply about my strange situation and trying to gauge the exact nature of the perils which humanity faced.

There came a sound behind me. I looked back into the apartments and saw King Rigenos entering. Moody Katorn, Captain of the Imperial Guard, was with him. Instead of a helmet he now wore a platinum circlet on his head, and instead of a breastplate, a leather jerkin stamped with a design in gold, but the absence of armour did not seem to soften his general demeanour. King Rigenos was wrapped in a white fur cloak and still wore his spiked crown of iron and diamonds. The two men joined me on the balcony.

'You feel rested, I hope, Erekose?' King Rigenos enquired almost nervously, as if he had expected me to fade into air while he was away.

'I feel very well, thank you, King Rigenos.'

'Good.' He hesitated.

'Time is valuable,' Katorn grunted.

'Yes, Katorn. Yes, I know.' King Rigenos looked at me as if he hoped I already knew what he wished to say, but I did not and could only stare back, waiting for him to speak.

'You will forgive us, Erekose,' said Katorn, 'if we come immediately to the Matter of the Human Kingdoms. The king would outline to you our position and what we require of you…'

'Of course,' I said. 'I am ready.' I was in fact very anxious to learn the position.

We have maps,' said King Rigenos. 'Where are the maps, Katorn?'

'Within, sire.'

'Shall we…?'

I nodded and we entered my apartments, We passed through two chambers until we came to the main living-room in which was a large oak table. Here stood several of King Rigenos's slaves with large rolls of parchment under their arms. Katorn selected several of the rolls and spread them, one on top of the other, on the table. He drew his heavy dagger to weight one side and picked up a metal vase studded with rubies and emeralds to hold the other side.

I looked at the maps with interest. I already recognised them. I had seen something similar in my dreams before I had been called here by King Rigenos's incantations.

Now the king bent over the maps and his long, pale index finger traced over the territories shown.

'As I told you in your-your tomb, Erekose, the Eldren now dominate the entire southern continent. They call this continent Mernadin. There.' His finger now hovered over a coastal region of the continent. 'Five years ago they recaptured the only real outpost we had on Mernadin. Here. Their ancient seaport of Paphanaal. There was little fighting.'

'Your forces fled?' I asked.

Katorn came in again. 'I admit that we had grown complacent. When they suddenly swept out of the Mountains of Sorrow, we were unprepared. They must have been building their damned armies for years and we were unaware of it. We could not be expected to know their plans-they're aided by sorcery and we are not!'

'You were able to evacuate most of your colonies, I take it?' I put in.

Katorn shrugged. 'There was little evacuation necessary. Mernadin was virtually uninhabited since human beings would not live in a land which had been polluted by the presence of the Hounds of Evil. The continent is cursed. Inhabited by fiends from Hell.'

I rubbed my chin and asked innocently: 'Then why did you drive the Eldren back to the mountains in the first place if you had no need of their territories?'

'Because while they had the land under their control they were a constant threat to Humanity!'

'I see.' I made a tiny gesture with my right hand. 'Forgive me for interrupting you. Please continue.'

'A constant threat-' began Katorn.

'That threat is once again imminent,' the king's voice broke in. It was thick and trembling. His eyes were suddenly full of fear and hatred. 'We expect them at any moment to launch an attack upon the Two Continents-upon Zavara and Necralala!'

'Do you know when they plan this invasion?' I asked. 'How long have we to ready ourselves?'

'They'll attack!' Katorn's black eyes came to life. The thin beard framing his pale face seemed to bristle.

'They'll attack,' agreed King Rigenos. 'They would have overrun us now if we did not constantly war against them.'

'We have to keep them back,' added Katorn. 'Once a breach is made, they will engulf us!'

King Rigenos sighed. 'Humanity, though, is battle-weary. We needed one of two things-though ideally both-fresh warriors to drive the Eldren back, or a leader to give the warriors we have new hope.'

'And you can train no fresh warriors?' I asked.

Katorn made a short, guttural sound in his throat. I took this to be a laugh. 'Impossible! All mankind fights the Eldren menace!'

The king nodded. 'So I called you, Erekose-though believing myself to be a desperate fool willing to think a mirage reality…'

Katorn turned away at this. It seemed to me that this had been his private theory-that the king had gone mad in his desperation. My materialisation seemed to have destroyed this theory and made him in some way resentful of me, though I did not think I could be blamed for the king's decision.