Lords of Destruction by James Silke, Frank Frazetta Read Free Book Online Page A

kill, no queenly majesty, no
carnal desire. All she felt was shame for having failed her lover.
    The flat of his hand caught the side of her face and she hit the ground,
rolled over on her back amid his weapons and glittering chain mail. When she
looked up, he was on his hands and knees straddling her. “You lied,” he snarled.
    “No,” she pleaded. “I didn’t know. I… I thought my powers would return,
but…”
    “You’re dying?”
    “No, no! I’ll be all right. But I’m no longer the queen. I’m powerless,
returning to my normal nature.”
    His eyes questioned her. “Normal?”
    She nodded bitterly. “Soon I’ll be nothing again. Just as I was when I first
entered his service. A penniless, helpless woman!”
    He hesitated, then asked, “Can you get your powers back?”
    She shook her head. “Only the Nymph Queen of Pyram can do that, and her
castle is many days from here. The helmet would kill you before we could reach
it. Besides, she serves the Master of Darkness. She’d do everything in her power
to kill you.”
    “Then you’re useless.”
    “No,” she protested, “I can still help you.” Ignoring her, he picked up his
axe and stood over her, placing the cutting edge against her throat. She caught
hold of it, trying to force it away. “Don’t be a fool! You need me. Robin
Lakehair is the only one who can remove the helmet now, but she’s in danger! You’ve got to go to her
before it’s too late. Now!” He glared at her, unrelenting.
    “You’ve got to believe me!” she pleaded. “She’s in terrible danger.”
    He laughed at her.
    “Then trust the helmet. If I were trying to deceive you… if there were any
threat to you in me at all, the metal would sense it. But it doesn’t. If it did,
there would be fire in your eyes and the horns would be hot.” He relaxed the
pressure, and she added, “Trust me, Gath. The Lakehair girl is your only hope,
and I can help you save her.”
    “How?”
    “I lied to you. I didn’t tell you everything the soldier told me.” She took a
breath. “The Master of Darkness, before destroying his altar, commanded my
servants to go to the Great Forest Basin and hunt her down… kill her.”
Another breath. “Some of those who survived hunt her now, and they are three,
four days’ ride ahead of you.”.
    A glow showed behind the helmet’s eye slits, and its horns pulsed with life,
growing hot. He stepped away from her.
    She gathered slowly, feeling faint and weak, then rose, bringing his chain
mail with her. Offering it to him, she said, “Apparently he thought it would be
the surest way of destroying you.” Taking the chain mail, Gath began to dress,
and she added, “There’s no time to lose. The helmet is like a screaming infant.
The longer you feed it, the more it will demand, and the stronger it will
become.” He thrust his arms into the suit of mail and picked up his sword belt,
began to buckle it hurriedly. She watched him a moment, then said, “Take me with
you.”
    Continuing to dress, he said, “The helmet’s hungers have entered my blood and
bones and are drawing me to a new place… a land, or a country… it’s not
clear.” His eyes met hers. “Do you know where it is?”
    “No,” she said openly, “but I can help you find it, if anyone can.”
    In reply, he pulled on a boot.
    “Damn you,” she snarled, “you can’t leave me here!”
    He put on the second boot.
    “You fool,” she growled. “You’re still a clumsy forest lout, aren’t you?
Still too proud to breathe air from the sky because it doesn’t come from your
own magnificent self.” Her eyes turned molten, and she shrieked recklessly, “You
won’t survive without help, can’t you understand that? Nobody can. And I have
the cunning that can hide your precious virgin. I can keep her safe and teach
her to use her powers instead of squandering them! In time, I could even show
her how to tame the helmet enough for you to remove it by yourself.”
    He