The Sword and the Stallion - 06 by Michael Moorcock Read Free Book Online Page B

illusion and all these are your demon followers."
    Corum shrugged. "If they are demons, Sir Artek, then you are doomed, anyway, are you not?"
    Miserably Artek sheathed his sword. "You are right. I must believe you. Yet your resemblance to the one who attacked us on that hateful and haunted isle is so close—you would not blame me, Prince Corum, if you saw him."
    Corum answered so that only Artek could hear. "I think that I have seen him—in a dream. Later, Sir Artek, you and I must talk about this, for I believe the evil which was worked against you will soon be directed against me—and the results could be even more tragic."
    Artek darted him a puzzled glance but, respecting the tone of Corum's words, said nothing further.
    "You must rest and you must eat," said Corum. He had taken a liking to the barbarian in spite of the poor circumstances of their meeting. "Then you must tell us all your tale in the great hall of Caer Mahlod."
    Artek bowed. "You are generous, Prince Corum, and you are courteous. Now I see why the Mabden respect you."
     
     
    THE SIXTH CHAPTER
    CONCERNING THE VOYAGE OF THE PEOPLE OF FYEAN
     
     
    ‘ ‘ We are an island folk,’ ‘ said Artek, ‘ 'living mainly off the sea. We fish—" he paused—"well, in the past, until recently, we—well, we were sea-raiders, in short. It is a hard life on our islands. Little grows there. Sometimes we raided nearby coasts, at other times we attacked ships and took what we needed to survive . . ."
    "I know you now." King Fiachadh laughed heartily. "You are pirates, are you not! You are Artek of Clonghar. Why the folk of our sea ports pass water at the very mention of your name!"
    Artek made a feeble gesture and again he blushed. "I am that same Artek," he admitted.
    "Fear not, Artek of Clonghar," smiled King Mannach, leaning across the table and patting the pirate upon the hand,' 'all old scores are forgotten in Caer Mahlod. Here we have only one enemy—the Fhoi Myore. Tell us how you came here."
    "One of the ships we raided was from Gwyddneu Garanhir—on its way to Tir-nam-Beo, we discovered, with a message for the king of that land. From that ship we learned of the great massing against the Fhoi Myore. While we have never encountered this folk—living in the remote northwest as we do—we felt that if all the Mabden were joining together against the Cold Folk then we should help also—that their fight was our fight in this case." He grinned, recovering some of his buoyancy. "Besides—without your ships, how should we live? So it was in our interest to ensure that you survived. We readied all our own boats-—more than a score—and built strong, water-tight rafts to tow behind them, taking all our folk from Fyean—our whole island's name—since we did not wish to leave our women and children unprotected." Artek stopped, lowering his eyes. "Ah, how I wish we had left them. Then, at least, they might have died in their own homes and not on the shifting shores of that terrible island."
    Ilbrec, who had squeezed himself into the hall to hear Artek's story, said quietly: "Where is this island?"
    ‘ ‘ A little to the north and west of Clonghar. The storm drove us in that direction. During the same storm we lost most of our water and much of our meat. Do you know the place, Sir Sidhi?"
    "Has it a single high hill, very even in its proportions, at its center?"
    Artek inclined his head. "It has."
    ‘ ‘ And does one huge pine tree grow on the peak of that hill at the exact center?"
    ‘ 'There is the biggest pine I have ever seen there," agreed Artek. "When you have landed does everything seem to shimmer and
    threaten to change its appearance, save for that hill which remains sharp and solid in outline?"
    "You have been there!" said Artek.
    "No," said Ilbrec. "I have only heard of the place." And he darted a very hard stare at Goffanon, who affected to be without interest in this island and looked studiously bored. But Corum knew the dwarf well enough to