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I can I will warn you of what lies ahead, though you must fend for yourself,
and I
will tell you of a way out of the maze should you live to use it."
Blade felt mingled pity and revulsion. "And what is this favor, Hirga?"
"Kill me, Blade. Cut off my head and take it with you. It may be of some help
when you meet Urdur."
"And who is Urdur? Or what?"
Hirga began to weep. "A monster born of monsters. Casta mated a male with a
female monster and they begat Urdur. He is Casta's familiar and guards him,
and now that you have come this far into the maze you will meet him. If you
can kill
Urdur you will have defeated Casta. I do not think you can, Blade, but you
cannot go back. Now, before the madness comes over me again, I ask you to kill
me. I am vile and loathe myself beyond bearing. I grow old. Soon I will be a
hag and Casta will use me to breed his monsters. And I have no courage to kill
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myself."
Blade stepped away from the bed. "Find it, then. For this I cannot do."
She was at his feet, clutching at his knees, begging with tear-filled eyes. "I
beg it.
I beg it! Please, Blade. It is no stain on you and a favor to me. Promise me
this and I
will tell you of the secret way out. There is only one. Without this knowledge
you will die in the maze, even if you kill Urdur. Even if you slay Casta. The
crows will wait until you are weak from hunger and thirst, dazed from
searching a way out, then they will creep up and slay you. I know this."
Blade stared long into the green eyes and saw truth there. She did wish this
thing.
"Tell me of the way out, Hirga."
"You promise to kill me?"
"I promise."
"You were in Casta's private chamber?"
"He nodded.
"Then you saw a fire?"
"Aye. He sat before it."
"Beneath the fire, when you scatter it, is a grate that can be lifted out. A
hole leads into a passage and the passage out to the Plain. When the tomb is
sealed, as it now is, it is the only way out."
He believed her. He looked down at her and fingered his beard and knew that he
must do her this kindness.
Hirga still knelt before him. "Do it quickly, Blade. Before I lose courage and
become mad again. Before my body lusts again."
He stroked the gleaming red hair. "Close your eyes, Hirga. Be at peace. It
will not hurt."
"I thank you, Blade. Farewell."
"Goodbye, Hirga."
Chapter 16
Beyond the bed was a door. As Blade approached it, the door swung open.
Blade laughed and strode through and into a passageway. He carried the head of
Hirga in his left hand, gripping it by the long red hair. In his right hand
his sword was ready.
The passage sloped upward. Light gleamed at the end of it. The odor came
again,
fetid and obscene but somehow different. Worse. Blade hurried up the ramp.
He halted before a vast iron door. From a tube over the door the voice of
Casta was whispering.
"Greetings, Blade. I had not thought you would get this far. I miscalculated
my control of Hirga. You are a warrior and a man such as I have never seen
before. All this I admit. It is a pity that we must quarrel. Do not enter this
door, Blade. Wait in patience until I come to you. We will talk as reasonable
men. With your brain and strength and courage, and with my secrets, we can
rule the world together. As equal partners. Think on it, Blade. Wait. Do not
go through the door."
"Can you hear me, priest?"
"I can hear you."
"Then hear this. I will pass this door. I will seek you out. I will kill you.
Take my advice and, since you are a priest, pray."
Laughter came from the tube. "I am sorry, Blade. I would not have you dead.
But there is no cure for a fool."
Silence. Blade waited. Silence. He kicked the iron door with his foot and it
swung open.
He was in a den of some sort. Dim light came from torches all around. There
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was earth beneath his feet instead of stone and he trod in a mess of dung
before he saw it. One corner of the den was in deep shadow. Something moved
there and the sound that came out of the dark chilled his bones. A visceral, a
gut-rending sound, a swallowing and bone-crackling sound. The creature was
eating. Urdur?
Blade stood uncertain. So far the thing paid him no mind. He saw skulls
littered about and bones and bits of corpses here and there. Did it feed on
cadavers or live men?
He knew that he could not stand up to this horror for long.
He was human. He must have at it, put all to the test, get it over with. Each
moment he delayed, his courage seeped away. Blade had never known fear as he
knew it now. And he had not yet seen the creature.
He picked up a skull and hurled it into the dark corner. "Come out, Urdur!
Come out and be killed." His cry echoed around the den. Did the thing know he
was there, could it understand?
Something moved in the shadows. There was a dragging, a scrabbling sound, as
though some beast pulled itself through mire. Blade ran a step toward it and
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