It was there--the flat white package--exactly where he had dropped it that first morning. He swept it up, intent upon returning to the shelter of the forest.
But his interest in what lay beneath the white paper wrapping had grown to such a point of intensity that his footsteps lagged, his attention riveted upon the tantalizing thing, and he came to a full stop mid-field while his strong fingers tore at the wrappings.
The white parchment came away and Bram Forest stared at what was revealed. Then a strange and terrifying change came over him. His handsome features contorted as every drop of blood was drained from his face. His great frame shook as with an illness and such a demoniacal rage came over him as few people in this or any other world have seen.
Now a great and terrifying cry arose from his throat; a cry that make even the beasts of this forest freeze in their tracks and crouch lower in their places of concealment. A cry of such rage and agony that even the trees of the forest seemed to pause and listen in mute wonder....
Mulcahey Davis, State Trooper, picked brambles from the legs of his blue uniform and cursed his a.s.signment in no uncertain terms.
Why in the name of law and decency had he and Mowbray been ordered to patrol this tangled, deserted spook-hole? Sure--the body of some old hobo had been found in a well with rocks thrown on it but what were he and Mowbray going to prove by tramping around through these brambles?
Mulcahey Davis heard footsteps and looked up to see Mowbray laboring across the last few yards of his beat. Mowbray broke from the last clutching strands of thorn bush and began beating burrs from his legs.
"Find anything?" he asked.
"Not a blasted thing. It"s downright crazy, our clambering around this woods. What will we find? A couple of rabbits?"
"That body in the well has to be investigated," Mowbray said, seriously. "Pretty odd deal."
"What progress have they made?"
"They"ve located the outfit that held this place in trust, but the guy in charge had a stroke or something. He can"t be questioned. They may never be able to question him. An old guy named Pride. He"s in pretty bad shape."
"Chances are he wouldn"t know anything about it even if they could ask him. What would he have been doing out here?"
"There"s that funny fire in the bas.e.m.e.nt, too. Nothing routine about that. Fire so hot it melted rock. A lot of unanswered questions here."
"If they"d ask me, I"d tell them--"
Mulcahey Davis" throat froze as a terrible cry smote his ears. Mowbray paled suddenly and the two men looked at each other in instinctive fear.
But they were tried and tested law-enforcement officers and were not held in the grip of terror for long. "Did you hear that?" Mulcahey Davis said.
"Good lord, man! How could I help it!"
"Where"d it come from?"
"Over there."
"Let"s go."
The two troopers plunged again into the undergrowth to emerge at the edge of an open field. And regardless of their personal courage and experience in their line of effort, what they saw froze them anew.
A giant of a man--a creature of G.o.dlike proportions stood in the open field, washed by the rays of the setting sun. His great arms were held aloft and he was looking up into the sky with a terrifying expression that was a mixture of pain and rage.
He was speaking and his great voice echoed in what was remindful of a thunderous prayer. "I know not the purpose for which I was created but well do I now know my dedicated task. Vengeance! Vengeance such as this world or any other has never seen!"
With this the giant--clad in a strange colorful uniform of some sort--dropped to his knees and lowered his great head into his hands.
Mowbray"s face was grim and alert. "Come on," he whispered. "We"re behind him so we get a break. Move in quietly. And let"s get him before he sees us. I"ve got a hunch he could lick ten of us and we don"t want to use our guns."
They crossed the field softly and moved in behind the kneeling man.
They acted in concert with an expertness telling of lengthy experience.
Mowbray was thankful for the way it turned out. He knew not why the giant put up no resistance. The man seemed stunned as from a great blow and before he could recover, the troopers had him bound hand and foot with their belts.
Mulcahey Davis got to his feet and wiped the sweat from his face.
"There"s one for the psychos and a padded cell afterwards."
"You said it," Mowbray agreed heartily. "Let"s take him in."
CHAPTER X
_The Road to Nadia_
The stads of Abaria, like the masters who rode them, were ill-accustomed to the clear cold air of Nadia. They snorted visible jets of vapor into the crisp air as their splayed feet scratched and slipped, seeking purchase on the ice-covered, up-tilted rocky plain.
"It"s an accursed country, lord," Hultax told the king of the Abarians as their steeds advanced shoulder and shoulder.
Retoc sat tall and straight on the stad"s broad back, his black cloak with the royal emblem billowing in the stiff wind, his hard handsome face ruddy with the cold air, his cruel eyes mere slits against the Nadian wind. "Quiet, you fool," he admonished Hultax. "Everything we Abarians say and do in Nadia must be sweetness and light--now."
The vanguard of the long column of Abarian riders had reached a rushing mountain stream, its waters too swift to freeze in the sub-zero temperature. Lifting one hand overhead, Retoc called a halt.
"They"ll find out, lord," Hultax persisted. "They"ll find out what you did. I know they will. They"ll find out it was you who killed Jlomec, their ruler"s brother."
Retoc smiled. The smile made Hultax" blood run cold, for he had seen such a smile before--when Retoc witnessed the execution of disloyal Abarian subjects. The smile hardened on Retoc"s face, as if it had frozen there in the cold Nadian wind. "Dismount your steed," he said in a soft voice which only Hultax heard.
Trembling, Hultax obeyed his master"s command. His stad, suddenly riderless, pawed nervously at the frost-hardened ground on the edge of the stream. Retoc withdrew his whip-sword and fondled the jewel-encrusted haft. "If you ever say that again, here in Nadia or elsewhere, I will kill you," he warned his lieutenant.
"But the brown girl--"
"The brown girl be d.a.m.ned!" roared Retoc in sudden fury.
"We haven"t been able to find her. That day at the cave, she came rushing out, lord, while you--"
"I was detained," Retoc said, some of the pa.s.sion gone from his voice.
He would never forget the sight of the iron-thewed young man, who once had almost strangled him, growing suddenly, incredibly transparent, then disappearing. He had stood there, whip-sword in hand, mouth agape, while the brown girl ran past him and--according to what Hultax had told him later--mounted his own stad and vanished across the Ofridian plain.
"But lord, don"t you see?" Hultax demanded. "The brown girl knows what happened to Jlomec, prince of the royal Nadian blood. If she attends the royal funeral. She will--"
Retoc laughed. Hultax blanched. He had heard such laughter when enemies of Retoc and thus of Abaria had died in pain. "Fool, fool!" he heard Retoc say now. "Think you a bedraggled wayfaring maid of the Ofridian desert will be invited to the funeral of a prince of the Nadian royal blood?"
"Nevertheless, sire," Hultax persisted, "that day at the cave I took the liberty to send three of our best stadsmen after the girl with orders to capture her or kill her on sight."