The People of the Crater Read online

  _CHAPTER FIVE_

  _Into the Caves of Darkness_

  Again Garin stood before the jade throne of Trar and heard the stirringof the multitude of the Folk in the shadows. Trar was turning a smallrod of glittering, greenish metal around in his soft hands.

  "Listen well, outlander," he began, "for little time remains to us.Within seven days the Great Mists will be upon us. Then no living thingmay venture forth from shelter and escape death. And before that timeThrala must be out of the Caves. This rod will be your weapon; the BlackOnes have not its secret. Watch."

  Two of the Folk dragged an ingot of metal before him. He touched it withthe rod. Great flakes of rust appeared to spread across the entiresurface. It crumpled away and one of the Folk trod upon the pile of dustwhere it had been.

  "Thrala lies in the heart of the Caves but Kepta's men have growncareless with the years. Enter boldly and trust to fortune. They knownothing of your coming or of Thran's words concerning you."

  Urg stood forward and held out his hands in appeal.

  "What would you, Urg?"

  "Lord, I would go with the outlander. He knows nothing of the Forest ofthe Morgels or of the Pool of Mud. It is easy to go astray in thewoodland--"

  Trar shook his head. "That may not be. He must go alone, even as Thransaid."

  The Ana, which had followed in Garin's shadow all day, whistled shrillyand stood on tiptoe to tug at his hand. Trar smiled. "That one may go,its eyes may serve you well. Urg will guide you to the outer portal ofthe Place of Ancestors and set you upon the road to the Caves. Farewell,outlander, and may the spirits of the Ancient Ones be with you."

  Garin bowed to the ruler of the Folk and turned to follow Urg. Near thedoor stood a small group of women. Sera pressed forward from them,holding out a small bag.

  "Outlander," she said hurriedly, "when you look upon the Daughter speakto her of Sera, for I have awaited her many years."

  He smiled. "That I will."

  "If you remember, outlander. I am a great lady among the Folk and havemy share of suitors, yet I think I could envy the Daughter. Nay, I shallnot explain that," she laughed mockingly. "You will understand in duetime. Here is a packet of food. Now go swiftly that we may have youamong us again before the Mists."

  So a woman's farewell sped them on their way. Urg chose a ramp which leddownward. At its foot was a niche in the rock, above which a rose lightburned dimly. Urg reached within the hollow and drew out a pair of highbuskins which he aided Garin to lace on. They were a good fit, havingbeen fashioned for a man of the Ancient Ones.

  The passage before them was narrow and crooked. There was a thick carpetof dust underfoot, patterned by the prints of the Folk. They rounded acorner and a tall door loomed out of the gloom. Urg pressed the surface,there was a click and the stone rolled back.

  _With the Ana perched on his shoulder and the green rodof destruction in his hand, Garin strode into the gloom of Tav--pledgedto bring the Daughter out of the Caves of Darkness...._]

  "This is the Place of Ancestors," he announced as he stepped within.

  They were at the end of a colossal hall whose domed roof disappearedinto shadows. Thick pillars of gleaming crystal divided it into aisles,all leading inward to a raised dais of oval shape. Filling the aisleswere couches and each soft nest held its sleeper. Near to the door laythe men and women of the Folk, but closer to the dais were the AncientOnes. Here and there a couch bore a double burden, upon the shoulder ofa man was pillowed the drooping head of a woman. Urg stopped beside sucha one.

  "See, outlander, here was one who was called from your world. Marena ofthe House of Light looked with favor upon him and their days ofhappiness were many."

  The man on the couch had red-gold hair and on his upper arm was a heavyband of gold whose mate Garin had once seen in a museum. A son ofpre-Norman Ireland. Urg traced with a crooked finger the archaiclettering carved upon the stone base of the couch.

  "Lovers in the Light sleep sweetly. The Light returns on the appointedday."

  "Who lies there?" Garin motioned to the dais.

  "The first Ancient Ones. Come, look upon those who made this Tav."

  On the dais the couches were arranged in two rows and between them, inthe center, was a single couch raised above the others. Fifty men andwomen lay as if but resting for the hour, smiles on their peaceful facesbut weary shadows beneath their eyes. There was an un-human qualityabout them which was lacking in their descendents.

  Urg advanced to the high couch and beckoned Garin to join him. A man anda woman lay there, the woman's head upon the man's breast. There wasthat in their faces which made Garin turn away. He felt as if he hadintruded roughly where no man should go.

  "Here lies Thran, Son of Light, first Lord of the Caverns, and his ladyThrala, Dweller in the Light. So have they lain a thousand thousandyears, and so will they lie until this planet rots to dust beneath them.They led the Folk out of the slime and made Tav. Such as they we shallnever see again."

  They passed silently down the aisles of the dead. Once Garin caughtsight of another fair-haired man, perhaps another outlander, since theAncient Ones were all dark of hair. Urg paused once more before theyleft the hall. He stood by the couch of a man, wrapped in a long robe,whose face was ravaged with marks of agony.

  Urg spoke a single name: "Thran."

  So this was the last Lord of the Caverns. Garin leaned closer to studythe dead face but Urg seemed to have lost his patience. He hurried hischarge on to a panel door.

  "This is the southern portal of the Caverns," he explained. "Trust tothe Ana to guide you and beware of the boiling mud. Should the morgelsscent you, kill quickly, they are the servants of the Black Ones. Mayfortune favor you, outlander."

  The door was open and Garin looked out upon Tav. The soft blue light wasas strong as it had been when he had first seen it. With the Ana perchedon his shoulder, the green rod and the bag of food in his hands, hestepped out onto the moss sod.

  Urg raised his hand in salute and the door clicked into place. Garinstood alone, pledged to bring the Daughter out of the Caves of Darkness.

  There is no night or day in Tav since the blue light is steady. But theFolk divide their time by artificial means. However Garin, being newlycome from the rays of healing, felt no fatigue. As he hesitated, the Anachattered and pointed confidently ahead.

  Before them was a dense wood of fern trees. It was quiet in the forestas Garin made his way into its gloom and for the first time he noted apeculiarity of Tav. There were no birds.

  The portion of the woodland they had to traverse was but a spur of theforest to the west. After an hour of travel they came out upon the bankof a sluggish river. The turbid waters of the stream were a dull saffroncolor. This, thought Garin, must be the River of Gold, the boundary ofthe lands of the Black Ones.

  He rounded a bend to come upon a bridge, so old that time itself hadworn its stone angles into curves. The bridge gave on a wide plainwhere tall grass grew sere and yellow. To the left was a hissing andbubbling, and a huge wave of boiling mud arose in the air. Garin chokedin a wind, thick with chemicals, which blew from it. He smelled andtasted the sulphur-tainted air all across the plain.

  And he was glad enough to plunge into a small fern grove whichhalf-concealed a spring. There he bathed his head and arms while the Anapulled open Sera's food bag.

  Together they ate the cakes of grain and the dried fruit. When they weredone the Ana tugged at Garin's hand and pointed on.

  Cautiously Garin wormed his way through the thick underbrush until, atlast, he looked out into a clearing and at its edge the entrance of theBlack Ones' Caves. Two tall pillars, carved into the likeness of foulmonsters, guarded a rough-edged hole. A fine greenish mist whirled anddanced in its mouth.

  The flyer studied the entrance. There was no life to be seen. He grippedthe destroying rod and inched forward. Before the green mist he bracedhimself and then stepped within.