The Moon Pool A. Merritt (pdf ebook reader .txt) đ
- Author: A. Merritt
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And then a world that was all colossal reek of cruelty and terror; a welter of lusts, of hatreds and of torment; a chaos of horror in which the Dweller waxing ever stronger, the ghastly hordes of those it had consumed growing ever greater, wreaked its inhuman will!
At the last a ruined planet, a cosmic plague, spinning through the shuddering heavens; its verdant plains, its murmuring forests, its meadows and its mountains manned only by a countless crew of soulless, mindless dead-alive, their shells illumined with the Dwellerâs infernal gloryâ âand flaming over this vampirized Earth like a flare from some hell far, infinitely far, beyond the reach of manâs farthest flung imaginingâ âthe Dweller!
Rador jumped to his feet; walked to the whispering globe. He bent over its base; did something with its mechanism; beckoned to us. The globe swam rapidly, faster than ever I had seen it before. A low humming arose, changed into a murmur, and then from it I heard Lugurâs voice clearly.
âIt is to be war then?â
There was a chorus of assentâ âfrom the Council, I thought.
âI will take the tall one namedâ âLarree.â It was the priestessâs voice. âAfter the three tal, you may have him, Lugur, to do with as you will.â
âNo!â it was Lugurâs voice again, but with a rasp of anger. âAll must die.â
âHe shall die,â again Yolara. âBut I would that first he see Lakla passâ âand that she know what is to happen to him.â
âNo!â I startedâ âfor this was Marakinoff. âNow is no time, Yolara, for oneâs own desires. This is my counsel. At the end of the three tal Lakla will come for our answer. Your men will be in ambush and they will slay her and her escort quickly with the Keth. But not till that is done must the three be slainâ âand then quickly. With Lakla dead we shall go forth to the Silent Onesâ âand I promise you that I will find the way to destroy them!â
âIt is well!â It was Lugur.
âIt is well, Yolara.â It was a womanâs voice, and I knew it for that old one of ravaged beauty. âCast from your mind whatever is in it for this strangerâ âeither of love or hatred. In this the Council is with Lugur and the man of wisdom.â
There was a silence. Then came the priestessâs voice, sullen butâ âbeaten.
âIt is well!â
âLet the three be taken now by Rador to the temple and given to the High Priest Satorââ âthus Lugurâ ââuntil what we have planned comes to pass.â
Rador gripped the base of the globe; abruptly it ceased its spinning. He turned to us as though to speak and even as he did so its bell note sounded peremptorily and on it the colour films began to creep at their accustomed pace.
âI hear,â the green dwarf whispered. âThey shall be taken there at once.â The globe grew silent. He stepped toward us.
âYou have heard,â he turned to us.
âNot on your life, Rador,â said Larry. âNothing doing!â And then in the Murianâs own tongue. âWe follow Lakla, Rador. And you lead the way.â He thrust the pistol close to the green dwarfâs side.
Rador did not move.
âOf what use, Larree?â he said, quietly. âMe you can slayâ âbut in the end you will be taken. Life is not held so dear in Muria that my men out there or those others who can come quickly will let you byâ âeven though you slay many. And in the end they will overpower you.â
There was a trace of irresolution in OâKeefeâs face.
âAnd,â added Rador, âif I let you go I dance with the Shining Oneâ âor worse!â
OâKeefeâs pistol hand dropped.
âYouâre a good sport, Rador, and far be it from me to get you in bad,â he said. âTake us to the templeâ âwhen we get thereâ âwell, your responsibility ends, doesnât it?â
The green dwarf nodded; on his face a curious expressionâ âwas it relief? Or was it emotion higher than this?
He turned curtly.
âFollow,â he said. We passed out of that gay little pavilion that had come to be home to us even in this alien place. The guards stood at attention.
âYou, Sattoya, stand by the globe,â he ordered one of them. âShould the Afyo Maie ask, say that I am on my way with the strangers even as she has commanded.â
We passed through the lines to the corial standing like a great shell at the end of the runway leading into the green road.
âWait you here,â he said curtly to the driver. The green dwarf ascended to his seat, sought the lever and we swept onâ âon and out upon the glistening obsidian.
Then Rador faced us and laughed.
âLarree,â he cried, âI love you for that spirit of yours! And did you think that Rador would carry to the temple prison a man who would take the chances of torment upon his own shoulders to save him? Or you, Goodwin, who saved him from the rotting death? For what did I take the corial or lift the veil of silence that I might hear what threatened youâ ââ
He swept the corial to the left, away from the temple approach.
âI am done with Lugur and with Yolara and the Shining One!â cried Rador. âMy hand is for you three and for Lakla and those to whom she is handmaiden!â
The shell leaped forward; seemed to fly.
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