Michael Moorcock: The Weird of the White Wolf

'A terrible possibility, ' muttered the sorcerer, genuinely afraid. Even though he could sometimes summon help from Chaos, it was in no human being's interest to have Chaos ruling over him. Elric climbed back into his saddle. 'We'd best make speed to the valley, ' he said.

'Are you sure it is wise, after witnessing this?' Theleb K'aarna was nervous.

Elric laughed. 'What? And you a sorcerer from Pan Tang that isle that claims to know as much of sorcery as my ancestors, the Bright Emperors! No, no besides, I'm not in a cautious mood today! '

'Nor am I, ' cried Yishana, clapping her steed's sides. 'Come, gentlemen to the Citadel of Chaos! '

By late afternoon, they had topped the range of hills surrounding the valley and looked down at the mysterious citadel.

Yishana had described it well-but not perfectly.

Elric's eyes ached as he looked at it, for it seemed to extend beyond the Realm of Earth into a different plane, perhaps several. It shimmered and glittered and all Earthly colours were there, as well as many which Elric recognized as belonging to other planes. Even the basic outline of the citadel was uncertain. In contrast, the surrounding valley was a sea of dark ash, which sometimes seemed to eddy, to undulate and send up spurting geysers of dust, as if the basic elements of nature had been disturbed, and warped by the presence of the supernatural citadel.

'Well?' Theleb K'aarna tried to calm his nervous horse as it backed away from the citadel. 'Have you seen the like in the world before?'

Elric shook his head. 'Not in this world, certainly: but I've seen it before. During my final initiation into the arts of Melnibone, my father took me with him in astral form to the Realm of Chaos, there to receive the audience of my patron the Lord Arioch of the Seven Darks...'

Theleb K'aarna shuddered. 'You have been to Chaos? It is Arioch's citadel, then?'

Elric laughed in disdain. 'That! No, it is a hovel compared to the palaces of the Lords of Chaos.'

Impatiently, Yishana said; 'Then who dwells there?'

'As I remember, the one who dwelt in the citadel when I passed through the Chaos Realm in my youth he was no Lord of Chaos, but a kind of servant to the Lords. Yet, ' he frowned, 'not exactly a servant .... '

'Ach! You speak in riddles. Theleb K'aarna turned his horse to ride down the hills, away from the citadel. 'I know you Melniboneans! Starving, you'd rather have a paradox than food! '

Elric and Yishana followed him some distance, then Elric stopped. Elric pointed behind him.

'The one who dwells yonder is a paradoxical sort of fellow. He's a kind of Jester to the Court of Chaos. The Lords of Chaos respect him perhaps fear him slightly even though he entertains them. He delights them with cosmic riddles; with farcical satires purporting to explain the nature of the Cosmic Hand that holds both Chaos and Law in balance, he juggles enigmas like baubles, laughs at what Chaos holds dear, takes seriously that which they mock at...' He paused and shrugged. 'So I have heard, at least.'

'Why should he be here?'

'Why should he be anywhere? I could guess at the motives of Chaos or Law and probably be right. But not even the Lords of the Higher Worlds can understand the motives of Balo the Jester. It is said that he is the only one allowed to move between the Realms of Chaos and Law at will, though I have never heard of him coming to the Realm of Earth before. Neither, for that matter, have I ever heard him credited with such acts of destruction as that which we've witnessed. It is a puzzle to me one which would no doubt please him if he knew.'

'There would be one way of discovering the purpose of his visit, ' Theleb K'aarna said with a faint smile. 'If someone entered the citadel...'

'Come now, sorcerer, ' Elric mocked. 'I've little love for life, to be sure, but there are some things of value to me my soul, for one!'

Theleb K'aarna began to ride on down the hill, but. Elric remained thoughtfully where he was, Yishana beside him.

'You seem more troubled by this than you should be, Elric, ' she said.

'It is disturbing. There is a hint here that, if we investigate the citadel further, we should become embroiled in some dispute between Balo and his masters perhaps even the Lords of Law, too. To become so involved could easily mean our destruction, since the forces at work are more dangerous and powerful than anything we are familiar with on Earth.'

'But we cannot simply watch this Balo laying our cities waste, carrying off our fairest, threatening to rule Jharkor himself within a short time! '

Elric sighed, but did not reply.

'Have you no sorcery, Elric, to send Balo back to Chaos where he belongs, to seal the breach he has made in our Realm?'

'Even Melniboneans cannot match the power of the Lords of the Higher Worlds and my forefathers knew much more of sorcery than do I. My best allies serve neither Chain nor Law, they are elementals: lords of fire, earth, air, and water, entities with affinities with beasts and plants. Good allies in an earthly battle but of no great use when matched against one such as Balo. I must think. ... At least, if I opposed Balo it would not necessarily incur the wrath of my patron Lords. Something, I suppose .... '

The hills rolled green and lush to the grasslands at their feet, the sun beat down from a clear sky on the infinity of grass stretching to the horizon. Above them a large predatory bird wheeled; and Theleb K'aarna was a tiny figure, turning in the saddle to call to them in a thin voice, but his words could not be heard.

Yishana seemed dispirited. Her shoulders slightly slumped, and she did not look at Elric as she began to guide her horse slowly down towards the sorcerer of Pan Tang. Elric followed, conscious of his own indecision, yet half-careless of it. What did it matter to him if... ?

The music began, faintly at first, but beginning to swell with an attractive, poignant sweetness, evoking nostalgic memories, offering peace and giving life a sharp meaning, all at once. If the music came from instruments, then they were not earthly. It produced in him a yearning to turn about and discover its source, but he resisted it. Yishana, on the other hand, was evidently not finding the music so easily resisted. She had wheeled completely round, her face radiant, her lips trembling and tears shining in her eyes. Elric, in his wanderings in unearthly realms, had heard music like it before it echoed many of the bizarre symphonies of old Melnibone and it did not draw him as it drew Yishana. He recognized swiftly that she was in danger, and as she came past him, spurring her horse, he reached out to grab her bridle.

Her whip slashed at his hand and, cursing with unexpected pain, he dropped the bridle. She went past him, galloping up to the crest of the hill and vanishing over it in an instant.

'Yishana! ' He shouted at her desperately, but his voice would not carry over the pulsing music. He looked back, hoping that Theleb K'aarna would lend help, but the sorcerer was riding rapidly away. Evidently, on hearing the music, he had come to a swift decision.

Elric raced after Yishana, screaming for her to turn back. His own horse reached the top of the hill and he saw her bent over her steed's neck as she goaded it towards the shining citadel.

‘Yishana! You go to your doom!’

Now she had reached the outer limits of the citadel, and her horse's feet seemed to strike off shimmering waves of colour as they touched the Chaos-disturbed ground surrounding the place. Although he knew it was too late to stop her, Elric continued to speed after her, hoping to reach her before she entered the citadel itself.

But, even as he entered the rainbow swirl, he saw what appeared to be a dozen Yishanas going through a dozen gateways into the citadel. Oddly refracted light created the illusion and made it impossible m tell which was the real Yishana.