Джеффри Лорд: Champions Of The Gods

Leighton looked toward the chair in its booth. «We don't seem to have either Blade or Katerina back at the moment. Otherwise, I'd rather defer an answer until we have more data.»

J did not much care for that answer. In plain language, it meant that Lord Leighton didn't have the remotest notion of what had happened, or very much hope of finding out any time soon.

As Blade came awake, the first thing he felt was the warm weight of Katerina on him. That didn't surprise him. They'd been swept out of Dimension X locked in each other's arms, so there was no reason why they shouldn't have landed back in Home Dimension the same way.

Except-he felt short, damp grass against his bare skin. A deep roaring sounded in his ears. Blade opened his eyes and saw overhead a dark, star-spangled sky-and to one side, a great, raw, pulsing orange glow.

Blade tried to rise and found that Katerina was only half-conscious and weighing him down. Gently he rolled her off onto the grass that shouldn't have been there and lurched to his feet. His head whirled with pain and dizziness. For a moment he wasn't sure he could control his legs or his stomach. Then his head and vision cleared.

He took one look around him, and now his head whirled with surprise. What he saw should have been impossible. But it was true. So he wouldn't waste time denying it or doubting it.

He and Katerina had not returned to Home Dimension. Somehow they'd been caught up by the computer, whirled through the unknown that lay between Dimensions, and dropped back in Kano! Kano, the city of black jade and the Consecrated, the city of the Mouth of the Gods where he and Arllona had been about to burn, the city under siege by the Raufi of the desert. Kano, where he had been a prisoner condemned to sacrifice in the Mouth of the Gods. He could not be far from the Mouth either, not with that orange glow in the sky.

Blade took another look. He certainly wasn't far from the Mouth of the Gods! He was standing behind the First Consecrated's viewing stand, less than a hundred yards from the flames. What was even worse, he recognized the two tall, lean figures silhouetted against the glow on top of the stand.

They were Tyan, the First Consecrated, and Mirdon, the Commander Tyan had chosen to watch Blade's death with him.

Blade shook his head. This seemed even more impossible than what had already happened. Yet it was just as undeniably true. He had not only returned to Kano' he had returned to Kano at the very time and place of his own sacrifice!

«This is getting bloody ridiculous,» Blade said to himself.

That was putting it mildly. He really didn't have words strong enough to express what he felt. If he'd had Lord Leighton at hand, there would have been a few pointed questions. Lord Leighton was still a long way off, though, and-

At this point someone among the soldiers and slaves watching the sacrifice noticed the two people who had suddenly appeared behind the Consecrated's viewing stand. They had no business being there. Several men shouted angrily. Then there was a general rush toward Blade, the soldiers drawing their swords as they ran.

Blade dropped into fighting stance and got ready to grab the sword of the first soldier who came at him. He was damned sure that this time he could and would force the Kanoans to kill him! He was not going to let things end up this time with him and Katerina tied onto the grill and pushed foot by foot into the Mouth of the Gods.

The leading soldiers promptly stopped and the ones behind crashed into them. Half a dozen soldiers went sprawling on the ground. They picked themselves up but didn't come any closer.

Blade realized that he must appear a weird, even monstrous figure-a huge man, naked, bearded, suntanned, scarred, crouching there in fighting stance. It was even possible that no one would recognize him as he was now. He might be able to pass himself off as someone newly come to Kano, a strong fighter who could help against the Raufi. There wasn't much chance of that-the Kanoans were too nervous, too suspicious. But there was a small chance, and Katerina's being with him would help. She was several inches taller than Arllona, and as blond as the other woman had been dark. No one could confuse the two.

Blade rose from fighting stance and spread out both hands in the traditional gesture of peace. «I come to Kano in peace,» he said, raising his voice to be heard over the roar of the Mouth of the Gods.

«There is no peace in Kano!» shouted someone angrily, raising a pistol. Light glinted on its barrel. Blade shifted position, ready to shield Katerina and charge in if the bullet missed or didn't cripple him.

The pistol was raised and ready, but the bullet never came. Instead, a voice cut through the angry babble of the crowd, drowning it out, beating it down, rising even above the roar of the Mouth of the Gods.

«Hold your hands, you fools! Would you defy the gods, here at their very Mouth? Stand away and let me judge this matter.»

It was Tyan's voice. The note of command in it was unmistakable. Blade's eyes followed the tall figure of the First Consecrated as he came down the stairs from the viewing stand and walked slowly around toward Blade and Katerina. Tyan's three trumpeters ran to escort him, trumpets slung over their backs and swords drawn. He didn't need them. His manner alone was enough to clear a path for him. Slaves and soldiers backed away hastily and knelt down as Tyan approached Blade.

Blade had seldom found it as difficult to keep calm as he did now under Tyan's examination. Tyan gave the impression of seeing and knowing everything about Blade without letting Blade see or know anything about him. It was hard to believe that those enormous dark eyes were not seeing through Blade's beard and sunburn, recognizing him for what he was. It was impossible to tell. Blade was just as glad that Katerina was still only half-conscious. She was in no shape to cope with this merciless examination. He wondered how much longer it would go on, and what Tyan would say when he'd finished.

Moments later, Blade got his answer. Tyan's arms shot up, making the sleeves of his robe billow out like great wings. For a moment he looked like some huge, grotesque bird about to take flight. Then his voice rose again, even louder than before. There was still a note of command in it, but there was also awe and ecstasy and the thrill of announcing an enormous discovery.

«Oh, people of Kano-behold the Champion of the Gods! In our time of need the gods have heard our prayers. They have sent a Champion to lead us with his strength. A woman comes with him to lend us her wisdom.

«Hail the Champion of the Gods!

«Hail the woman of the Champion!

«Hail the new day that dawns for Kano!

«Hail the downfall and doom of the Raufi! Their false god can no longer aid them, for the true gods have spoken. All hail the Champion of the Gods! Hail! Hail! Hail!»

Tyan rested a hand on Blade's shoulder and drew him forward to where the soldiers and slaves could see him more clearly. They began to join in the shouts of «Hail! Hail to the Champion of the Gods!»

Tyan stepped closer to Blade and started to go down on his knees. As his mouth passed close to Blade's ear, Blade heard the First Consecrated say in a low, urgent whisper:

«Keep your face straight and play this out if you want to live to die in bed.»

Blade badly wanted to break out laughing instead. He stepped forward and raised both arms over his head as Tyan knelt on the grass before him. The shouts grew louder. People began running from all around the amphitheater to see what was going on. They too knelt as they saw Tyan kneeling before Blade, and their voices joined the uproar.

The crowd swelled steadily until there must have been five hundred people-soldiers, slaves, servants, the Consecrated themselves-crowding around Blade and Tyan. All of them were shouting at the top of their lungs, in the grip of a total hysterical adoration of the Champion of the Gods. They were beginning to give Blade another headache.