The Moon Pool Part 46

"Armed with the wisdom of the Three they went forth--but now the s.h.i.+ning One was strong indeed. They could not slay it!

"Nay, it knew and was prepared; they could not even pa.s.s beyond its Veil nor seal its abode. Ah, strong, strong, mighty of will, full of craft and cunning had the s.h.i.+ning One become. So they turned upon their kind who had gone astray and made them perish, to the last. The s.h.i.+ning One came not to the aid of its servants--though they called; for within its will was the thought that they were of no further use to it; that it would rest awhile and dance with them--who had so little of the power and wisdom of its _Taithu_ and therefore no reins upon it. And while this was happening black-haired and fair-haired ran and hid and were but shaking vessels of terror.

"The Ancient Ones took counsel. This was their decision; that they would go from the gardens before the Silver Waters--leaving, since they could not kill it, the s.h.i.+ning One with its wors.h.i.+ppers. They sealed the mouth of the pa.s.sage that leads to the Moon Pool Chamber and they changed the face of the cliff so that none might tell where it had been. But the pa.s.sage itself they left open--having foreknowledge I think, of a thing that was to come to pa.s.s in the far future--perhaps it was your journey here, my Larry and Goodwin--verily I think so. And they destroyed all the ways save that which we three trod to the Dweller's abode.

"For the last time they went to the Three--to pa.s.s sentence upon them.

This was the doom--that here they should remain, alone, among the _Akka_, served by them, until that time dawned when they would have will to destroy the evil they had created--and even now--loved; nor might they seek death, nor follow their judges until this had come to pa.s.s. This was the doom they put upon the Three for the wickedness that had sprung from their pride, and they strengthened it with their arts that it might not be broken.

"Then they pa.s.sed--to a far land they had chosen where the s.h.i.+ning One could not go, beyond the Black Precipices of Doul, a green land--"

"Ireland!" interrupted Larry, with conviction, "I knew it."

"Since then time upon time had pa.s.sed," she went on, unheeding. "The people called this place Muria after their sunken land and soon they forgot where had been the pa.s.sage the _Taithu_ had sealed. The moon king became the Voice of the Dweller and always with the Voice is a woman of the moon king's kin who is its priestess.

"And many have been the journeys upward of the s.h.i.+ning One, through the Moon Pool--returning with still others in its coils.

"And now again has it grown restless, longing for the wider s.p.a.ces.

It has spoken to Yolara and to Lugur even as it did to the dead _Taithu_, promising them dominion. And it has grown stronger, drawing to itself power to go far on the moon stream where it will. Thus was it able to seize your friend, Goodwin, and Olaf's wife and babe--and many more. Yolara and Lugur plan to open way to earth face; to depart with their court and under the s.h.i.+ning One grasp the world!

"And this is the tale the Silent Ones bade me tell you--and it is done."

Breathlessly I had listened to the stupendous epic of a long-lost world. Now I found speech to voice the question ever with me, the thing that lay as close to my heart as did the welfare of Larry, indeed the whole object of my quest--the fate of Throckmartin and those who had pa.s.sed with him into the Dweller's lair; yes, and of Olaf's wife, too.

"Lakla," I said, "the friend who drew me here and those he loved who went before him--can we not save them?"

"The Three say no, Goodwin." There was again in her eyes the pity with which she had looked upon Olaf. "The s.h.i.+ning One--_feeds_--upon the flame of life itself, setting in its place its own fires and its own will. Its slaves are only sh.e.l.ls through which it gleams. Death, say the Three, is the best that can come to them; yet will that be a boon great indeed."

"But they have souls, _mavourneen_," Larry said to her. "And they're alive still--in a way. Anyhow, their souls have not gone from them."

I caught a hope from his words--sceptic though I am--holding that the existence of soul has never been proved by dependable laboratory methods--for they recalled to me that when I had seen Throckmartin, Edith had been close beside him.

"It was days after his wife was taken, that the Dweller seized Throckmartin," I cried. "How, if their wills, their life, were indeed gone, how did they find each other mid all that horde? How did they come together in the Dweller's lair?"

"I do not know," she answered, slowly. "You say they loved--and it is true that love is stronger even than death!"

"One thing I _don't_ understand"--this was Larry again--"is why a girl like you keeps coming out of the black-haired crowd; so frequently and one might say, so regularly, Lakla. Aren't there ever any red-headed boys--and if they are what becomes of them?"

"That, Larry, I cannot answer," she said, very frankly. "There was a pact of some kind; how made or by whom I know not. But for long the Murians feared the return of the _Taithu_ and greatly they feared the Three. Even the s.h.i.+ning One feared those who had created it--for a time; and not even now is it eager to face them--_that_ I know. Nor are Yolara and Lugur so _sure_. It may be that the Three commanded it: but how or why I know not. I only know that it is true--for here am I and from where else would I have come?"

"From Ireland," said Larry O'Keefe, promptly. "And that's where you're going. For 'tis no place for a girl like you to have been brought up--Lakla; what with people like frogs, and a half-G.o.d three quarters devil, and red oceans, an' the only Irish things yourself and the Silent Ones up there, bless their hearts. It's no place for ye, and by the soul of St. Patrick, it's out of it soon ye'll be gettin'!"

Larry! Larry! If it had but been true--and I could see Lakla and you beside me now!

CHAPTER x.x.xI

Larry and the Frog-Men

Long had been her tale in the telling, and too long, perhaps, have I been in the repeating--but not every day are the mists rolled away to reveal undreamed secrets of earth-youth. And I have set it down here, adding nothing, taking nothing from it; translating liberally, it is true, but constantly striving, while putting it into idea-forms and phraseology to be readily understood by my readers, to keep accurately to the spirit. And this, I must repeat, I have done throughout my narrative, wherever it has been necessary to record conversation with the Murians.

Rising, I found I was painfully stiff--as muscle-bound as though I had actually trudged many miles. Larry, imitating me, gave an involuntary groan.

"Faith, _mavourneen_," he said to Lakla, relapsing unconsciously into English, "your roads would never wear out shoe-leather, but they've got their kick, just the same!"

She understood our plight, if not his words; gave a soft little cry of mingled pity and self-reproach; forced us back upon the cus.h.i.+ons.

"Oh, but I'm sorry!" mourned Lakla, leaning over us. "I had forgotten--for those new to it the way is a weary one, indeed--"

She ran to the doorway, whistled a clear high note down the pa.s.sage.

Through the hangings came two of the frog-men. She spoke to them rapidly. They crouched toward us, what certainly was meant for an amiable grin wrinkling the grotesque muzzles, baring the glistening rows of needle-teeth. And while I watched them with the fascination that they never lost for me, the monsters calmly swung one arm around our knees, lifted us up like babies--and as calmly started to walk away with us!

"Put me down! Put me down, I say!" The O'Keefe's voice was both outraged and angry; squinting around I saw him struggling violently to get to his feet. The _Akka_ only held him tighter, booming comfortingly, peering down into his flushed face inquiringly.

"But, Larry--darlin'!"--Lakla's tones were--well, maternally surprised--"you're stiff and sore, and Kra can carry you quite easily."

"I _won't_ be carried!" sputtered the O'Keefe. "d.a.m.n it, Goodwin, there are such things as the unities even here, an' for a lieutenant of the Royal Air Force to be picked up an' carted around like a--like a bundle of rags--it's not discipline! Put me down, ye _omadhaun_, or I'll poke ye in the snout!" he shouted to his bearer--who only boomed gently, and stared at the handmaiden, plainly for further instructions.

"But, Larry--dear!"--Lakla was plainly distressed--"it will _hurt_ you to walk; and I don't _want_ you to hurt, Larry--darlin'!"

"Holy shade of St. Patrick!" moaned Larry; again he made a mighty effort to tear himself from the frog-man's grip; gave up with a groan.

"Listen, _alanna_!" he said plaintively. "When we get to Ireland, you and I, we won't have anybody to pick us up and carry us about every time we get a bit tired. And it's getting me in bad habits you are!"

"Oh, _yes_, we will, Larry!" cried the handmaiden, "because many, oh, many, of my _Akka_ will go with us!"

"Will you tell this--b.o.o.b!--to put me down!" gritted the now thoroughly aroused O'Keefe. I couldn't help laughing; he glared at me.

"Bo-oo-ob?" exclaimed Lakla.

"Yes, boo-oo-ob!" said O'Keefe, "an' I have no desire to explain the word in my present position, light of my soul!"

The handmaiden sighed, plainly dejected. But she spoke again to the _Akka_, who gently lowered the O'Keefe to the floor.

"I don't understand," she said hopelessly, "if you want to walk, why, of course, you shall, Larry." She turned to me.

"Do you?" she asked.

"I do not," I said firmly.

"Well, then," murmured Lakla, "go you, Larry and Goodwin, with Kra and Gulk, and let them minister to you. After, sleep a little--for not soon will Rador and Olaf return. And let me feel your lips before you go, Larry--darlin'!" She covered his eyes caressingly with her soft little palms; pushed him away.

"Now go," said Lakla, "and rest!"

Unashamed I lay back against the h.o.r.n.y chest of Gulk; and with a smile noticed that Larry, even if he had rebelled at being carried, did not disdain the support of Kra's s.h.i.+ning, black-scaled arm which, slipping around his waist, half-lifted him along.

They parted a hanging and dropped us softly down beside a little pool, sparkling with the clear water that had heretofore been brought us in the wide basins. Then they began to undress us. And at this point the O'Keefe gave up.

"Whatever they're going to do we can't stop 'em, Doc!" he moaned.

"Anyway, I feel as though I've been pulled through a knot-hole, and I don't care--I don't care--as the song says."