Elysia (4 page)

Flying machines soared or hovered in these skies where-ever the eye might look (or would in normal times), and through tufted drifting clouds green and golden dragons, the lithards, pulsed majestically on wings of ivory and leather. Nor were the lithards and flying craft sole users of their aerial element: a few of Elysia's races were naturally gifted with flight, and there were even some who might simply will it! Then there were the users of flying cloaks, like Crow's; and finally, today especially, there were the time-clocks .

But Elysia was not all city and sky and mountain; she had mighty forests, too, endless valley plains, fields of gorgeous green and yellow, and oceans more beautiful even than the jewel oceans of Earth. The Frozen. Sea was one such: patterned like a snowflake one hundred miles across, its outer rim was cracked into glittering spokes of ice, while at the core a nudeus of icebergs had crashed together in ages past to form a mighty frozen monolith. Titus Crow flew across the Frozen Sea even now, and beyond it -

- There in the Icelands, whose temperature ideally suited certain of Elysia's inhabitants — there dwelled Kthanid in his palace at the heart of a glacier. Kthanid, spokesman of the Elder Gods themselves.

`Elder Gods.' They were not gods, and Kthanid himself would be the first to admit it, but so many races down all the ages of time and on a thousand different worlds had seen them as gods that the name had stuck. No, not gods but scientists, whose science had made them godlike. Beneficent Beings of Eld, they were, but not
all
of them had been benign.

[NOTE to this ebook: the paper original from which this ebook was derived was owned by a rare and accomplished Adept and Ipsissimus. He had turned down this page in the book, for use in future reference to this part of the book, of special relevance to him regarding the CCD.]

Crow was across the Frozen Sea now and began to feel the chill of the Iceland
s.
Oth-Neth's body-heat would warm Tiania, he knew, until they were down in the heart of the great glacier; and as for his own welfare: this body T3RE had built for him would come to no great harm. And in any case, it was more a chill of
.
the spirit he felt than the frosty burn of bitter winds. For still that leaden feeling was on him.

Away in the west, beyond the ice-shard glittering rim of the Frozen Sea, he glimpsed the blue waters of a somewhat more temperate ocean, where majestic icebergs sailed and slowly melted, but then in another moment the view was shut off as he soared down over frozen foothills and set his course parallel. to a procession of lithards who bore their riders doubtless to the same destination: Kthanid's council-chamber in the great Hall of Crystal and Pearl.

Kthanid: super-sentient Kraken, Eminence, Sage and Father of Elysia. And benign ...

But there was that One born of Kthanid's race and spawned in his image who was
not
benign, that bestial, slobbering bereft Great Old One whose cause and cult Crow had fought against all his days, that one true prime evil whose seat for three and a half billions of years had been drowned R'lyeh in Earth's vast Pacific Ocean — Cthulhu! And now Crow wondered: why did
that
thought spring to mind? From where?

'And he once more quickened the pace of the cloak as finally he spied ahead a frozen river of immemorial ice and the jagged crevasse that guarded the entrance to Kthanid's sub-glacial palace.

- Normally Crow would
,
show his respect, enter cautiously and continue on foot to the council-chamber, but these were not normal times. He flew the cloak dexterously into
the mouth of a fantastically carved cavern, then down sweeping flights of ice-hewn steps into the heart of the glacier, until at last he swooped along a horizontal tunnel carved of ice whose floor was granite worn smooth by centuries of glaciation. And now he smelled those strange and exotic scents only
ever
before smelled here, borne to him on a warm breeze from inner regions ahead.

It grew warmer still as the core of the glacier drew closer, until suddenly the dim blue light of the place came brighter, as if here some secret source of illumination was hidden behind the soft sheen of ice walls. Then those walls themselves, like the floor, became granite, and finally Crow arrived at a huge curtain of purest crystals and pearls strung on threads of gold. And he knew that beyond the curtain - whose priceless drapes went up to a dim ceiling, and whose width must be all of a hundred feet - lay the vast and awe-inspiring Hall of Crystal and Pearl, throne-room and council-chamber of Kthanid the Eminence.

Crow had been here before, on several occasions, but they had never been ordinary times; and now once more he felt himself on the verge of momentous things, whose nature was soon to be revealed. But ... here was no longer a place for flying. He alighted, slipped out of the cloak's harness and folded that device over his arm, finally parted the jewel curtains and stepped through.

And now indeed he knew that Oth-Neth had been correct, that trouble, 'big trouble,' was brewing in Elysia.

Again, as always, Crow felt amazement at the sheer size of the hall, that inner sanctum wherein Kthanid thought his Great Thoughts. He stood upon the titan-paved floor of massive hexagonal flags of quartz and eyed the weird angles and proportions of the place, with its high-arched ceiling soaring overhead. Enormously ornate columns rose up on all sides, supporting high balconies made vague by the rising haze of light; and everywhere the well remembered white, pink and blood hues of multi-coloured crystal, and the shimmer of mother-of-pearl where the polished linings of prehistoric conches decorated the marching walls.

The only thing that seemed different was the absence of the customary centrepiece a vast scarlet cushion bearing the sphere of a huge, milky crystal. Kthanid's 'shewstone' - but all else was just as Crow remembered it. Or would be, except that on those previous occasions Kthanid had seemed alone in his palace; whereas now -

- Now, where mighty, Kthanid sat in his private alcove, its pearl-beaded curtains thrown back - now he gazed out upon a multitude!

At first glance it appeared to Crow that half of Elysia must be here - including several who ranked almost as high at Kthanid himself, and whose appearances were similarly or even more
outré -
for the great hall was packed. No simple council-meeting this, for not
Only
were these High Eminences here but also representatives of a dozen different races, and lords and leaders from all of Elysia's many cities and lands and parts.

Among those assembled were several high-placed lithards, wearing their black leather neck-bands of office; and Crow at once recognized Esch, Master Linguist of the bird-like Dchi-chis, a man-sized archeopteran who bent his plumed head in a silent nod of greeting; and then there were several 'Chosen' ones: usually but not always members of manlike bipedal races whose natural beauty was favoured by the Elder Gods, including several fragile-seeming varieties Crow could only ever think of as pixies, elves or fairies. There .were insect-beings, too, and squat, amphibian fin-creatures; even a solitary member of the D'horna-ahn, an energy spiral who gyrated
cl
ose to Esch where they hummed electrically at each other in muted, cryptical conversation.

Of the handful of Elder Gods who were there: Crow
spied a great, gently mobile congeries of golden spheres that half-hid a writhing shape of sheerest nightmare, and he knew that this was Yad-Thaddag, a `cousin' of YogSothoth, but infinitely good where the latter was black and putrid evil. Also, in an area apart from the rest, a lambent flame twice the height of a man, tapered at top and bottom, twirled clockwise where it stood `still' upon its own axis and threw out filaments of flickering yellow energy;- and this too was a member of the elite Elder Gods, a Thermal Being born in eons past in the heart of a star, whose half-life was five billion years! And all of them here to talk, exchange thoughts or otherwise commune with Kthanid.

And Titus Crow, a mere man, summoned to a meeting such as this ...

`Mere man?'
came Kthanid's thoughts from where he sat upon a throne in his arched alcove.
'That you are not, Titus Crow, and well you know it. Men are not "mere" creatures; you, of all men, are not "mere." Indeed, this entire assembly has waited on
your
arrival more than that of any other.'
Crow's entrance had been noted, and in more ways than one. Now he felt the golden orbs of Kthanid's eyes full upon him, and the mainly silent throng parted to let him come forward. This he did, losing count of the strides which took him across those great hexagonal flags to the alcove where Kthanis sat at an onyx table. And there before the Elder God, a scarlet cushion; and upon the cushion, the milky shewstone

Crow arrived at the foot of the huge steps up to the dais, paused there and stood straight as a ramrod, his hands
,
at his sides, his head bowed. It was a measure of his respect; his stance told eloquently of his recognition of Kthanid, that he stood in the presence of a superior Being. Then:

`Yes,'
said Kthanid, but directing his thoughts at Crow alone this time.
'Well, we're one and all superior in our way, else we'd not be here in Elysia in the first place. Titus, come up here to me. We need a little privacy.'
Crow lifted his head, climbed the steps. Behind him the curtains swept shut and closed the alcove in; but not before Kthanid sent out a final thought in the direction of all those gathered there: '
Please wait. Accept our apology that we exclude you from this, but its nature is such that it involves only the Earthman and myself Only be sure it is a matter of great moment . .

Now he spoke openly (albeit telepathically) to Crow, saying,
`Titus, we now stand in a completely private place. Here we two may converse, and none hear us. Wherefore you may answer as you please, without consideration to my position here.'

`You know there's no one I hold in higher esteem,' Crow answered without hesitation. 'What could you ask me that I could refuse, or to which I might answer no?'

`Perceptive, aye!'
Kthanid nodded.
'Indeed the seed of Eld runs strong in you. As to what it is I must ask of you -'
and he paused.

During that pause, however brief a moment, Crow took the opportunity to look fully upon this great alien scientist, truly a Great Old One, and marvelled at what he saw. There had been a time when such a sight had almost unmanned
him, but now he could look at Kthanid and ignore his monstrousness. For indeed beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and knowing what Crow knew, Kthanid
was
beautiful.

That itself was an incredible thought, for this might well be Cthulhu himself, this mountain of semi-plastic flesh, this pulsing Kraken. But where Cthulhu's eyes were leaden and lustful, Kthanid's were golden and wise beyond wisdom; and where Cthulhu's thoughts were creeping hypnotic poison, Kthanid's were the very breath of life, Beneficence in the fullest meaning of the word. Oh, kin to the Lord of R'lyeh, that blight on universal fife and sanity, this Being most certainly was;
cl
ose kin at that. The folded-back wings, the great head with its proliferation of face-tentacles, the clawed feet all told of their kinship. But where Cthulhu was mad and corrupt, Kthanid was the very soul of goodness and mercy, and his compassion enveloped all.

His compassion, yes, which even now worked against him like an acid, betraying him in what he must do, filling him with - guilt! Crow felt it flowing out from him, and was astonished. `Kthanid, what is it? Why have you brought me here? What is it you want me to do, which at the last you can't tell me face to face?'

`What I want you to do? Nothing. It is what I must do, for which I need your permission!'

Impossible! Crow's mind itself must be deceiving him. Kthanid needed
his
permission before he could perform some act?

`Titus, in your homeworld you had a friend, the man de Marigny. A good man; I myself sent him questing after you and Tiania when you were trapped in the lands of Earth's dreams. Aye, and I promised him a welcome in Elysia, even as a son, if only he return you both alive and sane to me from your travails.'

Crow nodded. 'He did those things. More, we purged the dreamlands of certain evils - though in the end that was
as
much your victory as ours.'

Kthanid gave a mental groan and turned his great head away.
'You cannot know the pain your words bring me .

`What?' Crow was at first bemused - then mortally afraid. The blood drained from him in a moment. 'Henri?' he whispered, 'Something has happened to Henri?'

`No, no,'
the great Being was quick to answer. '
Be at ease over his well-being. He is well, I promise you. Indeed, soon I shall ask you to ride a Great Thought to him, in Borea on the rim of the bitter ether winds.'

Crow relaxed a little, allowed himself a sigh of relief. `Then you intend to keep your promise, bring him here? Whatever it is that threatens Elysia, I can assure you that de Marigny will be a useful force against it!'

`Useful, yes,'
again Kthanid nodded. And:
'Bring him here? Use him? Ah! and indeed I intend to use him - but in
such
a way! And that is why I need your permission.'

Crow frowned, shook his head. `Kthanid, I don't think I fully -'

'Let me remind you,'
Kthanid broke
in, 'of things-you know well enow but perhaps have forgotten - or at least put to the back of your mind-during your time in Elysia.'

And then the great Being used a skill of his to throw into Crow's mind a mass of detail, a host of memories revived, and all so thick and fast that even the mind of Titus Crow reeled at this assault on his senses; at the assault itself, and in the face of the evils it conjured.

He was reminded of the ongoing struggle between the intelligent races of the multiverse and the prime Forces of Evil, those- prisoned beings of the Cthulhu cycle:

Yog-Sothoth, 'the all-in-one and one-in-all' - a slime-thing frothing forever behind his shielding congeries of iridescent power-globes, co-existent with all time and conterminous in all space stood high in their ranks; likewise

Ithaqua the Wind-Walker, stalker between the stars; and Hastur the Unspeakable, half-brother and bitter rival to Cthulhu, dweller in the ill-omened Lake of Hall in the Hyades. Crow knew and had had dealings with all of them, so that Kthanid's sendings merely reinforced his knowledge of them.

He knew the others of this vile pantheon, too, some of them standing on a par with the prime powers, others lower in the scheme of things or subservient to the principal beings and forces. There was Yibb-Tstll: gigantic, grotesquely manlike lord of an alien dimension beyond the borders of sanity; and Shudde-M'ell, nest-master of the subterranean Cthonians of primal Earth; and Cthugha, whose thermal flux had reversed itself and so deranged the once ordered working of his radioactive mind. There was Darn, fish-god of the Philistines and the Phoenicians and ruler over the Deep Ones, degenerate subaqueous (and sub-human, or
once-human)
servants of Cthulhu and his ilk. Nyogtha, too, and Thar, Lloigor, Tsathoggua and Bugg-Shash

The list went on, menacing and monstrous, but central and towering over all, always there was Cthulhu, 'an utter contradiction of all matter, force, and cosmic order,' whose lunatic telepathic sendings from R'lyeh in the deep Pacific were of such morbid potency that they were responsible for much of Earth's madness, and almost all of men's nightmares in the land of Earth's dreams.

Basically the legend or history of this ancient order of near-immortal beings was this: that at a time so remote in the past as to defy comparison or definition, they had risen up in a body and rebelled against Order, invoking Chaos as the natural condition. After committing an act so heinous that even they themselves were shocked, they fled and hid in various places and on many parallel planes of existence. Outraged, the Elder Gods regrouped, followed on and tracked them down each and every one, 'chaining' them wherever they were found and placing 'spells' to hold them in their prisons or in selected regions of space-time: Hastur in the Lake of Hall in Carcosa, Cthulhu in sunken R'lyeh, Ithaqua to dwell in frozen interstellar winds and above the ice-wastes of Earth's Arctic, Yog-Sothoth and Yibb-Tstll to chaotic continua outside any known design of science or nature, Tsathoggua to black Hyperborean burrows, and likewise Shudde-M'ell and many of his Cthonians to other buried labyrinths in primal Africa.

All commerce was lost between them except for the contact of disembodied thought. In their infinite wisdom and mercy, the Elder Gods had not taken away the mind-powers of the Great Old Ones, but had merely set up barriers to keep the evil potency of such telepathic wave-bands down to a bearable level. Thus, in the loneliness of their punishment, the Great Old Ones could still `talk' to one another, even if the power of such communications was much reduced ...

The flow from Kthanid's mind lessened, finally ceased. And still Crow was puzzled. Why had the great Being shown him these things he already knew so well? Why refresh his memory in these morbid areas? Unless —

`Is
de
Marigny threatened by the CCD?' he asked. 'Is that what this is all about? Frankly, I don't see how it can be. We've
always
been under threat, de Marigny and I. No, it must be worse, far worse than that. And how is Henri involved?'

`We are all threatened, Titus,'
Kthanid's thoughts were utterly grave now.
'Your Earth, all other worlds of the three-dimensional universe's intelligent races, the parallel places and subconscious planes — even Elysia!'

Crow's eyes widened. 'They've risen again,' he whispered. 'Is that what you're trying to tell me? They're free again, and more powerful than ever. The Great Old Ones are back!'

'Very nearly correct,'
Kthanid answered at once.
'But no,

they are not yet "free", as you have it — not yet. But their time is close now; soon they will have the power to be free; even now the constellations move into certain patterns which never should have been. Azathoth, which you knew in your world as the power of nuclear fission, is the betrayer. The mindless- nuclear chaos and confusion which spawned us all is a force of Nature and may not be denied. Out there in the vasty voids, gas clouds gather and Azathoth lights them to suns; stars are born which complete a pattern whose configuration is the one thing come down to us from a time beyond all other times; and yes, it would seem that for
.
Cthulhu and those you choose to call the Great Old Ones — after all these eons of time — at last the stars are coming right! Look!'

Face-tentacles reaching out toward the huge ball of crystal on the onyx table between them — that milky shewstone whose entire opaque surface seemed slowly mobile, like a reflection of dense clouds mirrored in a still lake —Kthanid showed Crow a distant scene. For as the Earthman stared at the crystal, slowly the milky clouds parted to reveal a picture of an almost sacred place:

Elysia's Vale of Dreams, at the foot of the Purple Mountains far to the south. Tiania had taken Crow there once, to that mysterious place. Mysterious, aye; for there, cut into the royal basalt, were the Thousand Sealed Doors of the N'hlathi, hibernating centipede creatures whose slumbers had already lasted for five thousand years and were not due to be broken for as long again. And the pattern of the doors — each one of which was thirty feet in diameter, sealed with bands of a white metal that no acid might ever corrode — was as the shape of a huge whorl against the face of the mountain, like the spiral of Andromeda.

It
is
the spiral nebula in Andromeda!'
came Kthanid's thoughts in answer to Crow's own, however unspoken.
'Each portal indicates an especially bright star in that mighty whorl. Now let me show you something else — '
and again he reached out with his face-tentacles.

Now, superimposed over these thousand portals to the burrows of the immemorially dreaming N'hlathi, Crow saw Andromeda, how perfectly its principal stars matched the pattern of the doors.
'But see,'
Kthanid indicated where Crow should look,
'there are three doors where no stars exist; but at this very moment spatial debris gathers in one of these places, and in the others ancient suns bid for rebirth. Gravity forms mass . . . and soon the raw and elemental power of nuclear genesis- will do the rest. Ah! Seer

For even as Kthanid had spoken, so another star had blazed up, newborn and bright, central in the circular panel of one of the great basalt doors. And now only two spaces remained to be filled ...

Kthanid turned his great head from the crystal, and at once milky clouds rolled as before across its surface. And:
`So you have seen for yourself,'
said the Elder
,
God,
'how time narrows down for us.'

Crow kept his patience, knew that Kthanid constructed his case this way the better for him to grasp the whole picture. And sure enough:

`Another portent,'
said the golden Kraken in a little while. '
The giant poppies put up their shoots in the Vale of Dreams. Aye, and the N'hlathi stir in their burrows. It would seem that their ten-thousand-year cycle is broken. Soon the N'hlathi will waken and graze on the seed of the poppy, but utterly out of their season. And it is a matter of legend that this has only ever once happened before — when Cthulhu and his cohorts rose them up against universal sanity! And so you can see, this too is a bad omen .

Now Crow must speak; he controlled his mental agitation, tried to ask only ordered, logical questions: 'Then the N'hlathi are harbingers of doom? I've heard it said that the history of the giant centipedes has never been written, their tongue never understood, the inscriptions on their
doors never deciphered, not even by the Dchi-chis. But
since
they would seem to have had knowledge of this now imminent coming of the Great Old Ones, to such an extent that they deliberately, correctly forecast the pattern of this fantastic omen, as a warning, surely -
'