Part 20 (2/2)
So they went fast as their swift steeds would carry theht
Presently she turned and through her thin veil I saw that her face hite and terrible and that the eyes in it glowed like those of a lioness at night She said to,the words between her clenched teeth-”Holly, prepare thyself to look into the mouth of hell I desired to spare them if I could, I swear it, but my heart bids ht if I would see Leo living Holly, I tell thee they are about to , Captains Ye are but few, yet with you goes the strength of ten thousand thousand Now follow the Hesea, and whate'er yenothing they follow the Hesea through yonder host and across the bridge and into the city of Kaloon”
So the chiefs rode hither and thither, crying out her words, and the savage tribesh the water, will follow across the plain Onward, Hes, for darkness ss us”
Now soiven, and the coe, Ayesha herself being its very point and apex, for though Oros and I rode on either side of her, spur as ould, our horses' heads never passed her saddle bow In front of that dark le spot of white-one snowy feather on a black torrent's breast
A screaiant arroves of poplar trees, curved horns of cavalry shot out to surround us, while the broad boso with spears, rolled forward as a wave rolls croith sunlit foa sea of men
Our end was near We were lost, or so it seeh, flowing from her like a pennon, and lo! upon her brow blazed that wide and ht which once only I had seen before
Denser and denser grew the rushi+ng clouds above; brighter and brighter gleaht beneath Louder and louder beat the sound of the falling hoofs of ten thousand horses From the Mountain peak behind us went up sudden sheets of flame; it spouted fire as a whale spouts foam
The scene was dreadful In front, the towers of Kaloon lurid in a loo, sunburnt plain On it Atene's advancing are of horsemen destined, it would appear, to inevitable doo the torn, white veil as though it were a signal cast to heaven
Instantly froht above belched a blaze of answering flarasp of a black hand of cloud
Then did Ayesha roll the thunder of her ht upon the Children of Kaloon Then she called, and the Terror came, such as men had never seen and perchance neverthe very stones and soil before the rain, s that leapt doards from the sky and upwards from the earth
It was as she had warned h hell had broken loose upon the world, yet through that hell we rushed on unharmed For always these furies passed before us No arro, no javelin was stained The jagged hail was a herald of our co; the levens that smote and stabbed were our sword and spear, while ever the hurricane roared and screamed with a million separate voices which blended to one yell of sound, hideous and indescribable
As for the hosts about us they one
Now the darkness was dense, like to that of thickest night; yet in the fierce flares of the lightnings I saw the, eleony I saw horses and riders roll confused upon the ground; like storh and whirling heaps, while the brands of heaven struck and struck theroves of trees bend, shrivel up and vanish I saw the high walls of Kaloon blown in and flee ahile the houses within the walls took fire, to go out beneath the torrents of the driving rain, and again take fire I saw blackness sweep over us with great wings, and when I looked, lo! those ings were fla flame that flew upon the tormented air
Blackness, utter blackness; tur horse; at ht which sat on Ayesha's brow, and through the tu-”I promised thee eather! Now, Holly, dost thou believe that I can loose the prisoned Powers of the world?”
Lo! all was past and gone, and above us shone the quiet evening sky, and before us lay the e city of Kaloon But the arreat cairns that hide their bones Go, ask it of her ed land
Yet of our wild coalloped treht and conquered Death, but triue Ayesha wheeled her horse, and so for one proud lorious, star-crowned countenance, which now her Tribes beheld for the first time and the last, there went up such a shout as men have seldom heard
”The Goddess!” that shout thundered ”Worshi+p the Goddess!”
Then she turned her horse's head again, and they followed on through the long straight street of the burning city, up to the palace on its crest
As the sun set we sped beneath its gateway Silence in the courtyard, silence everywhere, save for the distant roar of fire and the scared howlings of the death-hounds in their kennel
Ayesha sprang fro back all save Oros and h the open doors into the halls beyond
They were empty, every one-all were fled or dead Yet she never paused or doubted, but so swiftly that we scarce could follow her, flitted up the wide stone stair that led to the topmost tower Up, still up, until we reached the chamber where had dwelt Simbri the Shaman, that same chamber whence he ont to watch his stars, in which Atene had threatened us with death
Its door was shut and barred; still, at Ayesha's co, yes, before the s, the locks flew back, and inward burst that massive portal
Noithin the lamp-lit chamber, and this isSeated in a chair, pale-faced, bound, yet proud and defiant-looking, was Leo Over hier in his withered hand-yes, about to strike, in the very act-stood the old Sha upide-set eyes, dead and still majestic in her death, lay Atene, Khania of Kaloon
Ayesha waved her ar on the marble, while in an instant he who had held it was smitten to stillness and became like a er, and with a swift stroke severed Leo's bonds; then, as though overco about him bewildered, and said in the strained voice of one who is ith -”But just in ti”-and he pointed to the Shaman-”well, it was in tih that awful hurricane? And, oh, Horace, thank heaven they did not kill you after all!”
”The battle went ill for soh the hurricane, but on its wings Tell me nohat has befallen thee since we parted?”
”Trapped, overpowered, bound, brought here, told that I must write to thee and stop thy advance, or die-refused, of course, and then--” and he glanced at the dead body on the floor
”And then?” repeated Ayesha
”Then that fearful tempest, which seemed to driveround these battleh they were dry leaves; if thou hadst seen the lightnings falling thick and fast as rain--”
”They were ers I sent them to save thee,” said Ayesha si no co the matter over, he went on-”Atene said as ht the end of the world had come, that was all Well, she returned just now more mad even than I was, and told ht against the strength of hell, but that she could send me thither, and took a knife to kill me
”I said, 'Kill on,' for I knew that wherever I went thou wouldst follow, and I was sick with the loss of blood frole, and weary of it all So I shutfor the stroke, but instead I felt her lips pressed upon my forehead, and heard her say-”'Nay, I will not do it Fare thee well; fulfil thou thine own destiny, as I fulfil ainst o to load them if I may'
”I opened lass in her hand-see, it lies beside her
”'Defeated, yet I win,' she cried, 'for I do but pass before thee to prepare the path that thou shalt tread, and to ain I pledge thee, for I am destroyed Ayesha's horses at their head, rides Ayesha's avenging self'
”So she drank, and fell dead-but now Look, her breast still quivers Afterwards, that oldroped, I could not resist him, but the door burst in and thou camest Spare him, he is of her blood, and he loved her”
Then Leo sank back into the chair where we had discovered him bound, and seerew to look like an old man
”Thou art sick,” said Ayesha anxiously ”Oros, thy ! Be swift, I say”
The priest bowed, and from some pocket in his aave to Leo, saying-”Drink, ive thee back thy health, for it is strong”
”The stronger the better,” answered Leo, rousing hih ”I aht, and have fought hard and been carried far, yes-and lived through that hellish storht and emptied it There e which it produced in hiain, and the colour returned into his cheeks
”Thy ood, as I have learned of old,” he said to Ayesha; ”but the best of all of them is to see thee safe and victorious before reet thee, my beloved There is food,” and he pointed to a board upon which were meats, ”say, may I eat of them, for I starve?”
”Aye,” she answered softly, ”eat, and, my Holly, eat thou also”
So we fell to, yes, we fell to and ate even in the presence of that dead woician who stood there powerless, like athat could destroy an army with the fearful weapons which were servant to her will
Only Oros ate nothing, but renantly, nor did Ayesha touch any food