Fantasy fiction; Hell -- Fiction; Magic -- Fiction
By craning his neck over the shoulders of those in front of him--a
procedure which, because of his small stature, involved some rather
precarious teetering on tip-toe--he could see across the square. It was
surrounded on all four sides by houses and shops, but the street which
opened upon it directly opposite him was a wide one. Through it he saw
a feature of the city which the close-grouped overhanging houses had
hidden before--a feature which put the finishing touch upon the sense
of unreality and brought back once more the suggestion of a vast set
for a Merrie-England movie by a bad director.
It was a castle. Furthermore it was twice as big as any real castle
ever was, and its architecture was totally out of the period of
the town below it. It was out of any period. It was a modernist's
dream, a Walter Gropius design come alive. The rectangular façade and
flanking square pylons were vaguely reminiscent of an Egyptian temple
of Amenhotep IV's time, but the whole was of bluely gleaming metal,
shimmering smoothly in the even glare of the sky.
From the flat summits floated scarlet banners bearing an unreadable
device. A clustered group of these pennons before the castle seemed
to be moving, and by stretching his neck almost to the snapping point
Hugh could see that they were being carried by horsemen who were coming
slowly down the road. Ahead of them came the trumpeters, who were now
entering the square, sounding their atonal tocsin.
Now the trumpeters passed abreast of him, and the crowd made a lane
to let them through. Next came the bearers of the standards, two by
two, holding their horses' heads high. A group of richly dressed but
ruffianly retainers followed them. The whole affair reminded Hugh of
a racketeer's funeral in Chicago's prohibition days. Finally came the
sedan chair which bore the royal couple--and Dr. Hugh Tracy at last
lost hold of his sanity. For beside the aloof, hated Yero-Jeremy in the
palanquin was Evelyn Tracy.
When Hugh came back to his senses he was shouting unintelligible
epithets, and several husky townsmen were holding his arms. "Easy,
Bud," one of them hissed into his ear. "Haven't you ever seen him
before?"
Hugh forced himself back to a semblance of calmness, and had sense
enough to say nothing of Evelyn. "Who--what is he?" he gasped. The
other looked at him tensely for a moment, then, reassured, let go of
him.
"That's Yero. He's called many names, but the most common is The Enemy.
Better get used to seeing him. You can't help hating him, but it'll do
you no good to fly off the handle like that."
"You mean everybody hates him?"
The townsman frowned. "Why, certainly. He's The Enemy."
"Then why don't you throw him out?"
"Well--"
The other burgher, who had said nothing thus far, broke in: "Presenuk
prajolik solda, soldama mera per ladsua hrutkal; per stanisch
felemetskje droschnovar."
"Exactly," said the other man. "You okay now, Bud?"
"Ulp," Hugh said. "Yes, I'm all right."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account