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maybe later. But Elveron first, surely. Is not that where you have been first ordered?
Gwalchmai became angry at that. Ordered? No one orders me!
I have heard differently. With all your magic, you have not so many days to waste as I have. No matter
how long life is, it is too short to quarrel You should live those days peacefully.
Small chance of that the way I have begun!
Ah, yes. You have been most active indeed. It is no lit-tie feat to fight monsters, make an enemy of a
friend, wed a spirit, antagonize a god, disturb an enchanter at his pursuits and now plan to aid an
ever-sleeping King! You should feel proud. Come now, pay your fee to old Getain and he will let you
enter Elveron.
My fee?
The torque you stole from the Sailor s Guide. You knew it never really belonged to Thor, didn t you?
Of course, it was not Getain s either. He stole it from Bran Mak Morn, who got it from Siegfried, who
had it out of Fafnir s bed, but nobody is going to give it back to the dragon now. He has probably
forgotten all about it long ago anyway.
I d say it belongs to Getain as much as anybody, unless you count the three who came in here and got it,
but they came to a bad end and couldn t get any fun out of having it now. Getain wants it, so just slip it
on his arm and we will be on our way.
Gwalchmai, bemused, unwound the torque from his arm and wound it carefully around the upper right
humerus of the detached skeleton in the kist, so as not to damage it further, but he need not have
bothered.
At the instant the gold was tightly fastened, a great clicking and clattering began. The bones came rushing
together, each into its proper place. Finger joints raced around like mice; teeth snapped back into their
sockets; tiny scraps and splinters, which Gwalchmai had overlooked, drifted about the room like snow.
They swept up and into the kist.
When all was assembled, the skeleton sat up and turned its hollow gaze upon the pair.
Who is this? it said, its jaws clacking. Who would bring iron into Elveron without the Queen s
warrant?
He wants your sword. Huon nudged Gwalchmai. You must leave it here until you come back.
My father s sword? The sword he carried in a hundred battles? The sword of the Sixth Legion? Never!
I will go from here!
And leave King Arthur s sword for someone to steal, after Elfdom no longer encircles it to hold it
secure? Is that a knightly deed? Is Excalibur valued less now in Man s World than your little piece of
cold iron? Just lay it in the kist beside our juiceless friend and let him hold it in trust. Ill venture that any
visitor who enters to tak& it will get a surprise, now that Getain has his toy back and is as whole as he is
ever apt to be!
Gwalchmai looked glum. It seemed as though there was nothing else to do. He reluctantly unbuckled the
scabbard from his belt and placed it in the skeleton s fleshless hand. It lay back and crossed its dry arms
over the sword, which it had tucked within the ribcage.
How contented the old fellow is! It takes so little to satisfy him nowadays and yet he was a person of
strange wants and savage desires. You would scarcely believe what a plague he was to himself and
others. See how he smiles!
He does? I cannot see any difference. Gwalchmai turned, with a slight shiver, away from that
hard-featured grin.
Ah! That is because you have not known him as long as I have. Believe me, he is very happy. Let us
leave him and be on our way.
How about my ax?
Oh, keep that, Huon said, indifferently. The Folk of Peace have never had any quarrel with the People
of the Flint. See! The portal has opened! You are welcome now to Elveron.
Against the wall where Gwalchmai had first seen Huon, a little speck of light, no larger than the pupil of a
mouse s eye, gleamed like a bright fallen star where the wall met the floor.
Follow me, Sir Hawk, and you shall see marvels!
They began to walk across the chamber. As they did so, it appeared to Gwalchmai that the room grew
larger and the portal higher. It was certainly much farther to the ceiling than before. He had a feeling that
the surface of the floor was rushing away from him in all directions. Deep, wide cracks opened before
them that Gwalchmai had not noticed earlier.
They ran and leaped across these, but before they reached the wall itself, the last fissure had widened
and deepened into a chasm.
Huon looked disturbed for the first time.
Quickly! Quickly now! Get a good start and jump as hard as you can!
They ran back a few steps and then fairly flew toward the dangerous rift in the rock. Huon skimmed over
it easily, but Gwalchmai landed upon his chest at the farther edge, his legs dangling into the abyss.
Huon braced his feet and grabbed Gwalchmai s arm, but found himself being pulled down by the other s
weight. Suddenly there was a rush of light feet and a crowd was about them, jostling, laughing, seizing
them both, dragging them up across the stone lip and into a bursting splendor of radiance as they passed
through the portal.
Welcome to Elveron, Sir Knightl a sweet voice said, and dainty Queen Crede, the ever-beautiful, came
forward to meet him, proffering both hands for him to kiss, and behind him, smiling also, came Prince
Auberon to bring him safely in to view the wonders of Elfdom.
Gwalchmai found himself in a long tunnel leading gently upward, but it was not the same as the one he
had used to enter the barrow. This one gleamed with the cold glow of foxfire, casting no shadows. Walls,
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