They received it with mixed feelings, for only Dyvim Slonn was used to dealing with supernaturals. Moonglum had always been dubious of Elric's powers to control his wild, elemental friends, while Kargan growled that Straasha may have been an ally of Elric's folk but had been more of an enemy to his. The four of them, however, could plan with slightly more optimism and face the coming ordeal with better confidence.

Four

The fleet of Jagreen Lern bore towards them and' in its wake, the boiling stuff of Chaos hovered.

Elric gave the command and the rowers hauled at their curs, sending Timber-tearer rushing towards the enemy. So far his elemental allies had not appeared, but he could not afford to wait for them.

As Timber-tearer rode the foaming waves, Elric hauled his sword from its scabbard, brought the side wings of his helmet round to cover his face and cried the age-old ululating warshout of Melnibone, a shout full of joyous evil. Stormbringer's eerie voice joined with his, giving vent to a thrumming song, anticipating the blood and the souls it would soon feast upon.

Jagreen Lern’s flagship now lay behind three rows of man-o-war and behind that the ships of death.

Timber-tearer's iron ram ripped into the first enemy ship and the rowers leaned on their oars, backing away and turning to pierce another ship below the water line. Showers of arrows sprayed from the holed ship and clattered on deck and armour. Several rowers went down.

Elric and his three companions directed their men from the main deck and suddenly they saw the streaking balls of green fire come curving out of the sky.

«Prepare to quench fires! » Kargan yelled and the group of men already primed for this leapt for the tubs containing a special brew, which Elric had told them how to make earlier. This was spread on decks and splashed on canvas and, when the fire-balls landed, they were swiftly put out by the stuff.

«Don't engage unless forced to, » Elric called to the seamen, «keep aiming for the flagship. If we take that our advantage will be good! »

«Where are your allies, Elric?» Kargan asked sardonically, shuddering a little as he saw the Chaos stuff in the distance suddenly move and erupt tendrils of black matter into the sky.

«They'll come, never fear, » Elric answered, but he was unsure.

Now they were in the thick of the enemy fleet, the ships of their squadron followed behind. The war-engines of their own fleet sent up a constant barrage of fire and heavy stones.

Only a handful of Bine's craft broke through the enemy's first rank and reached the open sea, sailing towards Jagreen Lern»s flagship.

As they were observed, the enemy ships sailed to protect the flagship and the scintillating ships of death, moving with fantastic speed for their size, surrounded the Theocrat's vessel.

Shouting over the waters, Kargan ordered their diminished squadron into a new formation.

Moonglum shook his head in astonishment «How can things of that size support themselves on the water?» he said to Elric.

Elric said: «It's unlikely that they actually do.» As then ship manoeuvred into its new position, he stared at the huge craft, twenty of them, dwarfing everything else on the sea. They seemed covered with a kind of scintillating wetness which flashed all the colours of the spectrum so that their outlines were hard to see and the shadowy figures moving about on their gigantic decks could not easily be observed. Whisps of dark stuff began to drift across the scene, close to the water, and Dyvim Slonn, from the lower deck, pointed and shouted:

«See! Chaos comes. Where is Straasha and his folk?»

Elric shook his head, perturbed. He had expected aid by now.

«We cannot wait. We must attack! » Kargan's voice was pitched higher than usual.

A mood of bitter recklessness came upon Elric then he smiled. «Come then. Let's do so! »

Speedily the squadron coursed towards like disturbing ships of death.

Moonglum muttered: «We are going to our doom, Elric. No man would willingly get close to those ships. Only the dead are drawn to them, and they do not go with joy! »

But Elric ignored his friend.

A strange silence seemed to come upon the waters so that the sound of the splashing oars was sharp. The death fleet waited for them, impassively, as if they did not need to prepare for battle.

He tightened his grip on Stormbringer. The blade seemed to respond to the pounding of his pulse-beat, moving in his hand with each thud of his heart as if linked to it by veins and arteries.

Now they were so close to the Chaos ships that they could make out better the figures crowding the great decks. Horribly, Elric thought he recognised some of the gaunt faces of the dead and, involuntarily, he called to the sea-folk's king.

«Straasha! »

The waters heaved, foamed and seemed to be attempting to rise but then subsided again. Straasha heard-but he was finding it difficult to fight against the forces of Chaos.

«Straasha.»

It was no good, the waters hardly moved.

A mood of wild despair came over Elric. He screamed to Kargan: «We cannot wait for aid. Swing the ship round the Chaos fleet and we'll attempt to reach Jagreen Lern's flagship from the rear.»

Under Kargan's expert direction, the ship swung to avoid the Ships of Hell in a wide semi-circle. Spray cascaded against Elric's face, flooding the decks. He could hardly see through it as they cleared the Chaos ships which had now engaged other craft and were altering the nature of their timbers so that they fell apart and the unfortunate crews were drowned or warped into alien shapes.

To his ears came the miserable cries of the defeated and the triumphantly surging thunder of the Chaos Fleet's music as it pushed forward to destroy the eastern ships.

Timber-tearer was rocking badly and was hard to control, but at last they were around the hell fleet and bearing down on Jagreen Lern's vessel from the rear.

Elric, having but recently been a prisoner upon it, recognized it at once. Now they nearly struck the Theocrat's vessel with their ram, but were swept off-course and had to manoeuvre again. Arrows rose from the enemy's decks and thudded and rattled on their own. They retaliated as, riding a huge wave, they slid alongside the flagship and flung out grappling irons. A few held, dragging them towards the Theocrat's vessel as the men of Pan Tang strove to cut the grappling ropes. More ropes followed and then a boarding platform fell from its harness and landed squarely on Jagreen Lern's deck. Another followed it.

Elric ran for the nearest platform. Kargan behind him, and they led a body of warriors over it, searching for Jagreen Lern.

Stormbringer took a dozen lives and a dozen souls before Elric had gained the main-deck. There a resplendent commander stood, surrounded by a group of officers. But it was not Jagreen Lern. Elric clambered up the gangway, slicing through a warrior's waist as the man sought to block his path. He yelled at the group: «Where's your cursed leader? Where's Jagreen Lern?»

The commander's face was pale for he had seen in the past what Elric and his hell-blade could do.

«He's not here, Elric, I swear.»

«What? Am I to be thwarted again? I know you are lying! » Elric advanced on the group who backed away, their swords ready.

«Our theocrat does not need to protect himself by means of lies, doom-fostered one! » sneered a young officer, braver than the rest.

«Perhaps not, » cried Elric with a wild laugh as he rushed towards him swinging Stormbringer in a shrieking arc, «but at least I’ll have your life before I put the truth of your words to the test. My sword and I need revitalising-and your soul should make an appetiser before I take Jagreen Lern's! »

The man put up his blade to block Stormbringer's swing. The runesword cut through the metal with a triumphant cry, swung back again and plunged itself into the officer's side. He gasped, but remained standing with his hands clenched.