To m D o u g l a s

THE CHAOS GAME

Tom Douglas is a retired academic and professional Social Psychologist. He became interested in the way human beings have always created myths and legends as a way of attempting to explain the unexplainable very early in his career when he first became aware that the new and acceptable myth is modern science. Now that Tom has time and leisure he has set out to write fantasies which explore some of the oldest and newest myths that man has created, in the case of the haos !ame, the !ree" myth of the #oid $ haos%.

opyright Tom Douglas The right of Tom Douglas to be identified as author of this wor" has been asserted by him in accordance with section && and &' of the opyright, Designs and Patents (ct )*''. (ll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers. (ny person who commits any unauthori+ed act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ( ,P catalogue record for this title is available from the -ritish .ibrary. ,S-N *&' )'/*01 //0 2 www.austinmacauley.com 3irst Published $45)/% (ustin 6acauley Publishers .td. 42 anada S7uare anary 8harf .ondon 9)/ 2.-

Prologue
,n the dim light filtering into the room high up in the central tower of -lac" :oc" astle the game board lay on a table;top of polished, veined marble. (round it the light seemed to diffuse and while its si+e, shape and beauty were 7uite obvious, the board created a sense in those observing it of not being entirely present in the room with them. ,t loo"ed, thought :hodarchus, as if it was floating in space and not the same space in which he was standing. Never in all his days of fighting his way to power had he seen anything li"e it, and it worried him. He was conscious that in ac7uiring this magnificent instrument he had strayed away from the everyday things about which he had "nowledge and a degree of mastery from experience. ,n short, although he coveted the power that use of the board could bring to help him fulfil his remaining ambitions of con7uest, because he "new that he had no "nowledge of how it wor"ed, he was frightened of what that lac" of "nowledge might presage. -y ac7uiring the board with the intent to use for his own gain, he had moved from a world of certainty to one of dar", mysterious un"nowing. The board was s7uare, the base appeared to be made of solid gold, some of the pieces were silver and some were made of a blac" substance that absorbed light and made them loo" heavy and mysterious. 9ach piece had a flat base that would allow it to stand upright when placed on the board and each piece was an ex7uisite wor" of modelling varying in si+e from two to four inches high. Here were representations of all of the forces of haos, both good and bad< the explosive shape of 6adness all twisted and distorted, the writhing form of 9nvy its blac" coils contorted in anguish. There were also the silver forms of Honesty, harity and =indness. ,n all sixty three pieces and thirty two base s7uares mar"ed on opposite edges of the board>one piece was missing.

=ing :hodarchus ga+ed at the board almost unable to believe that at last the fabulous 3ydchell was in his grasp. He had schemed, bribed, tortured and "illed for years to gain possession of this mystical ob?ect with the sole purpose of using it to exert control over all of his friends, not that he had many of them, but more importantly over all of his enemies and those who would become his enemies in the near future. The tall, lean figure in the blac" robe who stood beside him, arms hidden in the sleeves of his robe, his face half hidden by the shadow cast by the cowl that draped his head, noted the savage ?oy that had spread across the "ing@s face and sneered contemptuously. ABne of the most important pieces, the goddess of light is missing,C he hissed. :hodarchus turned towards his companion. .lyhr was a sorcerer of evil repute who, for the time being, was wor"ing for the "ing, but :hodarchus suspected that his willingness to do so was merely because what :hodarchus wished to do with the 3ydchell chimed, up to a point, with .lyhr@s own highly vindictive purposes. The "ing@s scheming mind had long "nown that should that purpose change then he could 7uite easily find himself sub?ect to .lyhr@s malign intent. He had to be cautious, so he merely raised one bushy eyebrow in 7uery. .lyhr was well aware of the "ing@s fear and "new exactly how much :hodarchus needed his blac" s"ill to operate the board. He spo"e, not bothering to hide his contempt. AThe goddess is one of the most powerful pieces on the board,C he said. A8ithout her we cannot be sure that whatever game plan we set on the board will run true.C :hodarchus grunted. A-ut>C he started to say but .lyhr cut him off. ABf course we can use the board, the balance is set in our favour. -ut the !ods control the outcomes and no mortal on earth understands completely how the board wor"s. The forces it controls have destinies of their own which can control those who see" to use the board.C :hodarchus was not pleased but he had to be content. ,t troubled his practical mind that he had no way of assessing the

truth of anything that .lyhr chose to tell him about the board and the sorcerer@s contemptuous attitude made him writhe with a suppressed desire to tear the emaciated little man into a thousand pieces. He had already started to plan how to get rid of .lyhr when his goal of mastery was complete. The "ing was a big man but his driving ambition had made him many enemies and he felt that he was constantly under threat from those who would "ill him without compunction given half a chance. He was always surrounded by guards, he employed seers and prophets, he ran a large group of spies and he employed a food taster and regularly executed people he suspected of plotting against him, even when it was reasonably obvious to an unbiased observer that they weren@t. He had infiltrated his paid informers into his wife@s retinue and received daily reports of her doings. AHow soon will we be able to start to set the board in actionDC he said. .lyhr did not answer. (s the pause grew longer :hodarchus shuffled uncomfortably. Had any other member of his people done this to him he would have flown into a rage and either struc" that person violently or had him or her hauled off to be punished. -ut he "new better than to do either with .lyhr. A8ellDC he said. .lyhr smiled a lip;curling contemptuous smile. He constantly played upon the "ing@s fear of his powers. A,t will ta"e me some days to neutralise the previous settings and then to reset the board for our use,C he said. ASo, the sooner you leave me the sooner we will be ready to do what you wish> my .ord,C he added as an insulting afterthought. :hodarchus could scarcely believe that he had been dismissed from the room. 3uming, he stamped out ripping aside the heavy drapes that covered the closed door, hurling the door open and stormed out into the corridor. ( retainer coming in the opposite direction received the full force of the "ing@s pent;up anger and was beaten to the floor with a savage blow to the head and a vicious "ic" to the ribs. -ac" in the room which the "ing had ?ust left, .lyhr was "neeling on the floor by the marble table chanting softly, his

long delicate fingers caressed the golden board and lovingly lifted and stro"ed the beautifully carved figures. Ender the shadow of his cowl his eyes glowed redly. The 3ydchell was his.

1. The Corpse Robbers

They would have fled but they could not. Sitting in the area of light cast by the flic"ering flames of their meagre fire they had suddenly become aware that a distinct chill had fallen on the little glade and a figure, so silent, so dar", from which emanated a sense of palpable menace and terror, had appeared at the periphery of their vision. Still as death, blac" and so threatening it stood, that their limbs refused to obey their panic;stric"en minds and they found they could not move. (nd so they remained fro+en to the ground on which they sat .Their mouths gaped. Their eyes stared at the mysterious, menacing mass, dimly and intermittently lit by the flames of their fire, where showed no human face, ?ust a still, dar" form, only remotely identifiable as human, which was a sufficient cause of terror. The five corpse;robbers, steeped as they were in the traditions of the undead, of ghosts and of wandering spirits, were rooted to the spot by a bowel;loosening dread, their sins against humanity lying heavily on their wretched souls. ,n a warrior;society immersed in the concepts of glory and honour to be won in battle and of respect for the dead, these five were accustomed to being treated with scorn and contempt and sub?ect to assault, even death, if caught in the execution of their grisly profession. -ut the fear they experienced in those circumstances was but a wisp of air compared to the dread they now felt for the apparition that had come upon them. They had always feared more than anything the thought that the dead warriors they had despoiled of their valuables before their companions could find them might return as revenging spirits. Now their warped and distorted souls filled them with the certainty of spirit death and everlasting damnation. The flames of an ever;present hell lic"ed about their feet. 3or age;long seconds nothing happened. 9ven the forest itself seemed still and the boundaries of reality flowed into, and were engulfed

by, the thic" enveloping dar". Time stood still and everlasting torment threatened. ,n the eyes of the five, the fire, the last focus of their ordinary reality, became ?ust a pale patch of light at the edge of vision, a feeble glow that offered nothing of warmth or comfort. They shivered and, completely helpless, waited for what was to come. Suddenly four pairs of incandescent, glowing, green eyes flic"ed open, each pair at a separate point around the huddled men. These baleful eyes seemed to hover above the ground and the fact that they occasionally disappeared only served to heighten the terror of their presence. ,f the five wretches on the ground had not already been paralysed with a numbing dread of the un"nown, the effect of these luminous red;rimmed orbs would have chilled them senseless. These thieves had lived most of their desperate and wic"ed lives in the wilds as outlaws and they "new that such eyes could only belong to wolves, and large ones at that. 8hat they did not "now, nor could they guess, was whether these wolves were real or evil manifestations of the spirit world. Not that the distinction caused them a moment@s thought, both were e7ually dreadful. This "nowledge did nothing to ease their stupid minds of the deep, destroying panic which gripped them tight. They were damned either way. 8hen the blac" figure spo"e the shoc" was as electric as it was unexpected. (t first, the five assumed that they had been spo"en to. They heard words burning into their brains, but the voice that produced them had no focal point in their space as far as they could determine. No sound waves had penetrated their ears. The words simply materialised inside their heads, clear and distinct. A ome,C it said in clear, flat tones. A ome with me you stin"ing scum and do exactly as , tell you or the grey ones will have you.C Terrified even more by the realisation of the way the voice had emerged, but relieved that they had been given an instruction rather than despatched to the fires of hell, although still in the icy grip of terror, the five stumbled to their feet li"e sleepwal"ers and with gla+ed expressions followed the silent,

blac" shape as it moved away from their small fire and into the trees. Bn each side of this little procession padded the big grey wolves, well;nigh invisible to the men except as those spine; chilling eyes caught some small stray flash of light which caused them to gleam and glint in the velvet dar"ness. They were close, terrifyingly close, and the men were painfully aware that through the noises they made stumbling in the dar"ness on the uneven ground amongst the trees, the sound of panting could be heard occasionally and visions of cruel yellow teeth flashed into their numbed minds. Slowly, as they reluctantly followed the dar" shape, the s"y above the forest canopy too" on a golden tinge which grew brighter and redder as they stumbled on their way. Then gradually the smell of pungent smo"e drifted through the trees and stung their nostrils. They were all too aware of whence that smo"e came. 3or the last couple of days as the fortress of arwannoc" F which lay ?ust beyond the trees in which they had sought shelter for the night F was engulfed by the attac"ing hosts of "ing :hodarchus, they had crept out at night amongst the dead and those who most suddenly became dead at their hands. areful to avoid the few soldiers searching for the bodies of their dead comrades, they systematically robbed the helpless victims of anything that they thought may be of some value, if necessary, mercilessly cutting the already wounded bodies in order to remove chains, rings and other personal ?ewellery. Their ?ob had been made easier in one sense and more ha+ardous in another by the fact that once the citadel had been bro"en into, all the wooden buildings which were not already burning had been set on fire and corpses had been thrown onto the resulting bla+e. They had had better light to find the best pic"ings but they were more exposed by the light of the flames. Now, terror filled the minds of the corpse;robbers as they realised they were being led closer and closer to the burning fortress. 8as this ghostly presence intending to deliver them to the soldiers of :hodarchus@ army or commit them directly to the flamesD They "new very clearly what their fate would be if

they were handed over to the soldiery. Soldiers of all "inds abominated corpse;robbers. They were all;too aware that it could be their fate to be murdered for their belongings as they lay wounded on a field of battle. The corpse; robbers "new they would be given short shrift if they ever fell into the hands of the comrades of those they robbed. So great was the fear that this was to be their immediate fate that it was sufficient in one of the thieves to overcome his terror of the ghostly figure leading them and of the wolves and he desperately made a dash to the left. He did not get more than a few paces before he was felled by the weight of one of the wolves landing on his bac". He screamed in fear, expecting to be savaged by those powerful ?aws. The wolf@s hot breath fanned the bac" of his nec" but no teeth san" into his flesh. !rowling, the animal bac"ed off from his prostrate body and stood beside him, saliva from the savage mouth above his head dripped onto the side of his face. AEp.C (s before, he heard the voice in his head, AEp. Try that again and you will not be so luc"y.C The man staggered to his feet almost unaware that his bowels had loosened in fear of certain death, torn to shreds by vicious teeth. He "ept a very careful and frightened eye on the wolf which proceeded to shepherd him bac" into the group of his comrades li"e a sheepdog herding a straying lamb. (s they continued, the smell of burning flesh, cloth and wood became stronger. .ong before the burning pile that lit the night s"y was clearly visible, clouds of pungent smo"e drifted heavily down through the trees creating the atmosphere of a charnel house. Bnly a small part of the huge army which had camped before the citadel on the plain was still there and very few were actually searching through the corpses on the ground and around what was left of the walls. The plain was dotted with the light of the torches these searchers carried. The robbers hardly noticed themG they only had eyes for the figure that led them towards the high roc" face that ran alongside the river to their left. Here the signs of battle were less obvious, as the attac" had concentrated on that part of the citadel frontage which arose from the plain. The high

roc", rising sheer from the river@s edge on which the citadel had been constructed, had been regarded as inaccessible, though the siege army had constantly monitored the sheer drop during the early part of the attac". Here the forest ran right up to the roc" and the attac"ers had considered that it was not li"ely to be used as an escape route by those hard pressed inside the walls of the main part of the fortress which had been built there. (t the edge of the trees and very close to the wall of stone the figure stopped, raised an arm and pointed. The five also stopped and strained their eyes to see what was being indicated. The light from the flames was not strong at this point but the wind was strong enough to engulf them with its nauseating stench. 9ventually, noting that the arm sloped downwards, partially hidden by bushes, they made out what they too" to be a body. The wolves paced bac" and forth close to the dar" shape whining and ma"ing short yelping noises. They were obviously not very comfortable with what was there. The blac" figure waved the robbers forward. (s they stumbled nearer to the body they could ma"e out the form of a large fighting man in full war gear. Bne of the thieves glanced from the body up to the wall of roc", at the top of which was the remains of a strong palisade, parts of which still smouldered. He guessed it was at least sixty yards to the top. The body on the ground was spread;eagled and lay on top of a scatter of bro"en branches. Had he been thrown from the top of the cliff or had he ?umpedD A!ods,C muttered the man, Ahe must be smashed to bits.C The stin" of burning flesh and wool grew stronger as they approached the body. The wolves seemed even more nervous and whined gently. Then they heard the voice in their minds again and a large blac" cloa" was thrown at their feet. AHou will pic" him up> gently> and you will carry him wherever , guide you. Hurt him or drop him and the grey ones shall chew on your miserable bones.C To the robbers the voice sounded hard, merciless and soul; chilling. The five found great difficulty in lifting and carrying the warrior because of his immense si+e and his inert weight

and, moreover, because they were terrified of causing any mishap which could bring about their savaging by the wolves who were seated some yards away watching events with their formidable green eyes almost unblin"ing. The warrior@s clothing was burnt and brittle and tore away whenever they tried to get a grip on it. Their rough hands touched chainmail and leather, tac"y with partially dried blood. (s yet they were unsure whether they were being ordered to move an unfeeling corpse or a badly in?ured warrior who would feel the pain of their mishandling. -ut eventually it occurred to them to lay the cloa" alongside the body and then to roll the warrior onto the cloth. Now they could get a grip and between them they were able to pic" up the body, their hands clutching folds of the strong material and so they were able to move with reasonable ease. 9scorted by the watching wolves they set off to follow, with desperate care, wherever the blac" shape would now lead them. This time their direction led bac" into the forest and away from the burning citadel, but whether this gave them any respite from the terror of being handed over to fighting men or not would be hard to tell. ,ndeed it would have been e7ually hard to "now whether they still felt as if they were alive or already subsumed into some form of semi;existence. ,n a trance;li"e state, shambling, stumbling, but never for a moment loosening their grip on the cloa" and its heavy burden F despite the fact that their fingernails were torn and bleeding F they moved out of the firelight into the sombre dar"ness of the forest. 8here they went, those five who had lived by robbing the dead and the seriously wounded, the wea" and the helpless, they could never thereafter tell. Nor in truth did they ever try. ,n fact, in the short time that was left to them, none of them was ever sure that what appeared to have happened that night near the burning ruins of the fortress of arwannoc", was anything but a most terrible nightmare, and they were content that it should remain so. 9ach, in his own way tried to forget. The alternative of accepting that the events of that night

constituted some form of reality was more than their minds could encompass. Despite the fact they had a nagging doubt that all five could experience the same dream terror at the same time, they were mortally afraid of having to accept it as an ordinary reality. The idea that they might have collectively experienced a foretaste of perdition was enough to paralyse their peasant minds completely ,n the early and cold light of a new day all five found themselves lying stiff and sore on the ground many miles away from the column of smo"e that mar"ed the burning citadel, and an e7ually long way from the rough camp where they had been recruited as the most unwilling and terrified of corpse;bearers. Their muscles ached, they were thirsty, hungry and exhausted. They could not meet each other@s eyes and their unwillingness to accept what their memories insisted had occurred was very strong. -ut the physical evidence that they had performed some Herculean and strenuous tas" was all too obvious in their bodies. To their brutish minds the only rational explanation was that they had been sub?ected to sorcery or enchantment. 8ith an accord somewhat unusual amongst them, they agreed that they should hurry away as far as possible from the scene of their awa"ening, and the smell of arwannoc", as fast as their weary limbs could ta"e them. (nd so it was that when "ing :hodarchus@ men came searching, they found no body, no large blonde warrior, nor any who could "now anything of such a one, even when they were sub?ected to torture. ( terrible fear bound the corpse; robbers and sealed their minds and their mouths so that when they were eventually caught by :hodarchus@ men F as was inevitable F and 7uestions were put to them in no very gentle way concerning a giant warrior and a warloc" called 9mrys, they remained obdurately silent. (s a conse7uence they died horribly but mercifully 7uic"ly of the growing frustration of their 7uestioners.

2. Bron
The thic" blac"ness swirled with images of fighting men. He had an overwhelming sense of frustration. He "new he was struggling against forces that were slowly crushing the life out of him, destroying all those he loved, and burning and "illing relentlessly. The ground beneath his feet was insubstantialG indeed he was lost in a wilderness of pain and heat. He was bone;weary, all his strength had gone, he was collapsing into nothingness, then suddenly, all the light, pain and heat disappeared into a thic", impenetrable blac"ness and he had the sensation of falling, down and down for ever into a bottomless hole. 3inally there was nothing, no existence, no anything. Silence. Then suddenly it was all bac", and he was going to have to relive it all again. Through a cho"ing nightmare of smo"e, scorching flames, hot and searing pain, coupled with a soul;destroying and desperate anguish, where sharp swords cut and axes bit and hewed at his flesh, -ron regained consciousness driven by an irresistible urge to defend, to drive bac" the merciless "illers of his people. He emerged from the screaming dar"ness of his nightmares into a daylight reality of agonising pain, pain that seared along his nerves li"e white hot rivulets of molten metal, behind which lay a profound aching soreness of his whole body that alone would have been intolerable. This proved to be a very brief interlude of consciousnessG his soul cried in anguish because he had failed F all those whom he had cherished were dead. ,t was his fault. ,t had been his duty to protect no matter what the odds. He was sure that he was dead. No man could suffer the terrible in?uries he had received nor survive the burning that crashing through a burning building had caused. He was on the doorstep of hell and this was his punishment for failure. (s his dry throat tried to scream, his mind closed down on the pain,

the terrible thoughts and anguish, and he began to slip bac" into a blac"ness, now mercifully devoid of fire, sword and axe. -ut ?ust before the dar" completely engulfed him, his brain registered the sound of birds singing sweetly and his eyes glimpsed the brightness of sunlight. His last thought was that in the afterlife the world existed in all its beauty and that thought formed a delicate counterpoint to the unmitigated pain in the midst of which he had awo"en. 8hen next his mind surfaced from the depths of unconsciousness, he emerged into dar"ness. Not the solid and terrifying dar"ness of nightmare, but the gentle dar"ness of night. 3or a moment, the change from one state to another was not clear, but gradually -ron realised that he was still in the land of the living, he had not passed to the underworld, and he remembered his first awa"ening and became aware that no nightmare had harassed him this time. -ut this renewal of rational thin"ing caused memories to flood into his mind that were far more terrible than the fantastic sic" terrors of his first awa"ening. -ut somehow the impact of these terrible thoughts was somewhat diminished and he found that he was regarding them as if they were at some distance from him. The sense of failure which had been so agonising became ?ust one factual memory amongst a throng of others. 9ven the agony of his torn flesh and twisted nerves was now duller than before, as if he was becoming distanced from the actual experience of it. There was now a sense that some tentative energy was returning to his body of which he was more aware in the old way and less as a conduit for intolerable pain, though he was distinctly aware of an appalling wea"ness and a numbing lethargy. -ron now "new that he had a fighting chance to live and he was surprised that he found this encouragingG he had been somewhat afraid that his will to live had been destroyed by the enormity of his wounds and the invasive sense of failure. He was still tormented by fear but in some part of his mind he "new that he was being cared for. His mail had been removed, he felt that his wounds had been washed and tendedG he "new

he was lying na"ed in a bed of sorts and he had a faint recollection of drin"ing, with great effort, cool water which had gone down his parched throat cold and sweet. 8ho would care for himD (ll who "new him were dead or far away, "nowing nothing of his plight. -ron did not have the mental energy to devote to these 7uestions, it was enough that he was being cared for F he was, for the moment, mildly content. He wondered a little at this. He did not "now where he was, neither did he "now who was loo"ing after him. ,t bothered him slightly that all his warrior instincts should be telling him that he was in an essentially vulnerable state, unable to guard himself against danger, but they weren@t. 6oreover, he was not aware that he felt any real discomfort about this situation. ,ndeed, a powerful lethargy held him inert in its grip. ,t prevented him from even trying to move his limbs and dulled the "eenness of his thoughts, and so, gradually, he slipped bac" into what was now a more peaceful dar". The third time he wo"e there was no doubt at all that he was fully conscious. Now his warrior@s mind was suspiciously alert, trying to discover as 7uic"ly as possible the circumstances into which he had become conscious. 8as there any dangerD 8here was heD How capable was he of defending himself should it become necessaryD The recollection of previous awa"enings returned to his mind and he lay still and used his eyes to explore his surroundings. He was lying on a roughly constructed wooden bed, on blan"ets of wool with another such blan"et covering his na"ed body. (bove was a thatched roof, low enough, he thought, to have caused him to stoop if he had been standing upright. There was an open doorway in the wall to his right through which streamed the sun. Btherwise the room was windowless. Somewhere nearby a fire burnedG he could smell the pleasant tang of wood smo"e. ,t did not provo"e memories of the stin"ing smo"e of the burning citadel because it was accompanied by, and mingled with, the very appetising aroma

of meat coo"ing. -ron realised that he was ravenously hungry. He couldn@t recall when he last ate solid food. 8holly conscious now, his thoughts turned to the fact that he had been seriously wounded and burnt at the siege of arwannoc", but his body seemed to be in a state of relaxed and partial numbness and no pain indicated the whereabouts or extent of what in?uries he may have received. So he steeled himself to discover, if he could, the extent of his in?uries. Slowly peeling bac" the rough blan"et that covered his na"ed body, gingerly and with much labour he raised himself on his elbows to loo" at what had once been a splendid young body. He "new that he had been hit many times by sword, axe and spear point and, experienced warrior that he was, he had no illusions about the possible effects of such mistreatment. The upper part of his body, which had been protected by chainmail and leather ?er"in, was a mass of bruised and discoloured flesh with deeper contusions, here and there, where the rings of his armour had been driven into his flesh by the force of the blows he had received. His arms and legs showed several deep slashes which appeared to be dry and healing well, as did the burns which, when made, had cauterised some of his earlier wounds. ,t was certain that whoever was loo"ing after him was a s"illed healer F good, clean, pin" flesh was uniting and growing well on all the wounds he could see. 8hile he was thus absorbed in the examination of his wounds -ron became aware of how strange and tight his head felt. He remembered losing his helmet very early on in that last ferocious onslaught F now he bro"e out into a cold sweat as he slowly, even reluctantly, lifted a hand to explore his face and nec". His unwilling searching fingers encountered hard, smooth s"in marred by raised welts and scar tissue, no beard, very little hair, and no eyebrows. His other hand let go of the blan"et and began to explore the other side of his head. ,t too encountered hard, smooth flesh, tender to the touch but as na"ed as an egg. -ron needed all his courage at that moment, but even so his soul was chilled. Bnce again he saw the raging

fire on the parapet, felt the scorching heat of the flames as, helmetless, he was slowly driven into the burning timbers of the stoc"ade by his remorseless, howling attac"ers, his clothes in flames and his hair shrivelling in the heat. ( long terrible howl of torment stretched the burned tightness of his facial muscles in sharp agony. His flesh had been devoured by those flames. His chest heaved as his lungs strained to draw in air to scream his horror again when a bright flash of light caught and held his ga+e. (lmost immediately his mind closed and his taut body relaxed. ( strangely mellifluous and soothing voice that hinted at peace and tran7uillity and suggested ineffable love and compassion entered his consciousness. APeace, my son,C the voice sounded in his head. A:est, soon you will be well, soon you will be strong, stronger than you have ever been. Then those who burned you and cut your body will learn to live in fear of your strength. They will come to "now that to loo" on their devilish handiwor" is to loo" into the face of death. Sleep, rest, grow strong so that soon our revenge will be a thing awful to behold. Sleep. Sleep.C The deeply sonorous voice seemed to possess a physical presence as it flowed through his body li"e a warm, relaxing li7uid. His body sagged, the tight muscles relented, and his eyes closed. His last conscious thoughts were not about his burned and disfigured face but about those whom he would see" out and, in the fullness of time, destroy. Thus was the renewal of his life tinged from the outset with the seeds of revenge sown into a mind that was far from strong enough to ma"e any choice of its own. His large, sinewy hands opened and closed spasmodically as if they already had his enemies within their grasp, until sleep gently overcame him. There were many more awa"enings in this woodman@s hut in the forest as -ron gradually regained his strength. He was, he found, being cared for by a man who could not spea", by virtue of the fact that he possessed no tongue. -ron gathered from his dramatic gestures that it had been torn from his mouth

by some of =ing :hodarchus@ men when he was unable to give them the information they re7uired of him. Nevertheless, he was as s"illed a forester as he was healer, though -ron wondered if he might be somewhat simple. (ll that was necessary for the healing process to ta"e place was to be found in the hut, including abundant fresh food garnered from the surrounding forest to meet -ron@s increasing appetite. ,n form, his carer was large, dar" and hairy, gentle but impressively strong, with broad powerful shoulders and long blac" loc"s that fell to his shoulders. He could lift -ron@s great body in his arms and carry him li"e a child, but when he applied salves and dressings to -ron@s face and other wounds he was as gentle as a loving woman. -eneath bushy eyebrows his brown eyes were bright and clear and -ron had the impression that had this man still got his tongue his conversation would have been full of broad humour. During his recovery -ron became irritable and bad; tempered, frustrated by what appeared to be the slow process of his return to health. Enable to tal" to his carer, his temper flared with frustration and he was li"e to harm himself in violent activity. During these spells his carer never lost his calm and used his immense physical strength to protect his patient from harm. Bn several occasions -ron had found himself F exhausted in his wea"ness by his own physical outbursts F caught and securely held in that powerful embrace while he sobbed out his frustration. Slowly he came to admire this huge dar" man who was caring for him so lovingly and before long he regarded him as a true and loved friend and he tal"ed out his frustrations and his carer listened and nodded and grunted. (s -ron@s strength returned, he grew impatient. He realised full well that his mute and caring guardian had not the "nowledge to have nursed him to his present state of health so rapidly, nor, more importantly, the power to have controlled the onset of despair when -ron first discovered the extent to which the flames had disfigured his erstwhile blondly handsome head. -ut scheme how he would to discover who or what was the true agent of his recovery, he was not successful.

The nightmares of his early convalescence had been tormenting and very distressing, but now as he healed, his mind began to consider his position in a much more philosophical way. He began to recall things about his life both before arwannoc" and during his service to Prince !uennolous. 8hat struc" him as particularly odd was the way that the battle at arwannoc" had been conducted. (s a mercenary, he had considerable experience of the form of warfare most practised in (lbionensis. arwannoc" had been different. 6ost of the wars he had been involved in before he came to Prince !uennolous had been small in dimension and fought almost entirely for the sa"e of obtaining booty and glory as warriors, or over disputed territory. None of the petty "ings on the north;east coast that he wor"ed for had ever had sufficient resources or troops to occupy and hold any territory they happened to ta"eG their operations had been what -ron had heard described as banditry, rather than warfare. Het arwannoc" had been attac"ed by a massive army that :hodarchus had cobbled together from his own realm and from other petty "ings and lords over whom he had sufficient clout that they had little option but to help him. (nother thing struc" him forcefully about arwannoc". Prince !uennolous had been "illed in front of his fortress, having been forced into a pointless frontal attac", 7uite early in proceedings. Ender the normal rules of warfare that would have meant that arwannoc" should have surrendered, been looted and then everybody would have gone home. -ut it didn@t happen li"e that. The defenders of arwannoc" fought on and they faced a siege that lasted for wee"s, they suffered diseases and eventually starvation, and when the fortress was finally invaded, everything and everybody was destroyed with the sole exception of himself. There must have been something that :hodarchus wanted that he could only get by destroying everyone in arwannoc". -ron wondered what it could have been. Then he remembered bits of what he had learned from 9mrys about the Bld :eligion

and in particular the role the 3ydchell had played in those beliefs. The 3ydchell, usually referred to as the haos -oard, was an ancient artefact that had been in existence for thousands of years, had several times been lost sight of for centuries and then resurfaced, often in an entirely different part of the world from where it had last appeared. The legend told that the ancients had come to believe that because they saw that their lives were beset by so many factors over which they had no control, li"e weather, storms, floods, earth7ua"es, diseases and above all death, the control of their lives must be vested in divine beings. Bne thing above all others that they believed these divine beings had control over was the arrival of alien beings from other worlds, most of whom possessed powers which allowed them do things that humans could not. The fact that these intruders were genetically enough li"e humans to breed with them and create a strain of hybrids, and that most of them were overtly hostile and malignant, had become a problem that the ancients felt needed addressing. This being so they sought to ?ustify what "ind of behaviour would cause these beings to create so much suffering for mortals. ,n the end they settled on the idea that the whole earth had been created by the gods as a plaything for their own amusement< the earth was a game;board upon which all creatures were pieces moved by the capricious intent of the gods. ,t occurred to the ancients that they might be able to deal with this better if they constructed their own game;board. They made a deal with the gods and infused it with enough power to be able to control some of the chaos that was part of their lives here on earth. So the board was constructed and imbued with power by permission of the gods, who were thought to accept this as another element in their game plan. ,t set up an energy boundary around the planet !runewald, inimical to aliens. -ut devious as usual in their dealings with mortals, the gods had built into the device peripheral factors, which included the possibility of manipulating the forces of chaos, none of which was notified to the humans who would guard the instrument.

Thus the possibility of unforeseen conse7uences, a source of constant amusement to the gods, was present in the 3ydchell right from the start. -ron had seen the 3ydchell at arwannoc", it had been in the care of 9mrys for a long time and he had placed it with his loved !uennolous while he attended to other matters. 9mrys had not been very forthcoming about the power of the board except to say that he believed that most human beings were unfit to have any chance of using it as they would be wholly unable to prevent themselves from exploiting it. He was determined that its presence should stay a closely;guarded secret. Not secret enough, thought -ron. He was becoming convinced that this ancient artefact had been what :hodarchus had sought. :hodarchus, a "ing very interested in the ways of the ancients, had somehow stumbled upon not ?ust the fact of the board@s existence but its very location. The attac" on arwannoc" had been orchestrated almost purely to get hold of the board and to destroy 9mrys and everyone else who may have any "nowledge of the board and to use it as far as possible to foster his own wide;reaching ambitions of con7uest and domination. (s -ron mused on these facts, his desire to see" revenge on :hodarchus became ever more firmly rooted in his mind Then came a day when the sun was warm and -ron sat outside the hut and watched his gentle guardian deftly s"in and ?oint a hare, dropping the sections into a large, blac" pot that was steaming merrily over a bright wood fire. -ron had to admit to himself that he was pu++led. He "new he had felt the presence of another person in the hut during his recovery and he was sure that he had experienced the calming influence of another powerful mind, but he had never so much as glimpsed or heard another person and his 7uestions to his carer had resulted in smiles and shrugs. He tried again. A6y friend,C he said, his voice mar"edly sibilant because the scar tissue around his mouth had reduced the mobility of

his facial muscles. The man loo"ed up from his coo"ing, grinned and nodded. Not for the first time, -ron noted the long blac" hair, the immensely broad shoulders, and recalled how lightly this one moved, silently and with much grace and how 7uic" he was despite his great bul". A, would dearly li"e to "now your name my friend,C he continued, without any great hope that this 7uery would be any more successful than the ones that had preceded it. A, owe my life to you,C he said in a musing tone. A,t would please me greatly to "now your name so that , may than" you properly.C The response was another grin and a shrug. -ron@s thoughts turned to dwell on the irony of his situation. He had been in the hands of one of whom he had no "nowledge whatsoever, at a time when he had been defenceless and utterly incapable of caring for himself. Not a situation he would have soughtG no warrior lived long without constant vigilance or by placing his life in trust to strangers. -ron now appreciated that the man heard and understood everything he said and indeed anticipated his needs in a way that indicated a good level of intelligence and understanding. He glanced at his carer to see if he was going to get any other reaction to the 7uestion he had ?ust as"ed and immediately noticed the wary expression on the man@s face, his eyes were no longer fixed on -ron but on some point well to the left behind where -ron sat. Slowly, -ron turned his head. His muscles were still stiff and responded noticeably more slowly than he would have li"ed, but as far as he was able, his body was poised for an immediate response. 8hat he saw at the edge of the clearing in which the hut had been built was the figure of a man whose hair and beard were long and white and whose only clothing was a grey wolf;s"in. ,n his right hand he held a long wooden staff and to either side of him lay a huge grey wolf, their pin" tongues lolling gently as they breathed, but their yellow eyes steadfastly fixed on -ron and his companion. AHis name is !areth.C The old man spo"e clearly and incisively in a voice which -ron remembered well. ,t was a voice that inspired more trust

than the figure of the old man standing before him would appear to warrant. A9mrysDC he breathed sibilantly through his twisted mouth and made as if to rise to go to greet the old man. !esturing to -ron that he should stay seated, the old man fondled the ear of one of the wolves, which had started to get to its feet as -ron had moved. 3or seconds -ron and the old man loo"ed at one another and no word was spo"en but much was thought. -ron had last seen 9mrys after Prince !uennolous had been hac"ed to death by :hodarchus@ warriors before the walls of arwannoc"G the wi+ard had been running on all fours li"e a dog and howling, accompanied by one of the two wolves that lay so watchfully beside him now. (ll who had seen this performance, both friends and enemies, believed the mind of the sage had crac"ed when he had been forced to watch helplessly as his beloved protector and patron, Prince !uennolous, was slaughtered. ,t was accepted that he had been driven mad by the gods and by guilt. Het here he was as cool and as in command of the situation as -ron had ever seen him in all the years of their companionship. ,t was now abundantly clear to -ron that 9mrys had been the agent of his recovery and also the controller of his fits of depression about his disfigurement. ,t also provided the last piece in the pu++le that had been part of -ron@s musings earlier as to why he had been saved. Now he "new that 9mrys was involved, the answer was remar"ably clear. He was to be a prime instrument in the wi+ard@s revenge on :hodarchus and in returning the haos -oard to a secretive and safe lodging.