She shot me a hard blue look that seemed to inquire if I mocked her. Taking up a goblet of wine, she said: “That is sooth. I have had a hard life. I was a pawn in the affairs of Phu-Si-Yantong and Csitra. But I learned. Khe-Hi and I have come to an agreement — oh, not in the flesh but through our own arts — and I feel confident I shall be happy in Vallia — if...”
I did not, and neither did my comrades, give her the satisfaction of idiotically mouthing: “If?”
She sipped. “You have penetrated to the core of Csitra’s designs with the werewolves. You are just beginning.”
Again we sat silently.
“Yes, Deb-Lu,” she said on a sudden, dipping her head in a quick birdlike motion. “You may enter.” Then, softening that haughty tone, she added, “You are very welcome.”
The lupal projection of Deb-Lu glowed into phantasmal life within the tent.
Khe-Hi said: “Tell us what you learned of Csitra’s plans.”
“Willingly. She has made a Pronouncement.”
At this, I saw Deb-Lu’s hand go to his turban, and halt, transfixed. He stared anxiously at the Witch of Loh.
“With all due ceremony, with many human sacrifices, much shedding of blood, great agony of body and spirit, she has Pronounced the Curses.”
We four mere men, not sorcerers out of Loh, listened to the Witch’s words as she spoke on, and we listened numbed and drained and desperately concerned for the future.
“Occult forces have been stirred. Beings undisturbed for thousands of seasons have been roused. The reek of the ash pits, the screams of the dying, the long moaning wails of those in torment who may not die — all have been raised up against you. For the Witch of Loh, Csitra, has Pronounced the Nine Unspeakable Curses Against Vallia.”
A silence followed. The tent’s atmosphere cloyed. The two Wizards of Loh were overcome. Seg and Turko and Nath were unsure. Well, by Krun, so was I. But it was no good shying at shadows. I cleared my throat.
“Well, and, Sana. What does that mean?”
“Who can say what form the Curses will take? Werewolves — but of course! Vampires, and not the Vampires of Sabal, I can assure you. Plagues, famine, fires and pestilence. Infestation and Zombies and the Undead. Vallia has been cursed nine times. You may expect what you will receive.”
I said: “On the morrow we march out to fight a great battle. After we have won that battle I will think what best to do about Csitra and the Nine Unspeakable Curses Against Vallia.” That is what I said. What I thought was: “this sounds like it, Dray Prescot. I know what I’m going to do. I don’t know what my Delia will say. I must take my chances and, perhaps for the first time in my life, go against Delia’s wishes. But I know what I must do.”
So we marched out to do battle with the traitor Layco Jhansi and his army of ensorcelled people, and, after that, as you will hear, I made my plans and proposed what I, Dray Prescot, would do. But, by the putrescent eyeballs and decomposing nose of Makki Grodno! What I proposed, what Delia proposed, and what happened, bore no relationship at all to one another. Not a single little bit, by Zair!
Notes
[1] Dustrectium. Firepower as applied to the effects from archery, slings and engines.
[2] K.S.: Krell Stylor. Krell is one Kregish word for Chief.
[3] Queyd-arn-tung! No more need be said.
About the author
Alan Burt Akers was a pen name of the prolific British author Kenneth Bulmer, who died in December 2005 aged eighty-four.
Bulmer wrote over 160 novels and countless short stories, predominantly science fiction, both under his real name and numerous pseudonyms, including Alan Burt Akers, Frank Brandon, Rupert Clinton, Ernest Corley, Peter Green, Adam Hardy, Philip Kent, Bruno Krauss, Karl Maras, Manning Norvil, Chesman Scot, Nelson Sherwood, Richard Silver, H. Philip Stratford, and Tully Zetford. Kenneth Johns was a collective pseudonym used for a collaboration with author John Newman. Some of Bulmer’s works were published along with the works of other authors under "house names" (collective pseudonyms) such as Ken Blake (for a series of tie-ins with the 1970s television programme The Professionals), Arthur Frazier, Neil Langholm, Charles R. Pike, and Andrew Quiller.
Bulmer was also active in science fiction fandom, and in the 1970s he edited nine issues of the New Writings in Science Fiction anthology series in succession to John Carnell, who originated the series.
More details about the author, and current links to other sources of information, can be found at
www.mushroom-ebooks.com, and at wikipedia.org.
The Dray Prescot Series
The Delian Cycle:
1. Transit to Scorpio
2. The Suns of Scorpio
3. Warrior of Scorpio
4. Swordships of Scorpio
5. Prince of Scorpio
Havilfar Cycle:
6. Manhounds of Antares
7. Arena of Antares
8. Fliers of Antares
9. Bladesman of Antares
10. Avenger of Antares
11. Armada of Antares
The Krozair Cycle:
12. The Tides of Kregen
13. Renegade of Kregen
14. Krozair of Kregen
Vallian cycle:
15. Secret Scorpio
16. Savage Scorpio
17. Captive Scorpio
18. Golden Scorpio
Jikaida cycle:
19. A Life for Kregen
20. A Sword for Kregen
21. A Fortune for Kregen
22. A Victory for Kregen
Spikatur cycle:
23. Beasts of Antares
24. Rebel of Antares
25. Legions of Antares
26. Allies of Antares
Pandahem cycle:
27. Mazes of Scorpio
28. Delia of Vallia
29. Fires of Scorpio
30. Talons of Scorpio
32. Seg the Bowman
Witch War cycle:
33. Werewolves of Kregen
34. Witches of Kregen
35. Storm over Vallia
36. Omens of Kregen
37. Warlord of Antares
Lohvian cycle:
38. Scorpio Reborn
39. Scorpio Assassin
40. Scorpio Invasion
41. Scorpio Ablaze
42. Scorpio Drums
43. Scorpio Triumph
Balintol cycle:
44. Intrigue of Antares
45. Gangs of Antares
46. Demons of Antares
47. Scourge of Antares
48. Challenge of Antares
49. Wrath of Antares
50. Shadows over Kregen
Phantom cycle:
51. Murder on Kregen
52. Turmoil on Kregen
Copyright © 1985, Kenneth Bulmer
Alan Burt Akers has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, to be identified as the Author of this work.
First published by Daw Books, Inc. in 1985.
This Edition published in 2007 by Mushroom eBooks, an imprint of Mushroom Publishing, Bath, BA1 4EB, United Kingdom
www.mushroom-ebooks.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher.
ISBN 1843196670
Contents
The Witch War Cycle
1 – The first deaths
2 – The Ganchark of Therminsax
3 – Of a hillside in Hamal
4 – We disagree over the Werewolf of Vondium
5 – Concerning the phalanx
6 – Natyzha Famphreon sends a request
7 – Of the absence of blood and fur
8 – The four smiths
9 – Werewolf at the party
10 – Kyr Emder cooks Deb-Lu-Quienyin’s recipe
11 – How two jurukkers stood guard
12 – “Th
e dratted thing’s dead all right.”
13 – We fly to Turko’s Falinur
14 – The Battle of Marndor
15 – In the Fletcher’s Tower of the Falnagur
16 – A corpse speaks
17 – The Emperor of Vallia’s werewolves
18 – Of a volunteer from the Jikai Vuvushis
19 – Howling under the Moons
20 – An Occult Romance
21 – Csitra’s Pronouncement
Notes
About the author
The Dray Prescot Series