Bloodstone by Karl Edward Wagner

recognize Bloodstone! After centuries their race yet remembers the unearthly power this ring can command!"
    The Book of the Elders had suggested such racial memory, hinting that worship of Bloodstone yet survived in certain demented rites among the Rillyti. Kane had studied the passage with obsession, brooded countless hours over the secrets hidden within other scraps of legend and black lore, seeking to wrest every particle of ancient knowledge from beyond the veils of time. A vast amount had escaped him, some areas beyond wildest conjecture. Sufficient facts were certain, however-enough to tempt him to fantastic risks. Alorri-Zrokros had maintained that the Rillyti would recognize the ring and honor its bearer; Kane was himself confident that this was indeed the ancient ring. But he had not intended to make the proof of the madman's visions rest on so terrible a test. Kane had fought free of death's grasping claws uncounted times. Still, this headlong plunge into unthinkable disaster, which his forced gamble had checked at the final instant, left him stunned in its aftermath.
    Banlid watched the other man calculatingly. His thoughts pieced together numerous items of information regarding Kane--various bits of fact, threads of doubt that had never taken full form, the questions Dribeck had raised concerning the stranger. The Selonari lord has been astute in sending Banlid to keep watch over Kane--Banlid whose rotund frame belied the hardened fighter, as did his sleepy appearance mask a quick mind.
    "The bloodstone ring you must have found and recognized as some sort of key to the ancient Krelran mysteries?" he questioned, as they descended the stairway. At Kane's distracted nod, he persisted, "Now that you've reached Arellarti, do you believe you can fathom its lost secrets? Can you command the power this ring may unlock?"
    Kane's cold eyes were searching his now. The red-haired stranger was off his guard no longer. His answer came with sardonic tone.
    "Yes."
    But by this point Banlid had already begun to suspect the essential elements of Kane's designs.
    "The Rillyti are overawed for the moment," he suggested. "Let's make a break for it before they lose their enthrallment!"
    Kane shook his head. "They're not likely to. The power I've fought to possess lies nearby. Before another dawn, I'll explore Arellarti's secrets, or else there'll be no dawn!"
    "You'll never succeed in carrying anything of value out of here on your own," Banlid pointed out. "We need to return to Selonari for more men."
    Nervously he glanced toward the open gate, the ruined causeway leading across the darkening swampland. "Look, Kane... stay the night here if you're set on daring these devils to tear you to ribbons. But I'm heading back to Selonari right now--and on my own, if you mean to stay. Lord Dribeck will be grateful for whatever discoveries you've made for him. He's sure to send back enough men to help transport any useful artifacts to Selonari. You'll be made a lord, Kane--if the Rillyti don't finish you before dawn!"
    "Go if you want to. I'm going to risk it," Kane replied.
    Sweat chilled the small of his back as Banlid considered the stranger's ice-fire eyes. "Then I guess I'll try to get through." Could he dare hope Kane had not understood the full reasons for his fear? "If that ring gives you any kind of control over these Rillyti, see if you can persuade them to let me through the swamp." He reminded hopefully, "After all, I saved your life back on the trail when you were grubbing through the muck. I know you won't forget that."
    "Hell, Banlid!" Kane muttered impatiently. "Go on and lose yourself in Kranor-Rill--I won't stop you! I don't know how much hold I've got over these toads... or how long it may last. But your chances here with me are better than if you try to follow that causeway after dark!"
    "Well, I'll take the chance," returned Banlid. Resolutely he turned and trudged for the gate, trying to forget the numberless terrors that