The Chronicles of Corum by Michael Moorcock Page A

distant forests of the mainland; when the sea had exhausted itself and now washed sullen and dark around the cliffs; that was when the strange Mabden were seen riding out of the black trees in the late morning, their breath steaming and their horses stumbling on the icy ground, their harness and their arms rattling.
    It was Beldan who saw them first as he went onto the battlements to stretch his legs.
    Beldan, the youth who had rescued Corum from the sea, turned and went hastily back into the tower and began to run down the steps until a figure blocked his way, laughing at him.
    "The privy is above, Beldan, not below!"
    Beldan drew a breath and spoke slowly. "I was on the way to your apartments, Prince Corum. I have seen them from the battlements. There is a large force."
    Corum's face clouded and he seemed to be thinking a dozen thoughts at once. "Do you recognize the force? Who are they? Mabden?"
    "Mabden, without doubt. I think they might be warriors of the Pony Tribes."
    "The folk against whom this Margravate was built?"
    "Aye. But they have not bothered us for a hundred years."
    Corum smiled grimly. "Perhaps we all, in time, succumb to the ignorance that killed the Vadhagh. Can we defend the castle, Beldan?"
    "If it is a small force, Prince Corum. The Pony Tribes are normally disunited and their warriors rarely move in bands of more than twenty or thirty."
    "And do you think it is a small force?"
    Beldan shook his head. "No, Prince Corum, I fear it is a large one."
    "You had best alert the warriors. What about the bat creatures?"
    "They sleep in winter. Nothing wilt wake them."
    "What are your normal methods of defense?"
    Beldan bit his lip.
    "Well?"
    "We have none to speak of. It has been so long since we needed to consider such things. The Pony Tribes still fear the power of Lywm-an-Esh—their fear is even superstitious since the land retreated beyond the horizon. We relied on that fear."
    "Then do your best, Beldan, and I'll join you shortly, when I've taken a look at these warriors first. They may not come in war, for all we know."
    Beldan raced away down the steps and Corum climbed the tower and opened the door and went out onto the battlements.
    He saw that the tide was beginning to go out and that when it did the natural causeway between the mainland and the castle would be exposed. The sea was gray and chill, the shore was bleak. And the warriors were there.
    They were shaggy men on shaggy ponies and they had helmets of iron with visors of brass beaten into the form of savage and evil faces. They had cloaks of wolfskin or wool, byrnies of iron, jackets of leather, trews of blue, red, or yellow cloth bound around the feet and up to the knees with thongs. They were armed with spears, bows, axes, clubs. And each man had a sword strapped to the saddle of his pony. They were all new swords, Corum judged, for they glinted as if freshly forged, even in the dull light of that winter's day.
    There were several ranks of them already on the beach and more were trotting from the forest.
    Corum drew his sheepskin coat about him with his good hand and he kicked thoughtfully at one of the battlement stones, as if to reassure himself that the castle was solid. He looked at the warriors on the beach again. He counted a thousand.
    A thousand riders with a thousand new-forged swords. He frowned.
    A thousand helmets of iron were turned toward Moidel's Castle. A thousand brass masks glared at Corum across the water as the tide slowly receded and the causeway began to appear below the surface.
    Corum shivered. A gannet flew low over the silent throng and it shrieked as if in startled terror and climbed high into the clouds.
    A deep drum began to sound from the forest. The metallic note was measured and slow and it echoed across the water.
    It seemed that the thousand riders did not come in peace.
    Beldan came out and joined Corum.
    Beldan looked pale. "I have spoken to the Margravine and I have alerted our warriors. We have a hundred