Elric's face held no pride in his achievements as he spurred his horse for the west and the place on the road where he had told Anigh to await them with enough Kwani herbs, water, horses and food to cross the Sighing Desert and seek again the more familiar politics and sorceries of the Young Kingdoms.

He did not look back on the city which, in the name of his ancestors, had been conquered at last.

CHAPTER FIVE.

An Epilogue at the Waning of the Blood Moon The celebrations at the Silver Flower Oasis had continued long after the news came of Elric's vengeance-taking on those who would have harmed the Holy Girl of the Bauradim. The news was brought by Quarzhasaatim, fleeing from the city in an action which had no precedent in all their long history.

Oone the Dreamthief, who had stayed at the Silver Flower Oasis longer than was necessary and who was yet reluctant to leave and go about her proper business, learned of Elric's vengeance without joy. The news saddened her, for she had hoped for something else to happen.

"He serves Chaos as I serve Law," she said to herself. "And who is to say which of us is the worse enslaved?" But she sighed and threw herself into the festivities with a force which was less than spontaneous.

The Bauradim and the other nomad clans did not notice, for their own pleasure was intensified. They were rid of a tyrant, of the only thing in the desert lands that they had ever feared.

"The cactus tears our flesh so that we shall be shown where water is," said Raik Na Seem. "Our troubles were great but thanks to you, Oone, and Elric of Melnibone, our troubles turned to triumphs. Soon some of us will visit Quarzhasaat and set out the terms on which we intend to trade in future. There will be a welcome equality about the transaction, I think." He was greatly amused. "But we will wait until the dead are decently eaten."

Varadia took Oone's hand and they walked together beside the pools of the great oasis. The Blood Moon was waning and the silver petals of the flowers were shining brighter still. Soon the Blood Moon must wane and the flowers shed their petals and then it would be time for the people of the desert to go their different ways.

"You loved that white-faced man, did you not?" Varadia asked her friend.

"I hardly knew him, child."

"I knew you both very well, not so long ago." Varadia smiled. "And I am growing rapidly, am I not? You said as much yourself."

Oone was forced to agree. "But there was no hope for it, Varadia. We have such different destinies. And I have scant sympathy for the choices he makes."

"He is driven, that one. He has little in the way of ordinary volition." She pushed a strand of honey-coloured hair away from her dark features.

"Perhaps," said Oone. "Yet some of us can refuse the destiny that the Lords of Law and Chaos set out for us and still survive, still create something which the gods are forbidden to touch."

Varadia was sympathetic. "What we create remains a mystery," she said. "It is still hard for me to understand how I made that pearl, creating the very thing my enemies sought in order to escape them. And then it became real!"

"I have known this to happen," said Oone. "It is those creations that a dreamthief seeks and earns a living from." She laughed. "That pearl would bring me a good wage for a long time if I took it to market."

"How is it that reality is formed from dreams, Oone?"

Oone paused and looked down into the water which reflected the faint pink disc of the moon. "An oyster, threatened by intrusion from without, seeks to isolate that threat by forming the thing around it that eventually becomes a pearl. Sometimes this is how it happens. At other times the will of humanity is so strong, the desire for something so intense, that they will bring into existence that which was thought until then to be impossible. It is not unusual, Varadia, for a dream to be made reality. This knowledge is one of the reasons why my respect for humanity is maintained, in spite of all the cruelties and injustices I witness in my travels."

"I think I understand," said the Holy Girl.

"Oh, you will understand all this very well in time," Oone assured her. "For you are one of those capable of such creation."

A few days later Oone was ready to ride away from the Silver Flower Oasis, towards Elwher and the Unmapped East. Varadia spoke with her for the last time.

"I know you have a further secret," she said to the dreamthief. "Will you not share it with me?"

Oone was astonished. Her regard for the girl's sensitive intelligence increased. "Do you want to talk more about the nature of dreams and reality?"

"I think you carry a child, Oone," said Varadia directly. "Is that not so?"

Oone folded her arms and leaned against her horse. She shook her head in frank good humour. "It is true that all the wisdom of your people is accumulated in you, young woman?"

"The child of one you have loved and who is lost to you?"

"Aye," said Oone. "A daughter, I think. Maybe even a brother and a sister, if the omens are properly interpreted. More than pearls can be conceived in dreams, Varadia."

"And will the father ever know his offspring?" gently asked the Holy Girl.

Oone tried to speak and discovered that she could not. She looked away quickly towards distant Quarzhasaat. Then, after a few moments, she was able to force herself to answer.

"Never," she said.

ELRIC:.

THE MAKING OF A SORCERER.

ELRIC: THE MAKING OF A SORCERER.

A graphic novel drawn by Walter Simonson (2004).

Note: The events in this story occur immediately before the opening of the novel Elric of Melnibone Elric of Melnibone.

BOOK ONE.

THE DREAM OF ONE YEAR:.

THE DREAM OF EARTH.

BARGAINS IN BLADES.

CHAPTER ONE.

Friends at Court.

FOR TEN THOUSAND YEARS the Bright Empire of Melnibone ruled the world-drawing her power from terrifying compacts with the supernatural. the Bright Empire of Melnibone ruled the world-drawing her power from terrifying compacts with the supernatural.

Some say she's invulnerable and will rule for another ten thousand ...

Some say corruption already comes from within ... Some say her doom will fall from outside ... But, decidedly, doom is written in her future.

In mysterious realms of the multiverse ruled by the Lords of the Higher Worlds omens and portents proliferate.

Even in the corridors of dreaming Imrryr-capital of the empire-forbidden words are whispered.

They say the empire will live or die according to which of two youths becomes the next emperor.

Meanwhile, plots are hatched and abandoned.

Even the Tower of D'a'rputna, home to the emperor's own kin and court, festers and itches with hitherto unthinkable thoughts.

(Note on style: Make towers very elongated wigwams-cowled rather than roofed. The designs and dominant styles-braided hair or shaven scalp with single lock-are Plains and forest Indian, as if these early Americans had risen to the skills of building a huge city like this and practising advanced metallurgy. No feathers, as such but some have crowns of metal feathers and so on. The colours are native American. Nothing too obvious, but that's the underlying style.) single lock-are Plains and forest Indian, as if these early Americans had risen to the skills of building a huge city like this and practising advanced metallurgy. No feathers, as such but some have crowns of metal feathers and so on. The colours are native American. Nothing too obvious, but that's the underlying style.) Opening shot of Imrryr, the Dreaming City of ancient towers, rising up upon a volcanic mound like a choir of angels, a chord of music made into subtle, complex architecture. The characteristic architecture of Melnibone is tall towers, with a single large room at each level of each tower. They rise above the warehouses and trading sheds of the ancient harbour-itself surrounded by jagged cliffs, the same cliffs which guard the entrances to the sea-maze which leads to the port.

High above all this, in the tallest, perhaps even slenderist, tower, dwells the royal family of Melnibone-Sadric the emperor, Elric his son, a youth, his sister-in-law Ederin, mother to daughter Cymoril (on whom she dotes), son Yyrkoon (whom she mistrusts and dislikes) also certain members of the Tvar family, who are all expert Dragon Masters and are close kin to the emperor. And there is also a human servant woman, Arisand, whose secret ambitions are not inconsiderable... And there is also a human servant woman, Arisand, whose secret ambitions are not inconsiderable...

Arisand moves from floor to floor. We identify some of our characters in their various rooms of the Tower of D'a'rputna, The Emperor's Tower... She enters the highest chamber of the tower, flanked by what appear to be great buttresses, where looms the shadow of Sadric, the King Emperor... (Ivan the Terrible but with less charm).

But first, a few floors down, we are introduced to Yyrkoon (Olivier as Richard III, Walter? Sans Sans hump?) in his bed of concubines hump?) in his bed of concubines.

He is dismissing certain officers of his acquaintance.

YYRKOON: "You may go, but consider carefully what I have said. All our fates depend on this moment!"

On the steps outside this room some soldierly types confer. A slave closes a door on them as they leave. Three captains pause for a moment on the top stair before it curves out of sight.

FIRST CAPTAIN: "Prince Yyrkoon doesn't persuade me. My loyalty's still to Elric."

SECOND CAPTAIN: "Elric's weak. He's sick. How many years can he live? Only sorcery sustains him. Ambitious and aggressive, Yyrkoon will claw us back to our former power."

THIRD CAPTAIN: "He'll defend and expand the old dragon fiefdoms. The Young Kingdoms shall be no more. Each captain shall rule a province!"

SECOND CAPTAIN: "Conquest will revive our blood. Our wives will again bear healthy children. The empire will rule with all her old arrogance ... yet it's hard to turn against traditional loyalties ..."

FIRST CAPTAIN: "Treachery doesn't taste too good, eh? Well I hope the rest of you have equally delicate palates. Think long and hard before you betray our rightful lord." (He's emphatic, almost mocking them ... He indicates a portrait which hangs below them on the curve (He's emphatic, almost mocking them ... He indicates a portrait which hangs below them on the curve of the stair, half-seen from above-another Melnibonean albino ...) of the stair, half-seen from above-another Melnibonean albino ...) "Six thousand years ago, the silver kings brought our nation greatness and honour. Some 'silverskins' attract great fortune to the Ruby Throne. Think on that, my captains. Then dare treason ..." "Six thousand years ago, the silver kings brought our nation greatness and honour. Some 'silverskins' attract great fortune to the Ruby Throne. Think on that, my captains. Then dare treason ..."

He throws this behind him as he disappears down the spiral staircase of the tower.

At this moment, Prince Elric, the only rightful inheritor of the mantle of empire, is oblivious to talk of treason.

He's oblivious to any talk. Or action. He's ignorant of where his own body lies. He is elsewhere ...

The last face we'll see is young Elric, apparently dead, but actually sleeping on his dream couch, soon to be awakened by Doctor Tanglebones.

The black raven Sepiriz settles on Doctor Tanglebones' ungainly shoulder.

DOCTOR TANGLEBONES: "Wake now, my lord. Gently, my lord."

Elric blinks but is fairly blank still. Tanglebones is pleased. He realizes Elric is alive and safe from his dream-quest.

TANGLEBONES: "Aha! Back with us. Safe and sound from the inner landscapes of your common memory ... You've learned much, though you won't remember how you learned it ..."

TANGLEBONES: "Ha! Ha! Good lad! Brave, resourceful lad!"

Elric begins to rise on the couch. But he is weak. He falls back onto one elbow. Totally wiped out. Tanglebones, old as he is, has to assist him. A woman's hand extends into the picture, she is holding tongs holding a hanging brazier on which a copper dish cooks herbs into a single sticky sap...

TANGLEBONES: "There's never been a better dream-scholar-" "There's never been a better dream-scholar-"

He reaches towards the copper dish ... rapidly scooping the still-viscous sap into an earthenware cup to which he swiftly adds wine, which steams and bubbles. Stirring it, he hands this to Elric to drink.

TANGLEBONES: "-nor one stranger ... Drink this down. All of it, mind! It will help you recover your strength."

Elric drinks the potion. He is immediately invigorated, handing the dish back to Tanglebones.

ELRIC: "Ugh! I'll suffer no more such fearful dream-quests, Doctor Tanglebones. Surely there are easier ways of earning my people's wisdom?" "Ugh! I'll suffer no more such fearful dream-quests, Doctor Tanglebones. Surely there are easier ways of earning my people's wisdom?"

Elric looks out of the picture to where the unseen woman no doubt still stands. He begins to smile.

TANGLEBONES: "None more effective. Rest for a few days. Ready yourself for the long dreams."

TANGLEBONES: "The first is the Dream of One Year. The Dream of Earth. I'll give you a week to prepare ..."

ELRIC: "You delight to torture me, doctor. It's unseemly in a physician, especially a royal one!" "You delight to torture me, doctor. It's unseemly in a physician, especially a royal one!"

Elric is as outraged as any student being given an especially hard schedule. He wants to argue. Then that same female hand falls on his arm. He turns to see his beautiful, slender, dark-haired cousin Cymoril come to welcome him back to the world's reality. Again he smiles, immediately courteous, relaxed and friendly.

CYMORIL: "Hush, Elric, you mustn't tease Doctor Tanglebones. I waited with him to be sure you awakened ..."

ELRIC: "Cousin, you're the best friend I have! For your sake and yours alone ... I will forgive the old fraud."

He is invigorated by the drink but also rather flattered by Cymoril's attention. He has something of a swagger now. He wants to show his individualism.

ELRIC: "Besides, in all fairness, his vile decoction begins to improve my outlook."