Chapter 20. The Great Maw
In
the predawn light, Caneghem's kitchen staff passed supplies up to the lizardmen
on Bessie's howdah. Securing the slann's
palanquin to the bastiladon's back was a job he chose to do himself. Having his lord come untied only to float
into a volcano was an inconvenience he could do without.
The
group that left Welhung's estate that morning was no huge war party. Rodekhil Offaleater was perched on the
massive shoulders of a bull rhinox. The
covered wagon the monster hauled contained Hellun and her anxiously doting
husband. Close behind the rhinox was the
bastiladon, Bessie. The additional load
of kitchen utensils, barrels and sacks of supplies and the negligible weight of
the slann's palanquin did not seem to overburden her.
A
score of ogre ironguts, under the command of the faithful Argsplat provided a
small but potent escort. No brigand or
beast of the mountains would threaten this caravan or its precious cargo.
During
her brief rest in the ogre lands, Bessie had pastured with the local warbeasts
and monsters. She quickly demonstrated
the effectiveness of a rocklike hide and a clublike tail in asserting
dominance.
One
particularly foolish thundertusk had found its numbing chill to be no match for
the heat of the solar engine. The poor
creature developed a fear of bright lights and loud noises which persisted
until the end of its days. Most of the
other beasts also learned to keep their distance.
The
one exception was the bull rhinox which now accompanied her. Rudolph had taken to following her around and
sniffing at her armoured backside. The
several times that her tail connected with his head did little to deter
him. Eventually, she got used to his
cross eyed affection, and the pair would often be seen shoulder to shoulder as
they stripped the last of the autumn grass from the meadow.
***
Once
again, the party avoided Greasus Goldtooth's Kingdom. They followed the poetically named Pass to
the East to the east before watchfully skirting the southern edge of the Chaos
Wastes. After this they climbed back
into the mountains to the Ancient Giant Lands.
What
had once been a fertile plateau ringed by mighty peaks was now a withered
desolation. Here and there, fragments of
massive stonework stood like tombstones commemorating the long extinct Sky
Titans who had raised them.
The travellers
did not linger in the haunted ruins of the Vale of the Titans. When they struck the Silk Road to Grand
Cathay, they followed it until they neared their destination. Where the main highway made a wide detour to
the north of the Great Maw, Rodekhil
guided the group on a lesser way which led directly east.
***
Eventually,
the party crossed the final ridge. A
narrow plain at the foot of the mountains fell abruptly away. The cliff swept in an almost imperceptible
curve to the north and south, where it was lost in the haze of distance. The opposite side of the gulf could be seen.
At
irregular intervals ivory coloured teeth thrust upwards from margin of the
unfathomable depths. The spires rose to
acute points which rivalled the surrounding peaks in height.
Even
from their vantage, many leagues away, the party could hear a continuous
groaning, grinding sound from the Great Maw beneath them.
The
scale of the vista was hard to judge until Rodekhil pointed out a huge building
which looked like a toy beside the nearest tooth. "The Temple of the Great Maw. See the golden arches? They represent greed and rapacity."
As
the beasts and their escort picked their way down through the rubble strewn slope, details of the structure became clearer.
A broad ramp or concourse sloped upwards toward an open gate which was,
unsurprisingly, shaped like a toothy mouth.
The gate led into a blocky stone chamber. This edifice also served as the anchor for
braided steel cables which ran over the top of the two golden arches. The arches swept elegantly skywards from the
very brink of the Maw. The arched pylons
and cables suspended a cantilevered deck which looked like the first half of a
mighty bridge. The second half was
absent half. The deck ended hundreds of
feet beyond the lip of the maw, poised above the abyss.
It
was late in the afternoon when Welhung helped his wife down from the
wagon. He directed Rodekhil to drag
along the slann's palanquin as he assisted Hellun to stagger through the toothed
gate. Caneghem followed inconspicuously,
leaving the beasts, lizards and ogres to make camp on the concourse.
Inside
the chamber was a huge disk of tarnished bronze suspended by mighty
chains. The building must have been
constructed around the disk, for it was too large to fit through the gate. On a dais beneath it there was what appeared
to be an enormous weapon. It's sturdy
wooden shaft was crowned with a leather wrapped sphere. Caneghem paused to examine it. He imagined that the weapon could be used to
strike the disk.
"The
Dinner Gong," Rodekhil explained as
he manoeuvred Taisteslaikch'ken's spiky palanquin past.
The
pair were startled by an ear splitting howl and they saw that Hellun had slumped
to the deck after only getting halfway to the brink. Welhung was cradling her in his arms. She howled again with her eyes screwed shut
with agony.
"What
is it? What is happening?" The ogre tyrant asked helplessly as the ogre,
skink and slann approached near
"She
labours." Caneghem declared in a
quiet voice.
"
'Ow did this happen?"
Rodekhil
gently put his hand on his general's shoulder.
"Don't you remember? It's
jus' like the bees and the flowers....."
"No! Not that!
I mean, there has been no sacrifice.
The babe can't come out. If she
labours now...."
Caneghem
shook his head and lowered his eyes,
"I'm sorry."
"No
no no no no! Rodekhil! Throw that slimy toad into the Maw! Perform the sacrifice! Do it now!"
Welhung's
lieutenant nodded and went to comply. He
seized the horns of the palanquin with both hands and dragged it to the end of
the deck. Like a hammer thrower of old
Olympus, he spun around three times and flung the slann out into the void with
a roar.
As
the palanquin gently drifted to a stop above the abyss, Rodekhil scratched his
head. "I might not 'ave really thought
that through."
to Chapter 21: The Calm Before the Storm
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