CHAPTER XIX
"A New Man"
Like a needle of stone rising from the great, gaunt citadel of Lanka was the Sounding Tower. This saw Ramey before he and his companions deserted the open air and dipped once more into the castle itself, seeking the inner passage which led to the tower's base.
Swift was their passage at first, hurrying through ranks of their own men, sweeping through corridors and ways whose granite floors proved all too well the cost at which the advance had been made. Lord Vibhishana, shaking his head at sight of these grisly scenes, said sorrowfully, "Though we win our cause, yea, even though the last of my brother's hirelings pay in full for the havoc he has wrought, not in a thousand years shall the citadel of Lanka be cleansed of this horror, this blood and this disgrace. It is a shame upon my soul and on the name of Videlia that these dead lie about us."
Even the Captain Kohrisan, whose valor Ramey Winters knew well, seemed shaken by what he saw. He said puzzledly, "Would that the Lord Sugriva were here to advise me. I cannot understand. Ever it was my belief that men are kind and noble and good. They are the rulers, the Chosen Ones. Why, then, must they slay and be slain? Even we of the jungles do not wantonly kill. For our loins or bellies, for warmth and safety—for these things only do we attack other beasts."
Ramey answered him gravely, "In your time and in my own, Kohrisan, man has proven himself more the brute than the mute beasts over whom he claims superiority. Do not ask me why this is; I do not know. All I can hope is that you new men will bring to us something of your own jungle sense."
A spasm passed over the little ape-human's face. As ever, it was difficult to read what emotion he portrayed. He said anxiously, "You—you do not mock me, Lord Ramaíya?"
"Mock you?"
"The Lord Sugriva, who gave us human speech, human thought, told us we were, indeed, 'new men.' But ofttimes I wonder if this be true—or if he spoke only from kindness and sympathy. It was the habit of Lord Ravana to taunt me and my brethren. 'Parodies of man,' he called us. 'Poor imitations masquerading in human dress—'"
But his plaint was left unanswered. For now they had come to the opening at the base of the tower. A spiral staircase loomed before them, winding around and around the inner wall of the needle to its uppermost chamber. A swift estimate by Ramey placed the tower's height at approximately two hundred feet. It was hard to guess accurately, for the spiral staircase was interrupted now and again by platforms, rendering the top of the tower invisible from below. Shafts of light pierced openings at intervals, but for the most part the needle was shadowy and silent.
In single file, with Vibhishana leading, then Ramey, then Kohrisan and Syd, they started up the staircase. Past one stage ... then another. A third. At the fourth level the one-time regent of Lanka stopped wistfully for a moment to look down upon his isle through one of the openings. What he saw brought a gasp to his lips, and the others running to his side. He pointed an anxious finger.
"Below! See—warriors approaching the Tower. Was it Tauthus' plan to send a detachment after us, Ramaíya?"
"It was not!" said Ramey bluntly. He followed the direction of his friend's gaze, stared, and pulled back from the opening. "I don't like this."
"What's wrong, Ramey?"
"If I'm not mistaken, that is a detachment of Lord Ravana's men. They're heading for this tower. We're trapped in here!" He thought swiftly for a moment. "Well—no use standing here worrying about. There's only one thing to do. Get to the speaking room and let Vibhishana put on his little broadcast. If need be, we can call for assistance from topside. Tauthus will hear us and send a force to our relief. Come on!"
And at redoubled speed, he plunged forward up the staircase. Past the fifth level and the sixth. To the last chamber. At its entrance he halted triumphantly.
"We ought to be all right now. Let them enter if they want to. We can talk as long and loud as we wish, and they can't stop us. Moreover, if they try to rush us—"
A grating voice from behind interrupted him.
"I think they will not rush you, Lord Ramaíya. My guardsmen came to the tower's base for only one purpose. To bottle you within its walls."
And Vibhishana cried, "Ravana!"
The Lord Ravana smiled. It was a smile that had no amusement in it, and little of brotherly affection. He said, "Ah—it is my own blood-brother! Greetings, Lord Vibhishana. These are giddy heights, are they not, for one grown used to the cool depths of dungeons? Nay, Ramaíya!" His cry cracked like a whip. "Reach not for the weapon-which-thunders! Lord Ravana needs not experience the same danger twice to learn its nature. Hurl it to the floor! Aye, and you, too—"
He paused, his brow contracting swiftly as he looked into the face of Syd O'Brien. Something akin to awe broomed his dark features.
"But—but you are Lord Lakshmana! This cannot be! The Lord Lakshmana was blinded. By my own hands—"
Ravana was far from alone. Had he been so, Ramey's gun would long since have barked its lethal message. But behind him, at the entrance of the chamber they had sought, were ranged a detail of his bowmen, weapons poised and ready. Now Ramey said, "The Lord Lakshmana—"
"—needs not sight," interrupted Syd O'Brien suddenly, loudly, "to know that he stands before a dog whom even the lowest gutter might reject. Where are you, Ravana? My hands hunger for your throat—"
And a swift thrill coursed through Ramey as he realized how Syd O'Brien had spun to his advantage Ravana's error. For the sombre twin, eyes fixed and empty, was stumbling forward, groping aimlessly at vacant space.
Ravana laughed, and easily sidestepped Syd's hands. In his own hands dangled the useless Bow of Rudra. With this he jabbed the "blind man's" body tauntingly.
"It will take one with sharper eyes than thine to catch Ravana, Earthman," he gibed. "Aye, this is a curious web of fish my net has seined. A blind man, a weakling and an ape!"
"What are you doing up here, Ravana?" asked Ramey.
"What else but setting the trap for what logic told me would be your next move? It was your intention to speak to my warriors, was it not, brother Vibhishana? Appeal to them, perhaps, to lay down their arms? Well—you climbed these heights to speak, and speak you shall. But mine shall be the commands you relay. Ah—you would still play games with me, my little mole?" He chuckled and sidestepped again as Syd O'Brien, still lurching with arms outstretched before him like a sleepwalker, touched his sleeve. Deliberately he struck Syd across the cheeks, laughed and stepped back as Syd swung blindly toward him. "Come, brother! Address your soldiers. Bid them lay down their arms. Come—"
He crisped a command to his bowmen. They fell back to admit Vibhishana to the speaking-tower. Momentarily their weapons lowered. And as they did so....
"Quick, Ramey! Get the Bow!"
It was the "blind man," Syd O'Brien. Like a flash, he had sprung upon the Lord Ravana, gripped the giant's arms in a viselike clasp, spun him around so he was between the guards and his companions, a living barrier the Videlians dared not risk assaulting.
And instantly Ramey leaped forward. But fast as he moved, there was one even faster who raced before him. The small ape-human, Kohrisan. Like a darting streak of furry brown he was at Ravana's side, wrenching the Bow from the Videlian's hands, crying, "Back, Sidrughna! We have what we need! Back!"
He half-pushed, half-kicked Syd O'Brien away. His prehensile arms locked about the Lord of Lanka like bands of iron. "Back!" he cried again.
With a mighty exultation in his heart, Ramey obeyed the monkey-captain's cry. Herding Vibhishana and Syd before him he whirled and tore for the steps ... hurtled down them at breakneck speed, ten, fifteen feet to the lower chamber. His free right hand, as he ran, tore at his jacket pocket. The pocket in which he carried that which would fuel the Bow....
Then they were in the midway chamber of the tower, and from both top and bottom of the edifice came the hoarse cries of Ravana's men. The chamber had no door. Ramey's gun and that of Syd still lay on the floor above. The Bow must be fueled! And within seconds—or it would be too late!
"Kohrisan!" cried Vibhishana. "Kohrisan!"
The tiny ape-warrior tumbled, rather than ran, down the last few steps, threw himself on the floor of the chamber. He was gasping for breath, crying weakly, "Fuel the Bow, O Ramaíya! Fuel and destroy—"
The cylinder was open. With reckless haste, Ramey pounded the aluminum objects into it, crammed closed the top. It did not matter, now, that the Bow was overcharged. Life hung by a tenuous hair on this next split-second of time. He roared, "Back from the doorway, Syd! Out of range! Back!"
And as Syd charged toward him, there loomed in the doorway Ravana. A raging-mad Ravana flanked by his bowmen. The Videlian's eyes were aflame with hatred, fury.
"This time, dogs," he screamed, "you die!"
To his bowmen he howled a command. The archers' arms drew back. And then—
Ramey pressed the release grip of Rudra's Bow!
What happened next transpired so swiftly that none afterward could find its vision in his memory. There was a whining scream that rose and tore at the eardrums of all who stood behind the Bow. Then a sheet of blue-white flame that sprayed from the Bow's wide arch with the speed of light. Then bursts of crimson, bright and horrible, where had stood men. A searing hiss ... a crumbling ... the crash of masonry ... a frightful gust of heat, the backwash of which blistered even those who stood behind the Bow. And then—silence!
Ramey's fingers fell from the trigger of the Bow as he stared before him dazed, shaken, uncomprehending. Where a moment before a horde of warriors had stood beside Ravana in the doorway, now there was neither Ravana, bowmen—nor doorway! Everything—everything had disappeared! Even the portion of the town wall beyond the doorway. A great, jagged hole, whose edges still dripped molten stone gaped where the Bow's tremendous flame had devoured all.
From the dimness below came howls of terror. There sounded also the blur of running footsteps as the vanguard of Ravana's army fled the base of the tower in stumbling panic.
Ramey cried in a voice that cracked with urgency, "Now, Lord Vibhishana! Now is the time to speak! Up swiftly to the sounding-chamber!"
The regent nodded, and was gone. Within the space of seconds his voice was rolling out over all Lanka, speaking words none could help but hear.
"Hark, Videlians ... Gaanelians ... Earthmen ... all who hear my voice. It is the Lord Vibhishana who speaks. Long lay I prisoner in the dungeons of Lanka. Now I am free—"
"Ramey!" called Syd O'Brien.
"Listen!" replied Ramey. "The sounds of battle below have ended! Everyone is listening to Vibhishana—"
"—Ravana is dead!" boomed the Videlian overlord. "My brother is slain, victim of his own lust for power and the dreadful Bow of Rudra. Lay down your arms, all you who followed him. Amnesty will be granted all those who—"
"It—it's Kohrisan, Ramey. He wants to talk to you."
Ramey turned. He had not realized until this moment that the squat ape-human had not risen from the chamber floor. Now, hurrying to Kohrisan's side, he understood why. The hairy captain held one fist clenched beneath his right breast. And from beneath the curiously manlike fingers of this hand oozed a sluggish stream of scarlet.
"Kohrisan!" cried Ramey. "The bowmen! One of them loosed his shaft before I pressed the grip—"
The small captain smiled feebly.
"Nay, my Lord," he choked. "It was even before that. In the chamber above. When I held Ravana...."
"That we might escape! Well, hold on! We'll hurry you down to the citadel. Medical aid—"
"There is no need of that now," whispered Kohrisan. "It is too late for medical aid ... my Lord. I did what I could ... Ramaíya. It was what a man ... a true man ... would have done. Was it not?"
A mist veiled Ramey's eyes, and a tight band knotted about his throat. He answered huskily, "And why should it be otherwise, Kohrisan? You, too, are a true man."
"Nay, my Lord! But a new man."
Then his eyes, contented and proud at the end, rolled suddenly back, thick, Simian lips drew back from bloodless gums, and Captain Kohrisan was gone. Ramey lowered the tiny body from his knee and stood up.
"There died," he whispered softly, "a human heart in a jungle body...."