Roger Zelazny

The dawn of Amber


Part 2

Chaos and Amber




ONE

"Oberon!"

Over a roaring wind, I heard a distant calling of my name. I had been dreaming of sailing
a small boat across a churning, wind-swept sea; the dream clung to me, and I could not easily
shake its tendrils away.

Where was I? My eyes were closed, but I sensed no light beyond them. Could it be
nighttime, or was I in a dark room? I heard what might have been either the rush of wind or the
beating of a thousand wings around me. My skin prickled all over with goosebumps, and I felt at
once cold and hot, wet and dry.

When I tried to sit up and open my eyes, however, I could not. I found my lack of strength
vaguely troubling. But it was so easy not to care, to let myself slide back into the dreaming-

"Oberon! Wake up!"

Ships. I had just begun to dream of ships for a second time when that nagging voice broke
in again. The motion around me-a gentle rocking as from waves-reminded me of a ship's deck...
but there came no susurrant lap from the waves, no cries of gulls nor smell of briny sea.

No, not a ship, I decided, trying to focus my attention on the problem. Also not a horse;
no stamping hooves nor neighs nor smells of dung and horse-sweat. A moving carriage, perhaps?
That almost made sense. My father had a magnificent carriage, like a giant pumpkin made of
spun glass. I remembered my first and only ride in it; we had passed through dozens, maybe
hundreds of nightmare worlds. But that didn't explain why I felt both hot and cold. It didn't
explain a lot of things.

Whatwas that roaring noise?

And why couldn't I open my eyes?

"Oberon!"

I tried to turn my head toward that distant voice but couldn't quite figure out where it
came from. Above me? Below? I had gotten turned around; every direction felt wrong, as though
I teetered on the edge of a cliff, about to fall. I shivered, and an impulse to flee came over me. I
didn't like this place. I didn't like the sensations of being here. I had to get out, now, before
something horrible happened.

Once more I tried to rouse myself from sleep. With that effort, colors suddenly pulsed in
my head; lights sang and danced before my closed eyelids, and strange tastes and smells and
textures flooded my senses. The flavors of lemon and salt and roast chicken and straw all mixed
together, the smells of mud and sweat and honey-

If I dreamed, I dreamed strangely. Yet, somehow, I knew I wasnot dreaming... notquite ,
anyway. This was something else, something strange and unnatural and unpleasant.

"Oberon!" that distant voice bellowed. "Get your lazy ass out of bed! The king needs you!
Now!"

The king. Yes, King Elnar needed me. I was one of his lieutenants. I tried to reach for my
sword. It must be time to muster the men-

No, that was wrong. King Elnar had died a long time ago... it now seemed a lifetime past.
A sour, discordant n...

Show full text: 421,466 characters