MENAGERIE

Thirteen – In which Red Sonja gets the idea that something distinctly unpleasant is about to happen to her

It was a spider: monstrous, black and hairy; and at least eight feet across. Its head was that of a dog – presumably with a human brain and eyes; and its front legs had been replaced with human arms.

It wasn't the creature's hideous appearance which so affected Sonja, however. There was something else in the cage with the spider-thing, round which it was dextrously wrapping sticky strands of silvery-grey web. It was Jharlen.

He was laying face-down and immobile; presumably unconscious rather than dead as Galud almost certainly had plans for him – or parts of him. Still, it was disconcerting for Sonja to find that her greatest hope of deliverance was in an even worse situation that she was.

Suddenly, Sonja's screams were answered; answered by the unearthly howling she'd heard before – only this time it was so close and horrible that Sonja clapped her hands over her ears.

"Oh dear," said Galud, "you've started him off again." He picked up a stick and started to beat at something which, from Sonja's point of view, was hidden behind a wooden cabinet. At length the howls ceased.

"What was that thing?" Sonja asked, dreading the answer.

"This? Number four. Here let me show you." He grabbed at something and hauled it out where Sonja could see it plainly. It was human, or had been. A boy; about ten years old and stark naked. His head, however, had been removed and replaced with that of a monkey.

"An early exercise in surgical techniques," Galud said. "It still has the mind of a primate – no intelligence at all. But the two sets of vocal cords have become fused together, resulting in that rather peculiar sound that so shocked you, seemingly. I keep it out of interest – it's the earliest of my creations still living. I had hoped to train it to perform some small domestic chores, but it's quite useless."

Sonja stared at the wizard, and as she did so something hardened within her. She was no longer afraid, nor was she liable to shock and revulsion. These were driven out of her by a deep and overpowering loathing of Galud; together with the absolute certainty that he would suffer at her hands.

"You know what?" she asked him. "I've travelled a lot in my time; and have met a fair few madmen; but you take the prize, you really do. I know that there's a fine line between madness and true evil – but you exist on both sides of that line. You're lower than the worst sort of vermin – and I'm the one that's going to make you pay."

Galud was unperturbed. "You merely fail to appreciate the beauty of my work; you cannot see the vision that I have. You have not the wit to see it. But you will play your part, I promise you. Oh, I see that you glance towards the fellow being attended to by number twenty; I assume he was a friend of yours? Well fear not; I shall be merciful and ensure that you are never separated again on this earth. I shall bond you together by attaching his eyes to your brain and vice versa. Am I not beneficent?"

Sonja cursed Galud in the foulest language she knew; which, given the paths she'd walked, took some time.

"I tire of you, I'm afraid," Galud said when she'd finally finished. "Ah well, to work." He closed his eyes for a moment as if in concentration; and a few moments later there was the sound of something descending form an upper level. A door opened.

"Number nineteen," Galud announced, "and to date my favourite."

Part of the creature – body and tail – was crocodile. Sonja wondered if it was the same crocodile whose head was joined to the body of the bear. It walked upright, having the arms and legs of a gorilla. Its head was that of a human woman, raven haired, who might once have been considered beautiful, though her features were now twisted and distorted.

It shuffled over to Galud and looked him in the eye for a moment or two before he handed it a key. It approached Sonja's cage. Its hands were not dextrous, but eventually it unlocked the door and stepped inside.

In no mood to submit quietly, Sonja leapt up and kicked the beast – well, somewhere. It was hard to tell what might be a vital spot. The beast recoiled half a step; then fetched Sonja a mighty blow that sent her sprawling on the floor. As the beast bent over her to seize her, realisation dawned.

"Clodia!"