meeting place. No. It was not for that I came back into the
Norlands."

He was shaken by an agony that was not of the body. "And I shall not
reach Kushat!"

Stark spoke quietly, using the courtly High Martian almost as fluently
as Camar.

"I have known that there was a burden heavier than death upon my
brother's soul."

He leaned over, placing one large hand on the Martian's shoulder. "My
brother has given his life for mine. Therefore, I will take his burden
upon myself, if I can."

He did not want Camar's burden, whatever it might be. But the Martian
had fought beside him through a long guerilla campaign among the harried
tribes of the nearer moon. He was a good man of his hands, and in the
end had taken the bullet that was meant for Stark, knowing quite well
what he was doing. They were friends.

That was why Stark had brought Camar into the bleak north country,
trying to reach the city of his birth. The Martian was driven by some
secret demon. He was afraid to die before he reached Kushat.

And now he had no choice.

"I have sinned, Stark. I have stolen a holy thing. You're an outlander,
you would not know of Ban Cruach, and the talisman that he left when he
went away forever beyond the Gates of Death."

Camar flung aside the blankets and sat up, his voice gaining a febrile
strength.

"I was born and bred in the Thieves' Quarter under the Wall. I was proud
of my skill. And the talisman was a challenge. It was a treasured
thing--so treasured that hardly a man has touched it since the days of
Ban Cruach who made it. And that was in the days when men still had the
lustre on them, before they forgot that they were gods.

"'Guard well the Gates of Death,' he said, 'that is the city's trust.
And keep the talisman always, for the day may come when you will need
its strength. Who holds Kushat holds Mars--and the talisman will keep
the city safe.'

"I was a thief, and proud. And I stole the talisman."

His hands went to his girdle, a belt of worn leather with a boss of
battered steel. But his fingers were already numb.

"Take it, Stark. Open the boss--there, on the side, where the beast's
head is carved...."

* * * * *

Stark took the belt from Camar and found the hidden spring. The rounded
top of the boss came free. Inside it was something wrapped in a scrap of
silk.

"I had to leave Kushat," Camar whispered. "I could never go back. But it
was enough--to have taken that