s were bloody, but her
eyes still flashed defiance. Pirum, like most Abarians, was something
of a sadist.

"Oh, you'll talk," he said. "You'll talk."

"... never...."

He dug his strong finger cruelly into her tender body.

"Bram Forest...." she cried.

* * * * *

The policeman behind the desk was saying things. Bram Forest heard the
droning voice, but not the words. Ylia, he thought. Ylia. A moment
before, he actually believed he heard her cry out to him in pain. But
that couldn't be. Besides, what could he do about it? He was trapped
forever on Earth, without the bracelet which could send him, almost on
the wings of thought, back to Tarth, to Ylia, to his destiny.

_I love you, girl of Tarth, he thought. I love you, Ylia, more than
words and more than worlds._

Something whisperingly cold plucked at him, and for an instant his
heart was stilled.

_Ylia!_

Could his love for the girl of Tarth draw him across the unthinkable
abyss?

"... immodestly attired and ..." the desk sergeant was saying.

_Ylia, Ylia, call me! Draw me to you, girl of Tarth._

_... bramforesthelp...._

_Ylia! I hear you! I hear you!_

"What the heck's he doing? Praying?" the patrolman asked.

For Bram Forest was staring devoutly at nothing, staring at the air in
front of his face there in the mundane precinct room as if it held a
radiant vision.

Suddenly the desk sergeant's jaw dropped open. The patrolman said:
"Hey, wait a mo...."

Bram Forest was becoming tenuous, vanishing.

* * * * *

Insubstantial, transparent, the image of Bram Forest soared past the
encampment of the Golden Apes. "Bylanus!" he called, and his voice was
not insubstantial. Bylanus came at once.

"If the Abarian legions move, attack them, Bylanus."

"As you will, Bram Forest. But you...."

"Don't worry about me. I can control it, I can control it."

Bylanus passed an enormous hand through Bram Forest's body.

"I'll materialize, when I find Ylia. She draws me...." Already the
vision was fading.

"Farewell, Bram Forest."

_Farewell...._

Was it merely the sound of the wind along the banks of the River of
Ice? Bylanus wondered.

* * * * *

Something struck Pirum's shoulder. The girl crouched, sobbing, at his
feet. Pirum whirled.

His face went white when he saw the man. He swung his fist
desperately, and the man blocked it without effort. His a