pt over them.

He knew then how strong the dark forces were. His inner voice warned
him of the death that lurked in a circle of stones. But the power in
this grove was strong. Gaar felt the torpor take hold of him. He saw
the men stagger. Then, with his last ounce of strength, he had his
foot against one of the stones and was kicking out.

The circle was broken and with it the spell. Gaar shook himself. He
had learned one thing, to stay outside stone circles.

* * * * *

Overhead the stars wheeled. There was the Bear, and there was the
Bull. If you could read them rightly the ocean was not trackless. The
seasons were there if you could read them.

Tomorrow would be Spring. And tonight men in long black robes walked
the great circle, related each of the stones to its constellation in
the heavens, canted their hymns to the dark powers that had spawned
them.

Tomorrow would be Spring. Tomorrow the sun would slant down between
the two tallest stones and fall blood-red upon the Cromlech, upon the
altar. Tonight they would burn brighter.

And Be'al would be appeased. Be'al the All-Powerful would taste the
blood of the victims, would smell their flesh, and Be'al would know
that his sons had not forgotten him.

He was all they had not forgotten. Too long for them to remember, too
long since they had crossed the void from their parent planet. The
sciences they had brought were gone. Only this residue of blood-lust
remained.

"The girl stirs," Cyngled said. His beard was black and thick, his
skin white, and whiter still the circular scar on his forehead.

In the sepulchre the air was damp as the high-priest looked down upon
the girl. In the light of the flickering yew-torches her eyelids
seemed to move. Cyngled's fingers hovered at the hilt of the
sacrificial knife.

"Marna stirs," Glendyn whispered. "Tomorrow she will awaken. Let it be
for the last time. As long as she lives we are in danger."

"She can do nothing alone."

"But she is never alone. How many times has her beauty brought men to
her aid?"

"Their bones would make a tall pile," Cyngled agreed. His eyes were
bright beneath hooded lids. "What about those who landed today?"

"They are somewhere in the forest. Once we thought we had them, but
they broke away."

Footsteps sounded in the corridor and a hooded priest came hurrying
over the worn stones of the floor. His fingers traced the sacred
symbols in the damp air of