ack. But Glendyn was a tricky one,
hard to hold. He shifted, kicked out, and Gaar stumbled.

The knife was at his throat now. He knocked it aside, drove his fist
upward into a soft belly. Glendyn doubled and his jaw met Gaar's other
fist as it came up. There was the splintering of bone.

* * * * *

Beneath a white, filmy covering she lay, beneath a flimsy veil that
pressed gently upon her rounded form. Her limbs were whiter than the
veil that covered them. Her hair was black as night. Her lips were
redder than in his vision.

A thousand sleeps she had slept, and more. Older than the land from
which Gaar had come, and yet she was younger than he. He bent forward
and pressed his lips to hers. They were warm and yielding.

"Wake up," Gaar whispered. Then, louder, "Wake up!"

Was she dead? It seemed to him that she stirred, and yet it might have
been the flickering light which created an illusion. Now he ran his
hand through her hair. His big hands slapped at her cheeks, gently at
first and then harder. His voice was insistent, commanding.

Very slowly, then, her eyes opened. Blank and staring, they were, as
she hovered on the brink. Gaar's will pulled her to life. The
blankness went out of her eyes and was replaced by a sudden gladness.

"You came. I knew you would come."

She struggled to sit up and saw that only the veil covered her nudity.
She blushed. Gaar turned his back, bent and removed the black robe
from the crumpled figure on the floor. Over his shoulder he handed the
robe to the girl. When he turned to her again she was sitting up, a
trace of color still in her cheeks.

"Where are they?" Marna asked fearfully. There was loathing in the
glance she threw at Glendyn's body. "There are many more. Where are
they?"

"Up above," Gaar told her. "This one and another were left to watch
you."

"Good. They won't be coming back for a long time. Now they are busy
preparing the sacrifices to Be'al." Marna shuddered. "It is the feast
of Beltane."

Gaar spoke quickly. "What sort of men are they?"

"They are not men. They are devils. A long time ago they came out of
the sky in strange ships. They brought strange powers and a strange
god who demanded human sacrifices. My people were driven out, killed.
I am the only one left."

"But why did they save you?"

"As a hostage, at first. And later because it pleased them to keep me
as a symbol of the race they had vanquished. Every ye