he ground before it--growing slowly.
And this had stayed the way of the Monster; so that through an eternity
it had looked towards the Pyramid across the pale glare of the Dome, and
seeming to have no power to advance nearer.

And because of this, much had been writ to prove that there were other
forces than evil at work in the Night Lands, about the Last Redoubt. And
this I have always thought to be wisely said; and, indeed, there to be
no doubt to the matter, for there were many things in the time of which
I have knowledge, which seemed to make clear that, even as the Forces of
Darkness were loose upon the End of Man; so were there other Forces out
to do battle with the Terror; though in ways most strange and unthought
of by the human mind. And of this I shall have more to tell anon.

And here, before I go further with my telling, let me set out some of
that knowledge which yet remains so clear within my mind and heart. Of
the coming of these monstrosities and evil Forces, no man could say much
with verity; for the evil of it began before the Histories of the Great
Redoubt were shaped; aye, even before the sun had lost all power to
light; though, it must not be a thing of certainty, that even at this
far time the invisible, black heavens held no warmth for this world; but
of this I have no room to tell; and must pass on to that of which I have
a more certain knowledge.

The evil must surely have begun in the Days of the Darkening (which I
might liken to a story which was believed doubtfully, much as we of this
day believe the story of the Creation). A dim record there was of olden
sciences (that are yet far off in our future) which, disturbing the
unmeasurable Outward Powers, had allowed to pass the Barrier of Life
some of those Monsters and Ab-human creatures, which are so wondrously
cushioned from us at this normal present. And thus there had
materialized, and in other cases developed, grotesque and horrible
Creatures, which now beset the humans of this world. And where there was
no power to take on material form, there had been allowed to certain
dreadful Forces to have power to affect the life of the human spirit.
And this growing very dreadful, and the world full of lawlessness and
degeneracy, there had banded together the sound millions, and built the
Last Redoubt; there in the twilight of the world--so it seems to us, and
yet to them (bred at last to the peace of usage) as it were the
Beginning; and this I ca