Daughter of the Night - Richard S. Shaver

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Title: Daughter of the Night

uthor: Richard S. Shaver

Release Date: June 15, 2010 [EBook

#32822]

Language: English

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DAUGHTER OFTHE NIGHT



By RICHARD S.

SHAVER

Transcriber Note: This etext wa

produced from Amazing Storie

December 1948. Extensive research di

not uncover any evidence that the U.S

copyright on this publication warenewed.]



Like a flash of light the

gleaming sword swept down



The evil magic of the Goddess Diana turned men

to stone. Would the power of the strange Eos be

strong enough to turn them back to living men?

Like a flash of light the gleaming swor

swept down. A fraction of a second late

a portion of it no longer gleamed: it wa

crimson! And Queen Dionaea's heabounced down the stairway into he

garden of live oaks. A few seconds o

hought remained to it before it would b

very dead; but her thought was confuse

by shock—her eyes rolle

uncontrollably while she tried t

remember some cantrap or rune from heong association with the Goddes

Diana. Desperately she tried to recite th

proper abracadabra to stay the swi

death that was sweeping through he



mind; but it is hard for a head to chant

charm with no body to draw a breath....

Druga, his job of execution finishedsheathed his bloody sword and turning

stalked away. Thus it was that he did no

see the amazing thing that happened i

he gloom of the ancient live oaks....

Baena was a serpent, a huge river o

strength up to his giant head, and h

ived among the mighty branches of thoaks. Being a serpent, Baena was fa

from equal to a human being in hi

brainpower, but even his dim perceptio

old him that harm had come to his on

and only benefactress—and that mean

harm to him, too, for Queen Dionaea ha

always cared for the needs of hi



stomach. Through her he ate and lived

Without her, he would die. And so, h

glided rapidly down from the trunk o

his favorite tree and emerged into thpaths of the garden just as Dionaea'

bleeding head rolled out from the bas

of the steps.

Baena coiled his length protectingl

about Dionaea. For an instant he was a

a loss, noting her horribly desperat

attempts to speak without breath, he

mouth opening and closing and he

ongue licking snake-like in and out.

Baena realized after a moment that ther

was no hope for the Queen to go o

iving. A head must have a body.



Glancing about, Baena saw nothing bu

he numerous coils of his own body, an

after an instant's hesitation, he took hi

ail in his mouth up to the tenth joint anbit it off! Shrinking along all his lengt

with the terrible necessity that face

him, Baena quickly slapped the blood

stump of his tail fast to the bleeding nec

of Dionaea and said one of the few

magic spells he could remember....

Turning his body slowly until hisevered nerves told his spine that th

connections were as accurate as coul

be expected, Baena waited while th

spell slowly took effect. He lay there al



night, waiting for his own life's blood t

reanimate the mind of Dionaea.

As Dionaea came back to her sensesBaena began to experience the strang

phenomena of wanting to go two ways a

once, and as the phenomena becam

more and more troublesome, he decidehat he had better have an understandin

with Dionaea once and for all. But wha

poor male ever won an argument with

woman?

Thus it was that Baena resigned himsel

o a life of traveling backward, and tha

was that.

As a snake, he wished only to eat an

bask in his favorite tree, but as Dionaea



he wanted only one thing—and that wit

all the fervor of hate a sorceress i

capable of—a fitting revenge on the ma

who had visited her execution upon her!

Day and night Dionaea plotted, and i

her mind a fitting revenge grew—

would include the lovely FeroniaDruga's beloved.... Carefully sh

prepared the incantation.

t is here that my story really beginsWhat has happened, and how

happened is of little consequence t

what is to come—except perhaps t

ntroduce you to the characters. It is ver

simple. Dionaea was a very evi

sorceress, and Druga, most heroic o

men, had long sought to bring her into hi



power, and to end her evil days. Arme

with the white magic of Feronia, hi

oved one, who was also a sorceress

but one who worked her charms only fohe good of mankind, he had tracke

Dionaea to her castle, and there slai

her. Or he would have, had it not bee

for Baena, the serpent....

What is past is past. It is best not to thin

of it. There is much in the past of all o

us that would need a long, tiresom

explanation to a newcomer, and you ar

newcomers. To explain all of the past t

everyone would be an impossible taskYou need know only that Druga

champion of mankind, and his lovel

Feronia, face now the most awfu

menace of their lives, and unknowing o



t, too, for thinking their arch enem

slain!

Where do all our characters live? IFantasia, a land far away. A land wher

wondrous things always happen. It is o

one of the most wondrous adventures o

all that you are about to hear now—lehe past lie, cold and dead as it is, an

come with me into the present, and int

danger !

Who am I? Does it make any difference

f you must know, I am the Red Dwarf

and I have seen and recorde

everything ! I was there, and if you ca

but understand, everything has happene

because I was there! If it were not so

how could you be sure what I tell i



rue? For it is true....

t was evening. As Druga and Feroni

sat talking, before retiring, the horro

fell upon them.

Feronia's hair fell like a living torrent t

fondle her gleaming shoulders and to

everywhere with the strangely electrinvisible vitality of her glowing skin

Her eyes were molten pools, dark an

iquid as the waters of the lost caverns

and the brows above them were mysti

ines of beauty left by the touch of

raven wing. Her generous mouth wa

smiling the wondrous lovely magic tha



was Feronia, red as a new-born rose

dewy and waiting for Druga. He

capable hands were soft with expectin

him, and cooler than the moss beneathe fern.

Her breasts were as naked as sun

bleached coral, white as a cloud in summer sky, white as truth, white as he

own teeth laughing tantalizingly at him.

Quite suddenly, shockingly, her lovelfigure became transfused with a vile

nterloping energy that struck at Druga'

sensitivities with a sickenin

piercingness, so that he sprang to his fee

n fear.

Standing there helplessly, Drug



watched the evil energy transform th

strong, deep breasted beauty of hi

Feronia, change her devilishly an

subtly and gradually before his sufferineyes.

The white magic of her body becam

ransfused with dark, throbbing forceand as she strove to rise and act, Drug

saw that she could not move her limbs i

any way!

Before his eyes her skin turned black a

ebony, her eyes became stony and fixed

even the sweet curling of her hai

became hard and solid, her whole bod

became changed to black, hated stone.

As suddenly as the horrible pulsing ha



come, it went away, leaving Druga tha

east of all desirable women, one o

virtuous stone.

So with one stroke Dionaea repai

Druga and Feronia; Druga by the loss o

his best beloved, and Feronia by th

retention of her faculties in a body ostone. That Feronia had to sit immovabl

and watch poor Druga in his grief an

oss was particularly excruciating.

Days of horror dragged by.

o matter what he proposed to do upo

arising, mid-morning found him reclininbefore the frozen statue-like body of hi

beloved, and night would come down a

ast to hide the black stone of Feroni



from his wet eyes.

This existence became at las

unbearable, and he resolved to go ounto the world and seek some means o

making his days less horrible to him

That Feronia was not dead, and that h

might have obtained her release bappealing to some greater power, did no

occur to Druga in his grief. Indeed h

could never become accustomed to th

ways of witches and their overlords, no

o thinking in terms of magic at all. H

was a logical person, and no matter wha

wonders he blundered into and saw withis own eyes, he never quite believe

any of it.

t was with a heavy heart that Drug



sealed up the doors of Feronia's hom

and made his sad way to the stable

mounted and rode slowly away.

All night he rode, not choosing his waybut letting the horse do the thinking, an

n the warm sun of late morning la

down to sleep where the horse had le

him.

As the days passed in heedles

wandering, the deep hurt of his los

essened, and he began to take note o

he road that led ever on and on to h

knew not what, except that it beckoned

as paths and highways alike have a wa



of doing to the traveler.

As his spirits became lighter, he bega

o take stock of the country througwhich he passed, and to note all th

strange and curious things that hovere

always just outside normal vision. The

were not hidden from Druga, who hamore than ordinary vision, one o

Feronia's witch gifts to him, and many

strange fact of life he picked up from th

circumambient apparent emptiness.

t was with this far-seeing sense tha

Druga now noticed a glowing, golde

vibrance spreading an invisible, bu

errifically felt glory, all across th

northern horizon. He turned the horse'

head toward that glory, no more able t



avoid the decision than is a moth th

flame.

What it was that he sensed he did nosurely know, but his memory supplie

him with vague and haunting clues whic

he could not quite drag out into the ligh

of reason. It did not stand to reason, buhere it was ahead, the lure of woma

augmented by some magic into a glor

visible as sunlight, strong as some grea

whirlpool of energy, drawing hi

resistlessly on and on.

Many a mile later, Druga came to a poin

where he could see with his eyes o

ahead and into the shining core of tha

field of golden vibrance.



"One of the universal poles of life!

cried Druga. In his studies Druga ha

earned that just as the world has a Nort

and South magnetic pole, so does thuniverse have opposite poles of life

magnetic-energy. One of these is female

and inducts in all life a female nature

he other is male and inducts in all life

male nature, just as the North and Sout

pole induct in all iron and in kindre

matter a North and South magnetic pole.

"It is no wonder it draws me, it is th

force which makes all life attractive t

all other life...."

Druga knew that there was no use hi

rying to resist the attraction any mor

han a compass could resist pointin



north. So he rode onward into the glory

musing that it was strange this universa

pole of infinite space should, in it

drifting, have crossed his own path upohis planet.

As he neared the center of the increasin

ecstasy, Druga's mind and body becamcleaned of all desires but one, and tha

was to reach the exact center and ther

remain. Along with others, his affectio

for Feronia was burned away, leavin

him helpless in the grip of this emotio

greater by far than any other.

Glory, golden ecstatic glory, poure

hrough him in a titanic flood, and neare

and nearer he came to the shining centra

core of the mighty field of universa



energy.

As he came at last to clear vision of th

core, he saw floating there a vast

circular disk of golden hue, and upon thdisk a tremendous mansion. Beneath th

disk was only the shining golden air, an

t came to Druga that this mansion mus

be a singularly pleasant place to live. H

cast about for some means of liftin

himself across the space of nothingnes

hat separated the dull earth and thshining plane of the disk. So near to th

delightful power that drew, and yet s

mpossible to get nearer because of th

nothingness between him and the disk



Druga at last rode on beneath and on t

he very center of the shining darknes

beneath the great disk.

ow he was truly at the pole an

dynamic source of female magneti

attraction! Shaking in every fibre wit

he blasting force of the terrific center ohis universal power, Druga stood,

moth caught up in a whirlpool too grea

o understand or withstand; and h

would have died there after a time

unable to move from the spot.

But overhead the great disk suddenl

showed a light, a beam of ruby red tha

addered down to him through the golde

murk of energy, and above that beam o

ruby light he made out a shining for



hat beckoned to him. Trying to answe

he invitation, Druga put out a hand to th

red beacon and found it solid to hi

ouch, a rod of crystal, thick as a man'body and with hand-holds and foot-step

hewn into it. He got off the horse an

ascended the weird ladder toward th

shining being who beckoned.

A woman divinely tall and with hair lik

ripened wheat, modelled of hammere

sunlight, her glowing flesh surcharge

with the infinite female energies of th

Universal Pole, met him at the topmos

step of the ladder.

He stepped out into the halls of th

mansion by her side, unable to spea

with the ecstasy that poured from her



For such was the nature of that disk, tha

t concentrated the magnetic flow of th

Pole field so that it emanated solel

from the body of this woman.

She drew a robe of the purest blue abou

her glowing body, to insulate and scree

off the terrific irresistible force. Himind speculated constantly an

ntriguingly on what would happen t

him if she should desire him and cast of

his protective robe?

So thinking, Druga walked beside he

vital beauty, noting the deep lagoons o

her eyes upon him, curious, blue as th



sea, shaded by long lashes of dusk

amber shielding from him some dee

wisdom that she must keep from him jus

et. Try as he might he could not plumbhe swirling depths within her mind

Reach as he would he could find ther

nothing to read but pictured vastnesse

of strange beauty and violent passion

strongly withheld, nooks and crannies o

mysterious, unreadable thought fa

beyond his understanding to interpreHis senses turned away from the inne

mysterious glory of her mind, and hi

eyes came to rest on her lips, crimso

arches riper than tropic flowers, moisas with desire, wide and capable an

smiling upon him with a woman's will t

captivate twinkling all along the crimso



outline of her smile. Behind her lips he

eeth gleamed, almost avid, parted in

hunger that he did not then care t

understand. Her breasts were ripe anfull, beneath the blue, shielding robe, he

waist a column of cunningly tapere

vory rounding into hips and thighs o

masterful curves, moving wit

mysterious woman magic beneath th

vaguely transparent shimmer of her robe

Druga stared into the blue lagoons of he

eyes, and at last asked what was closes

o his heart.

"Who and what are you, who lives her

at the summit of female attraction in al

he universe?"



"In ancient times, many were the me

who were alive enough to sense thi

pole and come questing to me as th

moth to the flame. But in these timeswho are you to sense the mighty energ

of the Universal Pole and be drawn her

o me?"

"I am Druga, and I am sad and bereft

and I wander seeking death as much a

ife. If the name tells you anything, yo

are welcome to the information. I am n

mmortal. Are you then one of those wh

do not die?"

"I have been called by many names i

he past, but men sometimes remembe

me as Aurora. Others have called m

Eos."



"A fool is easily convinced, immorta

Eos. But though I have not lived long,

have learned that appearances ar

deceiving and not to be trusted. How dknow that I am not out of my mind, an

his place and yourself but delusions?"

"You are in a state, aren't you? You musell me all about it; there will be plent

of time. For there is no way for a man t

eave here of his own will."

"What became of all those visitors yo

ell me came here in the old time?"

Eos laughed loudly, a clear ringinaugh.

"Perhaps you had better worry abou

hat, Druga! What do you suppose coul



have happened to them?"







The woman recoiled from his murderou

rage, crying out in a shocked voice,

voice of virtue unjustly accused:

"Surely you don't think that I ha

anything to do with this? These men ar

he curse an enemy has put upon me; an

every creature that I ever loved she haurned into stone soon or late and left m

here alone forever. There is no cruelt

ike the cruelty of Diana Triformis."

The rage passed slowly from Druga, an

eft him weak and glad that his hands ha

not found their way to that gloriou

hroat, as they had seemed about to do

For here was a woman who had suffere

he same loss as he.



"Eos, we must take thought together, fo

t seems we have a common enemy. M

own Feronia, a woman such as was onl

created by the Gods once in all Timewas turned into similar black ston

before my eyes not long ago. We have

common enemy, and we must find

remedy for this curse she puts upon us

Else I will go through life as you hav

gone, with everything pleasant remove

from it."

The artful eyes of Eos softened, and tha

mystery living in their depths lightened

her arms became soft pillars of themple of her beauty as she lowere

herself into the big chair at the head o

hat gloomy feasting board of death

Druga picked up the big body of one o



he stone figures, carried it lightly to th

side of the hall, and set it there on

bench. Then he took the vacant place a

he board beside the queen of the palacof the dead.

Druga related to Eos all the events tha

had transpired since the lopping off oDionaea's head. She surmised, as did he

hat this deed was the one that had le

Diana to turn the spell of the black ston

oose upon Druga as upon Eos.

"There must be found a way of turnin

he spells of this Goddess into harmles

attempts," said Druga. "We cannot s

here and wait for her cruelty to work u

greater harm. What can we do?"



"I have had long long years to plan

revenge upon her, but nothing I hav

been able to do has had any effect," Eo

said.

The desire that Druga could no mor

help than he could help breathing

ooking upon the pole of all desire tha

shone its energies through the flesh o

Eos, now spoke, and Druga said with

ongue that was thick:

"Then, Eos, the very next time that Dian

happens to think of you, I too wil

become stone, and if we are to have jo

of each other, we had better have it soon



before I become as these others you hav

oved."

Eos looked at him sadly, her lipglistening with an unearthly dew and he

eyes shining like chained lightnings.

"It was that thought that betrayed mevery time, Druga. Each of those me

said much those same words to me whe

he learned the fate that awaited him, an

for each of them my heart turned to wateand we spent our time in dallianc

nstead of spending our energies tryin

o overcome the work of my enemy.

"For each of them I tried to give all ther

was of pleasure while they yet ha

breath, as one tries to give water to



man about to die of fever. I was only tha

much more hurt by their death—for suc

giving of the self opens one to th

deepest pangs of parting.

"That is the agony Diana designed fo

me, and she has done this to me sinc

hat time I brought a young man to hesland that was sacred to her only. Thi

ime, Druga, there will be none of tha

for us; we will try some other medicin

han love for each other against this evil

Work, we will try!"

"There speaks my dead Feronia,

murmured Druga, sadly. And for though

of her he forgot to feel the denial of hi

desire for the body of this woman,

body filled with the energies of th



whole Universal Pole of femal

magnetism. That he should lose tha

glory was nothing beside the pang he fe

at thought of Feronia; and the wise Eosmiled to note that this man had no

forgotten his love even in the face of he

nfinite attraction.

"If we went back to Feronia's home

might it not be that her work would giv

ou some inkling of how Diana might b

overcome?" Druga was thoughtful.

"I can only try," Eos answered him. "W

will go there. I will examine her wor

and her notes, and you will show me he

aboratories that I have heard of eve

here. Together, we might get an answer."



Eos got up from the board, and went to

small chamber at the edge of the diskThere her hands sent the disk slantin

upward into the sky. As they left th

center of the pole of animal magnetism

Eos' body and face changed subtly

Druga was released from the power o

he pole's attraction, and whether tha

was a good thing or not he could not sayexcept that every atom of his bod

wanted to return there to that place an

remain.

"How is it, Eos, that the pole does no

repel your female nature as it attracts th

male? Would it not repel an ordinar

woman so that she could not approac



t?"

"In that you are wrong, Druga. Th

nature of this life-energy is not the samas ordinary iron magnetism. Like pole

do not repel, but are unaffected. It is i

fact only invigorating to me, making m

stronger. So it would be if you were ahe other end of the universe. At the mal

pole you would be vastly invigorated

not repelled. Do you understand?"

"It is only sad that the poles lie a

opposite ends of the universe,

murmured Druga, looking askance a

Eos.

"Whatever might you be thinking, Druga

f such power arced between man an



woman they would be consumed!"

"But what a death, what a death,

murmured Druga. Her sudden laughterang through the hall of deat

ncongruously, and at the sound they fel

silent again and did not speak fo

hinking of the corpses waiting there fowhat would never come.

"How many men has Diana and he

friends killed through the years? Enougo populate a couple of planets, I shoul

say?"

"Diana? With her bow and arrows alonshe used to account for a good many; an

ater, as she learned more evil arts, ther

was no record kept. She has been a mos



evil goddess, yet men worship her."

"Why? A goddess that kills a man fo

seeing her is a fiend! And her maidenmay not see a man, either. It is a strang

ife she leads, for a true woman. Sh

must be other than female."

"That could be, Druga," murmured Eos.

The morning sun glittered from th

streams and from the little glass foot

bridge that shimmered magically acrosand up in a great arc to the door in th

side of the cliff. Eos sighed at the beauty

"This wife of yours was a housekeeper,



note, with an eye for art."

"Her art and her work were always first

Eos. She was an uncommon hard womao get used to, but she made a man o

me."

"That I can see," agreed Eos, and Drugooked at her twice to know what sh

meant. "You owe everything to Feronia

according to you, and nothing t

ourself."

"Very little, Goddess. But I do no

exaggerate, she was...."

"Well, never mind it now. I grow wear

of Feronia this and Feronia that. I wil

udge for myself whether she understoo

ou or no."



"She was extremely understanding," sai

Druga.

Days passed, and much hard work, Eo

studying the laboratory notes of Feroniaand Druga himself reading them ove

and trying to think of some way h

himself might strike back at their mutua

enemy.

"Nothing that she has developed can b

used directly against Diana without he

surviving to fight back. This would hav

been fatal to Dionaea, but after all, a

ou have said—she is dead."



"She ought to be dead, I cut her hea

off!"

"That usually does the trick."

They decided to leave the laboratory th

next morning, and that evening Drug

picked up the stone statue of his Feroniand carried it carefully aboard the disk

placing her there—one woman amon

he thousand-odd dead heroes of the lon

dead past. Druga sadly made a place foher at the head of the board. He did no

hink of it, but Feronia now sat wher

Eos herself had spent many a sad hour

sitting and gazing at her dead lovers.

With the stone Feronia gone, the vast an

multiplex-walled chambers of myster



and magic assumed a new atmosphere

and Druga found himself talking to Eo

hat night as if he was not a man whos

heart was dead.

She sat in the place from which he ha

removed the black stone body o

Feronia, and Druga could not help bucompare the glowing life of her with th

dead thing that had sat there.

The hammered sunlight of her hair madcurls and waves of beauty about th

white shores of her shoulders. She ha

et the robe of insulative blue drop fro

her, exposing the very heart of her beaut

he had feared to see when she wa

herself filled with the flow of the Pole o

Life Energy. And Druga wondered



ittle whether she were not stil

somehow the center and pivot of th

energy, for his senses reeled wit

ooking, and his will crumbled intforgotten ashes. He sank to the silke

couch beside her, and his eyes burne

with flashing energies like meteor

plunging into the Northern lights.

Eos held her breath, and her eyes burne

nto his with greater and greater force

for she had been dreaming and weepin

and waiting there at the Pole-of-all-Lif

for so many cold empty years—waitin

for the curse to be lifted so that shcould begin to live again.



With the last shred of her own will Eo

murmured: "Let us go into the disk an

eave at once for Armora, and think n

more of each other or surely we wilsink into the raptures we desire an

forget to fight. Then I will awake an

find you too turned into stone, an

myself again alone against her. I hav

been unable to fight alone."

"If that is your will, do not fail to shiel

our beauty with that robe you wear. Fo

cannot resist the power in you

oveliness any more than a straw in th

wind!"

Eos closed the robe against his gaze, an

ike two people weighted down wit

ead in every limb, they got up and wen



out of the darkened chambers, and Drug

closed the great doors and locked them

Silently, not touching each other, the

walked down the bridge of glass.

They entered the mansion on the disk

and Eos sent it sharply upward. Ther

was blood on her lower lip where shhad bit it, and Druga's nails had bitte

nto his palms.

Druga noted that the great golden glown the sky had approached near to th

valley that Feronia had made her home

and he said:

"This pole of life seems to follow yo

about! Is there some relation betwee

ou and it, so that you cannot be apart?"



Eos looked at him, smiling sadly, he

eyes far-off with other thoughts.

"I have been taught, in the far past, thahere was a Mother of Life, a rea

woman, mighty and majestic beyon

hinking, who lived there at the pole an

ordered life to be as it should be. Thashe is my ancestor, and that there is som

relation between the life energies an

myself, may be true, Druga. Whether th

pole follows me, or whethe

coincidence is governed by some magi

so that we are never far apart, I know

not. Knowledge is a thing now lost froife, as we know it, Druga. We can onl

guess at these truths, and never lear

hem surely."



"Now you are not telling me all yo

know, Eos."

"I would not tell you what I only guessDruga. And I do not surely know

anything, any more. I have spent so muc

ime brooding and alone."

"Forgive me, Eos. An eagle cannot fl

with crows, and I will never again pu

myself forward. When you have need o

me, I will be here, and when you neeonly your own thoughts, why then g

apart; I will not seek you out. I forge

who and what you are, for my senses ar

strained beyond endurance with th

power of you."

"You are no crow, Druga. But in me is a



adult mind, and you are as a child, who

must teach and raise up gradually to m

estate. Every parent grows impatient o

gnorance in their offspring. One day, iime keeps treading the self-same mil

we will be crushed together like grape

and pressed clean. Until then, be m

knight, and think not of me, except wit

pity for the broken heart that beats insid

me."

Druga did not look at her more, but wen

n and sat at the board where th

housand dead stared, each stony ey

broodingly centered upon the spot wherhe had placed Feronia. And as Druga'

eye likewise centered upon that seat tha

had been the scene of a thousand deaths

he felt a wave of anger from the ston



body of Feronia, and a sense of guil

came over him. He felt remorse that h

should forget her and desire Eos. If h

had known that those eyes were nodead, but seeing and remembering al

hat passed before them, he would hav

been shivering with fear of her anger

But Druga did not know. Yet it seemed t

his senses that each of those eyes wa

ikewise angry with him, and he got up

n haste from that table of dead men anone dead woman, and went and dran

wine by himself until sleep came.

With the first rays of morning light Eo

woke him, and Druga learned that sh



had lowered the disk over the garden o

ive-oaks beside the palace of Dionaea

and Druga looked out. No one was ye

astir; they had not yet been seen. Drugand Eos descended by the ladder of rub

glass, and went side by side through th

garden and Druga took the stairs h

knew well up to the sleeping chamber o

Dionaea. For in the many-locke

cabinets of that chamber were her man

acquisitions of magical apparatus, and ianything was there that would help them

hey meant to find it.

As they entered the room, opening thdoor with a pick-lock, Eos cried out in

riumphant voice:

"We are not in vain. The Queen is no



dead, Druga!"

The sleepy-eyed Dionaea poked he

head above the covers at the sound oheir entry. At sight of them, she hisse

ike a great snake, and writhed the lon

hideous body of Baena free of th

encumbrance of the quilts, and Baenreared his own hideous, fanged head up

beside Dionaea's.

Druga stood astonished to see the fableAmphis-Baena here in the bed o

Dionaea, and with the head of Dionaea

A great laugh broke from him to see th

reptilian change the grafting had wrough

n Dionaea's beauty.

Dionaea did not say anything, but Baen



coiled swiftly on the bed and struck ou

full length, his fangs meeting in Druga'

arm. Druga felt the terrible venom, lik

fire in his veins, and seized the greaserpent-head in his two hands, squeezin

n terrible anger. But Eos seized him.

"No, do not kill her! Carry her into thdisk, and make her captive. I hav

conceived of a way of conquerin

Diana, and we need this creature alive."

Druga wrapped the great body aroun

and around his body and arm, seizing th

neck of Dionaea in one hand and th

neck of Baena in the other. So burdened

he staggered down the steps and u

again into the disk, and the trip took hi

a good hour, for Baena twisted loose an



ried to flee, and he wrestled and fel

from the ladder, and only succeeded b

ying the writhing pillar of strength into

bow-knot and pulling it up into the shipwith a rope.

Meanwhile the people of Armora ha

awakened from the tumult, and crowde

everywhere about the gardens, gettin

underfoot and wondering loudly wha

his was all about. Eos hurried from th

bed chamber of their Queen with a greabundle of material she had selected as o

possible future use. They tried to sto

her, but one glance of the poten

magnetic power that flamed from he



great eyes sent them all to their knees i

worshipful, helpless adoration.

Druga, waiting above with the snakwound round with ropes and lashed t

he pillars, watched this evidence of he

powers with awe, for he had himself bu

narrowly escaped the swords of thguards, and had been about to plung

down the ladder with his own sword i

a futile attempt to rescue Eos.

She sent the disk spinning upward i

flight, and Druga took himself from he

and went and sat by the writhing

fettered body of the Amphis-Baena, o

Dionaea-Baena, or two-headed snake

saying to her as she spat venom at him:



"Listen to me, Dionaea, the best thin

ou can do for yourself is to try to wi

he favor of Eos. She is an enemy wh

has suffered as greatly as yourself frohe work of Diana, and would help yo

f you earned it, to acquire a human bod

again. I think the snake himself woul

ike that better too. He is too greatl

married, I would say, to relish the stat

overmuch."

Baena relaxed at these words, an

ceased to struggle. Then in great snak

hisses, he made himself heard.

"Dionaea, I think too you should seiz

his opportunity to get out of this fix w

are in. I gave you my tail to roost upo

as a temporary measure, not as



permanent part of my future. Diana

whom we both serve, could hav

released us if she had been so inclined

and fixed us up with separate bodies, bushe chose not."

That Dionaea was considering his word

was evident. She ceased to spit at himand composed her face into thought

Druga leaned back and smiled.

Eos brought the disk to rest again at thmeadow at the foot of the glass bridg

before Feronia's cliff palace, and cam

n to them. She stood gazing at the two

headed creature trussed to the pillars o

he chamber. Feronia gazed at them wit

her stone eyes, and all the men gazed a

Feronia as if transfixed by her ston



beauty, and the sight made Dionae

shiver with apprehension. For sh

hought that these were people who ha

angered Eos and that Eos had changehem into stone. She wondered why Eo

had added Feronia to the collection.





CHAPTER III

Eos sat beside Feronia and watched th

great, writhing two-headed Dionaea, an

waited. After a time the flowing goldebands of Life-energy entered, focusin

subtly all about her, so that she seeme

o Dionaea truly to be the Mother of Al

and the greatest of All Goddesseanywhere.

At the entrance of the golden energy Eo

smiled with relief, for now she had power that she had not thought to us

against Diana before. For to Eos thi

aversion to all men of the Goddes



Diana spelled out the message of he

weakness, and this energy of the lif

pole was going to pierce that weakness.

Day dragged after day, and the weir

scene there in the banquet hall of th

stone men of the past became to Druga

ense place of waiting for his owdemise and change into a similar relic t

decorate this hall of death. For Eo

would not tell him what she planned fo

fear he would give her away in the tens

moments that were to come when Dian

at last rejoined her Dionaea in thei

strange dual existence.

The inducted energies of the female pol

had a most disturbing effect upon th

mingled male and female of the Amphis



Baena.

Baena, driven half mad by the increase

female qualities of the head of Dionaeamade inadvertent love to her, caressin

her face with his long forked tongue, an

combing at her tangled hair with hi

fangs, always Baena was distraught wither attraction. This attention drove th

woman near frantic, strained as she wa

n her unnatural condition, and she coul

not afford to anger the beast whose bod

she had been grafted upon. For even

serpent has been known to swallow it

ail, and Dionaea had no desire to knowf Baena could do that trick.

Eos, sitting quietly and watching th

bound serpent, smiled at this continua



by-play, and offered to release Dionae

for revealing her knowledge of Diana

so that some chink in her armor might b

found. Not that Eos now needed any suching, but she was kind-hearted, an

wanted Baena at least on her side. Fo

she could see into the dual life an

hought of the two-headed monster, an

knew that if Baena chose to set his wil

against Diana when she was within th

body and mind of Dionaea—it woulhelp her in what she planned.

"Baena," Eos at last said, "if you ca

find a way to help me against thiunnatural mistress of your mistress,

will repay you by giving you anythin

ou may ask of me."



Baena looked at Dionaea's head with th

reptilian love-light glowing frustrate i

his great green-and-gold eyes.

"If you will promise to give me what i

n my mind that I desire, why then whe

he time comes I will see what I can do

am weary of being the tail when I wameant to be the head, and if I had it to d

over, this unnatural and self-wille

appendage would remain in her prope

place."

ow Eos knew that Baena could no

help desiring Dionaea as a mate, for sh

seemed most reptilian in the strang

snake-growth that had come over her

and knowingly she nodded at Baena, s

hat he knew that she knew what h



wanted, but Dionaea did not know, for

never occurred to her. To Eos, what th

future might bring to Dionaea as the mat

of a snake seemed a proper revenge fowhat she had done in aiding Diana, an

for other cruelties of which Druga ha

old her. She planned accordingly.

Came that day which was the tim

appointed by Diana Triformis for he

visit to Dionaea. Much as she deteste

he need for entering the male body oBaena to interview Dionaea, stil

Dionaea had been a valuable ally, an

Diana did intend in time to release he

and give her again a human body.



To this end she had made some inquirie

as to how this might be done. For in trut

he method of doing so had evaded he

mind in the excitement and rage ofinding what had happened, and in th

ask of the spell she had created to tur

Feronia into a stone image. For Dian

knew that what Baena had accomplishe

she could accomplish, certainly, and th

shame of forgetting how it might be don

before the wise Baena's critical eyemade her neglect to mention he

ntentions to either of the two heads o

he snake.

As the swirl of ethereal force that wa

Diana's traveling form settled within th

golden-moted atmosphere of the grea

chamber of the disk-mansion, Eos stoo



up, and dropped from her body he

nsulating blue robe of shimmerin

magic, so that her supercharged beaut

shone everywhere in blinding, awfuattraction.

Druga, who had been sittin

disconsolately talking to himself, rose this feet like an automaton and walke

oward that more than mortal beauty, hi

eyes blinded and his senses wholl

submerged in ecstasy at the sight of th

glory of Eos unveiled. As he reached th

Goddess he put out his arms like

sleepwalker to take her to him, but shavoided him, seizing him by a wrist an

urning him about, hissing in his ear

mperatively:



"Now prove to me that you are truly

mighty man of his word, with courag

and strength, and in spite of this body o

mine go out of this chamber and wait til call without once letting your attentio

urn toward me or noting anything tha

goes on, else are we both lost!"

Like a man weighted down with lead o

his feet, Druga strove to obey her

moving inch by slow inch away fro

hat vast flood of energetic attraction.

Eos watched him move slowly awa

from her, every muscle standing out o

his body and his neck corded with effor

o keep his head turned away, and a vas

admiration for him rose in her throat an

choked her. It seemed to her that th



statue of Feronia moved and that th

stone face changed, suffused for a

nstant with admiration also.

The swirling purple cloud of Diana'entrance moved nearer to Dionaea, for i

he hyper-space of her travelling, th

points and dimensions of this worl

were much alike, and she did not realiz

hat Dionaea was not in her palace a

Armora. Settling about the two-heade

creature lashed fast to the pillars of thchamber, she moved herself within th

snake body and came to rest within th

body of Baena, the snake.



Looking out of the dual heads of Dionae

and Baena now, Diana Triformis, wh

was no stranger to dual and tripl

existence even in the same body, sawwith those four eyes the naked body o

Eos, reflecting, emanating, giving off i

vast floods the focused energies of th

Pole of Female Life-energy, and thos

four eyes fastened hypnotized upon tha

glory, female beyond any other life in al

space.

Eos moved closer and closer to th

bound snake, murmuring soft words:

"Oh, Diana, wonderful one, long have

desired you, for I know your secret, tha

ou are not female as your body seems

but male. So I have decided to have yo



for myself, for I am weary of men, an

want only the boy Diana himself for m

ove, forever. Come to me, Diana, an

dwell with me here at the pole of loveand never leave me. Can you not see tha

he enmity that has sprung up between u

s the result of misunderstood love!"

ow Baena, seeing his opportunity

hrust his own male personality to th

fore, trying to sway the intricate balanc

of sexes in the weird self of Diana—an

with his mind and his eyes upon Eos

made himself to desire that infinit

female attraction, which was not hardso as to add that much weight to th

attraction which even a God might no

resist unless, as Druga had done, h

urned his back upon it.



Diana could not turn her back, and th

whole sudden surprise of finding hersel

not in the palace in Armora, but here i

he halls of her erstwhile enemy, Eos ohe Dawn-light, made her natural mal

attributes become dominant so that sh

desired Eos mightily.

Trapped thus by the circumstances, th

ashed serpent body of Baena whic

nsisted upon gazing steadily at the vas

and overwhelming beauty of th

unveiled body of Eos, and by th

gnorance of Dionaea as to what wa

going on, by her own masculine naturnto desiring this essence of all femal

attraction, Diana gazed upon Eos whil

he energies sent by Eos' skill coursed i

greater and greater ecstacy through her.



So it was that Diana fell in love wit

Eos, as Eos desired, and with the Godsove is an overmastering passion tha

may not be resisted.

ow Eos and the trapped spirit of Dianconversed together, and at the subtl

words of Eos and the overmasterin

attraction, Diana swirled out of the bod

of Baena and settled engrossed about th

glowing glory that was Eos. Inward sh

was drawn, and mated there i

mysterious communion with thGoddess.

"If you but had a strong male body

Diana, we could live here forever i



ove and ecstasy. Why not return one o

he stone men of the past into flesh again

become a man instead of half-woman a

n the past—and so learn anew to livand love differently and gloriously...."

Such were Eos' words, made potent b

he golden glowing energies within herswaying the bemused Diana to her wil

And Diana, with Eos' hands, went to th

wall cabinets and set out certain magica

apparatus, brewing an antidote for th

stony seizure she had sent to Eos' lover

n the past. This liquid she poured ove

he male of stone that Eos selected, aneven as the stone man stirred an

quickened into life again, her etherea

self whirled out of Eos and settled int

he reanimated flesh of the man.



When he arose to his feet and spoke,

was Diana herself who spoke and not th

man who had loved Eos long ago. Wha

his desecration of her past love meant tEos we shall not know, for she hid

beneath languishing glances and subtl

swayings of her body, drawing Diana t

her, wrapping her arms about th

reanimated being, and walking with th

new male Diana out of the room and s

o her own chambers.

Druga, as Eos had foreseen, had bee

unable to contain his curiosity as to wha

was going on, and had at last peere

from the hallway where he waited, jus



n time to see the purple swirl that wa

Diana settle into and seem to reanimat

he ancient long-dead stone image.

The emotions natural to a man rose i

him. He was not sure just what he wa

seeing, but jealousy rose in him like

flame, and his passion so steadfastlcontrolled and so rewarded by the fickl

Eos made this jealousy into a terrible

red rage against her who had withhel

herself from him only to give herself t

her worst enemy in the form of a man.

Druga, overcome with this jealous rage

strode out into the banquet hall of dea

men, took from the side of one of th

dead men a great war-axe of bronze, an

hefting it in his hand as if it were



rembling feather plume, strode after th

wo figures like the wrath of God.

As Eos reclined sensuously upon hecouch in her sleeping chamber, an

Diana in the man's body stretched besid

her, bending back Eos' head and plantin

here a burning kiss, Druga entered, anstanding over the pair like an outrage

husband, shouted in a voice he wa

unable to make articulate.

"Of all contemptible females, you tw

are the most...."

So saying, and mouthing his disgust wita tongue that frothed with rage, Drug

seized the reanimated man with one han

by the shoulder and flung him half acros



he room, whirling up the axe to send

hrough him from curly head to gold

bossed sword belt.

Eos cried out in feigned fear an

anguish, for she had expected thi

development, and it was but one phas

of the weapon-array she planned tovercome the powers of Diana. For sh

knew Druga, and that he would be abl

o act in no other way if he observe

what was going on.

But the body of the man was equippe

with a sword of antique but sturd

ength, and Diana had time to sweep thi



formidable weapon from its scabbar

and turn aside the down plummeting axe

so that it struck a great shower of spark

from the strange golden metal of thfloor.

Druga, his rage unabated, only swung th

axe aloft again, parrying Diana's thruswith the haft of it, and then as she ducke

his next blow, the great side of th

weapon struck her alongside the head

stretching her senseless upon the floor.

Eos, on her feet, had not expected Drug

so quickly to knock the goddes

unconscious, and indeed the purple mis

of her hyper-space body was alread

rising from the unconscious form on th

floor as Eos threw herself to the wal



where a switch hung open, and with he

face a glory of triumph, thrust the grea

handle upward into place.

As the switch closed, a tiny blac

vortice spun suddenly into being in th

center of the room, and within the blac

swirl was a tiny golden center. Swiftlhe black vortice grew until Eos an

Druga were pressed against the wall t

avoid the clutch of the power of th

whirlpool. The purple mist that wa

Diana was swept along as a whirlpoo

draws a straw, faster and faster, and

great scream came out of the blacknessWithin, the center of the golden cor

seemed to give a triumphant laugh as th

purple mingled there.



For a time Eos and Druga watched th

swirling gold and purple sentienc

mingling and struggling at the center, an

as the golden core shone stronger anstronger and at last overcame the purpl

swirling entity that was Diana, Eo

pulled the switch again open, and th

black vortice of space-force lessene

and finally disappeared.

That intense whirlpool of black energ

had taken Diana back with it into th

errible current of space. Diana woul

ive—but only as a mote of defeate

consciousness whirled along forevento the depths of space by forces to

great to fight.

The man on the floor raised his head, sa



up, rubbed the great lump left there b

he flat of Druga's axe—and his eyes me

he flaming attraction of Eos' eyes. Wit

a bound he was at her side, gathering heup into his arms, crooning brokenly.

"How long I sat and watched your grie

and envied the other men who came foheir brief spell of life in Paradis

before the black witchcraft of you

enemy made them into stone. How long

pitied you, poor Eos! How man

centuries have passed, and now

miracle! I am alive, and have you onc

again! No other ever shall take you frome...."

Druga picked up the axe that la

disregarded on the floor.



"That may be what you wish, stranger

and though you are no enemy, if it is Eo

ou desire, you shall have her only ove

my dead body! Arm yourself, anprepare to die!"

The stranger eyed Druga scornfully. Wit

a sudden gliding motion, he had passefrom Eos' arms and seized the swor

from the floor, was driving with it fo

Druga's throat. Druga got the axe in th

way of the sword, but an axe, whateve

antiquarians may say, was never the bes

ool against a smart swordsman; and thi

man knew his way with the weapon.

He drove Druga to the wall with swif

darting movements of the blade, an

Druga had no time to swing the unwield



axe, but had to keep parrying the thrust

with the axe-haft, holding it between hi

hands like a quarterstaff. In moments hi

ife blood would have been spilled ohe floor had not Eos cried out:

"Hold, you brawling idiots, I am fo

neither of you! What do you think I havgone through all this for, to have you tw

whom I love kill each other? Now put u

he weapons before I loose my ow

natural lightning and send you both int

hat doom you can only guess at!"

Druga peered at Eos, startled, and th

reanimated statue pressed the blade t



his throat, but Eos struck it up with he

hand as he turned to peer at her too, an

hen Eos opened both her eyes quit

wide upon them so that a weakness camupon them both, sending them to thei

knees in strange thralldom to th

energies within her. So leaving them

Eos walked out of the chamber and t

he great hall.

After a time, when their reeling sense

returned, the two men followed the foot

steps that still sparkled where she ha

stepped, like flickering motes of golde

dust outlining her prints upon the floor—followed the steps like men out of thei

wits, half staggering.

As they entered the hall, Eos wa



repeating the procedure so recently gon

hrough by Diana, preparing a grea

cauldron of the fluid she had used t

bring life again to the stone bodies. Theeaned weakly against the wal

watching her as she poured the boiling

steaming liquid over one after another o

he statues. The first figure so bathe

was the body of Feronia.

She came out of the stony trance like

fury, blazing one indignant glanc

oward Eos, then turned the torrents o

her wrath upon Druga.

"You philandering booby! I made yo

what you are and you repay me b

running off from me in my greatest nee

and taking up with this—this—"



"She released you from your ston

prison, Feronia!" Druga said hastily

fearing she would anger Eos wit

whatever word she thought of tdescribe her rival—and Feronia wa

clever enough to avoid saying what sh

was about to say, but went on with he

abuse of Druga.

"Never mind what or who she is, it i

ou that has shown yourself the ingrate

for she owed me nothing. You couldn

go to Mors, Daughter of the Night, an

get this thing properly taken care of a

once, knowing she was friendly to meno! You had to wander off on your ol

grey horse, never thinking of Mors, an

get yourself wrapped up with the firs

woman that you come to, and wind you



affections all around the planet in pursu

of her. You couldn't even remember m

for one little month! You—you—oh

Druga!"

With which outburst her voice broke

and weeping and saying his name ove

and over Feronia went into his arms anwept there on his breast for a long time

And after her tears were stopped Drug

knew that Feronia would never mentio

he affair again.

Druga held the dear form of his love

one close and let her weep, stroking th

raven black hair, within him the sof

well of affection for her filling an

filling with all the memories of her dear

mad, competent, unpredictable



yrannical ways. Over the curling swee

of her dear hair he watched Eos revivin

one by one the dead loves of her past

and thought to himself that at least witFeronia he did not have all those rival

o contend with. The slight line acros

his throat where Eos' magic had stoppe

he sword of one rival from letting ou

his life reminded him too that with Eo

as she was now, there would be no da

pass that some of these warriors woulnot try to get rid of some of the rest

Druga decided that after all, Feroni

oved him alone, while with Eos ther

was no knowing what rivals he woulhave.

ow Eos got a great snake out of th

forest, a female, cunningly marked wit



ittle emerald markings, and striped wit

many colors, most venomous and snake

charming in its appearance.

This snake she quickly separated fro

ts head, and placed upon its cunnin

female body the head of Dionaea, doin

all that was needful successfully tncorporate the two into one life.

Baena's tail, which caused him grea

pain at the separation, she healed bapplying a salve, assuring him that h

would in time grow a new tail to take th

place of the old, as is the way wit

snakes the world over.



When Dionaea awoke and found hersel

with a female snake's body, and Baen

mooning over her like a lovesick coil o

ship's hawser, she let out strings of oathsuch as no ship's hawser had heard sinc

he beginning of time. All of whic

seemed strikingly snake-charming t

Baena, who only kissed Dionae

ovingly with his pointed tongue an

assured her she would get used to him o

he would devour her and seek a newmate elsewhere. With which assuranc

Dionaea ceased to curse and began t

fawn upon Baena, saying:

"Why, how can you think it is your nobl

self I object to, Baena? It is just that

did not expect this development! I hav

grown so used to you that there is reall



very little difference, after all."

So conversing, the now lowly Dionae

and the now lordly Baena glided frohe chamber and made their way dow

he ruby ladder of strange crystal, an

out into the world. For it is only so that

male can leave the pole of the universaife force of the female principle, in th

company of a female good enough t

keep his mind from obeying the influenc

of the magnetic field.

Feronia, watching the scene, decided

was time for bed, and mentally takin

Druga by the ear, led him out and dow

he ruby ladder and across the rainbow

bridge of fragile glass into her ow

halls.



"Eos will handle her difficulties muc

he better without our presence, Druga

Besides we must get to bed, for in th

morning there will be much work tattend to...."

"What you have in mind?"

"Well, first we have to practice th

magical performance we have jus

watched Eos go through, so that if w

ever need it we too can release a figurfrom that stony curse of petrifaction. It i

a most uncomfortable state. Then w

have to return to Eos' disk palace an

from her get certain information, such a

he whirlpool she used to suck up th

strength of Diana and cast it out into

current of force flowing through hyper



space—for we might need it sometime i

he future."

"Which I devoutly pray you will nomanage," murmured Druga, yawning. "

am too tired to even think about such

hing tonight."

With which words Druga stretche

himself across the bed and straightwa

began to snore, and Feronia, who ha

expected a warmer welcome home thahat , looked at him exasperated beyon

measure. But then she insinuated he

own witch's perceptions into his mind

ooked over the somewhat shrivele

memories of her that remained to him

and resolved to recreate his love entir

before she strained it again with he



mpatience.

Outside, the great glowing magneti

field of female attraction pulsed anglowed and reached its strang

streamers across the sky. The disk wit

ts ancient, quaint, pillared and beautifu

mansion, trembled in the current of thenergy flow of the pole of life. I

Feronia's hall a dark, small witch bent t

her knees and prayed a prayer, with tear

streaking her too-determined face, tha

his great sleeping man of hers woul

return his heart where it belonged.





CHAPTER IV

ow a witch's prayer is pretty apt t

find its way to the God to which it i

directed, especially when it is a whitwitch with black hair doing the praying

and not a black witch with white hair, a

s so often the case.

Mother Mors, watching the small black

and-white-striped prayer winging it

way across the deeps of night, reache

out her hand and gathered it in to hewhirling bosom, full of the milk o

eternal kindness and soft with the vibran

softness of darkness itself, and read



here with the inner eyes of her heart.

That prayer contained some startling an

ncomplete information, and the mentioof the passing of her enemy Diana who

she had tried to entrap herself for s

ong, brought Mors abruptly out of he

sleep and sent her swiftly arrowindown upon the little valley where th

golden pole now lit the whole sky.

The mystery and awesome power anmajestic primal vitality of he

silhouetted against and merged with th

golden glory of the primal pole as th

vast body of Mors merged an

condensed and settled and came int

human form there within the grea

banquet hall of Eos' palace on the disk.



ow as the body of the great Goddess o

he night came into solidity before Eos

her laughter rang out, rich and ringin

and with low, dark under-tones. Eoooked up from the great stack of ancien

alchemic formulae where she sought th

solution to the incredible quandary o

oo many lovers. For too-much-of-a

good-thing she could not find an

reference in the books, for they were al

designed to give only information ohow to get rid of too-much-of-a-bad

hing.

Rosy to the tips of her fingers witembarrassment, Eos rose to her feet, he

glory dimmed by the majesty of Mors

dark beauty, her height dwarfed by th

all, mysterious strength of Mors



ndestructible figure, a figure such a

must have caused the ancient artist

deepest despair to depict in the least o

ts intense and vital and overwhelminglsublime symmetry.

Mors' laughter made Eos blush till ros

was not the word for her.

"My dear Eos, can this be you? I woul

hardly have expected it of you, who hav

always been to me the personification oso many virtues...."

"Oh, Mother Mors, I am glad to see you

n spite of this state of affairs—you cahelp me. You must know what ha

happened?"

"I can guess, but you had better explai



from the beginning. Only a woman coul

know what to do here, it seems." Mor

glanced around at the thousand and som

virile males.

"You know the Pole is responsible fo

bringing them here, and one by on

Diana turned them into stone as soon amy lonely heart turned to them fo

affection."

"It's a good story, but no one but me wilever believe it."

Eos only looked pitifully at Mors, an

Mors took her to her dark, soft heart, anhe vast strength of her poured into th

vibrant soul of Eos, mingled there wit

hat golden energy that made her wha



she was.

"Whatever I do is going to break thei

hearts—you know what this place doeo men. I cannot love them all, but I do

and I cannot send them away empty

handed. You know what it means t

hem! It is really all that cruel Diana'fault!

"For ridding me of her I owe you a deb

and though you are but a child to my ageof life, I will help you avoid ruining th

ives of all these fine men whom yo

have loved. Suppose I take them awa

with me, all but one, and give them bac

heir own time and place before the

found their way here—give them th

will to want that life before they knew



ou, would that comfort you?"

"Only one?" murmured Eos, then blushe

as she looked out over the thousand-andodd faces that stared at her accusingly.

"Only one, and you must choose hi

carefully from among them all."

"That will take some thought," said Eos

her face full of indecision. "I loved eac

of them dearly."

Mors' face grew a little stern at that, an

quickly Eos went on:

"I'll attend to it directly, Mother Mors."



"I have a little errand to attend to over a

Feronia's, I will be back in a few beat

of Druga's stricken heart. You could a

east have kept your body hidden frohim, out of respect for Feronia! I hav

not much patience with your dilemma

After all, there are other places to live

ou know."

"But not for me, Mors. It follows m

about!"

Mors' face grew even sterner, and Eo

added:

"Of course I know that is because of thpeculiar nature of the metal of which th

disk is constructed, but after all yo

know it has been my home for so very



ong, I couldn't be expected to give u

my home, could I?"

Mors only lifted one great dark eyebrowand lifted suddenly into dark whirlin

force and disappeared.

Eos, her face tear-streaked, went slowldown the endless line of men, examinin

each one carefully and cudgeling he

memory to decide which one she ha

oved the very most. It was so difficult.

Mors, meanwhile, drifted into bein

over the sleeping Druga and the prayin

Feronia, still on her knees, her facupraised and very sweet with the dark

winged eyes closed, the long line of he

hroat sheer beauty in the dim light.



She touched the closed eyes softly wit

her potent fingertips, and Feroni

opened them with a new understandin

gifted into their structure. Then she softlentered Feronia's body and together the

peered down into the body and th

hought of the sleeping man, and with he

dark fingertips vibrant with the energie

of dark space, Mors went over eac

ittle nerve and passage in the brai

where the energies of the disk and thPole and the sight of the intense glory o

Eros' body had burned out Feronia'

ears of love.

Everywhere she touched, a new

awareness grew, centered and vitalize

by the presence of Mors within the bod

of Feronia, so that nowhere was ther



any evidence of the loss of love, but onl

he beautiful memories of Feronia aliv

again within his mind, and whereve

desire lived in him Mors touched hefingers, and planted a seed that woul

grow with good treatment into vital love

As she worked, Feronia wep

shamelessly with thankfulness, and fo

every tiny node of love that Mor

planted in Druga, one sprouted likewis

n Feronia, and some of them were foDruga and some were natural gratitud

o Mors for this work of replacement

The sleeping Druga stirred and his arm

came about Feronia's hips where shstood by the bed. Mors sent her strang

energies through the two lovers

marrying them there with the poten



blessing that is actual magnetic minglin

of being—and Feronia knew that only b

abuse could she lose this man again!

"You are a good girl, Feronia, and yo

have a good man. I will visit you again

f that Dark Master wills it."

A chill went through the chamber at th

mention of The Name, and Mors wen

out with the strange ecstatic sweep o

entity, and Feronia knew what wameant by God-head .

Eos waited for a long time before Mor

came again to her, for the God-hea



required certain things of Mors for thi

night's work.

As she at last reappeared to Eos, Eodid not note the terrific emotions o

ove-ecstasy upon her face, the record o

her touching with the One upon th

mention of him, and began to complain.

"How can I give them up, Mors?"

But Mors only looked at her with absentflaming eyes, intent upon some far thing

and for the first time Eos noted the vas

and subtle change in her, as if she ha

ouched some vast fountain obeneficence somewhere in the while sh

had been gone. Her cheeks were flushed

her breast rising and falling. Mors wa



ike a woman in love, or a Goddes

ouched by the love of Jove, and Eos

eyes fell before her sublimely, and onl

stood waiting for Mors to do what shmust.

So Mors absently gathered up all th

housand-and-some men, tucking thento her bosom one by one, and whirle

nto the night with all but one.

As the Goddess Mors disappeared, sudden suspicion struck Eos, and sh

whirled to look upon the man that wa

eft behind.

She burst into tears.

The Red Dwarf reached out and patte

her golden head. Then he stepped to th



controls and sent the disk wingin

swiftly away.

"Where are you going?" asked Eosifting her head in surprise, and lookin

ndignantly through her tears.

"To the opposite Pole of Energy, msweet one," said the Red Dwarf. "B

patient a little while, and you will yet b

supremely happy. Mother Mors is ver

wise...."

And Eos was very happy. You see, I d

know, for I was there. If it were not so

how could you be sure what I tell you irue? For it is true....

The wise will understand what I hav

written.





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