 CHAPTER XXI On the day following the strange experience of the iron that was turned to gold, some great service was held in the sanctuary, as we understood to consecrate the war. We did not attend it, but that night we ate together as usual. Asha was moody at the meal, that is, she varied from soreness to laughter. "'Know you,' she said, that today I was an oracle, and those fools of the mountain sent their medicine men to ask of the Hissayah how the battle would go, and which of them would be slain, and which gain honour. And I, I could not tell them, but juggled with my words, so that they might take them as they would. How the battle will go I know well, for I shall direct it, but the future, ah, that I cannot read better than thou canst, Mowly, and that is ill indeed. For me the past and all the present I bathed in light reflected from that black wall, the future. Then she felt a brooding, and looking up at length with an air of intrigue, said to Leo, we'll turn out here my prayer and bide where thou art for some few days, or even go hunting. Do so, and I will stay with thee, and send Holly and Aura's to command the tribes in this petty fray. I will not, and said Leo, trembling with indignation, for this plan of hers, that I should be sent out to war while he bided in safety in a temple, moved him, a man brave to rashness, who, although he disapproved of it in theory, loved fighting for its own sake also, to absolute rage. I say, Asher, that I will not, he repeated, and moreover, that if thou leaveest me here, I will find my way down the mountain alone and join the battle. Don't come, she answered, and on thine own head be it. Nay, not on thine, beloved, on mine, on mine. To this, by some strange reaction, she became like a merry girl, laughing more than I have ever seen her do, and telling as many tales of the far, far past, but none that was sad or tragic. It was very strange to sit and listen to her while she spoke of people, one or two of them known as names in history and many others who have never been heard of, that had trod this earth and with whom she was familiar over two thousand years ago. Yet she told as anecdotes of their loves and hates, their strength or weaknesses, all of them touched with some tinge of humorous satire or illustrating the comic vanity of human aims and aspirations. At length her talk took a deeper and more personal note. She spoke of her searchings after truth, of how, aching for wisdom, she had explored the religions of her day and refused them one by one, of how she had preached in Jerusalem and been stoned by the doctors of the law, of how also she had wandered back to Arabia, and being rejected by her own people as a reformer, had travelled on to Egypt, and at the court of the pharaoh of that time met a famous magician, Half-Charlatan and Half-Seer, who because she was far-seeing, clairvoyant we should call it, instructed her and his art so well that soon she became his master and forced him to obey her. Then as though she were unwilling to reveal too much, suddenly Asher's history passed from Egypt to Cor. She spoke to Leo of his arrival there, a wanderer who was named Calycrates, hunted by savages and accompanied by the Egyptian amenitas, whom she appeared to have known and hated in her own country, and of how she entertained them. Yes, she even told of a supper that the three of them had eaten together on the evening before they started to discover the place of life, and of an evil prophecy that this royal amenitas had made as to the issue of their journey. I, Asher, said, it was such a silent night as this, and such a meal as this we ate, and Leo, not so greatly changed, said that he was beardless then and younger, was at my side. Without it, as Holly said the royal amenitas, a very fair woman, yes, even more beautiful than I, before I dipped me in the essence, foresighted also, though not so learned as I had grown. Even the first we hated each other, and more than ever now, when she guessed how I had learned to look upon thee, her lover, Leo, for her husband there never was to who didst flee too fast for merit. She knew also that the struggle between us which had begun of old and far was for centuries and generations, and that until the end should declare itself neither of us could harm the other, who both had sinned to win thee that was repointed by fate to be the lodestone of our souls. Then amenitas spoke, and said, Lo, to my side callicrates, the wine in thy cup is turned to blood, and that knife in thy hand, o daughter of the Arab, for so she named me, drips red blood. And this place is a sepulchre, and thou, o callicrates, sleepest here, nor can she, thy murderous, kiss back the breath of life into those cold lips of thine. So indeed it came about as was ordained, added Asher reflectively, for I slew thee in yonder place of life. Yes, in my madness I slew thee, because thou wouldst not or couldst not understand the change that had come over me, and shrankest for my loveliness like a blind bat from the splendour of flame, hiding thy face in the tresses of her dusky hair. Why, what is it now, thou auras? Can I never be rid of thee for an hour? O heirs, a writing from the canyatum, the priest said with his deprecating bow. Break the seal and read, she answered carelessly, the chance she has repented of her folly and makes submission. So he read, to the Husser of the College of the Mountain, known as Asher upon us, and in the household of the Overworld when she has been permitted to wander, a star that hath fallen. A pretty-sounding name, forsooth, broken Asher, arbed at, and set stars rise again, even from the Underworld. Read on, thou auras. Greetings, O Asher! Thou who art very old has gathered much wisdom in the passing of the centuries, and with other powers that have making thyself seem fair in the eyes of men blinded by thine arts. Yet one thing thou lackest that I have, vision of those happenings which are not yet. Know, O Asher, that I and my uncle, a great seer, have searched the heavenly books to learn what is written there of the issue of this war. This is written. For me death were at thy rejoice, for thee a spear cast by thine own hand, for the land of Cologne blood and ruin bread of thee. A ten, Cania of Cologne. Asher listened in silence, but her lips did not tremble nor her cheek pale. To auras she said proudly, Say to the messenger of Aten that I have received her message, and ere long will answer it, face to face with her in her palace of Cologne. Go, priest, and disturb me no more. When auras had departed she turned to us and said that tale of mine of long ago was well-fitted to this hour, for as Amenotas prophesied of ill, so does Aten prophesied of ill, and Amenotas and Aten are one. Well, let this spear fall, if fall it must, and I will not flinch from it, who know that I shall surely triumph at the last. Perhaps the Cania does but think to frighten me with a cunning lie, but if she has read it right, then be sure, beloved, that it is still well with us, since none can escape their destiny, nor can our bond of union which was fashioned with the universe that bears is ever be undone. She paused awhile, then went on with a sudden outburst of poetic thought and imagery. I tell thee, Lea, that out of the confusions of our lives and deaths, order shall yet be borne. Behind the mask of cruelty shine mercy's tender eyes, and the wrongs of this rough and twisted world are but hot blinding sparks which stream from the all-writing sword of pure eternal justice. The heavy lives we see and know are only links in a golden chain that shall draw us safe to the haven of our rest. Steep and painful steps are there whereby we climb to the allotted palace of our joy. Since forth I fear no more, and fight no more against that which must befall. For I say we are but winged seeds blown down the gales of fate and change to the appointed garden where we shall grow, filling its blessed air with the immortal fragrance of our bloom. Leave me now, Lea, and sleep awhile, for we ride at dawn. It was midday on the morrow when we moved down the mountain side with the army of the tribes, fierce and savage looking men. The outs were out before us, then came the great body of their cavalry mounted on wiry horses, while to right and left and behind the foot soldiers marched in regiments each under the command of its own chief. Asher, veiled now, for she would not show her beauty to these wild folk, rode in the midst of the horsemen on a white mare of matchless speed and shape. With her went Leo and myself, Leo and the cairns' black horse and Ion and other not unlike it, though thicker built. About us were the bodyguard of armed priests and a regiment of chosen soldiers, among them those hunters that Leo had saved from Asher's wrath, and who were now attached to his person. We were merry all of us, for in the crisp air of late autumn flooded its sunlight, the fears and forebodings that had haunted us in those gloomy, violet caves were forgotten. Moreover the tramp of thousands of armed men and the excitement of coming battle thrilled our nerves. Not for many a day had I seen Leo look so vigorous and happy. Of late he had grown somewhat thin and pale, probably from causes that I have suggested, but now his cheeks were red and his eyes shone bright again. Asher also seemed joyous, for the moods of this strange woman were as fickle as those of nature's self, and varied as the landscape varies under the sunshine or the shadow. Now she was noon and now dark night, now dawn, now evening, and now thoughts came and went in the blue depths of her eyes like vapours wafted across the summer sky, and in the press of them her sweet face changed and shimmered as broken water shimmers beneath the beaming stars. Too long, she said with a little thrilling laugh, have I been shut in the bowels of somber mountains, accompanied only by mutes and savages or by melancholy chanting priests, and I am glad to look upon the world again. How beautiful are the snows above and the brown slopes below, and the broad plains beyond that roll away to those bordering hills. How glorious is the sun eternal as myself, how sweet the keen air of heaven! Believe me, Leo, more than twenty centuries have gone by since I was seated on a steed, and yet thou seest I have not forgotten my horsemanship, though this beast cannot match those Arabs that I rode in the wide deserts of Arabia. Oh, I remember how at my father's side I galloped down to war amidst the marauding bedwins, and how with my own hand I speared thy chieftain and made him cry for mercy. One day I will tell thee of that father of mine, for I was his darling, and though he have been long apart I hold his memory dear, and look forward to our meeting. See Yonder is the mouth of that gorge where lived the cat worshiping sorcerer who would have murdered both of you because thou, Leo, didst throw his familiar to the fire. It is strange, but several of the tribes of this mountain and the lands behind it make cats their gods or divine by means of them. I think that the first wrasse and the general of Alexander must have brought the practice here from Egypt. Of this Macedonian Alexander I could tell thee much. For he was almost a contemporary of mine, and when I last was born the world still rang with the fame of his great deeds. It was Rassan who on the mountains supplanted the primeval fire worship, whereof the flaming pillars which light the sanctuary remain as monuments by that of Heirs or Isis, or rather blended the two in one. Doubtless among the priests in his army were some of Pashd or Seket the cat-headed, and these brought with them their sacred cult that today has dwindled down to the vulgar divinations of savage sorcerers. Indeed I remember dimly that it was so, for I was the first Hesair of this temple and journeyed hither with that same general Rassan, a relative of mine. Now both Leo and I looked at her wonderingly, and I could see that she was watching us through her veil. As usual, however, it was I whom she reproved, since Leo might think and do what he will then still escape her anger. Thou, Holly, she said quickly, who art ever of a caveling and suspicious mind, remembering what I said but now, believest that I lie to thee? I protested that I was only reflecting upon an apparent variation between two statements. Play not with words, she answered, and thy heart thou didst drive me down a lie, and I take that ill. No foolish man, that when I said that the Macedonian Alexander lived before me, I meant before this present life of mine. In the existence that preceded it, though I outlasted him by thirty years, we were born in the same summer. And I knew him well, for I was the oracle whom he consulted most upon his wars, and to my wisdom he owed his victories. Afterwards we quarreled, and I left him, and pushed forwards with Rassan. From that day the bright star of Alexander began to wane. At this Leo made a sound that resembled a whistle, and a very agony of apprehension, beating back the criticisms and certain recollections of the strange tale of the old abbot Ku'en, which would rise within me, I asked quickly, and thus thou art I remember well all that befell thee in this former life? Nay, not well, she answered meditatively, only the great effects, and those I have for the most part recovered by that study of secret things which thou callest vision or magic. For instance, may Holly, I recall that thou wast living in that life. Indeed, I seem to see an ugly philosopher clad in a dirty robe, and filled both with wine and the learning of others, who disputed with Alexander till he grew wroth with him and caused him to be banished, or drowned, I forget which. I suppose that I was not called Diogenes, I asked tartly, suspecting perhaps not of that cause that Asher was amusing herself by fooling me. No, she replied gravely. I do not think that was thy name, that Diogenes, thou speaker's dove, was a much more famous man, one of real, if crabbed wisdom. Moreover, he did not indulge in wine. I am mindful of very little of that life, however, not of more indeed than are many of the followers of the prophet Buddha, whose doctrines I have studied and from thou, Holly, has spoken to me so much. Maybe we did not meet while it endured. Still I recollect that the valley of Bones, where I found thee, Malia, was the place where a great battle was fought between the fire-priests with their vassals, the tribes of the mountain, and the army of Rassen aided by the people of Cologne. For between these and the mountain, in old days as now, there was enmity, since in this present war history does but rewrite itself. So thou thyself was our guide, said Leo, looking at her sharply. I, Leo, who else, though it is not wonderful that thou didst not know me beneath those deathly wrappings? I was minded to wait and receive thee in the sanctuary, yet when I learned that at length both of you had escaped Atten and drew near, I could restrain myself no more, but came forth thus hideously disguised. Yes, I was with you even at the river's bank, and though you saw me not, there sheltered you from harm. Leo, I yearned to look upon thee and to be certain that thy heart had not changed, although until the allotted time thou mightest not hear my voice or see my face, who were doomed to undergo that sore trial of thy faith. Of Holly also I desired to learn whether his wisdom could pierce through my disguise, and how near he stood to me. It was for this reason that I suffered him to see me draw the lock from the satchel on thy breast, and to hear me wail over the yonder in the rest house. Well, he did not guess so ill, but thou, thou newest me in thy sleep, newest me as I am, and not as I seem to be. Yes, she added softly, and did say certain sweet words which I remember well. And beneath that shroud was thine own face, asked Leo again, for he was very curious on this point. The same lovely face I see today. May happen, as thou wilt, she answered coldly. Also it is the spirit that matters, not the outward seeming, though men in their blindness think otherwise. But chance my face is but as thy heart fashions it, or as my will presents it to the sight and fancy of its beholders. But Huck, the scouts have touched. As Arshia spoke, a sound of distant shouting was born upon the wind, and presently we saw a fringe of horsemen falling back slowly upon our foremost line. It was only to report, however, that the skirmishes of Atten were in full retreat. Indeed, a prisoner whom they brought with them, on being questioned by the priests, confessed at once that the Karnia had no mind to meet us upon the Holy Mountain. She proposed to give battle on the river's farther bank, having for a defence its waters which we must forward, a decision that showed good military judgment. So it happened that on this day there was no fighting. All that afternoon we descended the slopes of the mountain, more swiftly by far than we had climbed them after a long flight from the city of Kallun. Before sunset we came to our prepared camping-ground, a wide and sloping plain that ended at the crest of the valley of dead bones, where in past days we had met our mysterious guide, this her who we did not reach through the secret mountain tunnel along which she had led us, the shortest way by miles, as Arshia told us now, since it was unsuited to the passage of an army. Bending to the left we circled around a number of unclimable copies beneath which that tunnel passed, and so at length arrived upon the brow of the dark ravine where we could sleep safe from attack by night. Here a tent was pitched for Arshia, but as it was the only one, Leo and I with our guard bivocked among some rocks at a distance of a few hundred yards. When she found that this must be so, Arshia was very angry, and spoke bitter words to the chief who had charged of the food and baggage, although he poor man knew nothing of tents. Although she blamed Orus, who replied meekly that he had thought his captains accustomed to war and its hardships. But most of all she was angry with herself, who had forgotten this detail, and until Leo stopped her with a laugh of fixation went on to suggest that we should sleep in the tent, since she had no fear of the rigors of the mountain coal. The end of it was that we subbed together outside, or rather Leo and I subbed, for as there were guards around us, Arshia did not even lift her veil. That evening Arshia was disturbed and ill at ease, as though new fears which she could not overcome assailed her. At length she seemed to conquer them by some effort of her will, and announced that she was minded to sleep and thus refresh her soul, the only part of her I think which ever need addressed. Her last words to us were, Sleep you also, sleep sound. But be not astonished, my Leo, if I send to some and both of you during the night, since in my slumbers I may find new cancels and need to speak of them to thee, how we break camp adorn. Thus we parted, but ah, little did we guess how and where the three of us would meet again. We were weary and soon fell fast asleep beside our campfire, for knowing that the whole army guarded us we had no fear. I remember watching the bright stars which shone in the immense vault above me until they paled in the pure light of the risen moon, now somewhat past her full. And hearing Leo mutter drowsily from beneath his fur rug, the dasher was quite right, and that it was pleasant to be in the open air again as he was tired of caves. After that I knew no more until I was awakened by the challenge of a sentry in the distance, then after a pause a second challenge from the officer of our own guard. Another pause, and a priest stood bowing before us. The flickering light from the fire playing upon his shaven head and face, which I seem to recognise. I, and he gave a name that was familiar to me but which I forget, am sent, my lords, by Orrus, who commands me to say that the Hessea would speak with you both, and at once. Now Leo sat up yawning and asked what was the matter. I told him, whereon he said he wished the dasher could have waited till daylight, then added, well there is no help for it, come on, Horus. And he rose to follow the messenger. The priest bowed again and said, the commands of the Hessea that my lords should bring their weapons in their guard. What, grumbles Leo, to protect us for a walk of a hundred yards through the heart of an army? The Hessea, explained the man, has left her tent, she is in the gorge yonder studying the line of advance. How do you know that? I asked. I do not know it, he replied. Orrus told me so, that is all, and therefore the Hessea bade my lords bring their guard, for she is alone. Is she mad, ejaculated Leo, to wander about in such a place at midnight? Well it is like her. I too thought it was like her, who did nothing that others would have done, and yet I hesitated. And I remembered that Atta had said she might send for us. Also I was sure that if any trick had been intended we should not have been warned to bring an escort. So we called the guard, though twelve of them, took our spears and swords, and started. We were challenged by both the first and second lines of sentries, and I noticed that as we gave them the password the last picket, who of course recognised us, looked astonished. Still if they had doubts they did not dare express them. So we went on. Now we began to descend the sides of the ravine by a very steep path, with which the priest, our guide, seemed to be curiously familiar, for he went down at his own with a stairway of his own house. A strange place to take us to at night, said Leo doubtfully, when we were near the bottom and the chief of the bodyguard, that great red-bearded hunter who had been mixed up in the matter of the snow-leopard also muttered some words of remonstrance. Whilst I was trying to catch what he said, of a sudden something white walked into the patch of moonlight at the foot of the ravine, and we saw that it was the veiled figure of Asher herself. The chief saw her also and said contentedly, Heirs, heirs! Look at her! grumbles Leo, strolling about in that haunted hole as though it were Hyde Park. And on he went at a run. The figure turned and beckoned to us to follow her as she glided forward, picking her way through the skeletons which were scattered about upon the lava bed of the cleft. Thus she went on into the shadow of the opposing cliff that the moonlight did not reach. Here in the wet seas in a stream trickled down a path which it had cut through the rock in the course of centuries, and the grit that it had brought with it was spread about the lava floor of the ravine, so that many of the bones were almost completely buried in sand. These I noticed as we stepped into the shadow were more numerous than usual just here, for on all sides I saw the white crowns of skulls, or the projecting ends of ribs and thigh bones. Doubtless, I thought to myself, that streamway made a road to the plain above, and in some past battle the fighting around it was very fierce, and the slaughter great. Here Asher had halted, and was engaged in the contemplation of this boldest, strewn path, as though she meditated making use of it that day. Now we drew near to her, and the priest who guided us fell back with our guard, leaving us to go forward alone, since they dared not approach the Hosea unbidden. Leo was somewhat in advance of me, seven or eight yards perhaps, and I heard him say, Why dost thou venture into such places at night, Asher, unless indeed it is not possible for any harm to come to thee? She made no answer, only turned and opened her arms wide, then let them fall to her side again. Whilst I wondered what this signal of hers might mean, from the shadows about us came a strange rustling sound. I looked, and lo, everywhere the skeletons were rising from their sandy beds. I saw their white skulls, their gleaming arm and leg bones, their hollow ribs. The long slain army had come to life again, and look, in their hands were the ghosts of Spears. Of course I knew at once that this was but another manifestation of Asher's magic powers, which some whim of hers had drawn us from our beds to witness. Yet I confessed that I felt frightened, even the boldest of men, however free from superstition, might be excused should their nerve fail them, if when standing in a churchyard at midnight, suddenly on every side they saw the dead arising from their graves. Also our surroundings were wilder and more eerie than those of any civilised burying place. What new devilment of thine is this, cried Leo, in a scared and angry voice, but Asher made no answer. I heard a noise behind me and looked round. The skeletons were springing upon our bodyguard, who for their part poor men, paralysed with terror, had thrown down their weapons and fallen some of them to their knees. Now the ghosts began to stab at them with their phantom spears, and I saw that beneath the blows they rolled over. The veiled figure above me pointed with her hand at Leo and said, Seize him, but I charge you, harm him not. I knew the voice. It was that of a ten. Then too late I understood the trap into which we had fallen. Treachery! I began to cry. But before the word was out of my lips a particularly able-bodied skeleton silenced me with a violent blow upon the head. But though I could not speak, my senses still stayed with me for a little. I saw Leo fighting furiously with a number of men who strove to pull him down, so furiously indeed that his frightful efforts caused the blood to gush out of his mouth from some burst vessel in the lungs. Then sight and hearing failed me, and thinking that this was death, I fell and remembered no more. Why I was not killed outright I do not know, unless in their hurry the disguised soldiers thought me already dead, or perhaps that my life was to be spared also. At least beyond the knock upon the head I received no injury. End of Chapter 21. Chapter 22 of Asher The Return of She This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Graham Redman. Asher The Return of She By H. Ryder Haggard Chapter 22 The Loosing of the Powers When I came to myself again it was daylight. I saw the calm, gentle face of Oro spending over me as he poured some strong fluid down my throat that seemed to shoot through all my body and melt a curtain in my mind. I saw also that beside him stood Asher. Speak, man, speak, she said in a terrible voice. What hast chanced here? Thou livest, then where is my Lord? Where hast thou hid my Lord? Tell me or die. It was the vision that I saw when my senses left me in the snow of the avalanche fulfilled to the last detail. Atini has taken him, I answered. Atini has taken him, and thou art left alive? Do not be wroth with me, I answered. It is no fault of mine. Little wonder we were deceived after thou had said that thou mightest summon us ere dawn. Even as briefly as I could I told the story. She listened, went to where our murdered guards lay with unstained spears, and looked at them. Well, for these that they are dead, she exclaimed, now, holly, thou seest what is the fruit of mercy. The men whose lives I gave my Lord have failed him at his need. Then she passed forward to the spot where Leo was captured. Here lay a broken sword, Leo's, that had been the cairn-rassums, and two dead men. Both of these were clothed in some tight-fitting black garments, having their heads and faces whitened with chalk, and upon their vests a rude imitation of a human skeleton also daubed in chalk. A trick fit to frighten foals with, she said contemptuously, but oh, that a teenie should have dared to play the part of Asia, that she should have dared. And she clenched her little hand. See, surprised and overwhelmed, yet he fought well. Say, was he hurt, holly? It comes upon me. No, tell me that I see a miss. Not much, I think. I answered doubtfully. A little blood was running from his mouth. No more. Look, there go the stains of it upon that rock. For every drop I'll take a hundred lives. By myself I swear it. Asia muttered with a groan. Then she cried in a ringing voice, back and to horse, for I have deeds to do this day. Nay, by thou here, holly, we go a shorter path, while the army skirts the gorge. Oros give him food and drink, and bathe that hurt upon his head. It is but a bruise, for his hood and hair are thick. So while Oros rubbed some stinging lotion on my scalp, I ate and drank as best I could, till my brain ceased to swim. For the blow, though heavy, had not fractured the bone. When I was ready they brought the horses to us, and mounting them slowly we scrambled up the steep bed of the water-course. See, Asia said, pointing to tracks and hoof-prints on the plain at its head, there was a chariot awaiting him, and harnessed to it were four swift horses. A teenish scheme was clever and well-laid, and I, grown over sure and careless, slept through it all. On this plain the army of the tribes that had broken camp before the dawn was already gathering fast. Indeed, the cavalry, if I may call them so, were assembled there to the number of about five thousand men, each of whom had a lead horse. Asia summoned the chiefs and captains and addressed them. Servants of Hez, she said, the stranger Lord, my betrothed and guest, has been tricked by a false priest and falling into a cunning snare captured as a hostage. It is necessary that I follow him fast before harm comes to him. We move down to attack the army of the Carnia beyond the river. When its passage is forced I pass on with the horseman, for I must sleep in the city of Calun tonight. What sayest thou, Oros, that a second and greater army defends its walls? Man, I know it, and if there is need that army I will destroy. Nay, stare not at me, already they are as dead. Horseman, you accompany me. Captains of the tribes, you follow, and woe be to that man who hangs back in the hour of battle, for death and eternal shame shall be his portion, but wealth and honour to those who bear them bravely. Yes, I tell you, theirs shall be the fair land of Calun. You have your orders for the passing of Yonder River. I, with the horseman, take the central ford. Let the wings advance. The chiefs answered with a cheer, for they were fierce men whose ancestors had loved war for generations. Moreover, mad as seemed the Enterprise, they trusted in their oracle the Hesia, and, like all hill-peoples, were easily fired by the promise of rich plunder. An hour's steady march down the slopes brought the army to the edge of the marshlands. These, as it chanced, proved no obstacle to our progress, for in that season of great drought they were quite dry, and for the same reason the shrunken river was not so impassable a defence as I feared that it would be. Still, because of its rocky bottom and steep opposing banks, it looked formidable enough, while on the crests of those banks in squadrons and companies of horse and foot were gathered the regiments of a teeny. While the wings of footmen deployed to right and left, the cavalry halted in the marshes and let their horses fill themselves with the long grass, now a little browned by frost that grew on this boggy soil and afterwards drink some water. All this time Asia stood silent, for she also had dismounted that the mare she rode and her two lead horses might graze with the others. Indeed, she spoke but once, saying, thou thinkest this adventure mad, my holly? Say, art afraid? Not with thee, for captain, I answered. Still that second army shall melt before me like mist before the gale. She replied in a low and thrilling voice, holly, I tell thee, thou shalt see things such as no man upon the earth has ever seen. Remember my words when I loose the powers and thou followest the rent veil of Asia through the spitten squadrons of Caloon. Only Hauntifatini should dare to murder him. Oh, if she should dare! Be comforted, I replied, wondering what she might mean by this loosing of the powers. I think that she loves him too well. I bless thee for the words, holly, yet I know he will refuse her and then her hate for me and her jealous rage may overcome her love for him. Should this be so, what will avail my vengeance? Eat and drink again, holly, nay, I touch no food until I sit in the palace of Caloon, and look well to girth and bridle, for thou ridest far and on a wild errand. Mount thee on Leo's horse, which is swift and sure. If it dies, the guards will bring the others. I obeyed her as best I could and once more bathed my head in a pool and with the help of Oros tied a rag soaked in the liniment on the bruise. After which I felt sound enough. Indeed, the mad excitement of those minutes of waiting and some foreshadowing of the terrible wonders that were about to befall made me forget my hurts. Now, Asha was standing, staring upwards, so that although I could not see her veiled face, I guessed that her eyes must be fixed on the sky above the mountaintop. I was certain also that she was concentrating her fearful will upon an unknown object, for her whole frame quivered like a reed shaken in the wind. It was a very strange morning, cold and clear, yet curiously still, and with a heaviness in the air such as precedes a great fall of snow, although for much snow the season was yet too early. Once or twice, too, in that utter calm, I thought that I felt everything shudder, not the ordinary trembling of earthquake, however, for the shuddering seemed to be of the atmosphere quite as much as of the land. It was as though all nature around us were a living creature which is very much afraid. Following Asha's earnest gaze, I perceived that thick, smoky clouds were gathering one by one in the clear sky above the peak, and that they were edged each of them with a fiery rim. Watching these fantastic and ominous clouds, I ventured to say to her that it looked as though the weather would change, not a very original remark, but one which the circumstances suggested. I, she answered, air night the weather will be wilder even than my heart. No longer shall they cry for water in Kallum. Mount Holley, mount, the advance begins. And unaided she sprang to the saddle of the mare that Oros brought her. Then in the midst of the 5,000 horsemen, we moved down upon the ford. As we reached its brink, I noted that the two divisions of tribesmen were already entering the stream half a mile to the right and left of us. Of what befell them, I can tell nothing from observation, although I learned later that they forced it after great slaughter on both sides. In front of us was gathered the main body of the Karnia's army, masked by regiments upon the further bank, while hundreds of picked men stood up to their middles in the water, waiting to spear or hamstring our horses as we advanced. Now, uttering their wild, whistling cry, our leading companies dashed into the river, leaving us upon the bank, and soon were engaged hotly with the footmen in midstream. While this fray went on, Oros came to Asia, told her a spy had reported that Leo, bound in a two-wheeled carriage and accompanied by a teeny simbri and a guard, had passed through the enemy's camp at night, galloping furiously towards Caloon. Spare thy words, I know it, she answered, and he fell back behind her. Our squadrons gained the bank, having destroyed most of the men in the water, but as they set foot upon it, the enemy charged them and drove them back with loss. Thrice they returned to the attack and Thrice were repulsed in this fashion. At length Asia grew impatient. They need a leader, and I will give them one, she said. Come with me, my holly. And, followed by the main body of the horseman, she rode a little way into the river, and there waited until the shattered troops had fallen back upon us. Oros whispered to me, it is madness, the Hesia will be slain. Thinkest thou so, I answered, more like that we shall be slain, a slaying at which he smiled a little more than usual and shrugged his shoulders, since for all his soft ways Oros was a brave man. Also I believe that he spoke to try me, knowing that his mistress would take no harm. Asia held up her hand in which there was no weapon and waved it forwards. A great cheer answered that signal to advance, and in the midst of it this frail white-robed woman spoke to her horse so that it plunged deep into the water. Two minutes later, and spears and arrows were flying about us so thickly that they seemed to darken the sky. I saw men and horses fall to right and left, but nothing touched me or the white robes that floated a yard or two ahead. Five minutes, and we were gaining the further bank, and there the worst fight began. It was fierce indeed, yet never an inch did the white robes give back, and where they went men would follow them or fall. We were up the bank and the enemy was packed about us, but through them we passed slowly, like a boat through an adverse sea that buffets but cannot stay it. Yes, further and further, till at last the lines ahead grew thin as the living wedge of horsemen forced its path between them, grew thin, broke, and vanished. We had passed through the heart of the host and leaving the tribesmen who followed to deal with its flying fragments, rode on half a mile or so and mustered. Many were dead and more were hurt, but the command was issued that all sore wounded men should fall out and give their horses to replace those that had been killed. This was done, and presently we moved on, three thousand of us now, not more, heading for Cologne. The trot grew to a canter and the canter to a gallop as we rushed forward across that endless plain till that midday or a little after, for this route was far shorter than that taken by Leo and myself in Ardivia's flight from Rasson and his death-hounds, we dimly saw the city of Cologne set upon its hill. Now a halt was ordered, for here was a reservoir in which was still some water whereof the horses drank, while the men ate of the food they carried with them, dried meat, and barley-meal. Here, too, more spies met us who said that the great army of a teeny was posted guarding the city bridges, and that to attack it with our little force would mean destruction. But Asia took no heed of their words. Indeed, she scarcely seemed to hear them. Only she ordered that all wearied horses should be abandoned, and fresh ones mounted. Forward again for hour after hour in perfect silence save for the thunder of our horses' hoofs. No word spoke Asia, nor did her wild escort speak. Only from time to time they looked over their shoulders and pointed with their red spears at the red sky behind. I looked also, nor shall I forget its aspect, that dreadful fire-edged clouds had grown and gathered, so that beneath their shadows the plain lay almost black. They marched above us like an army in the heavens, while from time to time vaporous points shot forward, thin like swords or mast like charging horse. Under them a vast stillness reigned. It was as though the earth lay dead beneath their pawl. Kalloon lit in a lurid light grew nearer. The pickets of the foe flew homeward before us, shaking their javelins, and their mocking laughter reached us in hollow echoes. Now we saw the vast array posted rank on rank with silt and banners drooping in that sterlish air, flanked and screened by glittering regiments of horse. An embassy approached us, and at the signal of Asia's uplifted arm we halted. It was headed by a lord of the court whose face I knew. He pulled rain and spoke boldly. Listen, Hez, to the words of a teeny, ere now the stranger lord thy darling is prisoner in her palace. Advance, and we destroy thee and thy little band, but if by any miracle thou shouldst conquer, then he dies. Get thee gone to thy mountain fastness, and the karnia gives thee peace, and thy people their lives. What answer to the words of the karnia? Asia whispered to Oros, who called aloud, There is no answer, go if ye love life, for death draws near to you. So they went fast as their swift steeds would carry them, but for a little while Asia still sat lost in thought. Presently she turned, and through her thin veil I saw that her face was white and terrible, and that the eyes in it glowed like those of a lioness at night. She said to me, hissing the words between her clenched teeth, Holley, prepare thyself to look into the mouth of hell. I desired to spare them if I could, I swear it, but my heart bids me be bold to put off human pity and use all my secret might if I would see Leo living. Holley, I tell thee they are about to murder him. Then she cried aloud, Fear nothing, captains, ye are but few, yet with you goes the strength of ten thousand thousand. Now follow the Hesia, and whatever ye meet be not dismayed. Repeat it to the soldiers that, fearing nothing, they follow the Hesia through Yonderhost, and across the bridge, and into the city of Caloon. So the chiefs rode hither and thither, crying out her words, and the savage tribesmen answered, I, we who followed through the water, will follow across the plain, Onward, Hes, for darkness swallows us. Now some orders were given, and the companies fell into a formation that resembled a great wedge, Hesia herself being its very point and apex. For though Oros and I rode on either side of her, spur as we would our horses' heads never past her saddle-bow. In front of that dark mass she shone a single spot of white, and snowy feather on a black torrent's breast. A screaming bugle-note, and like giant arms from the shelter of some groves of poplar trees, curved horns of cavalry shot out to surround us, while the broad bosom of the opposing army shimmering with spears rolled forward as a wave rolls crowned with sunlit foam, and behind it line upon line uncountable lay a surging sea of men. Our end was near, we were lost, or so it seemed. Hesia tore off her veil, and held it on high, flowing from her like a penon, and low upon her brow blazed that wide and mystic diadem of light which once only I had seen before. Denser and denser grew the rushing clouds above. Brighter and brighter gleamed the unearthless star of light beneath. Louder and louder beat the sound of the falling hoops of ten thousand horses. From the mountain peak behind us went up sudden sheets of flame. It spouted fire as a foal spouts foam. The scene was dreadful. In front the towers of Kalloon lurid in a monstrous sunset, above a gloom as of an eclipse, around the darkling sunburnt plain, on it a teen is advancing army, and our rushing wedge of horsemen destined it would appear to inevitable doom. Hesia let fall her reign. She tossed her arms waving the torn white veil as though it were a signal cast to heaven. Instantly from the churning jaws of the unholy night above belched a blaze of answering flame that also wavered like a rent and shaken veil in the grasp of a black hand of cloud. Then did Hesia roll the thunder of her might upon the children of Kalloon. Then she called, and the terror came such as men had never seen and per chance never more will see. Awful bursts of wind tore past us, lifting the very stones and soil before them, and with the wind went hail and level hissing rain made visible by the arrows of perpetual lightnings that leapt downwards from the sky and upwards from the earth. It was as she had warned me. It was as though hell had broken loose upon the world, yet through that hell we rushed on unharmed. For always these furies passed before us. No arrow for you, no javelin was stained. The jagged hail was a herald of our coming. The leavens that smote and stabbed were our sword and spear, while ever the hurrican roared and screamed with a million separate voices which blended to one yell of sound, hideous and indescribable. As for the hosts about us, they melted and were gone. Now the darkness was dense, like to that of thickest night, yet in the fierce flares of the lightnings I saw them run this way and that, and amidst the volleying elemental voices I heard their shouts of horror and of agony. I saw horses and riders roll confused upon the ground. Like storm-drifted leaves I saw their footmen piled in high and whirling heaps while the brands of heaven struck and struck them till they sank together and grew still. I saw the groves of trees bend, shrivel up and vanish. I saw the high walls of cologne blown in and flee away while the houses within the walls took fire to go out beneath the torrents of the driving rain and again take fire. I saw blackness sweep over us with great wings and when I looked low those wide wings were flame, floods of pulsing flame that flew upon the tormented air. Blackness, utter blackness, turmoil, doom, dismay. Beneath me the laboring horse, at my side the steady crest of light which sat on Asher's brow and through the tumult a clear, exultant voice that sang, I promised thee wild weather, now holly dost thou believe that I can loose the prisoned powers of the world. Low all was past and gone and above us shone the quiet evening sky and before us lay the empty bridge and beyond it the flaming city of Cologne. With the armies of a teeny, where were they? Go ask of those great cairns that hide their bones. Go ask it of her widowed land. Yet of our wild company of horsemen not one was lost. After us they galloped, trembling, white-lipped, like men who face to face had fought and conquered death. But triumphant, ah triumphant! On the high head of the bridge Asher wheeled her horse and so for one proud moment stood to welcome them. At the sight of her glorious star-crowned countenance which now her tribes beheld for the first time and the last, there went up such a shout as men have seldom heard. The Goddess! That shulk thundered. Worship the Goddess! Then she turned her horse's head again and they followed on through the long straight street of the burning city up to the palace on its crest. As the sun set we sped beneath its gateway. In the courtyard, silence everywhere, save for the distant roar of fire and the scared howlings of the death-hounds in their kennel. Asher sprang from her horse and waving back all savorous and myself, swept through the open doors into the halls beyond. They were empty, every one, all were fled or dead. Yet she never paused or doubted, but so swiftly that we scarce could follow her, flitted up the wide-stone stair that led to the topmost tower. Up, still up, until we reached the chamber where had dwelt Simbri the shaman, that same chamber whence he was wont to watch his stars, in which Atini had threatened us with death. This door was shut and barred. Still at Asher's coming, yes, before the mere breath of her presence, the iron bolts snapped like twigs, the locks flew back, and inward burst that massive portal. Now we were within the lamplit chamber, and this is what we saw. Made in a chair, pale-faced, bound, yet proud and defiant-looking, was Leo. Over him, a dagger in his withered hand, yes, about to strike in the very act, stood the old shaman, and on the floor, hard by, gazing upward with wide-set eyes, dead and still majestic in her death, lay Atini, carnia of Caloon. Dagger waved her arm, and the knife fell from Simbri's hand, clattering on the marble, while in an instant he who had held it was smitten to stillness, and became like a man turned to stone. She stooped, lifted the dagger, and with a swift stroke severed Leo's bonds, then as though overcome at last, sank on to a bench in silence. Leo rose, looking about him bewildered, and said in the strained voice of one who is weak with much suffering, but just in time, Asha, another second and that murderous dog, and he pointed to the shaman, well, it was in time. But how went the battle, and how came us now here through that awful hurricane? And oh, Hordes, thank heaven they did not kill you after all. The battle went ill for some, Asha answered, and I came not through the Hurrican, but on its wings. Tell me now what has befallen thee since we parted? Trapped, overpowered, bound, brought here, told that I must write to thee and stop thy advance or die, refused, of course, and then, and he glanced at the dead body on the floor. And then, repeated Asha, then that fearful tempest which seemed to drive me mad. Oh, if thou couldst have heard the wind howling round these battlements, tearing off their stones as though they were dry leaves, if thou had seen the lightnings falling thick and fast as rain, they were my messengers. I sent them to save thee," said Asha simply. Leo stared at her, making no comment, but after a pause, as though he were thinking the matter over, he went on, Atini said as much, but I did not believe her. I thought the end of the world had come, that was all. Well, she returned just now more mad even than I was, and told me that her people were destroyed and that she could not fight against the strength of hell, but that she could send me thither, and took a knife to kill me. I said, kill on, for I knew that wherever I went thou wouldst follow, and I was sick with the loss of blood from some hurt I had in that struggle, and weary of it all. So I shut my eyes, waiting for the stroke, but instead I felt her lips pressed upon my forehead, and heard her say, Nay, I will not do it. Fare thee well, fulfill thou thine own destiny as I fulfill mine, for this cast the dice that have fallen against me, elsewhere it may be otherwise. I go to load them, if I may. I opened my eyes, and looked, there Atini stood a glass in her hand, see it lies beside her. Defeated, yet I win, she cried, for I do but pass before thee to prepare the path that thou shalt tread, and to make ready thy place in the underworld. Till we meet again I pledge thee, for I am destroyed. Asher's horsemen are in my streets, and clothed in lightnings at their head rides Asher's avenging self. So she drank and fell dead, but now, look, her breast still quivers. Words that old man would have murdered me, for being roped I could not resist him, but the door burst in, and thou camest. Spare him, he is of her blood, and he loved her. Then Leo sank back into the chair, where we had discovered him bound, and seemed to fall into a kind of torpor, for of a sudden he grew to look like an old man. Thou art sick, said Asher anxiously, or else thy medicine, the draft I badly bring, be swift, I say. The priest bowed, and from some pocket in his ample robe produced a file, which he opened and gave to Leo, saying, Drink, my lord, this stuff will give thee back thy health, for it is strong. The stronger the better, answered Leo, rousing himself, and with something like his old cheerful laugh. I am thirsty, who have touched nothing since last night, and have fought hard and been carried far, yes, and lived through that hellish storm. Then he took the draft and emptied it. There must have been virtue in that potion, at least the change which it produced in him was wonderful. Within a minute his eyes grew bright again, and the color returned into his cheeks. Thy medicines are very good, as I have learned of old, he said to Asher, but the best of all of them is to see thee safe and victorious before me, and to know that I, who looked for death, yet lived to greet thee, my beloved. There is food, and he pointed to a board upon which were meats, say, may I eat of them, for I starve. I, she answered softly, eat, and my holly eat thou also. So we fell too, yes, we fell too, and yet, even in the presence of that dead woman who looked so royal in her death, of the old magician who stood there powerless like a man petrified, and of Asher the wondrous being that could destroy an army with the fearful weapons which were servant to her will. Only Oroz said nothing, but remained where he was, smiling at us benignantly. Nor did Asher touch any food. End of Chapter 22, Recording by Graham Redmond. When I had satisfied myself, Leo was still at his meal, for loss of blood or the effects of the tremendous nootonic which Asher ordered to be administered to him, had made him ravenous. I watched his face, and became aware of a curious change in it. No immediate change indeed, but one I think that had come upon him gradually, although I only fully appreciated it now after our short separation. In addition to the thinness of which I have spoken, his handsome countenance had grown more ethereal, his eyes were full of the shadows of things that were to come. He suspect pained me, I knew not why. It was no longer that of the Leo with whom I was familiar. The deep-chested, mighty-limbed, jovial, upright traveller, hunter and fighting man who had chance to love and be loved of the spiritual power incarnated in a mold of perfect womanhood and armed with all the might of nature's self. These things were still present, indeed, but the man was changed, and I felt sure that this change came from Asher, since the look upon his face had become exceeding like to that which often hovered upon her's address. She also was watching him with speculative dreamy eyes, till presently, as some thoughts swept through her, I saw those eyes blaze up and the red blood pour to cheek and brow. Yes, the mighty Asher, who stead slain for him, lay strewn by the thousand on Yonder plain, blushed and trembled like a maiden at her first lover's kiss. Leo rose from the table. I would that I had been with thee in the fray, he said. At the drift there was fighting, she answered, afterwards none. My ministers of fire, earth and air smote, no more. I waked them from their sleep, and at my command they smote, for thee and saved thee. Many lives to take for one man's safety, Leo said solemnly, as though the thought pained him. Had they been millions and not thousands, I would have spent them every one, on my head be their death, not on thine, or rather on hers. And she pointed to the dead Atine, yes, on hers who made this war. At least she should thank me, who have sent so royal a host to guard her through the darkness. Yet it is terrible, said Leo, to think of thee, beloved, red to the hair with slaughter. What wreck I, she answered, with a splendid pride, let the blood suffice to wash the stain of thy blood from these cruel hands that once did murder thee. Who am I that I should blame thee? Leo went on, as though arguing with himself. I, who but yesterday killed two men, to save myself from treachery. Speak not of it, she exclaimed in cold rage. I saw the place, and, holly, thou knowest how I swore that a hundred lives should pay for every drop of that dear blood of thine, and I, who lie not, have kept the oath. Look now on that man who stands yonder, struck by my will to stone. And yet living, and say again, what was he about to do thee when I entered here? To take vengeance on me for the doom of his queen, and of her armies, answered Leo. And Asha, how knowest thou that a power higher than thine own will not demand it yet? As he spoke, a pale shadow flickered on Leo's face, such a shadow as might fall from death's advancing wing. And in the fixed eyes of the shaman, there shone a stony smile. For a moment terror seemed to take Asha, then it was gone as quickly as it came. Nay, she said, I ordain that it shall not be, and say one who listeth not what power reigns in this wide earth, that dare defy my will. So she spoke, and as a words of awful pride, for they were very awful, hang round that stone-bill chamber, a vision came to me, holly. I saw illimitable space peepled with shining suns, and sank in the infinite void above them, one vast countenance, clad in a calm, so terrific, that at its aspect my spirit sank to nothingness. Yes, and I knew that this was destiny, and thrown about the spheres. Those lips moved, and obedient worlds rushed upon their cores. They moved again, and these rolling chariots of the heavens were turned or stayed, appeared or disappeared. I knew also, that against this calm majesty, the being, woman, or spirit at my side, had dared to hurl her passion and her strength. My soul reeled, I was afraid. The dreed phantasm passed, and when my mind cleared again, Asha was speaking in a new triumphant tones. Nay, nay, she cried, past is the night of dreed, dawn so the day of victory. Look! And she pointed through the window-places shattered by the hurricane to the flaming town beneath, when strove one continual veil of misery, the veil of women mourning their countless slain, while the fire roared through their homes, like some unchained and rejoicing demon. Look, Leo, on the smoke of the first sacrifice that I offer to thy royal state, and listen to its music. Perhaps thou deemst it not. Why, then I'll give thee others. Thou lovest war. Good! Go down to war, and the rebellious cities of the earth shall be the torches of our march. She paused a moment, her delicate nostrils quivering, and her face alight with the prescience of un-garned splendors. Then, like a swooping swallow, flitted to air by dead Atine, the gold-circlet fallen from the carnia's hair lay upon the floor. She stooped, lifted it, and, coming to Leo, held it high above his head. Slowly, she let her hand fall until the glittering coronet rested for an instant on his brow. Then she spoke in her glorious voice, that rolled out rich and low, a very pin of triumph and power. By this poor earthly symbol I create thee king of earth. Yea, in its round for thee is gathered all her rule. Be thou its king and mine. Again the Corinth was held aloft. Again it sank. And again she said, or rather chanted, With this unbroken ring, token of eternity, I swear to thee the boon of endless days, Endure thou while the world endures, and be its lord and mine. A third time the coronet touched his brow. By this golden round I do endow thee With wisdom perfect gold uncountable. That is the talisman, where at all nature's secret pass Shall open to thy feet. Victorious, victorious, tread thou, Her wondrous ways with me, Feel from her topmost peak at last, She wafts us to our immortal throne, Whereof the columns twain our life and death. Then Asha cast away the crown and lo, It fell upon the breast of the lost Atene, and rested there. Art content with his gifts of mine, My lord, she cried. Leo looked at her, sadly, and shook his head. What more wilt thou then? Ask, and I swear, it shall be thine. Thou swears'dt, but wilt thou keep the oath? Aye, by myself I swear, by myself, And by the strength that bred me. If it be o'er that I can grant, Then, if I refuse it to thee, May such destruction fall upon me, As will satisfy even a teeness Watching soul. I heard, and I think, that another heard also. At least once more the stony smile, Shown in the eyes of the shaman. I ask of thee nothing, That thou canst not give, Asha. I ask of thee, thyself, Not at some distant time, When I have been bathed in a mysterious fire, But now, now this night, She shrank back from him a little, As though dismayed. Surely, she said slowly, I am like that foolish philosopher, Who walking abroad to read the destinies of nations in the stars, Fell down a pitfall dug by idle children, And broke his bones and perished there. Never did I guess, that with all these glories, Stretched before thee like mountaintop, On glittering mountaintop, Making a stairway for thy mortal feet, To the very dome of heaven, Thou would still clutch at thy native earth, And seek of it but the common boon Of woman's love. O Leo, I thought that thy soul Was set upon nobler aims, That thou wouldst pray me for wider powers, For a more vast dominion, Not as though they were but yonder Fallen door of wood and iron. I should break for thee the bars of hardest, And like the every-deaker of old fable, Draw thee living down the steeps of death, Or thrown thee midst of the fires Of the furthest sun To watch its subject worlds at play. Or I thought that thou wouldst bid me Reveal what no woman ever told, The bitter, naked truth, All my sins and sorrows, All the wondering fancies of my fickle thought, Even what thou knowest not, And perhaps never shall know, Who I am, and whence I came, And how, to thy charmed eyes, I seem to change from foul to fair, And what is the purpose of my love for thee, And what the meaning of that tale Of an angry goddess who never was except in dreams. I thought, nay, no matter what I thought, Save that thou were'd far other than thou art, my Leo, And in so high a moment that thou would seek To pass the mystic gates My glory can throw wide, And with me tread an air's supernal To the hidden heart of things. Yet thy prayer is but the same That the whole world whispers beneath the silent moon In the palace and the cottage, Among the snows and on the burning desert's waste. O my love, thy lips, thy lips, O my love, Be mine now, now, beneath the moon, Beneath the moon, Leo, I thought better, higher of thee. May Hap Asha, thou wouldst have thought worse of me, Had I been content with thy sons and constellations And spiritual gifts and dominations, That I neither desire nor understand. If I had said to thee, Be thou my angel, not my wife, Divide the ocean that I may walk its bed, Pierce the firmament and show me how grow the stars, Tell me the origins of being and of death, And instruct me in their issues, Give up the races of mankind to my sword, And the wealth of all the earth to fill my treacheries, Teach me also how to drive the hurricane As thou canst do, and to bend the lawsome nature To my purpose, on earth make me half a god as thou art. But Asham, I am no god, I am a man, And as a man I seek the woman whom I love. O dives thyself of all these wrappings of thy power, Which streuth thy path with dead and keeps me apart from thee. If only for one short night forget the ambition That ignores unceasingly at thy soul. I say, forget thy greatness, And be a woman and my wife. You made no answer, only looked at him and shook her head, Causing her glorious hair to ripple Like water beneath a gentle breath. Thou deniest me, he went on with gathering strength, And that thou canst not do, that thou mayst not do. For Asha, thou hast sworn, And I demand the fulfilment of thine oath. Like thou, I refuse thy gifts. I will have none of thy rule, Who ask no pharaoh's throne, And wish to do good to men, And not to kill them, That the world may profit. I will not go with thee to call, Nor to be bathed in the breath of life. I will leave thee and cross the mountains Or perish on them. For with all thy strength, Canst thou hold me to thy side, Who indeed needst me not. No longer will I endure this daily torment, The torment of thy presence and thy sweet words, Thy loving looks, Thy promises for next year, next year, next year. So keep thine oath, Or let me be gone. Till Asha stood silent, Only now her head drooped, And her breath began to heave. Then Leo stepped forward, He seized her in his arms and kissed her. She broke from his embrace. I know not how, For though she'd returned, It was close enough, And against to before him, But at a little distance. Did I not warn Holly? She whispered with a sigh, To bid thee beware, Lest I should catch thy human fire? Man, I say to thee, It begins to smolder in my heart, And should it grow to flame? Why then, he answered, laughing, We will be happy for a little while. I, Leo, but how long? Why were thou so, Lord, Of this loveliness of mine, And not set above their harming? Night and day a hundred yellow staggers Would seek thy heart and find it? How long, Asha? A lifetime? A year? A month? A minute? I neither know nor care, And while thou art true to me, I fear no stabs of envy. Is it so? Wilt take the risk? I can promise thee nothing. Thou mightest, yes, in this way or in that, Thou mightest die. And if I die, what then? Shall we be separated? Nay, nay, Leo, that is not possible. We never can be severed. Of this I'm sure. It is sworn to me. But then, through other lives and other swears, Higher lives and higher swears may have, Our fates must force a painful path To their last goal of union. Why, then I take the haste, Asha? Shed the life that I can risk To slay a leopard or a lion In the sport of an idle hour, Be too great a prize to offer For the splendours of thy breast? Thine oath, Asha, I claim thine oath. Then it was, that in Asha there began The most mysterious and thrilling of our many changes. Yet, how to describe it, I know not, Unless it be by similing. Once in Tibet we were imprisoned by months by snows That stretched down from the mountain slopes into the valleys And, oh, how weary did we grow Of those arid, aching fields of purest white. At length rain set in, and blinding mists In which it was not safe to wander, That made the dark nights darker yet. So it was, until there came a morning, When seeing the sunshine, we went our door And looked out, behold, a miracle. Gone were the snows that choked the valley, And in the place of them appeared vivid springing grass, Stard everywhere with flowers and murmuring brooks and birds that sang and nested in the willows. Gone was a frowning sky, And all the blue firmament seemed one tender smile. Gone were the austerisers of winter With his harsh winds, and in their place spring, Companion'd by the sifres, Glided down the bale, singing her song of love and life. There in this high chamber, In the presence of the living and the dead, While the last act of the great tragedy Unrolled itself before me, Seeing on Asha that forgotten scene Sprang into my mind. For on her face Just such a change had come. Hitherto, with all her loveliness, The heart of Asha had seemed like that winter mountain Wrapped in its unapproachable snow, And before her pure brow and eyes His self-command, Aspirations sank abashed and desires died. She swore she loved, And her love fulfilled itself In death and many a mysterious way, Yet it was hard to believe That this passion of hers Was more than a spoken part. For how can the star seek the moth, Although the moth may seek the star? Though the man may worship the goddess For all her smiles divine, How can the goddess love the man? But now everything was altered. Look, Asha grew human. I could see her heart beat beneath her robes, And hear her breath come in soft sweet sobs, While over her upturned face And in her alluring eyes There spread itself that look Which is born of love alone. Radiant and more radiant did she seem to grow, Later and more sweet no longer the veiled hermit of the caves, No longer the oracle of the sanctuary, No longer the valkyrie of the battle-plane, But only the loveliest and most happy bride That ever gladdened a husband's eyes. She spoke, and it was of little things, For thus Asha proclaimed the conquest of herself. Fee, she said, showing her white robes torn With spears and stained by the dust and dew of war. Fee, my lord, what marriage garments are these In which at last I come to thee, Who would have been adorned in regal gems And raiment befitting to my state and thine? I seek the woman, not her garment, Said Leo, his burning eyes fixed upon her face. Thou seeks the woman, Ah, there it lies. Tell me, Leo, am I woman or spirit? Say that I am woman, for now the prophecy of this dead Atina lies heavy on my soul. Atina who said that mortal and immortal may not mate. Thou must be woman, or thou wouldst not have tormented me as thou hast done these many weeks. I thank thee for the comfort of thy words, Yet was it a woman whose breath wrought destruction upon yonder plain? Was it to a woman that blast and lightning bowed and said, We are here, command us, we obey? Did that dead thing, and she pointed to the shattered door, break inward at a woman's will? Or could a woman charm this man to stone? Oh, Leo, would that I were woman, I tell thee that I'd lay all my grandeur down, a wedding offering at thy feet. Could I be sure that for one short year I should be not but woman and thy happy wife? Thou says that I did torment thee, But it is I who have known torment, I who decide to yield and dared not. I, I tell thee, Leo, were I not sure that thy little stream of life is draining dry into the great ocean of my life, Drawn thither as the sea draws its rivers, or as the sun draws mists in now? I would not yield, but I know for my wisdom tells it me, erever we could reach the shores of Libya, the ill work would be done, And thou dead of thine own longing, thou dead, and I widowed, who never was a wife. Therefore see, like lost a tine, I take the dice and cast them, not knowing how they shall fall, for good or ill I cast, and she made a wild motion of some desperate game-ster throwing his last throw. So Asha went on, the thing is done, and the number summed for a, though it be hidden from my sight, I have made an end of doubts and fears, and come death, come life, I'll meet it bravely. Say, how shall we be wed? I have it. Holly here must join our hands. Who else? He that ever was our guide shall give me unto thee, and thee to me. This burning city is our altar. The dead and living are our witnesses on earth and heaven. In place of rites and ceremonials, for this first time I lay my lips on thine, and when stun, for music I'll sing thee a natural chant of love, such as mortal poet has not written nor have mortal lovers heard. Come, Holly, do now thy part and give this maiden to this man. Like one in a dream I obeyed her and took Asha's outstretched hand and Leo's. As I held them thus, I tell the truth. It was as though some fire rushed through my veins from her to him, shaking and shattering me with swift waves of burning and unearthly bliss. With the fire, too, came glorious visions and sounds of mighty music, and a sense as though my brain, filled with overflowing life, must burst asunder beneath its weight. I joined their hands. I know not how. I blessed them. I know not in what words. Then I reeled back against the wall and watched. This is what I saw. With an abandonment and a passion so splendid and intense that it seemed more than human, with a murmured cry of husband, Asha cast her arms about her lover's neck and drawing down his head to hers so that the gold hair was mingled with her raven locks. She kissed him on the lips. Thus they clung a little while, and as they clung, the gentle, dear dim of light from her brow spread to his brow also, and through the white wrappings of her robe became visible, her perfect shape shining with faint fire. With a little happy laugh she left him, saying, Thus, Leo, oh, thus for the second time do I give myself to thee, and with this flesh and spirit all I swore to thee, there in the dim caves of corn, here in the palace of Cologne, know thou this. Come what may. Never, never more shall we be separate, who are ordained one. Whilst thou lives, I live at thy side, and when thou diesst, if die thy must, I'll follow thee through worlds and firmaments, nor shall all the doors of heaven or hell avail against my love. Where thou ghost, thither I will go. When thou sleepst, with thee I will sleep, and it is my voice that thou shalt hear, murmuring through the dreams of life and death, my voice that shall summon thee to awaken in the last hour of everlasting dawn, when all this night of misery has furled her wings for a. Listen now, while I sing to thee, and hear that song right, for in its melody at length thou shalt learn the truth, which unwed I might not tell to thee. Thou shalt learn who and what I am, and who and what thou art, and of the high purposes of our love, and this dead woman's hate, and of all that I've hid from thee, in veiled bewildering words and visions. And then my love and lord to the burden of the song of fate. She ceased speaking and gazed heavenwards with a rapture, as though she waited for some inspiration to fall upon her, and never, never, not even in the fires of core had Asha seemed so divine as she did now in this moment of the ripe harvest of our love. My eyes wandered from her to Leo, who stood before her pale and still, still as the deathlike figure of the shaman, still as the karnia's icy shape which stared upwards from the ground. What was passing in his mind, I wondered, that he could remain thus insensible, while in all her might and awful beauty this proud being worshipped him. Hark! She began to sing in a voice so rich and perfect, that its honoured notes seemed to cloy my blood and stop my breath. The world was not, was not, and in the womb of silence slept the souls of men. Yet I was, and thou. Asha stopped, and I felt rather than saw the horror on her face. Look! Leo swayed to and fro, as though the stones beneath him were but a rocking boat. To and fro he swayed, stretched out his blind arms to clasp her. Then suddenly fell backwards and lay still. Oh! What a shriek was that she gave! Surely it must have wakened the very corpses upon the plain. Surely it must have echoed in the stars, one shriek only. Then, throbbing silence, I sprang to him, and there, withered in Asha's kiss, slain by the fire of her love, Leo lay dead, lay dead upon the breast of dead Athene. End of chapter 23 of Asha the Return of She by H. Ryder Haggard Read by Los Rolander