 Chapter 51 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain, recording by Nigel Fisher. The Death of Leone When the ecstasy of our meeting had somewhat subsided, I informed Leone of the dreadful crisis in our affairs. I pointed out that to save her life, the King required her army to disband itself and her leaders to deliver themselves up as rebels and insurrectionists to receive punishment for their so-called offences. Now, said I, notwithstanding the fact that we can defeat the royal army in pitched battle, yet to save your precious life we are willing to surrender ourselves to his majesty. And what do you think life would be worth to me? said Leone, her eyes flashing fire, with my dearest friend's slain, my cause ruined, and my soul covered with the shame of remorse, defeat, and the disgrace of having purchased my miserable life by the death of the noblest of souls. I will go to the scaffold alone. You will conquer and will avenge my death. Sweet Goddess, I cried, you will not thus sacrifice yourself. What will victory be worth if you for whom we fight are not our proudest trophy? What avails the triumph of our cause if there remains no queen to possess the triumph? Your life is our life. Your death our destruction. With you to fight for, any company of leaders will be successful, let us surrender ourselves to make you free. It can never be, replied Leone, that you must suffer one hundred souls for but one. I am that one, and the cause can more easily suffer the loss of one soul than the loss of all. That the soul may again possess freedom is worthy many a martyr. I only regret I have but one life to give for this blessed cause. I counsel you to depart and carry on the war you have so bravely begun, and in your hour of triumph remember Leone. There is no cause if there is no Leone, I pleaded. Do not be your own enemy, accept the conditions of freedom so freely offered you, and perhaps even we may still find some means of escape. The King, I know, said Leone, would much prefer your death to mine. He is exasperated at the loss of the fleet, and that too at the hands of strangers. Nothing would give him greater joy, and nothing such fame in the eyes of the nation than to put yourself on your sailors to death. My capture and your present visit are but the fulfilment of his plot to destroy you. He thinks you will never allow me to be sacrificed, and so hopes for your annihilation. But in this he will be disappointed. In this terrible trial I have eaten my heart out. Without you, without our faithful comrades, life would be less than worthless. This crisis can only be solved by heroic measures. I have decided for you all, go, go and avenge my death. I saw that Leone had firmly steeled her soul for the sacrifice, tremendous as it was, and in the presence of such heroism it seemed sacrilege to again offer our less worthy lives for a life such as hers. But a resolve so unsupportable agonised me. I clasped the divine girl in my arms in a transport of love and horror, and implored her again and again to accept life while it was offered her. We stood beside the aquarium in the centre of the apartment, close to the vase of gold filled with flowers. Leone in a dazed state, reached for a flower, and in doing so touched the vase, and in a moment fell dead upon the floor. I cannot dwell upon the horror of the scene. I rushed to the door of the apartment and stood in the outer chamber where waited my companions. The governor of the fortress came forward to explain that I was his prisoner until he had heard from the king whether or not I should be permitted to leave the prison. I raised my spear, and with one blow transfixed the dog at my feet. He never spoke again. The taking off of the governor was accomplished with so little disturbance that we passed through the bodyguard, which was assembled in the outer corridor without interference. The situation was war. Was it really true that our hope was dead, that our jewel, the glory of our cause, was lying cold and lifeless in her prison? I was stunned with the first shock of the scene. I could only cry out as though she was still alive, for her radiant soul to come and share our mutual bliss. But when it clearly dawned upon me that the being for whose freedom I had resolutely laboured had become the victim of her murderers, that I could never again enfold her beauty with my love, however ardent or tender, I was petrified with horror. My immediate comrades to whom I communicated the tidings grew white with the appalling news. The one cry was, Could Leonie, the idol of her army, the goddess of her people be indeed dead? Was the voice that could conjure such love and devotion hushed forever? Leaving a guard to watch over the body of the goddess, I set out for Kioram. Barely escaping arrest at the hands of several waylels, we arrived safely at the fortress. It was our wings and spears, not the passport of the king that saved us. The council in Kioram, on hearing of the death of the queen, grew excited. The one desire in all the hearts had been to save Leonie's life, but alas, I dispatched a messenger to the king, charging him with the murder of the queen, and stating that I should exact retribution at his hands for the foul deed. I warned him not to do any injury to the person of her majesty, but deliver her dead body to the guard who we would send, who would convey it to Egyptplosis. This is a wound that infuriates me, said the Grand Sorcerer. It is the work of the jealous Koshnili and the murderous Bulmakar, said I, and dearly will they answer for it. I must return at once to Calnagur and take charge of the body for honourable sepulcher. I think it better for your Excellency to remain at the head of the army, said the Grand Sorcerer, and allow me to undertake the removal of the body of the queen to Egyptplosis. By keeping her death a secret from the army, you will be able to defeat Coltenbury and bring the king and Koshnili to justice. I shall delay the obsequies of the queen until victory is assured. I agreed to this proposition, being anxious to bring the king to justice, and thereupon relieve General Chakor of his command of the 21,000 Bokker kids, giving him a guard of a hundred waylils, and requested him to proceed at once to the fortress of Calnagur, and, demanding the body of Lyoni, bear it to Egyptplosis for honourable sepulcher. The Grand Sorcerer, who had anticipated the refusal of Lyoni to accept liberty at the price demanded, but did not apprehend her sudden death, had, during my absence, assisted at completing the organization of the army. I gave his command of the right wing of the army to Sir John Forbes, Captain Adams, accepting a subordinate command. Supreme General Hoshnili had fully armed the various battalions with mitraeuses and electric spears, and had furnished all with electric wings. I instructed Hoshnili to mobilise the army at once, and order an immediate advance on Calnagur. All QRM was alive with warlike preparations. The various generals and captains, accompanied by their aid to camp, flew over the city, calling their troops to arms. Both waylils and Bokker kids, soaring into the air, formed themselves into immense living globes. And in the hollow centre of each flew the commanding general and his subordinate officers. In less than an hour, the entire army lay marshaled in the air, and Supreme General Hoshnili called me to review our forces. It was a magnificent sight. High over QRM stretched a line of enormous spheres composed of the waylils and Bokker kids arranged in the following order. The army of Her Majesty Queen Lyoni is Excellency Lexington White Commander-in-Chief. General Sir John Forbes commanding the right wing of 21,000 Bokker kids as follows. Legion of Art, commanded by General Yamal Phalanx of Poetry, Vice-General Apornus, 2000 Phalanx of Music, Vice-General Andor, 2000 Phalanx of Painting, Vice-General Bremragon, 2000 Phalanx of Dancing, Vice-General Osnoron, 2000 The Phalanx of Architecture, Vice-General Van LeBlis, 2000 Phalanx of Drama, Vice-General Clapma V, 2000 Phalanx of Sculpture, Vice-General Hitoki, 2000 Phalanx of Decoration, Vice-General Drapius, 2000 The QRM Legion, General Nott Ottobock, 5000 Supreme General Hoshnili, commanding the center of the army composing 175,000 waylils The Phalanx of Egypt Plosis, General Jirolio, 5000 First Amazonian Phalanx, General Zoulisoas, 2500 Second Amazonian Phalanx, General Thubull, 2500 The QRM Phalanx, General Prah, 10,000 The First Fletcherming Brigade, General Starbottle, 10,000 The Second Fletcherming Brigade, General Flathootley, 10,000 The Third Fletcherming Brigade, General Goldrock, 10,000 The First Volunteer Army, General Jolgos, 25,000 The Second Volunteer Army, General Ackaball, 25,000 The Third Volunteer Army, General Tarabesc, 25,000 The First Volunteer Legion, General Swilkar, 10,000 The Second Volunteer Legion, General Garrorock, 10,000 The Third Volunteer Legion, General Botanik, 10,000 The Fifth Volunteer Legion, General Heralian, 5,000 The Sixth Volunteer Legion, General Nosafrasi, 5,000 General Laudermere, commanding the left wing of 21,000 Bokker kids as follows. The First Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Adams, 5,000 Second Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Dorossi, 2,000 Third Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Madneef, 2,000 Fourth Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Dijaltis, 2,000 Fifth Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Wumix, 2,000 Sixth Volunteer Legion, Bokker kids, Vice General Heralio, 2,000 7. Volunteer Legion Bocca Kids Vice-General Dunelbis 2000 8. Volunteer Legion Bocca Kids Vice-General Napasco 2000 9. Volunteer Legion Bocca Kids Vice-General DiMargo 2000 The army in all consisted of 182,000 men and 5,000 Amazons. The Amazons were dressed similar to the priests of Egyptplosis, that is in pale brown soft leather tights, high boots emblazoned with scales of white metal, heavy spider silk tunics, ornamented with beautiful embroidery and held close to the figure by a belt. The knapsack held the magnetic cell, dynamo and wings and also furnished the current for their spears. As each wayliel required ample space for the movement of his or her wings, it will be seen that each living glow was of immense size and the entire army became of enormous proportions as it lay stretched out upon the air. I assumed Supreme Command as Commander-in-Chief with flat hootily as special aid to camp and gave orders for each globe to double up its wayleels so that in each case there would be two globes, the outer or fighting force and the interior or reserve force. In the center of each living shell was placed the Commissariat Department and the medical, musical and commanding staffs. The death of Leone had been kept a secret. The bands of each army began to play the March of Leone and at the word of command the vast flying mass of armed men moved grandly forward to Calnagur. End of chapter 51. Chapter 52 of the Goddess of Bat-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Nigel Fisher. The Battle of Calnagur. Long ere we reached Calnagur we discovered the Royal Army already marshalled to meet us. It lay above the city in globes of wayleels and bocacids still more prodigious than ours. It was composed of three armies raged one above the other and each army being equal in numbers to our own. Thus forming a solid parallelogram of amazing magnificence the Royal Army awaited our onset. Its bocacids formed in ten globes of ten thousand in each and led by Grassna Gallipas the Lord of Invention were the flower of the army and occupied a central position where possibly they would do the greatest damage to us. High overhead in a chair of state supported by 20 wayleels sat Coltenbury commander in chief of those immense legions that were ready to do battle for the defeat of the cause of their late goddess and the honor of their king. The sight of two such armies of winged gladiators sweeping towards each other in revolving globes was one of breathless interest. The approaching fight was a question of life or death to both combatants. Defeat to Almeri Bulmakar meant possibly the loss of crown and kingdom and our defeat meant the annihilation of the party of reform the cause of Leone. We were eager to begin the fight without delay. To obtain greater freedom of action I led the army up into the region where there was no gravity. The movement was followed by a similar movement on the part of the Royal Armies who rose like a swarm of locusts to meet us. The noise of so many wings in motion was like that of a roaring storm and formed an inspiring accompaniment to the music that rang upon the sunlit air. Here 50 miles above the white clouds beneath both armies closed upon each other. There was a fearful yell of Bulmakar answered by as loud a shout of Leone. Our army was literally buried in the center of the enemy. The impetuous priests of Egyptplosis and the no less eager priestesses performed prodigies of valor. Our mitraeuses were a complete surprise to the enemy. Thousands of their wayleels were killed here they could deliver a blow with their spears. There was considerable slaughter on both sides but the enemy depended largely on their magnex spears and shields while we handled our guns with terrible effect. The volunteer army under Hushnoli suffered greatly by the demoralization caused by the enemy Bokker kids under Grasnell Galapas. The terrible legs of those machines destroyed the military formation of our wayleels producing a continuous panic and permitting the enemy's wayleels to work a ghastly slaughter in their broken ranks. In revenge our Bokker kids with the more deadly weapons literally tore their globed to pieces. Notwithstanding our superior arms the greater numbers of the enemy made them a match for us. The rushing of wings the explosion of the machine guns the clashing of spears the yells of the combatants made a scene of infernal horror. As the focus of the battle swayed hither and thither it left behind a trail of blood dead and wounded bodies broken wings spears and revolvers. The debris of the battle simply floated out on the air veritable clouds of disaster. Irregular masses of dead and wounded wayleels and broken Bokker kids floated in heaps amid pools of blood. The enemy could only succeed by stabbing whereas our wayleels were scorpions whose guns were fatal. With the points of their spears they made great havoc in our battalions but as long as our ammunition lasted their formations were immediately shriveled up. Coltonbury began to mass his army in the form of an immense outspreading hemisphere of the form of an open umbrella. His intention was to enclose us on all sides and so if possible devour us. I at once ordered the army to take the form of a cone each legion being a segment thereof whose apex was formed of Bokker kids and whose base was wide circles of wayleels. With the blast of the trumpet I drove the entire army like an enormous javelin right through the heart of the foe tearing a yawning chasm half a mile in diameter in his ranks. We lost fully two thousand men in this moment and the foe over ten thousand in killed and wounded. The enemy paralyzed by the onset became consolidated into three or four immense globes. In front of these they placed their Bokker kids whose monstrous limbs alone could keep our spears at a safe distance. It was the intention of Coltonbury to ram us with the cohorts led by Grassner Gallipus and his Bokker kids. Hastily reforming our broken ranks as before I ordered a flank movement rapid and decisive. Our Bokker kids plunged into a tremendous mass of wayleels. In the chasm thus made in the ranks of the enemy, General Zulisowas threw her amazons protected on either side by the legions of priests of Egyptplosis under Girolio. The priestesses whose spears were particularly long and powerful did terrible execution. The enemy was for a time panic stricken as the glorious girls made their successful onset. The dramatic beauty and the flash of their spears made a scene of imposing grandeur. Coltonbury recovering from his surprise ordered his Bokker kids to the centre of the fight. To prevent the sacrifice of the priestesses by overwhelming odds I sent the Bokker kids of art to their assistance. These swept to the rescue like a flight of eagles and the Imperian echoed to the roar of the combat. The fighting now became general. The sunlit heavens seemed filled with the ferocity of war, the discharge of guns, the yells of wayleels, the trumpet signals of the commanders, the crash of swords and spears, the ceaseless motion of wings and the long trail of dead and wounded combatants that followed the fight like the debris of a comet was a sight but rarely beheld by human eyes. Each army seemed so equally balanced that King's army had the advantage in numbers and our own the advantage in weapons that neither party could yet claim a victory. Further fighting seemed useless until some new tactics were employed. Therefore I gave orders for a cessation of the battle and caused flags of truce to be hoisted. Both armies indeed required food and repose and the wounded required immediate attention. The enemy was no less anxious for a truce than ourselves. Consequently all fighting ceased and both armies withdrew. Several miles apart sentinels were placed on guard on outposts in the atmosphere and our wayleels threw themselves upon the air in various attitudes of repose. In company with generals Hushnoli, Laudamier, Jirolio, Zulisoas, Thubual, Chaka, Yomul, Starbottle and Goldrock I visited the scene of the battle. How ghastly the realities of war. There floated irregular piles of dead and wounded bodies from which poured many a trickling stream of ruddy life which formed immense cloud pools of blood surrounding each ghastly pile. The heaped up masses of the dead would vibrate as some poor suffocating wretch struggled in his last agonies. Dr. Merryferry and his assistants hastily took possession of the wounded and ministered to their necessities. Water was supplied them from leaven bags of water that formed part of the commissariat supplies. I ordered a detachment of wayleels to separate the living from the dead and bear the wounded to Kioram for immediate attention. The saddest sight of all was a cluster of fifty beautiful priestesses embracing one another in long caress of death. They had been slain with the magnex spears so happily there were no gaping wounds from which lifeblood flowed. Ard Solus and Merga lay dead where the fight was hottest both slain at once. The dead and wounded twin souls were sent to Egyptplosis as quickly as possible and the process of clearing the air of the havoc of war was carried out by both the enemy and ourselves with the greatest dispatch. The losses of the enemy were four times greater than ours owing to the tremendous execution done by our gigantic pistols. The royal troops presented in ghastly groups every possible posture of the human body that could be created by rage, pain, fear or madness. How I wished some eloquent historian could have floated through that abyss of horror on distended wings and pen in hand describe its dramatic desolation and terror. Clouds of vultures and seamorg were devouring the dead bodies and as they fought for choice morsels flapped their wings in pools of gore. Many of the combatants including some of my own sailors were drowned in globes of blood. End of chapter 52. Chapter 53 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Nigel Fisher. Victory. The Waileals rested and slept outstretched upon the air close to the scene of battle. Not having any weight as regarded external objects they mutually attracted each other and to obtain freedom and rest without being crushed together into suffocating masses of men they were formed into companies of one hundred each with their feet pressing against solid cylinders of spears. Mutual gravity was sufficient to hold them together and each Waileal spread himself upon the air as upon a bed of down enjoying luxurious repose. I had slept, I know not how long, in company with the leaders of our army, when I was awakened by Flat Hootley who informed me that a trusty messenger from Grassner Gillipass, Lord of Invention and General of the King's Bocca Kids, desired to see me as a bearer of an important dispatch from his master. The messenger, saluting, handed me the following document. To his Excellency Lexington White, Commander in Chief of the Army of Queen Leone from Grassner Gillipass, General of the Royal Bocca Kids, greeting. General Grassner Gillipass begs to report that he and his Bocca Kids have ever been in sympathy with the late Goddess, what were prevented from espousing her cause by the overwhelming presence of the Royal Army in Kalnagur. To show his detestation of the horrible act of criminal cowardice on the part of his Majesty, he offers his sword and command of his Bocca Kids to the cause of the late adorable Goddess and Queen Vat Vat Bar. And on the acceptance of such assistance by your Excellency, will at once leave the ranks of the Royal Army and enter that of her late Majesty to fight for the sacred cause and assist in punishing a perfidious King, Grassner Gillipass. The loss attending the withdrawal of the priests and priestesses to form a guard of honour to the illustrious dead was more than compensated for by the reinforcements under Grassner Gillipass, to whom I sent a message of gracious acceptance of his services. The army being fully aroused for conflict had the satisfaction of welcoming reinforcements from two opposing directions, Viz, the 50,000 Bocca Kids under Grassner Gillipass, and the terrorite battery under the command of General Rack iron. As was expected, the departure of the bravest general and the royal army was the signal for a renewal of hostilities, and Coltonbury mad at the serious defection of his troops at once assumed the offensive. He had received a large recruitment of wailials and felt as formidable as ever. His army swept down upon us with war-like music rolling like thunder and cries of bull macarre. The King himself having dealt us his most terrible blow was a witness to the onset of his hosts. He sat aloft in a golden palanquin born on the shoulders of his followers with a bodyguard on either side. The advance guard of the enemy consisted of several regiments armed with our own hand mitraeuses taken from prisoners. These did a terrible execution among our wailials. Grassner Gillipass anxious to undo the injury he inflicted on us during the first battle, and emulous of the prowess of our own 40,000 Bocca Kids plunged headlong amid the foe, creating a panic wherever his gigantic birds descended. He fought like a demon, neither asking nor giving quarter. General Rack-Ion, having got his terrorite battery into position, was eager to check the advance of the enemy by saluting him with a few aerial torpedoes. There was some delay incidental to the first actual operations of a hastily constructed battery, but the daring ingenuity of the professor overcame every obstacle. Each gun, supported by 50 men, possessed a solid foundation from which to direct its operations. The enemy, though harassed by our Bocca Kids, had worked into the centre of our army by sheer weight of numbers. Our wailials, having exhausted their ammunition, had to fall back on their electric spears, and at times were obliged to retire in confusion. At this juncture, a shell of terrorite exploded among the foe with thrilling effect, destroying at least 200 Bocca Kids. Coltonbury, who evidently attributed the disaster to an explosion of gunpowder in his own ranks, closed up the broken columns and renewed the attack. Three explosions in rapid succession, right in the centre of the enemy, caused the greatest consternation and produced a frightful gap, where but a moment before the air was thick with an armed host. Generals Yomul, Gerolio, Laudemire and Grassner Gillipass plunged with their Bocca Kids into the living cavern produced by the torpedoes, and with their spears mowed down thousands of the panic-stricken wailials. Another terrorite shell, thrown in the direction of the king, destroyed a few hundred of his protectors and induced his majesty to seek safety in immediate flight. Not wishing to lose so important an enemy, I ordered General Flathootley and the second legion of Fletcher Mings to start in hot pursuit of the royal party and bring me back the king, dead or alive. Flathootley, delighted with the mission, started off at once in pursuit of Bulmakar. The terrorite battery proved our most effective weapon in castigating the enemy. I could not thank Professor Racker and sufficiently for his great genius and mechanical skill in so rapidly perfecting his weapons, which were modelled on the plan of the guns belonging to the Polar King. Every discharge proved a blast of destruction to the foe. The deadly missiles wrought a fearful slaughter, steadily decimating the ranks of the royal army, which had no similar weapons with which to retaliate upon us. The frightened hosts, constantly changing their focus, left behind them vast heaps of the dead and wounded and globes of floating blood. On one occasion the first brigade of Fletcher-Mings, led by General Starbottle, in eagerly pursuing the enemy, dashed through a pool of blood three feet in thickness, and every wayliel emerged dripping with gore. Coltonbury, finding further resistance useless, at once surrendered himself and his army to our mercy. My brave wayliels, flushed with victory, saluted me with cries of Long Live Lexington White, King of that vat bar! But what was success now without the one priceless soul to share my triumph? Did ever glory so grand and defeat so terrible, so mingle themselves in human experience? My wayliels, now for the first time hearing of the death of their queen, would have torn Coltonbury to pieces had I not protected him. I knew he was personally innocent, and my wayliels were already in pursuit of the king. We entered Kalnagur in triumph. I heard on all sides a wail of lamentation for Leone, mixed with applause for the conqueror. It was a scene in which conquest and misery, rapture and failure, life and death, were indubitably united. End of Chapter 53 Chapter 54 of The Goddess of that vat bar by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Nigel Fisher Reincarnation The Grand Sorcerer Chaka and his guard had with reverend flight borne the body of their goddess Leone to the palace of souls, mourning the death of their adored, who had been so precious, so beautiful, so holy. The High Priestess and the Grand Sorceress, together with the priests and priestesses of Egyplosis, on hearing of the death of Leone, departed at once for Egyplosis to mourn the death of their goddess. Leone was dead. Ah, me, what triumph then, without my soul of souls to share its delights, the blessed cup of joy quivering to the brim was about to touch my yearning lips when it was dashed aside by a treacherous hand. Well, might the crownless bull mackerel laugh in whatever damnable retreat he had retired to. His revenge was complete. Oh, the pity of it, the young, the adorable, the divine soul who was just about to remount her throne to receive a pure adoration from her people. She who was to be queen of that vat bar, slain treacherously, within sight of the Bormidophia where she had so long been worshipped. It was impossible for me to remain longer on the field of battle. I wanted to fling myself on that one's happy form and kiss her death-cold lips. I left Coltenbury and his surrendered army in the hands of the Supreme General Hushnoley and started at once for Egyplosis. As my wings devoured the leagues of air, I thought, was this the climax for which I fought? I flew along with none to share my torture. My heart was rent-wide open and in my agony I rolled upon the air as I flew for brain and soul seemed an ocean of fire. I arrived at Egyplosis full of anguish with quivering lips and burning tears I staggered into the portal that led to the Subterranean Palace where I knew my loved one was laid. I silently entered the magnificent abode of the sorcerer, horror-stricken with despair. Suddenly beyond the labyrinth I heard a golden sound, the sound of that blessed bell that once before rolled its waves of delight over my spirit. I stood leaning against a pillar, dissolved in its bewitching moans, luxuriating in the agapamony of music breathed from the delirious bronze. I heard wafted from the mysterious temple the refrain of thousands of voices chanting a ritual of love and peace. The multitudinous sound seemed so soft and so thrilling, so powerful and so holy that I was eager to know if such a burden of love was the sorrowing passion of the twin souls in honour of their dead goddess. I saw through the open doors of the temple a moving throng of twin souls swaying in masses hither and thither with naked feet on the aquellium floor. On every forehead burned an electric star giving a spectral flush to the scene. That was the singular multitude I had heard, the hierophants of the Holy Soul. As my eyes grew accustomed to the objects before me I saw the interior of the temple on whose sculptured walls and roof roses wove of smouldering electric fire revealed their burning bloom. Wires of platinum, terrelium and aquellium had been woven into a filigree of roses with leaves and stems made red hot by the electric current. High above the sculptured dado rose strange windows of illuminated glass in colours sad and brilliant made visible by thousands of electric lights hidden in the sculptured recesses behind each window. The subject of each dueled pane was a tableau of reincarnation. In which the figures of sorcerers and magicians robed in splendid attire gave life to beings that had died. The frieze was one continual blaze of colour formed also of enameled glass emblazoned with life-size processional figures and illuminated with incandescent lights. In a distant part of the temple on a terrelium pedestal I saw again a monster of gold with a terrible head and outstretched wings. As I surveyed this stupendous figure I discovered that it held in its forepaws an immense helix of terrelium wire ten feet in length and nine feet in diameter. One end of the wire was joined to ten thousand wires whose extremities terminating in the terrelium wands were held by the twin souls. Each priest held a wand in his right hand and each priestess a wand in her left and their disengaged arms were wound around one another's waists. The other end of the voluminous wire forming the helix terminated in the rivet of an enormous spring that held a circular rotome close to the circular mouth of the helix. On a pedestal level with the upheld battery reached by a spiral stairway stood the grand saucer acharca robed in tissues of white silk and golden embroidery. An assistant priest turned a wheel that moved a screw pointing toward the spring of the rotome. The moment the screw touched the spring the circular plate over the heart of the helix began to vibrate orderly. Another turn of the screw and a vital thrill filled the temple with its sonorous music. I then knew that all that mysterious structure with its terellium wires was an immense spiritual battery charged with the life and love of 10,000 souls. The vital fluid generated in the yearnings of ideal love flooded the helix with its vitality an induced and magnetism of life that made the rotome vibrate with emotion until the whole temple shook with the thrilling sound. The priests and priestesses sang their ritenels of passion and love and the grand saucer awaved his wand over the monster's head. It was then the thought of Leone filled my soul with a terrible yearning. Where was her hapless body? Was this feast of passion that I beheld her obsequies? Or could it be some occult incantation to raise her from the dead? The thought fired my brain with madness. Oh that it might be possible for her to live again if only for one hour that she might hear a victory. All at once I seemed to know that Leone was laid in the heart of the helix held by the heliherent. I knew, oh I knew that the spectacle I beheld was the ceremony of reincarnation. I knew that the goddess was being swathed with currents of life from her votaries. How I blessed those living batteries so faithful in their glorious work. How I blessed the adorable sorcerer who conducted this precious ministry of life who focused the love of thrilling souls upon the person of their goddess. I stood transfixed to the floor watching with straining eyes those flames of life performed their ritual of reincarnation. The air of the temple grew warm as blood and infinitely holy. Soft and piercing music rose from unseen chambers of the temple which mingling with the blessed storm of life that beat upon the mouth of the helix seemed to whirl away my senses. The first circle of souls around the dragon comprised the votaries of Bishano or sorcery Haleano or magic Nindalano or astrology Padano or soothsaying. The second circle embraced the abdates of Nyano or witchcraft Redahano or wizardry Bikano or the oracle Kialano or augury Tocturano or prophecy Jikurano or geomancy Joktylano or necromancy The third circle embraced the hierophants of Orphitano or conjuration Oriolano or divination Pridano or clairvoyance Ecthiano or mesmerism Sidishano or electrobiology Odolfano or theosophy Bishanamano or spiritualism How shall I describe the spell of that hour? Glimmering figures clad in robes of finest gossamer of the rarest colours Powderings and embroiderings Sang the songs of pained and enraptured sensibility They loved, they wept, they supplicated harakar I saw twin souls embrace in infinite tenderness and again with ecstatic enthusiasm It was a sea of supernatural emotion It was an abyss of affection Filled with a whirlwind of bold, delicate, enormous love A religios of Tocturano shouted She will live again! A priest of Bikano sang She will be born again of mystical, chivalrous love As the enraptured host sang of life and love I felt a million exaggerations of the delicacies of emotion I felt as though fanned with warm winds blowing over wildernesses of flowers I heard the multiplied splendour of bells Roaring like the soft vociferations of far-off tropic seas I heard music ineffably tender and sublime wailing its intoxicating melodies I saw strange illuminations dissolve in never-ceasing explosions of colour on the glorified windows I saw upon the floor endless arabesques of twin souls fantastically entangled and unrolled Suddenly the temple shook with an explosion of sound that seemed the concentrated madness of drums and organs and bells The roaring of the rotom grew definitely louder mingling with a strange shivering sound such as is produced by the suddenly transfixed wheels of a flying locomotive tearing the metals into a hissing blaze from the mouth of the heron streamed a blaze of fire I looked where the sorcerer stood Heavens and earth he was holding Leone in his arms alive from the living battery Leone the peerless soul of souls alive once more and triumphant over death The temple whirled around me rapid as fire and I fell to the ground insensible with joy End of chapter 54 Chapter 55 of The Goddess of At-Vat-Bah by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher Lexington and Leone hailed King and Queen of At-Vat-Bah The extraordinary scenes attending the reincarnation of Leone had left me when I returned to my senses exhausted with emotion It was gloriously true that she who was the supreme goddess she who had suffered death in the fortress of Kalnagur had been restored to life by the powerful necromancy of the sorcerer and his College of Twin Souls I rushed forward in presence of the entire congregation and embraced in turn the radiant Leone and the beloved Chaka I took her living figure in my arms She was in a limp, tranquil condition, yet happily alive The happy priests and priestesses shouted with enthusiasm Long live Lexington and Leone, King and Queen of At-Vat-Bah It was a blissful moment to us both The future that had lain under the terrors of death now smiled again I gazed upon my beloved's face with unspeakable tenderness I saw that she smiled at me sweetly Her apostasy was victorious But who could have supposed that the martyrdom and reincarnation were the path to glory She had exchanged the crown of the goddess for that of Queen Handing my precious burden back to Chaka again I addressed the congregation as follows Priests and priestesses of Egiplosis Waileals and Amazons of the sacred and victorious army I thank you from the depths of my heart for your loyal salutation But I particularly thank the Grand Sorcerer Chaka And you his Hierophants For your glorious restoration of her majesty to life King and Crown Thus defeating the cowardly crime of the ex-king By reason of our victory Their majesty's King Bulmakar and Queen Toplissie of At-Vat-Bah Are deposed from the throne And his ex-majesty by reason of his great crime is condemned to death The causes that led to this revolution are already known to you The time was ripe for a reform in Egiplosis Regulation and not suppression will be our aim And they who have helped us to this great conquest will not go unrewarded After her tremendous experiences The Queen will require a session of absolute rest to restore her to perfect health I will entrust the task of establishing a reform of Egiplosis in competent hands Assisted by a council of your own representatives The present crisis is too overwhelmingly happy To permit me to say more to you On another occasion I will thank you more effectively The speech was received with enthusiastic applause On a litter supported by six twin souls Leone was tenderly bought out of the temple We departed amid joyful peens of music Our pathway being strewn with flowers We reached the supernal palace And saw from every roof floating the flag of Leone in token of our victory In her palace on a couch of pale green velvet Lay the reincarnated form of Leone Filled with a sense of luxurious rest The experiences of the past few days Demanded a period of profound repose Her face wore a blessed and triumphant smile She had paid with suffering for that nirvana of joy With reincarnation or rather resurrection Had come a holier transfiguration of form and face She was still too weak physically to discuss at length The great changes that had come to her Or to the history of At-Vat Bar She was the symbol of the more sensitive souls of humanity Who, capable of intense suffering and delirious rapture Must needs purchase all their joys with heart-rending experiences The culture that comes from agony is our most priceless possession And brings the soul to every feast as well as the body The body, daily slain by suffering Is resurrected with a purer flesh And receives a reincarnated soul fitted for ideal delights It has attained a measure of nirvana It anticipates immortality by reason of suffering and love Leone had more than all achieved an ideal existence Before she would again be able to return to the realities of the world It was necessary that time should be given to her For physical and spiritual invigoration I feel neither pain nor fatigue, said Leone My senses seem drowned in a delicious rest You tell me that I have been dead and brought to life again And although I have no sense of having passed through the agony I must believe you I remember touching a golden vase of flowers in my prison And then all became blank until I stood with the grand sorcerer In the temple of reincarnation That vase you touched, said I, Was connected with a powerful magnetic battery Which was placed in your apartment by the king's order to kill you Grasne Galapas, leader of the king's bocker kids On learning of his royal master's treachery Immediately transferred his allegiance An important command to our army And was mainly instrumental in securing the victory So our cause has triumphed, said Leone And what has become of the king? The king, I replied, is king no more I am king of that vat bar, and you are my beloved queen Leone turned aside her face and wept tears of joy Our marriage, I added, will inaugurate the reign of a religion of wedded love And you will sit with me as queen on the throne of that vat bar That will be glorious, said Leone But I fear our marriage will also end ideal love and sorcery And the divaner of a hundred years, the fairest products of egyptosis Do you see now, I said, that ideal joys in the world Can only be built on more extensive miseries? It would be a glorious thing to build houses of jewels But so long as real jewels are so rare We must be content with rocks Still there are jewels, and in that vat bar I learn they are much more abundant than on the outer planet Therefore it might be proper for twin souls To walk on love's enchanted ground For a brief though definite period Leone had undergone transfiguration Beautiful as a spirit, her figure seemed plastic porcelain Death had made more luminous the splendid sculpture of her face As she spoke, it seemed to me that we had closed the door On the infelicitous experiences of actual life And were opening the gates of a more glorious day I informed Leone of the arrival of the two vessels from the outer world And of the great services of Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes In turning the tide of battle by sea in our favour She was delighted at the prospect of meeting fresh visitors from the outer world And in due time Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes And their entire ship's company stood before her Who was delighted with the fuller acquaintance Thus made with the people of the outer world Both the captains and their officers Realised her ideal of exotic manhood Which combined stalwart proportions With intellectual benignity of face Sir John Forbes was very complimentary in his praise Of the grace and beauty of Leone And her associates among the priestesses of Egyplosis He considered Leone to possess spiritual beauty to an extraordinary degree The wonderful pale gold of her complexion Was in marked contrast to the old gold complexion Of the women of At-Vat Bar He also praised the splendid beauty of Zuli-Sowas and Thoball Who were indeed magnificent women My success encouraged the strangers to consider That conquest in the other realms of Plutasia Would be an easy accomplishment Especially if armed with such weapons As those possessed by the sailors of the Polar King But even admitting superiority of weapons They thought it a marvellous thing That one small vessel with but 80 men Could conquer 50 millions of people In my own mind I thought it possible that the Polar King Might conquer still greater kingdoms And that in time I might be Plutarch of Plutasia But in such business one realm at a time is enough I suggested to our visitors That there were at least 20 realms Each as large as At-Vat Bar in this interior planet That would give them opportunity for adventure We also wish, said I, Both the United States and England To know that our ports are open for commerce And foreign trade is welcome to seek our shores We have gold enough to enrich all comers from the outer world The eyes of our visitors and their officers Glissoned at this intelligence And well they might For At-Vat Bar was worth a thousand realms Like Golconda or Peru We had wealth for literature and science Art and commerce Which rightly used would make At-Vat Bar The wonder of the ages A realm of palaces and temples The fountain of wisdom The mother of art And its commerce would make both the earths rich Beyond the dreams of fortune I was determined that the royal magnificence Of the thrones of all time On either surface of the earth Should be outrivaled by the supreme glory Of At-Vat-Vat Bar I knew there was an inspiration to human endeavour That magnificence alone can give And would use my wealth to advance The happiness of humanity Leone being at last fully restored to health We determined to delay no longer the important ceremonies Of our royal marriage and coronation Not only to complete our happiness But to really establish the government On a personal basis So agreeable to the wishes and customs of the people Leone's aerial yacht was made ready For the journey to Calnagur It was large enough to carry the captain's officers And men of the Mercury and Aurora Boralis The captain officers and men of the Polar King As well as Leone and myself And the great officers of state and retinue All being safely on board I gave the signal for flight And in another moment We were launched on the air with tremendous speed End of Chapter 55 Chapter 56 The Goddess of At-Vat Bar By William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Nigel Fisher Our reception in Calnagur The royal city of Calnagur never contained such splendour Such importance of historic event Nor such a multitude of people As on the occasion of the triple event of our marriage Our coronation And the reception of the distinguished strangers From beyond the Polar Gulf How shall the glory of that day be described? What occult power must animate the pen That must be at once the stylus of a poet The brush of a painter and the wand of a magician To do justice to the splendid theme? The entire army, composed of half a million waylales, Had come from Calnagur to Kioram To escort the aerial ship containing myself, Leone and the distinguished strangers Together with our retinue And the sailors from America and Great Britain On either side of the ship The army was massed in two equal hosts Waving a million of wings Either army was led by a phallax of flying bocacids Led by Yomul and Grasnogilipas A bodyguard of waylales bore 50 gigantic golden sceptres Being the ensigns of sovereignty over the 50 provinces of the kingdom All the way to Calnagur, 500 miles distant The army performed the most incredible evolutions To the measured thunders of music Its legions massed themselves in ever whirling globes Undulating all along the lines of flight Like monstrous serpents Again, mighty cones of waylales Would stream from our yacht on both sides Upwards and backward Like a blaze of comet splendour Then suddenly, globes of waylales would surround us Globe within globe Flying alternately in different directions And we seemed to move on the centre of another earth To describe the endless flight and counter flight The concentration and radiation of the waylales in grand review Would be impossible Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes Were astounded at the extraordinary evolutions possible To winged men in a world where there is practically no gravity The army moved in Daedalion march It was at times sinuous with labyrinthine movement To the sound of drums and the roar of bugles The waylales formed arches and crowns Concoidal convolutions, zones and wheels Hemispheres and globes, cones and pyramids The yacht was clothed with sublime torsions, peristaltic splendours And immense radiations of living bodies It was the grandest movement of men ever seen on earth We were again completely surrounded by a single globe of waylales In the centre of which moved the yacht with fearful speed The globe moved as fast as we And the living shell obliterated both earth and sun from sight Then with a roar of artillery the globe exploded And lo! before us the infinite golden dome of the Bormidophia The marvell city of Calmogur And the dense multitudes of excited people The city was decorated with the conquering flag of Leone And with flowers, and the inscriptions on the triumphal arches were Long live Lexington and Leone King and Queen of At-Vat Bar The entire army augmented by the allegiance of the defeated kings troops Headed by the Supreme General Hushnoli Received us at the entrance to the city Pending the reconstruction of the government Law and order were being administered by Hushnoli Assisted by a military council consisting of all the victorious leaders The festivities incidental to our entry into Calmogur And the public rejoicings over the reincarnation of Leone Lasted several days I took occasion at the reception at the Royal Palace To confer suitable honours and rewards on my victorious generals I created the Supreme General Hushnoli A noble of the first rank under the title of Goilur Or Duke of Calmogur And confirmed his authority as Commander-in-Chief of the army And Zuli Soas was also created Goilus of Calmogur General Guralio was created Boirun of Swerga, an inland city And appointed Vice Commander to Hushnoli General Rakhine was made Goilur of Swandab And his appointment as General of the Royal Artillery was confirmed General Laudemire was made Goilur of Qioram And Commandant of the Fortress General Yamul, who retired from the army, was made Goilur of Nafisthasia The Grand Sorcerer Chaka was made Goilur And the Grand Sorcerer's Goilus of Egyplosis While Grasnagilipas was created Boirun of Invention And General of the Royal Bokker Kids General Starbottle was made Goilur of Savas, a province of the Kingdom And Prime Minister of the Government General Goldrock, who was now fully recovered from his wounded leg Was made Royal Treasurer and Goilur of Blindis, a distant city Dr. Merriferry was made Minister of Foreign Affairs General Nautothebek, Minister of Naval Affairs General Prah, Chief of Police And General Flathootley, Minister of War I assumed the title of his Majesty Lexington King of Atnavatbar And Leone that of Her Majesty Leone Queen of Atnavatbar Of equal authority and dignity to myself I issued a decree confirming all titles and dignities for life Of the recipient only As a man cannot transfer his character or abilities to his children More especially the virtues that made him famous So neither could he transfer his titles or dignities to posterity And a man who had no other claim to greatness Than the plumes he had borrowed from his father Should be despised from strutting in artificial glory The barotomy was maintained And no restriction of popular or constitutional liberty Already enjoyed by the people was permitted All titles given to men who were simply fortunate enough To receive a majority of votes Making them representatives of the people in the barotomy Were abolished And men only were honoured by virtue of great services Accomplished All members of the barotomy were paid liberal salaries On the principle that a prince had no more right To an appropriation from the public purse than a legislator All public measures adopted by the barotomy Were subject to the veto of the Royal Council Composed of the King, Queen and actual members of the government I need not say that the victory of Leone over death And the fact that our army having conquered in battle Gave us unlimited power I was the supreme lord of at-vat-bar But nevertheless in the hour of triumph I determined to use my power for the good of the people The sensation caused by the return of Leone to life Had stirred all at-vat-bar With feelings of the profoundest awe and loyalty Vast crowds of people came as pilgrims to see their queen And offer congratulations Had the old creed with its worship of Leone and Harrikar Not fallen with the success of our arms Leone would undoubtedly have been worshipped anew as a goddess More devoutly than ever But the revolution being founded on antagonism of the old faith To social welfare and the laws of nature A new creed must necessarily take its place The new creed of one body and one soul Was based on order, truth, justice, benevolence and temperance This I styled the remeloria Or better thing to that which had gone before The new creed gave the soul mastery of its feelings And love was measured by a regular throb Souls becoming stronger and more masculine Were the better able to bear the pulsations of joy and despair They could sustain their emotions with a cordial enthusiasm And passion, no longer a frantic flame Became a soft and abiding fire I appointed the Grand Sorcerer Pontiff of Remorialism Giving him authority to formulate a code of ethics that all could adhere to With such a code as a solid foundation I hoped in time to establish a purer faith Than that possessing only the human soul for its deity Not many days after our coming to Kanagor And whilst still engaged in settling the government of the kingdom We've received a visit from Hush Noli and Zuli Soas It was with feelings of pain That we heard the object of the Supreme General's visit With a voice softened with emotion Hush Noli told his story In carrying out the reforms that Egeplosis made necessary By the success of the army of the late Goddess A great difficulty presented itself It was found that notwithstanding the fact that all the priests and priestesses Had fought for Leoni and the new faith As against the old order of things Nearly one half of the twin souls Was still at heart as great devotees of Harakha And hopeless lovers ever While the remaining half had renounced the practices of Egeplosis In common with their queen It was found impossible to change the faith of the entire priesthood In a moment, so as to speak And many still believed that the old faith possessed fruits Of self-sacrifice, culture, spirit power and the ideal life Such as the new state of things would utterly destroy Hush Noli and the high priestess were in sympathy With the adherence of the ancient faith And they too believed in sacrificing marital rights For the sake of the ideal existence The revelation of such a spiritual revolt in Egeplosis Headed too by the man and woman who had sacrificed so much For the cause of Leoni and myself Revealed human nature in a new light While it astounded us I had foolishly supposed the supremacy of the sword Could carry dominion into spiritual things And that Egeplosis was wholly converted to the new faith To remorialism The situation was extremely painful Supreme general and high priestess, I said Both Her Majesty Leoni and myself Are greatly indebted to your courage and support In the late struggle A support heroically given us in spite of your own secret faith Is there no way by which you might be reconciled Both of you to the new order of things? We fear not, Your Majesty, said Hush Noli Will riches will honour not tempt you? Your Majesty, we cannot be tempted, replied he You are doubtless aware, I continued, That it would be impossible for the government to recognise Much less give support to a system of faith For the destruction of which the war was carried on Much as we love you Much as we love the priests and priestesses We cannot give allegiance to the old faith We cannot, we dare not countenance your creed It will therefore be impossible for yourselves or your people To remain at Egeplosis Which will be the chief shrine of the new faith hereafter We have already anticipated all this, said Hush Noli And do not propose to remain even in at Vat Bar And where do you go to? said Leonie in astonishment Well, Your Majesty, replied he We have determined to take possession of the Sphere Hilar One of the untenanted spheres above us And there create an ideal world Thus we will relieve Your Majesty of all embarrassment And remove any obstacle in the way of religious or political reform I was bewildered by the reply of Hush Noli As I had never before heard of anyone Desiring to dwell on the wandering sphere Hilar And begged an explanation Hilar, as Your Majesty is probably aware, said Hush Noli Is a sphere 25 miles in diameter That floats in space at a distance of 50 miles From the surface of Vat Bar It revolves on its own axis at the rate of a mile an hour Making a complete revolution in 75 hours It also revolves around swang once during a hundred aerial revolutions Or in 100 of its days It has tropic, temperate and frigid zones With perpetual ice-capping its poles It contains one ocean of irregular outline and has one continent The areas of land and water are about equal There are two mountain ranges turning from a given centre of upheaval And determining the configuration of the land There are 100 islands in the sea and a dozen rivers on the land In fact it seems to be a facsimile in climate, geologic and Physiographical conditions to the outer world you have come from And on such a sphere we propose to build a new throne for Harrikar And seat thereon another goddess, like the virtuous and glorious Leone Ah, said Leone, I know who that other goddess will be She will be the fair Zuli Soas The High Priestess blushed in her robe of crimson silk Making her a golden beauty superb and precious As for Hush Noli, it was evident the destiny of his counterpart's soul Was already fully anticipated Her ascension to the throne of a goddess Would virtually make of him ruler of Hilar We desire, Your Majesty, said he, to resign our titles and offices Of High Priest and Priestess of Egyplosis And Supreme General and General of the Amazons Of the Royal Army of Atvatbar Our only request is that we be allowed to depart to Hilar Together with such of the priests and priestesses of Harrikar As are willing to follow us thither Also that all new converts to Harrikar Desirous of emigrating to our spiritual kingdom Will be secured freedom of departure from Atvatbar For all time hereafter I willingly granted Hush Noli and Zuli Soas their request And added, You both shall be promptly and liberally rewarded For the great services rendered your king and queen in time of war As well as recompensed for past services to the country and Egyplosis And philosophers' state in Atvatbar I promise to issue a royal decree Embodying all of the aforesaid liberties and bounties In favour of Hush Noli and his fair consort and their followers The late High Priest and High Priestess With grateful cordial adduce Departed from the audience chamber I thereupon appointed General Rakhain the Commander-in-Chief Of the Army in place of Hush Noli With General Jeralio, the Vice Commander End of Chapter 56 Chapter 57 of The Goddess of Atvatbar By William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Nigel Fisher The combined ceremony of marriage and coronation The day of our marriage and coronation as king and queen of Atvatbar at length arrived The scene in the Bombidofia was of surpassing magnificence For the first time in history Leone sat before the throne of the gods Not as a goddess but as queen And I, her compere, as king sat beside her Leone was a tide in a loosely fitting robe of old ivory silk Over which was an outer network of lace formed of thread of gold The design being a golden sun on the breast Which with its long streaming rays was held together by a golden cobweb That covered the entire figure of the queen She also wore her belt of jewels Beside her stood a page bearing her crown as queen of Atvatbar For myself I had caused to be made a nightly suit of golden armour But shone mightily as I wore it on that eventful occasion The priestesses of Egipplosis, taught by a priest of decorative art from Nafisthasia Had been for some time engaged in creating a tapestry of lace Wrought with a thread of heavy bullion gold as a bridal gift to their queen The design took the form of a winged twin soul in loving converse In the centre surrounded by Atvatbariz Erebesque All held together by a most poetic fancy of floral scrolls And formed of gold thread lace work This enormous piece of work was 12 feet in width 75 feet in length and four inches in thickness The gold used in its marvellous intricacies weighed five tonnes Such was the glorious piece of tapestry that was hung over the side of the throne And which reaching downward three-fourths of its height Concealed a considerable part of the august structure Around us swept the amphitheatre Filled with the leaders of the army and navy The great officers of government and the people of Atvatbar Surrounding the base of the throne sat those priests and priestesses of Egipplosis Who had embraced the new faith of one body and one soul The Pontiff Chaka performed the marriage ceremony When the roar of guns had subsided He performed his august duties sustained by the splendours of music And the adoration of the people Wilt thou have this woman, Leone, queen of Atvatbar To be thy wife until death According to the customs of our people And not according to the customs of Egipplosis I will Wilt thou have this man, Lexington, king of Atvatbar To be thy husband until death According to the new faith of one body and one soul I will The deed was done Around the throne swept a cyclone of twin souls Resolved on matrimony In their bewildering flight They became radiant with strange transformations Of feeling and gesture And their song symbolised the intensity Of the great crisis that had arrived in the history of the nation All around the amphitheatre rose the enormous multitude As one soul shouting their joy The guns of the fortress volleied their thunders The first act of the great drama ended Amid the shouting of armed hosts The singing of twin souls And the hosannas of the multitude The second scene was perhaps still more impressive The grand chamberlain of the palace, Cleporellium, Had put into his phonograph beside us A coil containing the charter of coronation Fitting a megaphone to the phonograph There issued the following proclamation from the instrument Like a blast of music Charter of coronation of their majesties Lexington and Leone king and queen of Atvatbar The crown and throne of the realm of Atvatbar Herefore too possessed in the persons of their ex-majesties King Aldmeri Bulmakar and Queen Toplissi Being now declared vacant by reason of the desertion Flight, deposition and defeat of said ex-majesties And said crown and throne of Atvatbar Being now possessed by both conquest and by will of the people In the persons of their majesties Lexington and Leone king and queen of Atvatbar Now therefore we priests, nobles, statesmen and commanders Of army and navy as representatives of the people To hereby confirm said possession of the crown And throne of this realm By placing upon the head of Lexington And upon the head of Leone their respective crowns As king and queen of Atvatbar And to hereby render both king and queen Equal loyalty, fealty and homage As the true and rightful sovereigns of Atvatbar Signed Starbottle Guilor of Calnagore First minister of the government Chaka Pontiff of Remorialism Gulor of Egipplosis Thubul Gulois of Egipplosis Rakhion Gulor of Swandab Commander-in-Chief of the army Wallace Admiral of the fleet Yomul Lord of Art Guilor of Nathisthesia Grasna Galapas Commander-in-Chief of the Bokker kids Laldomere Guilor of Kyoram Praa Minister of Police Nothothabok Minister of Naval Affairs Goldrock Royal Treasurer Dr. Merriferry Minister of Foreign Affairs Flathoekli Minister of War Girolio Vice Commander of the army Coltenbury Vice Commander of the Bokker kids During the declamation of the megaphone The Pontiff Chaka raised the crown to my head While his consort Thubul Raised the crown of the queen to Leone's head We sat thus crowned amid the tremendous excitement The guns of the fortress shook the Bormidophia with their explosions The people shouted Life, health and prosperity to our sovereign Lord and Lady Lexington and Leone King and Queen of At-Vat Bar Men heard no sweeter music than the coronation march Executed by a thousand instruments I realised as I sat with Leone beneath the throne of the gods A portion of that immeasurable feeling of being universally exalted Universally loved, universally adored It is true the fervour of idolatry for Leone had largely subsided But in its stead came a more perfect loyalty of soul and body on the part of priest and priestess Souls that had balanced themselves as it were on the edge of a sword Once more stood on the solid earth The magnificence of royalty Which kings born to the purple but rarely feel was ours Our sudden good fortune unveiled to us the splendours of power And riches and honour The people themselves enchanted with the product of their own abnegation Made their obeisance to us as gods Leone grew perceptibly paler with the intensity of her excitement Her breast rose and fell more rapidly As the soaring of song told her that her supreme realisation of life and fortune as goddess Had not wholly died with her apostasy But that a new life no less glorious had begun As for myself, seated on the focus of human endeavour It thrilled me to think what power of realisation I possessed For things I had considered impossible and unattainable I determined that art should sound the abysses of the inexpressible And bring from thence radiant symbols of all things Clothed with imagination and emotion Invention would still further extend man's empire over matter Soul, culture and spirit power would be cultivated in a reformed eduplosis Leone, mystical and divine Would ever rule queen of hearts with the sorcery of her beauty End of Chapter 57 Chapter 58 of The Goddess of At-Vat Bar By William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain Recording by Nigel Fisher The Death of Bull Makar General Flathoekley with his command of 10,000 Fletcher mings Who was ordered to pursue and capture the ex-king Bull Makar Returned to Calnagore after a month's absence To report the death of King Bull Makar and Kaushnilly Together with several hundred of their followers And the capture of several thousand wayleels as prisoners At a special interview with the general I requested him to report the story of his defeat of the king's troops And the death of the king Well, Your Majesty, said Flathoekley I must first of all congratulate you on ascending the throne of the enemy To us the smartest bit of work I've seen since I left the other world The troops behaved nobly, I said But I'm all anxious to hear how you captured the king Well then, Your Majesty I come up to the place called Gapathis About 1500 miles from here Away beyond on the whale's sea shore Had he a large force with him, I asked Be dead and he had He had a bodyguard of about 5,000 wayleels But sure, we made short work of the flying soldiers Well, tell me exactly what happened, I said Truth and I will, Your Majesty Sure, our flying sailors are darlin' fellows We skirmished up to the enemy until we got in between us and the sea And then we fell too The bloody rascals tried to spear us and did kill about a dozen or two of our boys But we touched them up lightly with our pitch-box And buggera they didn't like that at all, at all A wee red-faced caten called out that they were going to fight for their king till the last How long are you going to last yourself, sonny? Says I, afore the words were out in my mouth Somebody laid the wee fellow out as night is a funeral While we fell upon them from front and rear as the saying is And bejebbers I killed the man with the first blow Walk right into them, I shouted And there we were, fighting and slashing and killing one another As if it were a matter of business If the king's soldiers flew up, why we flew up too, and chased them down again It was like a pandemonium of fighting cocks There was a big fellow who made a slash at me with his sword But I lifted him on my fork and very nicely showed me the whites of his eyes The best part of the performance was old bully Who had himself in the middle of his bodyguard And wave and a toy sword, asked his friends to kill us Well, to make a long story short, the enemy being very badly beaten Threw up their arms, and we captured the entire lot Except for about five hundred wheelie's who flew away as fast as their heels could carry them How did the king conduct himself when captured, I inquired He came up to me and bowing very nicely offered me his sword He said he was glad to surrender to a brave general And hoped I would give him the honours of war Bejebbers I will that, said I But that'll be after we throw you by cart-martial But where's Mrs. Bully, says I? Does your Excellency mean her late majesty, said Bully? If so, I regret to say the unhappy fate which has overtaken both myself and her country prostrated us so much that she died Well then, says I, where's that other conspirator, Cush Neely? I am here, your Excellency, says he, stepping forward and handing me his sword And I also surrender You do well, says I, to give up your sword, for it saves me the trouble of taking it from you And now, my rascals, I said, we're going to save the trouble of looking after you by throwing you through cart-martial Let the court be formed, says I, and bring forth the prisoners The king's soldiers were disarmed and their wings taken off and were assembled in a circle on the guard Bully and Cush Neely under a special guard stood in the middle of the ring Now voiced, says I, play fair and no favour Who's got a charge against the prisoners? With that one of my men stepped forward and said that Bully and Cush Neely had organised resistance to a change of government and religion thereby blocking the wheels of reform and furthermore had conspired to murder and Bejabas did murder her holiness the goddess of blessed memory Oh, although alive again was undoubtedly killed When Bully and Cush Neely heard that the goddess was alive again their knees knocked together with fear This is a terrible charge again, you both, said I I don't know which offence is the greatest killing a decent goddess or blocking the wheels of reform Anyhow, the one crime is as bad as the other Who supports the charge, I added in thundering tones Well, ivory soldier on the spot volunteered to give evidence as to blocking the wheels of reform but nobody saw the murder committed Now, says I, addressing the prisoners Did you murder the goddess or did you not? By your souls tell the truth, guilty or not guilty Guilty, said both prisoners Then by your own mouths you be condemned, said I The sentence of this court is that you both be beheaded on the mortal spot I think, flattery, said I, that you rather exceeded your duty in so hastily condemning the prisoners you should have brought them to Cannigo for proper trial and execution Sure, I knew that, but to tell your majesty the truth it wouldn't have added to your credit to have ordered the execution of Bully and so I took the responsibility the whole thing on myself I made Bully and Cush Neely kneel down and a soldier tied their hands behind their backs Then I ordered a wayliel to behead them with their own swords After some hot work the heads of both murderers rolled on the ground Why didn't you shoot them or kill them at once with your spears? I considered that as too oisier death for them I didn't want them to die without knowing they were getting hurt I forgave Flat Hootley for his too hasty execution of the ex-king as he had undoubtedly saved me a very disagreeable duty and the hasty taking off of his ex-majesty prevented any demonstration in his favour To assure the people of my anxiety for a popular government I issued a proclamation ordering a general election to create a new barotomy in place of the assembly whose members had disappeared or were made prisoners of war or were dead In thus providing for a constitutional government I granted the nation not only all its ancient privileges but added new and more important measures of political liberty As the revenues amounted to $8 billion per annum there was no danger of myself or comrades of the polar king falling short of handsome revenues The re-establishment of the government the reorganization of the army, navy and police together with the care of the palaces of Calnegur and Tange and the new ritual for the Bormidophia and Egyplosis occupied my attention for a longer period than I at first contemplated While these things were being accomplished I gave a grand public reception and royal banquet to Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes and the officers and seamen of the ships Mercury and Doraura Boralis in acknowledgement of their great services to our cause At the same time I did not forget to give our friends a more solid proof of my gratitude in the shape of a large bounty in gold End of chapter 58 Chapter 59 of The Goddess of Bat-Vat Bar by William Richard Bradshaw This LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Nigel Fisher The history concluded I think it is right that I should conclude the history of the conquest of Bat-Vat Bar with my being crowned king of the realm I at once assumed my functions as ruler of Bat-Vat Bar I was supreme commander of the army and grand admiral of the fleet In council with the ministers of the government appointed by the Barodamy I caused the adoption of many beneficent laws calculated to make my people prosperous and happy Hushnoli soon departed with his retinue of twin souls to found a new edgy plosus on the sphere of Hilar with Zulisowas as a goddess It was with great grief that I parted with these beloved friends Hushnoli and his flock were not to be persuaded that nature herself was hostile to their esoteric practices so to avoid antagonism it was best that we should part I promised Hushnoli that together with Leone I would visit his globe sometime in the future and see how his colony progressed He was an enthusiast who required a great many defeats from fortune before he could see the fatal defects of his social and religious system The grand sorcerer as the pontiff of remoralism or the ethics of nature achieved a triumph in restoring edgy plosus to the reign of order, truth, justice, benevolence and temperance In time I hoped to see the Christian faith rule the souls of those who had so recently worshipped themselves under the guise of Harrikar the universal human soul I was anxious to see men and women possessing that serene poise of passion that alone can sustain virile action Leone herself was the first to be convinced that the human soul with its limitations its narrowness, its impatience, its selfishness, its arrogance, its cruelty was a very inferior deity It was true that rare ideal joys might be purchased for a brief time under the old regime but they were only purchased at an immense price out of all proportion to the value received and their possession produced a sickly sublimity totally unfitting the soul for the practical duties of life Captain Adams and Sir John Forbes excited at my good fortune declared themselves anxious with my consent to explore the further hemisphere of the interior planet in the interests of science, discovery, commerce and possibly conquest They were anxious to discover the continents that lie above and beyond at Vatbar surrounded by unknown Plutosian seas and to bear their respective countries some signal trophies of their daring and prowess in the internal world It was arranged that on their return to Kioram the Polar King with myself and Leone on board should sail with the Mercury and Aurora Borealis for the United States The sailing of the three vessels up New York Bay would be a historic event and great would be the curiosity of the American people to see the goddess of at Vatbar and our retinue of Wailales as proof of the existence of Bimbisarole, the interior world And now my dear reader we must part for the present By a change of plans on the part of Captain Adams the Mercury, the vessel that will bear the manuscript of my adventures in the interior world is already waiting to start on her voyage I regret that many strange things have been left unsaid many extraordinary experiences have been omitted because I am desirous that this brief history of the happiness that befell me and my devoted sailors in at Vatbar should be published without delay to allay the natural curiosity excited on the outer world by the story of our discovery of Plutasia You may possibly feel a desire to know the future fortunes of Queen Leone and myself in a part of the world here the two undreamed of and when I again address you I hope to describe our future experiences on the throne of at Vatbar We purpose to apply a liberal portion of the vast wealth of our kingdom to the pursuit of invention, art and spirituality preserving and enlarging the existing palaces of invention and art and the palaces of Egyptplosis as institutions for the development of the soul and its attributes of spirit power it will be our purpose to extend to the utmost limits the empire of mind over matter in developing invention in art we will by means of its manifold radiant symbols reproduce every idea of the soul shaped by sentiment and imagination and in sounding the abysses of the heart express what is considered the inexpressible in spirituality the science and art of soul and its manifestations in the body and the temporary or complete severance therefrom will be investigated on a much wider basis than ever before and spirit power apart from the worship of soul as deity will be developed and elaborated into an enduring force possessing creative energy what boundless empire of life will not such ideas realize and how entrancing the story of such discoveries in the interior world of the soul I may also dear reader request you to accompany me to other undiscovered realms of Plutasia where according to report exist fairy lands peopled with strange fantastic races of men and women as well as fabulous animals with characteristics surpassing the wildest dreams of fantasy as shown on the map of the interior world which forms the frontest piece of this volume many more continents remain yet unknown to me to explore which will be my ambition if the rumors I have heard of semi spiritual men and semi human monsters that dwell in tropical environments where mountains rise so high there is no weight on their summits and where torrents of water roll upward sweeping away villages in their path of rocks of gold suspended in the air of tribes dwelling on floating islands of jewels in the empyrean and of a thousand still stranger places and peoples where every fantasy of the imagination can be produced in reality by spirit power then indeed the story of my adventures will develop the soul of the age with a profound delight I therefore bid adieu to you dear reader in the hope of meeting you again to feast you with these wonders I hope to have you accompany me on the polar king which after a season of repair and refitment will most assuredly be launched for a still more adventurous voyage on the waters of the interior sea how many books have been written on the discovery of the western hemisphere by Columbus while as yet but one has been written about the interior sphere a region not less important than the outer earth whose geographical features are now for the first time revealed to human eyes what a wonder it would be if one could travel to the moon or the planet Mars and return to the earth to tell of all that he had seen or heard on those distant spheres here indeed is no lesser miracle that the ages two vast planets have existed unknown to each other although only a thousand miles apart with the means of communication possessing but few difficulties to be overcome the mutual discovery of two such worlds has opened up a future for the human race that may well strike one dumb with its splendor it has conferred on the meanest individual a glory a birthright of the spirit as vast as the properties of the twin planet I will not further anticipate the future and for the present will ask you to accept from Leoni and myself a courteous farewell the end end of chapter 59 end of the goddess of that that bar by William Richard Bradshaw