Part 44 (1/2)
He paused, stretching out his ar upwards While he waited I felt the solid rock on which I stood quiver and sway beneathto each other lest we should fall This chanced also The shock of the earth treures of the ancientprayers to Fate, and shook the ht it by the hilt, and, rising, waved it in triuinning,” he cried ”Thou hast given to me, thy last servant, thine oord and I will use it well For these worshi+ppers of thine who have fallen, thou shalt have others, yes, all those ell in the neorld that is to be My daughter and the s of the earth, and with him his companions, shall be the first of the hundreds of millions that are to follow, for they shall kiss thy feet or perish Thou shalt set thy foot upon the necks of all other Gods; thou shalt rule and thou alone, and, as of old, Oro be thyhih in an ecstasy, and was silent
”I read the omen otherwise,” whispered Yva ”The worshi+ppers of Fate are overthrown His sword of power is fallen, but not into the hands that clasped it, and he totters on his throne A greater God asserts dominion of the world and this Fate is but his instruain
”One prayerlife, that I n that I shall be satisfied with life, a year for every year that I have lived, or twain!”
He waited, staring about him, but no token came; the idol did not speak or bow its head, as Yva had told n of accepted prayer, how, she knew not Only I thought I heard the echo of Oro's cries run in a whisper ofhiony
”God of ht fro else, fear death The priest-fool yonder with his new faith, has spoken blundering words of judgh I do not believe them, yet stick in my heart like arrows I will stamp out his faith, and with this ancient sword of thine drive back the new Gods into the darkness whence they cah the channel of his leaden lips, and what if because I have ruled and will rule as thou didst decree, therefore, in some dim place of souls, I must bear these burdens of terror and of doom which I have bound upon the backs of others! Nay, it cannot be, for what power is there in all the universe that dares to make a slave of Oro and to afflict him with stripes?
”Yet this can be and mayhap will be, that presently I lose thless and forgotten as are those ent before er brows Alas! I grow old, since aeons of sleep have not renewed th My time is short and yet I would not die as mortals must
Oh! God of my people, whom I have served so well, save n; givehis proud and splendid head and watching the statue ide, expectant eyes
”Thou dost not answer,” he cried again ”Wouldst thou desert ainst thee and hurl thee from thine immemorial throne While I live I still have powers, I who ahter turns her back on thee I will get s and take counsel with the dust of that wizard who first taught me wisdom Even from the depths of death he must come to my call clad in a mockery of life, and comfort me A little while yet I ait, and if thou answer not, then Fate, soon I'll tear the sceptre from thy hand, and thou shalt join the coain Oro laid down his head upon the ground and stretched out his arms in the last abasement of supplication
”Come,” whispered Yva, ”while there is yet time Presently he will seek this place to descend to the sepulchre, and if he learns that we have read his heart and know him for a coward deserted of his outworn God, surely he will blot us out Come, and be swift and silent”
We crept out of the chapel, Yva leading, and along the circle of the great dolanced back and perceived that Oro, looking unutterably s like a dead man, still lay outstretched before the stern-faced, unanswering Effigy which, with all his wisdo and divine
Perhaps once it was, but if so its star had set for ever, like those of Amon, Jupiter and Baal, and he was its last worshi+pper
Noere safe, but still we sped on till we reached the portico of our sleeping place Then Yva turned and spoke
”It is horrible,” she said, ”and th whichinnocent of death, do not fear to die and cross his threshold”
”Yes, it is horrible,” I answered ”Yet all men fear death”
”Not when they have found love, Humphrey, for that I think is his true name, and, with it written on his brow, he stands upon the neck of Fate who is still my father's God”
”Then he is not yours, Yva?”
”Nay Once it was so, but now I reject hier e, I have broken his chain, though in another fashi+on Ask me no more; perhaps one day you will learn the path I trod to freedom”
Then before I could speak, she went off:
”Rest now, for within a few hours I must come to lead you and your companions to a terrible place Yet whatever you may see or hear, be not afraid, Humphrey, for I think that Oro's God has no power over you, strong though he was, and that Oro's plans will fail, while I, who too have knowledge, shall find strength to save the world”
Then of a sudden, once again she grew splendid, alel Some fire of pure purpose seemed to burn up in her and to shi+ne out of her eyes Yet she said little Only this indeed:
”To everyone, I think, there comes the moreat and what is sood of other wanderers in the way This day that moreet it well Such is Bastin's lesson, which I have striven to learn”