Part 3 (1/2)
”Then came the Ancient Ones from beyond the stars Their race was already older than this earth Their wisefro ness, a handful fled hither
”But when they climbed froained, in place of their loved ho slime
”They blasted out this Tav and entered into it with the treasures of their flying shi+ps and also certain living creatures captured in the swamps From these, they produced the Folk, the Gibi, the Tand, and the land-tending Eron
”Ah But still the learning of the Ancient Ones re the eons the Ancient Ones dithin their protecting wall of haze the outer world changed Cold came to the north and south; the Land of Sun and the Land of Sea arose to bear the foot of truethe Ancient Ones watched man-life spread across the world They had the power of prolonging life, but still the race was dying From without must come new blood So certain men were summoned from the Land of the Sun Then the race flourished for a space
”The Ancient Ones decided to leave Tav for the outer world But the sea sed the Land of Sun Again, in the time of the Land of Sea, the stock within Tav was replenished and the Ancient Ones prepared for exodus; again the sea cheated theery Since the Ancient Ones would not le their blood with that of aler and remained But a handful of them were attracted by the forbidden, and secretly they su came the Black Ones They live but for the evil they may do, and the pohich they acquired is debased and used to forward cruelty
”At first their sin was not discovered When it was, the others would have slain the offspring but for the lahich forbids theood or it departs from them So they drove the Black Ones to the southern end of Tav and gave them the Caves of Darkness Never were the Black Ones to coo south of it
”For perhaps two thousand years the Black Ones kept the law But they worked, building powers of destruction While matters rested thus, the Ancient Ones searched the world, seeking men by whom they could renew the race Once there came men from an island far to the north Six lived to penetrate the ain, they called the yellow-haired reat sea rovers
”But the Black Ones called too As the Ancient Ones searched for the best, the Black Ones brought in great workers of evil And, at last, they succeeded in shutting off the channels of sending thought so that the Ancient Ones could call no more
”Then did the Black Ones cross the River of Gold and enter the land of the Ancient Ones Thran, Dweller in the Light and Lord of the Caverns, summoned the Folk to him
”'There will coain after the Black Ones have seeht, will not enter into the Rooive herself into the hands of the Black Ones, that they may think themselves truly victorious You of the Folk withdraw into the Place of Reptiles until the Black Ones are gone Nor will all the Ancient Ones perish--more will be saved, but the manner of their preservation I dare not tell When the sun-haired youth comes from the outer world, send him into the Caves of Darkness to rescue Thrala and put an end to evil'
”And then the Lady Thrala arose and said softly, 'As the Lord Thran has said, so let it be I shall deliver myself into the hands of the Black Ones that their doom may come upon them'
”Lord Thran smiled upon her as he said: 'So will happiness be your portion After the Great Mists, does not light coain?'
”The women of the Ancient Ones then took their leave and passed into the place of Pleasant Death while the men made ready for battle with the Black Ones For three days they fought, but a neeapon of the Black Ones won the day, and the chief of the Black Ones set up this throne of jet as proof of his power Since, however, the Black Ones were not happy in the Caverns, longing for the darkness of their caves, they soon withdrew and we, the Folk, caain
”But now the tihter to their evil If you can win her free, outlander, they shall perish as if they had not been”
”What of the Ancient Ones?” asked Garin--”those others Thran said would be saved?”
”Of those we know nothing save that e bore the bodies of the fallen to the Place of Ancestors there were so will take you to the gallery above the Room of Pleasant Death and you , Garin cli from the Hall of Thrones This led to a narrow balcony, one side of which was clear crystal Urg pointed down
They were above a long rooreen On the polished floor were scattered piles of cushi+ons Each was occupied by a sleeping woman and several of these clasped a child in their ar hair rippled to the floor, their curved lashes !” protested Garin
Urg shook his head ”It is the sleep of death Twice each ten hours vapors rise froain, and if they are undisturbed they will lie thus for a thousand years Look there--”
He pointed to the closed double doors of the room There lay the first men of the Ancient Ones Garin had seen They, too, seemed but asleep, their handsome heads pillowed on their arms
”Thran ordered those who remained after the last battle in the Hall of Thrones to enter the Rooht not torture them for their beastly pleasures Thran himself remained behind to close the door, and so died”
There were no aged a the sleepers None of the men seemed to count er Garin remarked upon this