But the auxiliary engines were dead, too. Now the _ardth_-men murmured
and whispered among themselves, for the unnatural quiet of the Citadel
was hammering their eardrums.
Footsteps sounded on the flagging.
Something tall and something bright was crossing the Street of Space
and entering the Square. It was shaped like a man, but its gleaming
yellowness was so brilliant that it hurt the eyes to see it.
"Tyr!" screamed Katha.
Space Commander Mason shuddered and put a trembling hand across his
eyes. He looked smaller, frail in his dark cloak, standing before the
giant who was coming toward him. His officers fell away from him as Tyr
came on. To one side a girl with an emerald necklace dropped and lay in
a huddled heap on the ground.
From the throats of the manacled Tryllans a roar went up.
"Our god has come for vengeance!"
"Yield, you _ardth_! Yield to Tyr!"
"See how he shines in his glory!"
Twenty feet from Mason, Tyr came to a stop, for fear that the heat his
body emanated would blast the man.
"Free Katha and Zarman and the others," the yellow giant said.
Mason nodded.
"Stay away from me," he warned Katha, seeing her leaping from the dais
of the gallows. "I am still overcharged with energy. It will fade in a
little while. Wait."
Tyr looked at Mason.
"Zarman will be governor of Lyallar. Otho must die. Fay--Fay will be
banished for her treachery. Let her keep the emeralds. She will die if
we take them from her. The Trylla will live in peace and friendship
with the Earth peoples. It is my order."
Zarman came forward and held out his hand to Space Commander Mason who
took it thoughtfully. The man with the bald head swung on Tyr.
"Then it is true what Katha said? You _can_ go near a sun? It makes
your body like--that?"
"It fills it with heat and light. And heat and light are energy. My
body is energy, right now. Later, that peak of pure energy will fade.
It will resume its normal look. But potentially, it is always as you
see it now ... needing only a sun to make it so."
Katha looked at Mason, across the cobblestones of the square.
She said, "I told you Tyr is the one to renew the Glows. He would not
die on a planet near enough to the sun for the elements we need."
"I will do that," agreed Tyr. "I am no longer god of the Trylla. I
brought them their freedom. I have discharged the responsibility they
put about my shoulders when they made me their god.
"My father was _ardth_. I, too, am _ardth_. If I can save the _ardth_,
I shall."
He turned toward Commander Mason and said. "And, being an _ardth_, I am
under your orders, sir."
Mason drew a deep breath, took off his hat and ran his hand over his
bald head. His face wrinkled with amazement, changing to a shy smile.
"My orders, Tyr? Hmm. The first thing you ought to do is--cool off.
Then, when you're able to do it safely, take this woman Katha into your
arms and kiss her for her belief in you! After that--you might consider
mating with her. Your children will carry a torch, Tyr. To the true
ends of the world."