Without hesitation, Mary handed him the blade which hung at her right
side. Placing the point against the flesh, he put both hands about the
hilt and plunged it deep into him with all his strength, until only the
hilt was to be seen.
Miraculously, he felt no pain. The blade when Stanton withdrew the steel
showed virgin as it had entered, and not a drop of crimson dyed the
entrance it had made in the flesh.
One of the women put into words what they all felt: "This is magic.
Death is gone forever now."
_It was in that very instant that the soul of Miotis entered into the
body of Bly Stanton._
* * * * *
Stanton felt a sudden elation. More, a consciousness of vast powers. He
was immune to death. But were his companions? He looked Mary full in the
eyes as he said: "It seems that nothing can kill me now, even violence.
What of you?"
She knew what he meant. And with as little hesitation as he had shown,
did what he did with the blade in her fingers. Her face in an instant
became a grotesque mask of pain and horror. A fountain of blood poured
from the self-inflicted wound. She tried to say something as she sank to
her knees, but nothing came out.
"Only he is immortal," Naila said, awed. "For look! Mary is already
gone. Hail immortal...."
It was the acknowledgement of his supremacy.
He took advantage of it on the instant. "Good. I can use you all. We
must first rid ourselves of these men, my enemies. Come, call the others
of your tribe and I will lead you to them."
He knew without being told that there were many more of these women. For
surely not so few would have come, armed as they were, into a strange
land. At his words, several of them sped around a headland which hid the
cove beyond. Naila took his arm and led him forward. His eyes widened
when he saw the four sailing ships in the large bay beyond the headland.
There were five hundred women all armed and all ready and willing, when
they heard the situation, to do his bidding. Nor did he take long to
give his commands.
Daylight was breaking when they came to the tunnel which was the
headquarters for the tribe from which Bly Stanton had come. He deployed
his forces with the greatest of care, making sure the surprise would be
complete when he came out. Then he entered. He knew at this hour that
his men would be asleep. He was right. There were two hundred of the
women with him, and these he placed all along the tunnel length, telling
them to hide in the recesses along the walls.
* * * * *
His voice awakened his men. They crowded round him when he clambered
over the barricade, and at the sight of the sword in the place where he
usually carried it smiles broke on their lips.
"Bly! We have you with us again," Mark exclaimed.
"But of course," Bly said. "It must have been the knock on the head I
got in the fight with the Himlos. But now it's clear. And I have news
for you. We can get rid of our enemies in one fell swoop. They are as
foolish as we. They too sleep in the daytime. Does that mean anything to
you?"
"Are you sure?" Mark asked.
"Certain. I have seen them."
"Then let us wait no longer. By the time they come to their senses, it
will be too late."
And it was. Only not as Mark had thought. For the immortal Stanton had
become battle-crazed, and whether loyal comrade or enemy, he knew only
to kill violently. It was Stanton himself who delivered the death blow
to his good friend. The rest of his group fell easy prey to the women,
who were even more savage than Stanton. It wasn't until it was all over
that Bly noticed what his women companions had done. Each and every one
of them carried a trophy hung in her belt, a horrible thing which leaked
blood. They had cut the heads from those they killed.
All that day and the next and until the last of the Mongoloids had been
eliminated, they hunted. They were no longer five hundred women when
they were finished. But there were no more men, either. Each of the
women carried a single head on her belt when they went back to the ships
which had brought them. And Bly, also, carried one.
Bly Stanton was no longer the same man as the one whom they had
discovered. The blood bath he had been in had done something to him. His
nose had become pinched, and his whole face had changed, so that his
eyes were narrowed now and his forehead, for some reason, lower. He no
longer walked erect, but stooped and shambled oddly as he moved. His jaw
jutted forward, and his teeth showed because of it. Little by little, he
had found it more comfortable to be without clothes, until by the time
they returned to the ships, the only article of clothing he wore was the
belt on which hung his sword and knife.
Naila had taken Mary's place in the scheme of things. Still, she found
she had to call Bly her superior. During the long days of slaughter,
there had been little need of talk. Muttered directions had done for
them.
But as they stood at the edge of the gangplank leading aboard, she said:
"Come immortal! There is nothing left for you here."
"Nothing?" he asked, somewhat blankly. "Nothing...?"
"Of course not," she said. "In all of this world not another like you is
left alive."
* * * * *
Through the brain of Bly Stanton shot a thought that was like an
arrow--he, alone, of all the males in the world. What sort of world
could it be? What was he to do in this world where there was nothing but
woman, and man had no place? He peered at these women and saw them for
what they were--beasts, cruel and vicious, shaped as humans. There was
no compromising with nature. If one did not serve the purpose for which
one was intended, then one served another purpose. He looked at these
women who were the rulers of this planet and knew they had an empty
rule, and a losing fight. For immortality, in the sense in which he had
achieved it, was lost to them.
He shook his head from side to side, and slowly turning, started off
without a word of farewell.
But Naila was not as Mary. There was a cunning in her which the other
had never possessed. Before Stanton had taken more than ten steps, she
was at his side. Her sword flashed in a blinding arc as it sped toward
the man. There was a sickening sound as the steel met the flesh of the
throat. And a bloody geyser bloomed where the head had been. A vicious
grin leaped to her lips as she stooped and lifted the head.
But the grin changed to a howl of fear as the eyes suddenly opened and
the lips parted and words came from them: "You forgot, Naila. Death
comes not to me. Remember?"
She dropped the head and sped for the ship. The others, witness to what
happened, followed as quickly as possible. What they did not see, of
course, was that the eyes and lips had closed forever on the instant of
their departure.
_For it was then that the soul of Miotis left the body of Bly Stanton._
* * * * *
Kannot removed the mask from Miotis' face. The soul-globe lay to one
side. Slowly the eyelids of the warlord raised. For a few seconds his
eyes were blank. Then reason came to them.
"Did you ..." Kannot began, and wet his suddenly dry lips. "Did you get
to where I sent you?" he finished.
The eyes of the man on the table blinked as though in signal. The lips
moved but feebly.
"Can you talk?" Kannot asked.
"Later," Miotis whispered.
Kannot nodded in understanding. He had an idea of the ordeal his King
had been through. The telling of what had happened to him could wait for
a while.
Hours went by, and the man on the table slowly gained strength. But it
was a long time later before he could talk.
"You sent my soul into the body of a mighty warrior," Miotis said. "Aye.
A mighty warrior. I saw and learned many strange things. But of all the
things I saw, only one stood out...."
"And what was that?" Kannot asked.
"War must die!" Miotis said.
"But war is already dead," Kannot said. "Remember, sire, it is the
reason why you allowed the experiment--to seek ways of bringing war back
to life."
"No! I saw what war can do to a planet, to man and to woman. It must
never come back. From this day forward, the sinews of war will be
removed. Look closely at me, Kannot. What do you see?"
It was then Kannot understood. He had transferred the souls of Miotis
and of Bly Stanton. But the unforeseen had taken place. He had not
merely transferred the two souls. He had done so permanently. And Bly
Stanton, in the body of Miotis, had come to do what he realized now too
late should have been done on the Earth long ago--abolish war forever.