Front matter (continued 2)

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."