Earthmaker, the Magnificent!

These are the evidence that only faith is sane,

And never more shall freedom wear a chain.

Hate is vanquished. Joy has won!

Now ends the flight of Terra One.

And Terra Two shall fly the newer sky

In love.”

While every knight knelt, Terra Two rose gently in the air from the shelf before the saddle.

There boomed above the plain a gallant chorus rising somewhere deep in space. It was an old, old song and the tune reached hauntingly again to touch the Father’s face.

And Terra Two began to grow. It spun in midair, rose high above Light-Raider as the Star-Song echoed through galaxies.

“The melody fell upward into joy

And climbed its way in spangled rhapsody.

Earthmaker’s infant stars adored his boy,

And blazed his name in every galaxy.”

The plains of Ellanor were suddenly baptized in a golden incandescence, nearly as luminous as that which lit the Azure Plain of Lifeland. Each of the newly liberated fell in double columns that flanked a blinding aisle down which the Singer passed. Dreamer found himself in the long column on the right.

He waited till the Troubadour passed in front of him. Like others who preceded him in the column, he knelt. The great sword touched his shoulders, and the cool blade on his naked flesh was the confirmation that he was now part of the Army of Liberation.

When the Singer had passed, Dreamer stood with the firmness of a victor. He stiffened with military air when he realized he was dressed like all the other soldiers. The silver mail hung upon his arms and shoulders. The Symbol of the Singer was raised in bronze relief above his breastplate. His sword lay flat within the scabbard that rested against the greaves, and his gauntlets were tucked behind his studded belt.

What had happened to the woolen rags he had worn only moments before? He didn’t know, but he wore the new dignity well. He knew that tomorrow he would fight the War of Fire. His hand rested firm upon his sword and he smiled.

XXII

Light is never given while we fear the dark.

When dawn came, the Army of Liberation drew their swords and began the advance. They marched in silence toward the enemy columns stationed by the wall. Elan, in the saddle of a Vollkon laden with the ore of death, advanced to meet the enemy. His bridled reptile released the canisters. Fire fell everywhere, but the Army of Liberation marched on.

Elan feared.

The unbridled Vollkons flew again to the armory and returned to hurl more fire. The heat grew so intense that the forests near the Plains of Man ignited. Sheets of flame swept in waves across the land and licked the base of the fortress walls. It looked as if the entire globe would burn.

Elan made a tactical error. He decided that the Singer must be killed to stop the onslaught.