The sky is filled with lonely stones—planets
waiting for the first breath of life to warm them.
N'urth was such a world—and the Gods smiled on it.
[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from
Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy
October 1950
Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]
"Tell me, my queen mother, the story of the gods."
"Do you never tire, son, of those ancient legends? But no—let thisnot seem a reproof. It is well that a prince of the royal line shouldponder much on those mighty ones, who came from the sun, where dwellsEl-Leighi, the source of all, to create a fair world—the world inwhich some day you will reign. Shall I speak, then, of Solin-Ga-Ling,patron of husbandry and Lord of the North, or would you hear of thegentle Maha-Bar-Astro, sweet goddess who fashions the dreams ofchildhood? Or would you know of the mysterious Noor-Ah-Mah, who diedtwice, lived thrice, and was both male and female by turns?"
"Tell me of them all; but first, mother, who was the mightiest of thegods?"
"Hush, child! Among beings so exalted it would be presumptuous formortals to regard one above the other. But know this—for it concernsyou and your pride of race: Splendid legends relate to the strengthand virtues of Maha-Ra-Lin, Lord of the South, sometimes called theLife-giver. For it was he who created Noor-Ah-Mah from a rock by thesea, and breathed his own life into her nostrils."
"But, mother, was he not defeated in battle?"
"It was a battle beyond our understanding—of forces that we cannotcomprehend, and for a purpose beyond our knowledge—though it is saidthat in some manner the strife arose over the sex to be awarded thenewly created Noor-Ah-Mah. Maha-Ra-Lin would have endowed the partlyformed being with the attributes of a god, but Bar-Doo-Chan, Lord ofthe West, contended for a goddess. In their mighty clash of wills, theheavens were rent with lightning, the seas were churned, mountains wereheaved by the all-powerful ones across the land. Legend has it that asingle moon shone from the heavens before that event, but a lightningbolt hurled by Maha-Ra-Lin at his antagonist failed of its mark. Itsmote the moon by chance, splitting the heavenly body in twain, so thattwo moons now circle the continents of N'urth."
"Then Bar-Doo-Chan, who defeated Maha-Ra-Lin, was the mightiest."
"Nay, that you must not say. True, at the end of three daysMaha-Ra-Lin acknowledged himself defeated. Yet it is written thathe nobly abandoned the fray out of pity for the helpless creaturesof N'urth, and for the newly created Noor-Ah-Mah, knowing that ifthe battle continued they would all be destroyed. And so Noor-Ah-Mahbecame a goddess, and in that aspect she is depicted by our sculptorsas a mighty huntress, running with upraised spear cheek-by-cheek withBar-Doo-Chan. But Maha-Ra-Lin, the Life-giver, could not wholly undohis original design, so that at times she reverted to the form of amale. That is why, in ancient carvings, we sometimes find Noor-Ah-Mahpictured as a god, carrying lightnings of destruction in his clenchedhand."
"Then, after all, Maha-Ra-Lin was the greatest?"
"He was a mighty being, son. Yet how can any be considered greaterthan Pi-Ruh-Al, to whom even the other gods and goddesses turned forcounsel? Pi-Ruh-Al, the great mother, goddess of beauty, of wisdom,creator of mortal life...."
The rain settled into a steady downpour. Drenched to the marrow, DaveMarlin struggled on through the darkness and m