"No!" she cried. "Depart the circle! Hurry! I amholding him heret His power wanes! In moments, thisplace will be no more. Go!"

Launceiot hesitated but a moment, then turned andwalked as rapidly as he was able toward the circle'sperimeter. The sky seemed to boil as he passed amongthe monoliths, He advanced another dozen paces, then had to pauseto rest. He looked back to the place of battle, to the placewhere the two figures still stood locked in sorcerous embrace. Then the scene was imprinted upon his brain asthe skies opened and a sheet of fire fell upon the far endof the circle.

Dazzled, he raised his hand to shield his eyes. Whenhe "lowered it, he saw the stones falling, soundless, manyof them fading from sight. The rain began to slow immediately. Sorceror and sorceress had vanished alongwith much of the structure of the still-fading place. Thehorses were nowhere to be seen. He looked about himand saw a good-sized stone. He headed for it and seatedhimself. He unfastened his breastplate and removed it,dropping it to the ground. His side throbbed and he heldit tightly. He doubled forward and rested his face on hisleft hand.

The rains continued to slow and finally ceased. Thewind died. The mists returned.

He breathed deeply and thought back upon the conflict. This,-this was the thing for which he had remainedafter all the others, the thing for which he had waited,for so long. It was over now, and he could rest.

There was a gap in his consciousness. He was broughtto awareness again by a light. A steady glow passed between his fingers, pierced his eyelids. He dropped hishand and raised his head, opening his eyes.

It passed slowly before him in a halo of white light. Heremoved his sticky fingers from his side and rose to hisfeet to follow it. Solid, glowing, glorious and pure, not atall like the image in the chamber, it led him on out acrossthe moonlit plain, from dimness to brightness to dimness,until the mists enfolded him as he reached at last to embrace it.

HERE ENDETH THE BOOK OF LAUNCELOT,LAST OF THE NOBLE KNIGHTS OF THEROUND TABLE, AND HIS ADVENTURESWITH RAXAS, THE HOLLOW KNIGHT,AND MERLIN AND MORGAN LE FAY,LAST OF THE WISE FOLK OF CAMELOT,IN HIS QUEST FOR THE SANGREAL.

QUO FAS ET GLORIA DVCUNT.

I wrote this in a hurry for complicated reasons involving The llliisiraled Roger Zeiazny, and then the reasonsevaporated and it got published in a different place thanwas originally intended, but everything worked out okay.

When it was agreed that we would marry, the threeof us went to Old Voyet of the Long Legs to select astone signifying the betrothal. This was to be our choicealone, as was the custom.

Kwib favored one the color of passion itself, brightblue, looking as if it were a solid drop of the great ocean.I preferred a jewel the color of fire, representing peaceand stability in the home. Since our beloved agreed withme, the ruby stone, a more expensive gem, was selectedand Old Voyet of the Long Legs made the incision inour beloved's brow, set the stone there and bandaged itin place. Our beloved, thenceforth to be known as RubyStone, was very brave. He held us and stared at theground, unmoving, throughout that terrible little ritual.

"Never hurts me a bit," Old Voyet of the Long Legsremarked, "and I've done the Woods know how manyover the returnings."We did not reply to the crude humor, but made arrangements to see her paid before the ceremony.

"Will there be a Bottom-Top settlement for all to see?"she asked.

"No, we believe in privacy in these matters," I answered, perhaps too quickly, for the look I received inreply showed that it had been taken as a sign of weakness. No matter. The walker with the mitteltoth knowsits wilpering best.

We bade one another farewell and departed in thethree directions, to remain at station houses until RubyStone should heal sufficiently to be fit for the ceremony.

I rested and practiced thorn-throwing while I waitedfor the joggler. On the tenth day it came napping to mydoor. Before I slew it, I took its message and learnedthat we would be wed two days hence. The joggler's innards augured a mixed destiny but its flesh was tender.

Alone at the station house, I bathed and flagellatedmyself in preparation for the rites. I slept beneath asacred tree. I watched the stars through its branches. Imade offering of the joggler's bones at its mossy base. Ilistened to the singers who flew through the Wood—moist, coarse tongues hanging vinelike—collecting relatives, the little singers, to serve the belly-fillmg role inthe great song-show of life.

One singer shrieked horribly in mid-swoop and wasdragged downward by the tongue to disappear within thepot of a korkanus—a noisy piece of blackness torn fromthe night.

Before morning, I was at the plant's side, waiting forit to evert its stomach. It made a gurgling, sloppingnoise just as light was beginning to come into the world,ridding itself of the previous day's dross in a littlesteaming pool. I sprang back so as not to be splashed bythe burning fluid. With a stick, I rummaged through thekorkhanus's wastes as it sucked itself back into shape,probing among the bones and scales it had dumped.

They were present, two sets of talons—six, altogether—amid the pulpy remains. I fished them out with mystick and bore them off to the river on a mat of leaves,where I would clean and polish them. I took this as agood omen.

That day I also sharpened the talons and mountedthem along the lengths of two sticks I could hold, asthey were far better equipment than any I possessed. Iwore them as part of a belt I then wove, looking muchlike hardroot rings to a wooden clasp.

The rest of the day I purified myself and thought oftenof my mates to be, and of our wedding. I ate the prescribed meal that evening and repaired early to the sacredtree, where I bad some difficulty in turning to sleep.

The following morning, I made my way back alongthe route I had taken to the station house. I met withKv ib and Ruby Stone at the plac' where we had parted.We did not touch one another, but exchanged formalgreetings:

"Root of life."

"Guardian of the egg."

"Bringer of sustenance,"

"Reaper of the Wood."

"Walkers in the preiire."

"Haii."

"Hail."

"Hail."'

"Are you ready to take your way to the Tree of Life?"

"I am ready to take my way to the Tree of Life."

"Are you ready to hang the emblem of your troth upon it?"

"I am ready to hang the emblem of my troth upon it"

"I am ready to accept you both as mate."

"I am ready to accept you both as mate."

"I am ready to accept you both as mate."

"Then let us go to the Tree of Life."

We leaped into the air and danced and spun and darted,soaring high above the Wood in the sparkling light of day.We turned and curved and circled about one another untilwe could barely stay aloft. Then we made our way tothe great Tree, hung with its countless emblems, thereto add our own with the appropriate words and acts. Whenwe touched the ground at its base, Kwib and I each seizedone of Ruby Stone's wings and tore it away.

Old Voyet of the Long Legs, Yglin the Purple-Streakedand Young Dendlit Lopleg were present, among others,to observe, congratulate and offer advice. We listenedwith some impatience, for we were anxious to be on ourway. Observers take great delight in delaying newlywedswho wish to be about their business.

The three of us embraced in various ways and badethe others farewell. There was a murmur of disappointment that things would go no further at that point. Butwe raised Ruby Stone and together bore him back to thedwelling we had selected, bright nuptial stone glisteningin his proud and polished brow. All of us made a fineappearance as we proceeded through the Wood to theHome. The others followed slowly behind us, humming.