“I say to you, Yolara, that these things were and are⁠—in Ireland.” His voice rang strong. “And I have seen men as many as those that are in your great chamber this many times over”⁠—he clenched his hands once more, perhaps a dozen times⁠—“blasted into nothingness before your Keth could even have touched them. Yea⁠—and rocks as mighty as those through which we came lifted up and shattered before the lids could fall over your blue eyes. And this is truth, Yolara⁠—all truth! Stay⁠—have you that little cone of the Keth with which you destroyed Songar?”

She nodded, gazing at him, fascinated, fear and puzzlement contending.

“Then use it.” He took a vase of crystal from the table, placed it on the threshold that led into the garden. “Use it on this⁠—and I will show you.”

“I will use it upon one of the ladala ⁠—” she began eagerly.