There was no problem about leaving Hell; Satan was eager to facilitate his departure. The capsule that
had enclosed Ligeia descended from the sky, and Mym stepped into it. The capsule rose swiftly and
soon was back in the palace of frozen mist. It came to rest exactly where it had been.
Mym got off the bed and stepped out, finding the ice now pervious. He walked to his unconscious body
and phased in.
He found himself cold and stiff, despite the protective cloak. Apparently what he had worn in Hell had
been only a spirit cloak. He climbed to his feet and stretched. He looked back at the bed, remembering
Ligeia. If only there had been some way...
No point in torturing himself. He turned resolutely and walked out through the ice-passages to the
broken entrance. He stepped out. Then he touched the Red Sword and willed himself back to the Castle
of War.
The personnel of the Castle greeted him as if his absence had been routine, but Mym knew that the
mortal world had not halted in place during the past few days. Satan had wanted him out of the mortal
picture, had taken trouble to keep him in Hell as long as possible, and perhaps had paid more of a price
than intended. What had Satan been up to on Earth?
He knew one way to find out. He turned on the television set. Its news always related to Mars.
"All hell is breaking loose on Earth," the announcer said. "There has never been a period of greater
unrest, short of all-out war. The mysterious absence of Mars, the Incarnation of War, has contributed to
the general confusion. Exactly who is managing this violence?"
Satan was, surely. But what was his purpose? Certainly increasing violence in the world would not
deprive Mars of his power; it would enhance it.
Yet Satan had tried to make a deal with him before to facilitate just such unrest, because it would
generate the problems of war, which in turn would generate conditions that would cause increasing
suffering among the mortals, and turn more of them to evil. But could that be all?
It seemed to Mym that Satan had gone to an extraordinary amount of trouble to get him out of the way.
It hardly seemed worth it, just for a few more souls. Satan might lose as many souls from the hearings as
he would gain from the disturbances among the mortals.
The more Mym thought about this, the less he trusted it. When he couldn't properly fathom the nature of
the evil Satan did, that was apt to be because he had missed the true point. He was still new at his job,
and he suspected he was missing the point now.
But there was one who should be able to give him the answer. He touched the Sword. "Chronos," he
murmured.
There was a shimmer, and the Incarnation of Time appeared before him. "Yes, Mars; I caught your
signal."
"Your memory is of my future," Mym said. "I need to know what Satan is up to, and I suspect it will
show there. If you will tell me-"
"Tell you what? My memory covers a great deal."
"What Satan has done."
Chronos frowned. "You may misunderstand my nature. I remember your future, true-but I remember it
only as it happened, not as it might have happened. So if as you say Satan has done something, then this
is the way I remember it, and I don't know how it differs from what you feel it ought to be. If you can be
more specific-"
Mym remembered that Luna was supposed to play a key role in foiling Satan's major scheme, and that
Satan had been trying to get around that before it happened. "Is Luna-does she remain all right?"
"Why, certainly, though her disappointment has been serious."
"Her disappointment?"
"She had hoped to foil Satan; but, of course, that became impossible."
"Impossible? Why? Isn't she active in politics?"
"She was. But that's academic."
"Academic? Why? Doesn't she cast the key vote against Satan, when the time comes?"
Chronos smiled sadly. "How could she? There was no issue to vote on."
This sounded very much like what he was looking for. "At what point did the matter of issues and voting
become academic?"
"Very recently, actually. When martial law was declared in America and the civilian government
temporarily suspended. Of course there is nothing so permanent as a temporary-"
"Martial law? Whatever for?"
"Because of the unrest. It was simply impossible for a democratic government to cope, so the military
had to take over. I viewed this with extreme regret, myself, but I must admit that the alternative would
have been worse. There could have been complete anarchy."
"How long ago-for you-did this martial law develop?" Mym asked.
"Only a week ago. But it was inevitable; the violence in the world is already too great to be contained, as
I come to perceive it now. The lesser of evils had to be embraced."
"Thank you, Chronos," Mym said. "You have told me what I need to know."
"Any time. Mars," Chronos said. He tilted his Hourglass and vanished.
Mym paced the floor, his head seeming to spin. Here he had been concerned about his own lost love,
while the world really was going to Hell! Now he understood Satan's plot-to foment violence in the
world to such a degree that the civilian governments fell by the wayside. Military dictatorships were
things Satan could shape to his own ends-and of course Luna would have no way to cast her vote against
Satan, when there was no civilian government.
Well, he could put a stop to that. He would quell every battle before it happened, restoring relative
peace.
Mym touched the Sword. "War's minions," he murmured.
They appeared, in their bright capes. "Rich harvests!" Conquest said, rubbing his hands together.
"No," Mym said. "We are going to suppress these. Provide me with a list of the most serious situations,
so I can go to each."
Conquest brought out a scroll and unrolled it. The thing seemed to be endlessly long.
Mym looked at it. "But there are thousands here!" he exclaimed.
"Yes," Conquest agreed heartily. "And more developing every moment. We have never had as
potentially rich a harvest." Slaughter, Famine, and Pestilence nodded.
Mym shook his head. "I can't possibly get to all of these in time, let alone defuse them!"
"Why try?" Slaughter asked. "This is our chance for greatest glory!"
Satan's plot was coming clearer. In only a few days, the Incarnation of Evil had sown so much dissent in
the world that it was now virtually impossible to stop. Had Mars been here, he would have taken note of
the interference and cut it off, for this was his domain. But Satan had distracted him in the infernal
region, thus having free rein on Earth, and had really made it count. No wonder Mym had seen so little
of Satan in Hell; Satan had been very busy elsewhere!
Mym didn't try to answer Slaughter. "I have other business." He went outside, summoned Werre, and
mounted.
"No supervision of battles today," he called shortly, and started the horse moving.
They went to Thanatos' mansion. Mym could have sent out a call for the Incarnation of Death, but he
preferred to have a little time to think on the way. If Satan had already stirred the world up to too great a
turmoil to be abated before martial law set in, what could he do? But the time did him no good; he still
had no idea.
The door opened as he approached the Mansion of Death. Thanatos met him. "Chronos advised us
yesterday of your problem-and ours," Thanatos said. "We are here to try to help."
And they were. Lachesis and Gaea were there-and Luna, brought to Purgatory for this occasion. They all
greeted him warmly.
"But I only talked to Chronos an hour ago!" Mym exclaimed. "How could he have told you yesterday,
while I was still in Hell?"
"You forget the direction of his life," Lachesis said. "He spoke to us a day after he spoke to you."
Mym nodded. He kept forgetting! "Maybe he can go on back and tell me before I even go to Hell!"
"He is reluctant," Gaea said. "It seems that there can be serious consequences when he acts to change the
course of events that are in his past. On occasion he will do this, but he prefers to keep the compass
quite limited, so that the result is fully defined."
Mym realized that it would indeed be a hazardous business, changing past events; people, including
perhaps some Incarnations, could be eliminated. Certainly there should be no haphazard dabbling.
"In any event," Lachesis said, "this seems to be your problem, Mars. Satan makes things difficult for
each new Incarnation at the outset, and it is necessary for that Incarnation to demonstrate that he can
prevail. Then Satan knows better than to try again. If Chronos were to rescue you from your dilemma,
Satan would merely try another ploy and another, until successful."
"But the whole world is at stake!" Mym protested. "All of you will lose, too!"
"That is why it is so important for you to prevail,"
Thanatos said. "We must take the risk of letting you oppose Satan alone, even as each of us must, so as
to establish that not one of us is a weak spot."
"But I don't see how I can prevail!" Mym cried. "I thought I had won in Hell-only to learn that I had lost
in the mortal realm. And according to Chronos, that loss stands."
"Not necessarily," Luna said. "Chronos can report only on the aspect of history he has lived through. If
that is changed, he will live a different life, and that will be as valid as the first. Probably his reality is
being constantly changed in little ways by the actions of the rest of us, and he is not aware of it."
"That sounds like paradox to me," Mym said.
"Chronos is immune from paradox," Thanatos said.
"This may be difficult for the rest of us to understand, but it must be accepted."
"So I can change future reality-if I can only figure out how," Mym said. "I can take Satan's victory
away-somehow."
"That is a thing we have to believe," Lachesis said. "Unless there is no way!"
"There must be a way," Thanatos said. "Otherwise Satan would not have attempted to keep you so long
in Hell. He knew it was only safe for him if you remained there until after his move on Earth was
complete. You won free too soon, so now it must be in your power to prevail."
"Certainly you must seek it," Luna said.
"Certainly I must seek it," he agreed morosely. "The fate of the world, left to one confused stutterer!"
Then he did a double-take. "I'm not stuttering!"
"Fancy that," Gaea murmured.
"But I didn't stutter in Hell, because-I thought-how can this be?" Then he remembered. "Green Mother-
you took something from me and did not tell me what it was. You took my stutter!"
"We do have some power over each other-if we agree to it," Gaea said. "I felt you could spare it."
"And I never noticed!"
She shrugged. "Surely you have other powers you haven't noticed. One of them may yet foil Satan."
Shaken, Mym departed. This seemingly minor demonstration of the special power of an Incarnation
impressed him more than all the other wonders he had seen. He had agreed to let Nature take something
of his. Now the other Incarnations had agreed to let him affect thenfutures. He had to come through for
them!
Yet the way eluded him. He returned preoccupied to the Castle of War and ate and slept fitfully and ate
again, remaining confined. No revelation came. One day passed, and two, and three, and the situation
among the mortals intensified, yet he remained helpless. He simply saw no way to do what he knew he
had to do.
He found himself walking again in the garden. There, when he reached the nether extremity, was the
demoness.
"So nice to see you again. Mars," she said, stretching languidly. She wore another of her semi-exposive
gowns, and her breasts moved almost liquidly as her torso shifted.
"Get out of here, slut!" he raged.
"Nuh-uh, Mars," she said, smiling. "This is a neutral zone, remember? You would not have come here if
you hadn't wanted to see me, now would you!"
"I came here to figure out how to defeat your foul master!" he snapped.
"That is not easy to do, Mym. Why don't you just bow to the inevitable and relax? Since you have
inadvertently served Satan's design, you might as well accept your reward."
"What reward?" he demanded.
"Me, of course." She stretched again, spectacularly. "I really do want to serve you, Mym, and I am very
good at what I do. I can return to you what I denied you in Hell."
"What do you mean?" he asked, sure that he would regret the question, but unable to pass it by.
She fuzzed out, slowly changing shape. "Why, the Fireman. Don't you remember?"
"The fire monster in Hell?" he asked blankly.
"You were just about to possess your beloved, and I was jealous, so I sent the monster to break it up.
Now it is of course too late; you can never possess her."
"You-?" he began, outraged.
Herformfirmed. She looked exactly like Ligeia. "What does she have that I can not emulate?" she
inquired in Ligeia's dulcet voice.
Mym found the Red Sword in his hand. But he froze, not striking. How could he slay the facsimile of
the woman he loved?
"I don't suppose you would believe that one of my kind could truly care for you," she said.
"True," he said between his teeth.
She shifted back to her presumably natural form. "I'm not even one of the damned. I'm just a construct
of ether, existing solely at my Master's discretion. I have no reality other than my assignment. My
assignment is to please you. If I fail in this, I will have no existence at all. You have but to instruct me in
those things you require of the ideal woman, and I will be those things as perfectly and as long as you
desire them. Will you deny me my only chance to emulate that state of grace?"
Even with his rage at her, Mym was struck by the seeming sincerity of her words. How could a
genuinely soulless creature speak in this fashion? He knew it was foolish, but he found himself
beginning to appreciate her position.
He was without a woman. For the third time he had lost his love. Perhaps it was time for a concubine he
didn't need to love or make any pretense of loving.
"The ideal woman serves her man absolutely," Mym said. "Whatever he asks of her, she does without
question. Any question he has, she answers honestly and to the best other ability. Loyalty-that is the
salient quality I require. Loyalty to me, before all else."
"I would give you that," Lila said.
"Before Satan?"
She moved back as if struck. "Oh, immortal mortal, you know not what you ask!"
"I think I do. Since it is obvious that you can not give me what I require, you might as well leave me
alone."
"But then I will have failed to please you, and the penalty-"
"I am familiar with the penalty," he said, remembering the fate of the lovely concubines he had rejected
when his father had kept him prisoner. Satan would surely be no more merciful. Those grisly deaths had
hurt him; he steeled himself not to be hurt by this one.
He saw the tear at her eye again. There really was no point in artifice at this point; she surely was
experiencing whatever emulation of emotion she was capable of. "If I am to perish, then it behooves me
to choose the manner of it," she said. "I would rather let my final act be an expression of my true private
will than a lie. Therefore I will agree to this."
This set him back. He had expected her to admit defeat. But of course she could be lying, as she had no
concern for truth, only for convenience.
Or had she? He had never caught her in a lie. Satan was the Father of Lies, but did that mean that all of
his constructs were liars too? It might be that Lila, sent to subvert an honest man, had been fashioned to
be honest and would remain so until Satan changed her.
Still, this was suspect. He needed proof of her commitment. He knew of a way to get it-but the problem
was that this would require a commitment from him, too.
Yet what did his relationship with one demoness matter, compared to the fate of the world? It would be
selfish of him to put his own preference for a woman with a soul before the welfare of the world.
"Give me your absolute loyalty, and I will take you as my concubine," he said. "But you will have to
prove it."
"I will prove it," she said.
"Tell me how I may foil Satan's plot and save the world from his dominance."
"That is simple," she said. "Precipitate the holocaust."
Mym's jaw dropped. "What?"
"Gotterdammerung. Ragnarok. Day of Doom. World War Three. The final confrontation between Good
and Evil. Whatever it is termed in your mythology."
"But that would destroy mankind!"
"Yes."
"I ask you how to save the world, and you tell me to destroy it!" he exclaimed incredulously.
"You asked me how to save the world from Satan. I have told you how."
Mym shook his head, disgusted. "I should have known that a demoness would not give me any answer I
could use!"
"I gave you truth," she said. "I can explain."
"Don't bother!" he said, turning away.
"But you agreed to take me as your concubine if I proved my loyalty!" she cried. "I have proved it! Are
you not a man of honor?"
He whirled on her. "You had to know that that is no answer at all! It would only swamp the Afterlife
with all the remaining souls of the mortals, in a few savage minutes. To give an answer you know is
useless is no signal of loyalty!"
"But it is a good answer!" she protested. "Why won't you hear my explanation?"
"Then give your explanation," Mym said through his teeth. She had betrayed him, but the terms of his
agreement required that much of him, that he hear her rationale.
She spoke. Gradually the sense of it penetrated.
"Lila, I apologize," he said. "Now that I understand it, I see that it is a good answer."
"Take me now, Mym," she said. "Because when Satan leams what I have done, he will abolish me."
True, again. She had shown him how to save the world, but she could not save herself. She had given up
her existence for the sake of a few hours of acceptance by him.
He took her in his arms. "Now that it is too late, Lila, I regret that I mistrusted you. You shall have my
thanks and my passion, while you exist."
"That is all I desire," she said, meeting him with a fierce kiss.
The day before the last civilian governments on Earth were to fall, Mym emerged from the Castle of
War. He summoned his lesser Incarnations, and the five of them mounted. "To the Doomsday Clock!"
Mym cried.
At that Conquest, Slaughter, Famine, and Pestilence looked askance. But their steeds knew the way, for
the Clock was one of the artifacts of Mars. It was the timepiece that marked the incipience of the Final
War that would destroy mankind on Earth.
They drew up before it. The Doomsday Clock stood on its mounting, fifty meters tall, and its huge hands
were set at three minutes to midnight. This, in the metaphor of eternity, indicated the proximity of that
War; it was not far off.
Mym dismounted and drew the Red Sword. "Let there be War," he said.
Power radiated from the Sword. It bathed all the world-and all about the globe the tensions that led to
conflict and violence intensified. Nations that had considered war now declared it; armies that had been
in position to do battle now began it; individuals who had been bluffing each other down now called
their bluffs and entered combat.
For this was the ultimate power of the Red Sword. It could not pacify violence, it could only enhance it.
But what it enhanced, no other power could deplete; only the cessation of its own activity could abate
the terrible malice of its nature. When allowed to radiate freely, it would amplify the warlike passions of
man until they erupted in the greatest conflagration ever to occur-Doomsday.
The four subsidiary Incarnations stood taller and more imposing as the effect of the Red Sword was felt.
Their colors brightened, and their steeds paced eagerly. Conquest's white cape commenced a secondary
radiation; Slaughter's red became the texture of flowing blood; Famine turned so black that he was no
more than a dark blot; and Pestilence's entire body became a brown mass of vermin. They were
approaching the moment of their greatest fulfillment.
Mym's Cloak of War, too, was intensifying, the golden hue suffusing the region. Even his horse, Werre,
was assuming a preternatural glow of strength.
The hands of the Doomsday Clock were traveling toward midnight at a visible rate. The two minutes
became ninety seconds, then sixty.
Satan appeared. "What are you doing, Mars?" the Lord of Evil demanded.
"I am finishing what you started, Satan," Mym replied evenly. "You fomented unrest during my
absence; I am bringing it to climax."
"But you will bring on the holocaust!"
"Yes, this will be the moment of my greatest glory," Mym agreed.
The Clock had moved to thirty seconds. "Wait!" Satan cried. "Are you sure you want to do this. Mars?"
Mym lowered the Sword, and the Clock halted at twenty-four seconds to midnight. "You have a
consideration, Satan?"
"I merely wish to point out that, once the final earthly reckoning occurs, you will have no further job,
because all the mortals will be dead. Is this what you want?"
"Why, I believe it will do," Mym said. "Why should I limp along piecemeal, when I can accomplish my
purpose in one glorious burst? All mortal cares abated in a single effort!"
Now the other Incarnations appeared. Thanatos rode up on his pale steed Mortis, the woman Luna
behind him. Chronos coasted in obliquely, holding his Hourglass, facing away, oddly. No, not oddly;
this was his departure, by his backward's reckoning; he would reverse his perception to phase in to
mortal time. Fate, in the form of a giant spider, descended a thread from nowhere. And Gaea coalesced
from a cloud of vapor. All knew that this was the showdown.
"But you have always tried to preserve the lives of the mortals," Satan reminded him. "To ease the
suffering brought about by war."
"That was before I realized the extent of my power," Mym replied. "Now I prefer to exercise it in full
measure." He raised the Sword again.
Satan glanced about at the other Incarnations. "You tolerate this?" he asked. "You, who have always
sought what was good for mankind?"
"Each Incarnation is supreme in his own bailiwick," Gaea said. "Our preferences do not matter; this is
Mars' show."
Satan shrugged. "Well, certainly if none of you are interested in doing what is good, it ill behooves Me
to do it for you. I will receive more souls in one batch than ever before."
"And God will receive even more," Mym said. "Since the balance of this world is currently positive-as it
will not be after your folk assume political power among the mortals." The hands of the Clock resumed
their motion toward midnight.
"You would destroy the world-merely to deny Me a few souls?" Satan asked. "That is very
shortsighted."
"Well, the whole matter of war is shortsighted," Mym agreed. The sweep-hand passed fifteen seconds.
"Wait!" Satan cried desperately.
The hand paused. "I wish you wouldn't keep interrupting me with inconsequentials," Mym said. "I'm
sure we all want to get this matter expeditiously completed."
"If the world ends now," Satan said, "God will win, for the balance will be in his favor at the Final
Reckoning."
"Fancy that," Mym agreed. "Since I have no interest in your victory, this does seem to be the appropriate
time to make my play. Then I can retire from this office and go to Heaven to join my love who is there.
Now, if you have no other observations-"
Small flames crackled about Satan's body. He knew that Mym had found the key to victory. The Lord of
Evil could not afford to have the world end in holocaust while the overall balance of living souls was in
God's favor, however marginally. "How did you learn of this?"
"Does it matter?" Mym asked. "All that should concern us is that it is true. Now, of course, if you should
happen to choose to give up your plans for dictatorships and martial law on Earth-"
"Lila!" Satan exclaimed. "That demoness betrayed Me!"
Lila appeared. "I no longer serve you, Satan," she said.
Satan stared at her, considering. Then he seemed to come to a private conclusion. "There is something
that may interest you. Mars," he said. "You mentioned joining a certain party in Heaven. Did you know
that your companion in Hell did not go to Heaven?"
"She didn't?" Mym asked, dismayed. "But I know her balance was good! The hearings-"
"She is good-but she declined to go," Satan said.
"For some reason she wished to return to mortality, though it would seem that she had little to gain and
everything to risk by that."
"But she's already dead!" Mym protested. "She couldn't-"
"She could-with the help of one of your kind," Satan said, glancing meaningfully at Gaea.
"This much is true," Gaea said. "The woman wanted to be with you, Mars, so at the hearing she
petitioned for a body among the mortals. There are some few soul-dead bodies, so I made one available
to her. I did not realize that Satan had an involvement in this. I think she had in mind a surprise for you."
"I-I never dreamed-" Mym said, amazed.
"And here she is," Satan said, gesturing.
A woman appeared. Her appearance was not that of Ligeia, but she approached Mym as if she knew
him. He put out his hand and touched her, and knew immediately that it was her soul. Now the body
began to assume some of the traits of her former one, as her personality animated it. She was young and
comely, and her love for him was manifest.
"But it seems she did not realize that you had made a deal with the demoness," Satan said.
Ligeia gazed at Mym with hurt questioning.
Satan, with uncanny insight, had brought about the confrontation Mym least desired. To have his lost
love abruptly returned to him-after he had made the pact with the demoness! What was he to do now?
"But of course your choice is clear," Satan said. "You did not know that your true love was returning to
you. Therefore any arrangement you made with the demoness is null and void. I will take her off your
hands." He raised one arm, pointing a finger at Lila.
"No," Mym said.
Satan arched an eyebrow. "No? You intercede for this soulless slut? That does not become you. Mars."
"I accepted her help," Mym said with difficulty. "I agreed to accept her as my concubine. I can not go
back on my word."
"And so you reject your true love, who gave up her place in Heaven itself only to be with you?" Satan
made a gesture of dismissal. "You would not do that. Mars."
"What are you bargaining for?" Mym demanded.
"All I ask is that you allow the world lo stand, Mars. As you can see, if it is destroyed now, your re-
mortal girlfriend will have made her gesture for nothing. She will be returned forthwith to Heaven, and
you will be left with the demoness. For I do not believe that you will be bound for Heaven after you
have treated the mortal realm so."
The notion of losing Ligeia a second time, after her phenomenal sacrifice to be with him, appalled Mym
But if he backed off now, Satan would have his way with Earth.
"And you have no need to be concerned about this bit of nothing," Satan said. "I will eliminate her
memory of you and put her to another assignment. That will leave your situation clear."
It was still a sort of betrayal of the creature who had helped him, Mym realized. He had given his word.
"I want nothing from you but your agreement to abate your plot against the mortal realm," Mym said.
"Otherwise I will destroy it. What happens with the women is incidental."
Satan shrugged. "You have My agreement," he said. "You have won this showdown. Mars."
Mym almost gaped. Victory-just like that?
"And I will take care of this minor business for you, as a gesture of amity," Satan said. He turned again
to Lila.
Ligeia moved suddenly to throw her arms about the demoness. "Leave her alone!" she cried.
"Do not be concerned," Satan told her. "This is for your own good. Mars needs no concubine when he
has you."
"You understand nothing about the ways of princes," Ligeia said. "Mym gave his word. She did her
part."
Satan looked at Mym. "Does this make any sense to you, Mars? Why should the woman you love want
competition from a demoness?"
Why, indeed! Mym did not know what to think. He looked at the other Incarnations, but all of them
were mute. It seemed that he had a decision to make.
There was something about this that he didn't understand. It was as if this were far more important than
just a decision about a demoness whose presence had become an embarrassment. But what was the
significance? He had won, hadn't he? Why should he concern himself over such a trifle as the existence
of a demoness whom all parties knew had never expected to survive beyond this point?
A trifle? Why, then, was Satan taking the matter so seriously?
Pay attention even to trifles. So said Five Rings.
He focused his whole attention on that question-and, slowly, it came to him.
"You shall not have Lila," Mym said firmly.
The demoness turned her head to look at him, surprised. Ligeia remained holding her.
"Because your friend has a soft heart?" Satan asked. "That will not change the nature of a demoness!
Believe me, you will be better off without the spawn of Hell in your household."
The Father of Lies could hardly have spoken more direct truth! Therefore Mym rejected it.
Mym turned to the Clock. He raised the Sword. The seconds resumed their tickoff.
"This is crazy!" Satan protested. "You risk the whole world for this damned bit of ether?"
The sweep-hand passed ten seconds to midnight. Now the hint of the wailing of the world could be
heard, as the anquish of the dread finale approached. Missiles rose from their silos, ready for launching.
Monstrous destructive spells were being chanted.
Satan turned to the other Incarnations. "Can't you see, Mars is crazy!" he cried. "All this, for a creature
who is beyond damnation!"
But no one responded. The others had yielded the decision to Mars. Five seconds, four, three. The
wailing swelled into the final keening.
Satan vanished. He had defaulted.
The sweep-hand stopped at one second to midnight.
Lila stared at Mym. "But why?" she asked. "You did not owe me this! You know my nature and you do
not love me. You had already fulfilled your bargain."
Mym lowered the Sword. The hands of the Doomsday Clock resumed their motion-in the other
direction. They retreated slowly from midnight, then accelerated as the forces that had incited violence
faded. They passed thirty seconds and kept moving.
"I did what I realized I had to do," Mym said.
"My memory has changed," Chronos remarked. "Satan has been defeated. Soon I will forget that
alternate reality I knew before; I did not live through it, now."
"But you had your victory!" Lila persisted. "And I was-am-now a liability to you."
"No," Ligeia told her. "As a princess, I know that a prince needs concubines, and it is better to have
them known and subservient. He will use you when I am indisposed. And you made it possible for him
to find me and for him to find the way to face Satan down. We would not let you be abolished for that.
Quite apart from the fact that the word of a prince is inviolate, not to be sullied or compromised, no
matter what the cost."
"But to risk the whole world in war-merely because you interceded-"
"No," Mym said.
Now Ligeia was surprised. "No?"
"I love you, Li," Mym said. "And I owe Lila. But I did not do this for either of you, or to sustain my
word."
"But that does not make sense, then!" Ligeia protested.
"I'm not sure whether I can explain," Mym said. "The key I perceived is from the book Five Rings. It has
taught me the Way of Strategy. It advises me that, if I am trying to follow the Way and allow myself to
diverge even a little, then this will later become a greater divergence, and I will lose the Way. I feel this
is most especially true when dealing with the Incarnation of Evil himself. I must not diverge even the
most trifling amount from the Way, lest I lose all. But it is hard to make that plain to those who have not
been studying that book."
"I believe I understand," Luna said. "This matter is larger than any single person or any single episode.
Satan is an insidious corruptor who never rests and he is most dangerous in seeming defeat, as all of us
know. It is his speciality to proffer a large reward for a very small compromise, for his resources are
infinite. But he who accepts the first compromise has made a precedent, and it then becomes easier to
accept the next, and the next, until at last Satan has after all won. Only by refusing any compromise at
all, no matter how grotesquely uneven the stakes seem to be, can a person be proof against the insidious
devices of the Master of Evil. Mars has refused that first compromise, and thus shown Satan that he is
not to be corrupted. This, more than the threat of the holocaust, is the true measure of his victory."
Mym met Luna's gaze, nodding. She did understand! And now he understood how it was that she could
be at the center of this titanic struggle between Good and Evil. When the time came for the critical
decision to be made, Luna would be there, and would understand, and would have the courage to do
what had to be done.

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