The Gifts of Asti | Page 8

had they come then,
the men of Memphir and the ancestors of the barbarian hordes? Her
hands touched the scaled skin of the suit she still wore and then rubbed
across her own smooth flesh. Could one have come from the other, was
she of the blood and heritage of Lur?
"Not so!" Lur's mind, as quick as his flickering tongue, had caught that
panic-born thought. "You are of the blood of this space wanderer. Men
from the riven colonies must have escaped to safety. Look at this man,
is he not like the men of Memphir--as they were in the olden days of
the city's greatness?"
The stranger was tall, taller than the men of Memphir and there was a
certain hardness about him which those city dwellers in ease had never
displayed. But Lur must be right, this was a man of her race. She
smiled in sudden relief and he answered that smile. Lur's soft laughter
rang in both their heads.
"Asti in His Infinite Wisdom can see through Centuries. Memphir has
fallen because of its softness and the evildoing of its people and the
barbarians will now have their way with the lands of the north. But to
me it appears that Asti is not yet done with the pattern He was weaving
there. To each of you He granted a second life. Do not disdain the Gifts
of Asti, Daughter of Erb!"
Again Varta felt the warm tide of blood rise in her cheeks. But she no
longer smiled. Instead she regarded the outlander speculatively.
Not even a Maiden of the Temple could withstand the commands of the

All Highest. Gifts from the Hand of Asti dared not be thrown away.
Above the puzzlement of the stranger she heard the chuckling of Lur.
The End.
* * * * *
TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS CORRECTED
The following typographical errors in the text were corrected as
detailed here.
In the text: "Then she arose and, with the confidence of a child in its
father, she laid her hand palm upward upon the outstretched hand of
Asti...." the word "outstreched" was corrected to "outstretched."
In the text: "Varta touched her tongue without fear to a powdered
restorative," the word "restoritive" was corrected to "restorative."
In the text: "Varta threw back her hood and breathed deeply of the air
which was not manufactured by the wizardry of the lizard skin ..." the
word "manufacured" was corrected to "manufactured"; and the word
"wizardy" was corrected to "wizardry."
In the text: "A thin line of red crept across the smooth hoop, crept and
widened...." the word "widdened" was corrected to "widened."
In the text: "Then time, or Lur's strength, broke the ancient locking
mechanism...." the word "machanism" was corrected to "mechanism."
In the text: "... so different in shade to her own pallid coloring...." the
word "palid" was corrected to "pallid."
In the text: "One of the small, jewel bright flying lizard creatures of the
deep jungle poised and dipped to investigate more closely the worlds of
Asti...." the word "closly" was corrected to "closely."
In the text: "... his long neck outstretched, he was swinging his head

back and forth across the limpid shallows...." the word "outstreched"
was corrected to "outstretched."
In the text: "What goes into it remains as it was just at the moment of
entrance...." the word "at" was corrected to "as."
In the text: "the flowers which the turbi had born naturally seven
months before," the word "born" was corrected to "borne."
* * * * *

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