Heedless, he rushed up the stone stairs, in the direction no man had ever trod, to where Nione waited in sobbing anxiety, up to where the kingdom of Ygoth lay before his regal eyes. He knew she waited for him, long before he saw her silhouetted against the moon as she placed a hesitant foot on the first of the steps leading to the unknown depths. Exultation flooded his heart. She had been willing to follow him to a nameless death! What more could a barbarian wish than a powerful kingdom and a beautiful Queen? But there came a whisper to his ears as he emerged from the haunted tower, a thin, ghostly strain from the echoes of his past: "O Duar, you fool! You who could have possessed the world, taking but one little kingdom for yourself!"