"This time, dogs," he screamed, "you die!" To his bowmen he howled a command. The archers' arms drew back. And then-- Ramey pressed the release grip of Rudra's Bow! * * * * * What happened next transpired so swiftly that none afterward could find its vision in his memory. There was a whining scream that rose and tore at the eardrums of all who stood behind the Bow. Then a sheet of blue-white flame that sprayed from the Bow's wide arch with the speed of light. Then bursts of crimson, bright and horrible, where had stood men. A searing hiss ... a crumbling ... the crash of masonry ... a frightful gust of heat, the backwash of which blistered even those who stood behind the Bow. And then--silence! Ramey's fingers fell from the trigger of the Bow as he stared before him dazed, shaken, uncomprehending. Where a moment before a horde of warriors had stood beside Ravana in the doorway, now there was neither Ravana, bowmen--nor doorway! Everything--_everything_ had disappeared! Even the portion of the town wall beyond the doorway. A great, jagged hole, whose edges still dripped molten stone gaped where the Bow's tremendous flame had devoured all. From the dimness below came howls of terror. There sounded also the blur of running footsteps as the vanguard of Ravana's army fled the base of the tower in stumbling panic. Ramey cried in a voice that cracked with urgency, "Now, Lord Vibhishana! Now is the time to speak! Up swiftly to the sounding-chamber!" The regent nodded, and was gone. Within the space of seconds his voice was rolling out over all Lanka, speaking words none could help but hear. "_Hark, Videlians ... Gaanelians ... Earthmen ... all who hear my voice. It is the Lord Vibhishana who speaks. Long lay I prisoner in the dungeons of Lanka. Now I am free_--" "Ramey!" called Syd O'Brien. "Listen!" replied Ramey. "The sounds of battle below have ended! Everyone is listening to Vibhishana--" "--_Ravana is dead!_" boomed the Videlian overlord. "_My brother is slain, victim of his own lust for power and the dreadful Bow of Rudra. Lay down your arms, all you who followed him. Amnesty will be granted all those who_--" "It--it's Kohrisan, Ramey. He wants to talk to you." Ramey turned. He had not realized until this moment that the squat ape-human had not risen from the chamber floor. Now, hurrying to Kohrisan's side, he understood why. The hairy captain held one fist clenched beneath his right breast. And from beneath the curiously manlike fingers of this hand oozed a sluggish stream of scarlet. "Kohrisan!" cried Ramey. "The bowmen! One of them loosed his shaft before I pressed the grip--" The small captain smiled feebly. "Nay, my Lord," he choked. "It was even before that. In the chamber above. When I held Ravana...." "That _we_ might escape! Well, hold on! We'll hurry you down to the citadel. Medical aid--"