Having untangled themselves, the five unburdened dragons were tearing back to the attack. Toka's command was cool and taut. "Serve it straight!" His whistling battle-ax struck between a set of those blazing eyes and tore through in a bloody shower. In violent death throes, the monster was piling onto the stairway. But another was hurtling in. Again Toka's vicious battle-ax tore home and another dragon was piling down. A slimy scaliness whipped around Toka's legs. His battle-ax butchered huge coils but others replaced them with crushing power and great wings pounded him. * * * * * Then he saw a coil whip around Roya and a terrible strength surged from his depths. His mighty ax was a screaming viciousness. He was free and leaping for Roya and slashing those coils from her. He snatched her clear and whirled to catalog the battle scene. The surviving dragons were retreating hurriedly into the down-river cavern. The mysterious gong of Kosanna was instantly exultant. The people began pouring from hiding. Princesses were gathering atop the stairway, and from all Kosannan throats came a great cheer. But Toka was anxiously eyeing the gore-spattered Roya. "All right now?" As she restored her sun-gold briefs to flattering modesty, Roya's blue eyes fondly held him. "How about yourself?" Shifting his own gory briefs aright, Toka grinned. "Looking for a bath." Elees joined them. "If this crazy place has a bath!" Turning from the mess of heads, coils and wings strewn down the great stairway, Toka led the way on up. "Hey!" Rok urged sardonically. "Listen to what those palace girls up yonder are yodeling!" "'Ascend, ascend, ascend!'" Roya mimicked sarcastically. "'Ascend, O Great Prince Toka! Ascend to your divine abode!'" Roya's last remark was not in mimicry. "Blah, blah, blah!" "Watch yourselves," Toka warned quietly as they neared the terrace. The princesses formed a cortege about Toka and party. In the concave entry of the palace, a princess with a black wand waited alone. An odd exaltation was in her voice. "O Great Prince Toka. Welcome to your divine palace. I am Princess Alota." With a bow, she turned and led them down an immense hall. "Great Prince Toka's Hall Of Life," Alota intoned. * * * * * Beginning on the inner sides of the great entry portals, art work progressively lined the walls and the many sets of huge doors. In exquisite execution it portrayed Toka's eventful life from birth in distant Sandcliff to his latest victory--exactly as it had all occurred! But ahead for fully a hundred paces the Hall stretched green and bare, except for a huge bas-relief of Toka on the set of doors at the far end. "How can they know all this?" Elees puzzled softly. "And why," Roya worried quietly, "don't they show the rest of the future?" Toka was gentle but royally commanding. "Princess Alota, why has this not been finished?"