"Do you no longer value the secrets of magic and sorcery? Do you renounce initiation into the secrets of nature to possess creative force to taste the elixir of life, the secret of the transformation of metals, and, above all, the blessedness of Nirvana? Knowing that love dies in possession do you desire to step forth from paradise into a hard, cold, realistic world, where every experience is a spear driven into the flesh?" "We dare our fate!" replied the youth. "We ask you, goddess, to set us free." "I will bring you both before the spiritual council," said Hushnoly, "and, as you are aware, the sentence of the council as provided by the constitution of Egyplosis will be that you, each of you, be imprisoned in separate cells for life, and the child removed and cared for in a distant part of the kingdom. You will henceforth be obliterated from life." The lovers convulsively embraced each other, the beautiful Merga weeping bitterly. "We will accept the punishment," said Ardsolus, "because we will give courage to the many twin-souls already imprisoned and also to those who as ardently desire freedom as ourselves. They will never forget that we are fighting their battle against a monstrous wrong." "Guards, remove the prisoners," said the high priest. "Can nothing that I may say mitigate their punishment?" said the goddess. "Your holiness is aware," said Hushnoly, "that the laws of Egyplosis admit of no other interpretation than that prescribed for such a case as this. The foundation of the religion of Atvatabar must be preserved at any cost." "I urge for mercy," said the goddess, who honored the prisoners with her tears. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE DOCTOR'S OPINION OF EGYPLOSIS.