The people believed and
there was slaughter. When it was over there was no more a sun king nor
any of the ruddy-haired folk; slain were they, slain down to the babe
at breast.
"But still the tides swept higher; still dwindled the land!
"As it shrank multitudes of the fleeing people were led through Moon
Pool Chamber and carried here. They were what now are called the
_ladala_, and they were given place and set to work; and they thrived.
Came many of the fair-haired; and they were given dwellings. They sat
beside the evil _Taithu_; they became drunk even as they with the
dancing of the Shining One; they learned--not all; only a little part
but little enough--of their arts. And ever the Shining One danced more
gaily out there within the black amphitheatre; grew ever stronger--and
ever the hordes of its slaves behind the Veil increased.
"Nor did the _Taithu_ who clung to the old ways check this--they
could not. By the sinking of the land above, their own spaces were
imperilled. All of their strength and all of their wisdom it took to
keep this land from perishing; nor had they help from those others mad
for the poison of the Shining One; and they had no time to deal with
them nor the earth race with whom they had foregathered.
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