“I regret the necessity,” Leoh said; then, with a broad grin, he added, “My assistant professor, here, can handle my courses for the remainder of the year very easily. Perhaps he will even be able to deliver his lectures without being interrupted.”
The assistant professor turned red.
“Now then,” Leoh muttered, mostly to himself, “who is this Kanus, and why is he trying to turn the Kerak Worlds into an arsenal?”
III
Chancellor Kanus, the supreme leader of the Kerak Worlds, stood at the edge of the balcony and looked across the wild, tumbling gorge to the rugged mountains beyond.
“These are the forces that mold men’s actions,” he said to his small audience of officials and advisors, “the howling winds, the mighty mountains, the open sky and the dark powers of the clouds.”
The men nodded and made murmurs of agreement.
“Just as the mountains thrust up from the pettiness of the lands below, so shall we rise above the common walk of men,” Kanus said. “Just as a thunderstorm terrifies them, we will make them bend to our will!”
“We will destroy the past,” said one of the ministers.
“And avenge the memory of defeat,” Kanus added. He turned and looked at the little group of men. Kanus was the smallest man on the balcony: short, spare, sallow-faced; but he possessed piercing dark eyes and a strong voice that commanded attention.