Toka's voice was a whip. "Where are my comrades!"
Alota bowed servantly. "Only the Council Of Kosanna's Old Ones may now answer Toka's divine testing."
If only these princesses were men so a man could beat a straight answer out of them! "Then take me to the Old Ones at once!" Toka strode into the Hall Of Life and followed Alota.
Toka scarcely noted another pair of scenes—one showing him and his party asleep last night, the other portraying his quarters awry and him whaling that lounge against the doors.
Alota was touching her wand to a pair of great doors on her left, to reveal a golden stairway leading up in a broad spiral. Alert, Toka leaped up the long spiral to a pair of gigantic black doors. They swung away and Toka stepped through. He was on a broad black terrace that circled a vast court. A golden light diffused through the domed roof. In mid-court a huge crystal sphere rested atop a black sculpture of nude maidens.
Seated in great chairs around the far half of the court were twelve men in voluminous black robes. Above flowing white beards their features displayed the withering of antiquity. Their silvery eyes never wavered from Toka.
"O Great Prince Toka," a mellow contralto intoned, "Queen Kolano and the Old Ones welcome your divine presence!"
In the huge black chair directly between the twelve Old Ones sat a woman surpassing in beauty all Kosanna's princesses. Her attire was the typical green scantiness—brilliantly jeweled.
"Where are my friends and weapons!" Toka's demand rang in the vaulted court.
Kolano's contralto echoed mellowly. "O Great Prince Toka—behold the Sphere Of All Time!"