And Stack came back to Snake, who had served his function and protected Stack until Stack had learned that he was more powerful than the god he’d worshipped all through the history of Men. He came back to Snake and their hands touched and the bond of friendship was sealed at last, at the end.
Then they worked together and Nathan Stack used the needle with a wave of his hands, and the Earth could not sigh with relief as its endless pain was ended…but it did sigh, and it settled in upon itself, and the molten core went out, and the winds died, and from high above them Stack heard the fulfillment of Snake’s final act; he heard the descent of the Deathbird.
“What was your name?” Stack asked his friend.
Dira.
And the Deathbird settled down across the tired shape of the Earth, and it spread its wings wide, and brought them over and down, and enfolded the Earth as a mother enfolds her weary child. Dira settled down on the amethyst floor of the dark-shrouded palace, and closed his single eye with gratitude. To sleep at last, at the end.
All this, as Nathan Stack stood watching. He was the last, at the end, and because he had come to own—if even for a few moments—that which could have been his from the start, had he but known, he did not sleep but stood and watched. Knowing at last, at the end, that he had loved and done no wrong.
The Deathbird closed its wings over the Earth until at last, at the end, there was only the great bird crouched over the dead cinder. Then the Deathbird raised its head to the star-filled sky and repeated the sigh of loss the Earth had felt at the end. Then its eyes closed, it tucked its head carefully under its wing, and all was night.
Far away, the stars waited for the cry of the Deathbird to reach them so final moments could be observed at last, at the end, for the race of Men.
“Impiety: your irreverence toward my deity.”
GRATIA GRATIAM PARIT
It took ten years to complete this cycle of stories. I never suffered from a lack of support from those around me, who were unstinting with their enthusiasm and encouragement. These are some of the people who had the right words and smiles when I needed them: Holly Bower. Ben Bova, R. Glenn Wright. Leonard Isaacs. Edward Ferman. Ralph Weinstock. Bentley Morriss, James Sallis. Thomas Disch, Dona Sadock, Dr. Richard Carrigan. Mildred Downey Broxon. Terry Carr. Robert Silverberg, Martin Shapiro, Max Katz, Karen Friedrich Katz. James Tiptree, Jr., Norman Spinrad, Ed Bryant, David Catkins, Rosalind Harvey, Huck and Carol Barkin, Louise Farr, Damon Knight. Kate Wilhelm. the students of the Clarion Writers. Workshops, 1971 and 1972, Jane Rotrosen; and most specially, with utmost patience and a concern for this book that went far beyond mere publishing courtesy, my original editor, Ms. Victoria Schochet, without whose pushing and shoving and ramrodding and affection, this book might never have been completed. For Vicky, and for my friend and former agent, Robert Mills, there are no words rich enough to convey my continuing thanks.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Excerpt on page 259 from “Little Gidding” in Four Quartets, copyright © 1943. by T. S. Eliot; copyright © 1971, by Esme Valerie Eliot. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. / “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs” appeared in the Harper & Row anthology BAD MOON RISING (edited by Thomas M. Disch). Copyright © 1973 by Harlan Ellison. / “Along the Scenic Route” copyright © 1969 by Harlan Ellison. / “On the Downhill Side” appeared in UNIVERSE 2 (edited by Terry Carr). Copyright © 1972 by Harlan Ellison. / “O Ye of little Faith” copyright © 1968 by Harlan Ellison. / “Neon” copyright © 1973 by Harlan Ellison./”Basilisk” appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (edited by Edward L. Ferman). Copyright © 1972 by Harlan Ellison. / “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” originally appeared in Knight Magazine. Copyright © 1967 by Sirkay Publishing Company. Copyright reassigned to Author 19 September 1967. Copyright © 1967 by Harlan Ellison. / “Corpse” appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Copyright © 1972 by Harlan Ellison. / “Shattered like a Glass Goblin” copyright © 1968 by Harlan Ellison. “Delusion for a Dragon Slayer” originally appeared in Knight Magazine. Copyright © 1966 by Sirkay Publishing Company. Copyright reassigned to Author 16 April 1968. Copyright © 1968 by Harlan Ellison. / “The Face of Helene Bournouw” copyright © 1960, 1967 by Harlan Ellison. / “Bleeding Stones” appeared in Vertex (edited by Don Pfiel). Copyright © 1972 by Harlan Ellison. / “At the Mouse Circus” appeared in NEW DIMENSIONS 1 (edited by Robert Silverberg). Copyright © 1971 by Harlan Ellison. / “The Place with No Name” appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Copyright © 1969 by Mercury Press. Inc. Copyright reassigned to Author, 1979. Copyright © 1979 by Harlan Ellison. / “Paingod” originally appeared in Fantastic. Copyright © 1964 by Ziff-Davis Publishing Company. Copyright reassigned to Author 6 January 1981. Copyright © 1981 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation. / “Ernest and the Machine God” originally appeared in Knight Magazine. Copyright © 1968 by Sirkay Publishing Company. Copyright reassigned to Author. 1968. Copyright © 1968 by Harlan Ellison. / “Rock God” copyright © 1969 by Harlan Ellison. / “Adrift Just Off the Islets of Langerhans: Latitude 38°54’N. Longitude 77°00’ 13”W” appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Copyright © 1974 by Harlan Ellison. / “The Deathbird” appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Copyright © 1973 by Harlan Ellison.
Copyright
A Bluejay Special Edition, published by arrangement with the Author.
First Bluejay Edition: December 1983
Copyright © 1975, 1976, 1980 by Harlan Ellison
Copyright © 1983 by The Kilimanjaro Corporation
Cover art by Barclay Shaw
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the Author or the Author’s agent, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a critical article or review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper, or electronically transmitted on radio or television. For information, address the Author’s agent: Richard Curtis Associates, Inc., 164 East Sixty-fourth Street, New York, New York 10021
All persons, places and organizations in this book—except those clearly in the public domain—are fictitious, and any resemblance that may seem to exist to actual persons, places, or organizations living, dead, or defunct is purely coincidental. These are works of fiction.
