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The Gifts of Asti, by Andre Alice Norton
The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gifts of Asti, by Andre Alice Norton This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: The Gifts of Asti
Author: Andre Alice Norton
Release Date: August 11, 2006 [EBook #19029]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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Transcriber's Notes:
This etext was produced from Fantasy Book Vol. 1, No. 3 1948. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the copyright on this publication was renewed.
A number of typographical errors found in the original text have been corrected in this version. A list of these errors is found at the end of this book.
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THE GIFTS OF ASTI
ANDREW NORTH
She was the guardian of the worlds, but HER world was dead.
Even here, on the black terrace before the forgotten mountain retreat of Asti, it was possible to smell the dank stench of burning Memphir, to imagine that the dawn wind bore upward from the pillaged city the faint tortured cries of those whom the barbarians of Klem hunted to their prolonged death. Indeed it was time to leave--
Varta, last of the virgin Maidens of Asti, shivered. The scaled and wattled creature who crouched beside her thigh turned his reptilian hea