A million years gone, as I
have told, came it out from the blackness of the South, and grew
steadily nearer through twenty thousand years; but so slow that in no
one year could a man perceive that it had moved. Yet it had movement, and had come thus far upon its road to the Redoubt,
when the Glowing Dome rose out of the ground before it--growing slowly. And this had stayed the way of the Monster; so that through an eternity
it had looked towards the Pyramid across the pale glare of the Dome, and
seeming to have no power to advance nearer. And because of this, much had been writ to prove that there were other
forces than evil at work in the Night Lands, about the Last Redoubt. And
this I have always thought to be wisely said; and, indeed, there to be
no doubt to the matter, for there were many things in the time of which
I have knowledge, which seemed to make clear that, even as the Forces of
Darkness were loose upon the End of Man; so were there other Forces out
to do battle with the Terror; though in ways most strange and unthought
of by the human mind. And of this I shall have more to tell anon. And here, before I go further with my telling, let me set out some of
that knowledge which yet remains so clear within my mind and heart. Of
the coming of these monstrosities and evil Forces, no man could say much
with verity; for the evil of it began before the Histories of the Great
Redoubt were shaped; aye, even before the sun had lost all power to
light; though, it must not be a thing of certainty, that even at this
far time the invisible, black heavens held no warmth for this world; but
of this I have no room to tell; and must pass on to that of which I have
a more certain knowledge. The evil must surely have begun in the Days of the Darkening (which I
might liken to a story which was believed doubtfully, much as we of this
day believe the story of the Creation). A dim record there was of olden
sciences (that are yet far off in our future) which, disturbing the
unmeasurable Outward Powers, had allowed to pass the Barrier of Life
some of those Monsters and Ab-human creatures, which are so wondrously
cushioned from us at this normal present. And thus there had
materialized, and in other cases developed, grotesque and horrible
Creatures, which now beset the humans of this world. And where there was
no power to take on material form, there had been allowed to certain
dreadful Forces to have power to affect the life of the human spirit. And this growing very dreadful, and the world full of lawlessness and
degeneracy, there had banded together the sound millions, and built the
Last Redoubt; there in the twilight of the world--so it seems to us, and
yet to them (bred at last to the peace of usage) as it were the
Beginning; and this I can make no clearer; and none hath right to expect
it; for my task is very great, and beyond the power of human skill. And when the humans had built the great Pyramid, it had one thousand
three hundred and twenty floors; and the thickness of each floor was
according to the strength of its need. And the whole height of this
pyramid exceeded seven miles, by near a mile, and above it was a tower
from which the Watchmen looked (these being called the Monstruwacans). But where the Redoubt was built, I know not; save that I believe in a
mighty valley, of which I may tell more in due time. And when the Pyramid was built, the last millions, who were the Builders
thereof, went within, and made themselves a great house and city of this
Last Redoubt. And thus began the Second History of this world. And how
shall I set it all down in these little pages! For my task, even as I
see it, is too great for the power of a single life and a single pen. Yet, to it! And, later, through hundreds and thousands of years, there grew up in
the Outer Lands, beyond those which lay under the guard of the Redoubt,
mighty and lost races of terrible creatures, half men and half beast,
and evil and dreadful; and these made war upon the Redoubt; but were
beaten off from that grim, metal mountain, with a vast slaughter. Yet,
must there have been many such attacks, until the electric circle was
put about the Pyramid, and lit from the Earth-Current. And the lowest
half-mile of the Pyramid was sealed; and so at last there was a peace,
and the beginnings of that Eternity of quiet watching for the day when
the Earth-Current shall become exhausted. And, at whiles, through the forgotten centuries, had the Creatures been
glutted time and again upon such odd bands of daring ones as had
adventured forth to explore through the mystery of the Night Lands; for
of those who went, scarce any did ever return; for there were eyes in
all that dark; and Powers and Forces abroad which had all knowledge; or
so we must fain believe. And then, so it would seem, as that Eternal Night lengthened itself upon
the world, the power of terror grew and strengthened. And fresh and
greater monsters developed and bred out of all space and Outward
Dimensions, attracted, even as it might be Infernal sharks, by that
lonely and mighty hill of humanity, facing its end--so near to the
Eternal, and yet so far deferred in the minds and to the senses of those
humans. And thus hath it been ever. And all this but by the way, and vague and ill told, and set out in
despair to make a little clear the beginnings of that State which is so
strange to our conceptions, and yet which had become a Condition of
Naturalness to Humanity in that stupendous future. Thus had the giants come, fathered of bestial humans and mothered of
monsters. And many and diverse were the creatures which had some human
semblance; and intelligence, mechanical and cunning; so that certain of
these lesser Brutes had machinery and underground ways, having need to
secure to themselves warmth and air, even as healthy humans; only that
they were incredibly inured to hardship, as they might be wolves set in
comparison with tender children. And surely, do I make this thing clear? And now to continue my telling concerning the Night Land. The Watcher of
the South was, as I have set to make known, a monster differing from
those other Watching Things, of which I have spoken, and of which there
were in all four. One to the North-West, and one to the South-East, and
of these I have told; and the other twain lay brooding, one to the
South-West, and the other to the North-East; and thus the four watchers
kept ward through the darkness, upon the Pyramid, and moved not, neither
gave they out any sound. Yet did we know them to be mountains of living
watchfulness and hideous and steadfast intelligence.