Carthoris, still clasping Thuvia tightly to his breast, came to the ground catlike, upon his feet, breaking the shock for the girl. Scarce had his feet touched the rough stone flagging of this new chamber than his sword flashed out ready for instant use. But though the room was lighted, there was no sign of enemy about.
Carthoris looked toward Jav. The man was pasty white with fear.
"What is to be our fate?" asked the Heliumite. "Tell me, man! Shake off your terror long enough to tell me, so I may be prepared to sell my life and that of the Princess of Ptarth as dearly as possible."
"From thence will he come upon us. Lay aside your puny8 sword, fool. It will but enrage9 him the more and make our sufferings the worse."
Carthoris smiled, gripping his long-sword the more firmly.
"He has come," he whimpered.
Carthoris and Thuvia looked in the direction the Lotharian had indicated, expecting to see some strange and fearful creature in human form; but to their astonishment11 they saw the broad head and great-maned shoulders of a huge banth, the largest that either ever had seen.
Slowly and with dignity the mighty12 beast advanced into the room. Jav had fallen to the floor, and was wriggling13 his body in the same servile manner that he had adopted toward Tario. He spoke14 to the fierce beast as he would have spoken to a human being, pleading with it for mercy.
Carthoris stepped between Thuvia and the banth, his sword ready to contest the beast's victory over them. Thuvia turned toward Jav.
"Is this Komal, your god?" she asked.
Jav nodded affirmatively. The girl smiled, and then, brushing past Carthoris, she stepped swiftly toward the growling16 carnivore.
In low, firm tones she spoke to it as she had spoken to the banths of the Golden Cliffs and the scavengers before the walls of Lothar.
The beast ceased its growling. With lowered head and catlike purr, it came slinking to the girl's feet. Thuvia turned toward Carthoris.
"It is but a banth," she said. "We have nothing to fear from it."
Carthoris smiled.
"I did not fear it," he replied, "for I, too, believed it to be only a banth, and I have my long-sword."
Jav sat up and gazed at the spectacle before him—the slender girl weaving her fingers in the tawny17 mane of the huge creature that he had thought divine, while Komal rubbed his hideous18 snout against her side.
"So this is your god!" laughed Thuvia.
Jav looked bewildered. He scarce knew whether he dare chance offending Komal or not, for so strong is the power of superstition19 that even though we know that we have been reverencing20 a sham21, yet still we hesitate to admit the validity of our new-found convictions.
"Yes," he said, "this is Komal. For ages the enemies of Tario have been hurled23 to this pit to fill his maw, for Komal must be fed."
"Is there any way out of this chamber to the avenues of the city?" asked Carthoris.
"I do not know," he replied. "Never have I been here before, nor ever have I cared to do so."
"Come," suggested Thuvia, "let us explore. There must be a way out."
Together the three approached the doorway through which Komal had entered the apartment that was to have witnessed their deaths. Beyond was a low-roofed lair26, with a small door at the far end.
This, to their delight, opened to the lifting of an ordinary latch27, letting them into a circular arena28, surrounded by tiers of seats.
"Here is where Komal is fed in public," explained Jav. "Had Tario dared it would have been here that our fates had been sealed; but he feared too much thy keen blade, red man, and so he hurled us all downward to the pit. I did not know how closely connected were the two chambers29. Now we may easily reach the avenues and the city gates. Only the bowmen may dispute the right of way, and, knowing their secret, I doubt that they have power to harm us."
Another door led to a flight of steps that rose from the arena level upward through the seats to an exit at the back of the hall. Beyond this was a straight, broad corridor, running directly through the palace to the gardens at the side.
No one appeared to question them as they advanced, mighty Komal pacing by the girl's side.
"Where are the people of the palace—the jeddak's retinue30?" asked Carthoris. "Even in the city streets as we came through I scarce saw sign of a human being, yet all about are evidences of a mighty population."
Jav sighed.
"Poor Lothar," he said. "It is indeed a city of ghosts. There are scarce a thousand of us left, who once were numbered in the millions. Our great city is peopled by the creatures of our own imaginings. For our own needs we do not take the trouble to materialize these peoples of our brain, yet they are apparent to us.
"Even now I see great throngs31 lining32 the avenue, hastening to and fro in the round of their duties. I see women and children laughing on the balconies—these we are forbidden to materialize; but yet I see them—they are here. . . . But why not?" he mused33. "No longer need I fear Tario—he has done his worst, and failed. Why not indeed?
"Stay, friends," he continued. "Would you see Lothar in all her glory?"
Carthoris and Thuvia nodded their assent34, more out of courtesy than because they fully35 grasped the import of his mutterings.
Jav gazed at them penetratingly for an instant, then, with a wave of his hand, cried: "Look!"
The sight that met them was awe-inspiring. Where before there had been naught36 but deserted37 pavements and scarlet38 swards, yawning windows and tenantless39 doors, now swarmed40 a countless41 multitude of happy, laughing people.
"It is the past," said Jav in a low voice. "They do not see us—they but live the old dead past of ancient Lothar—the dead and crumbled42 Lothar of antiquity44, which stood upon the shore of Throxus, mightiest45 of the five oceans.
"See those fine, upstanding men swinging along the broad avenue? See the young girls and the women smile upon them? See the men greet them with love and respect? Those be seafarers coming up from their ships which lie at the quays46 at the city's edge.
"Brave men, they—ah, but the glory of Lothar has faded! See their weapons. They alone bore arms, for they crossed the five seas to strange places where dangers were. With their passing passed the martial47 spirit of the Lotharians, leaving, as the ages rolled by, a race of spineless cowards.
"We hated war, and so we trained not our youth in warlike ways. Thus followed our undoing48, for when the seas dried and the green hordes49 encroached upon us we could do naught but flee. But we remembered the seafaring bowmen of the days of our glory—it is the memory of these which we hurl22 upon our enemies."
As Jav ceased speaking, the picture faded, and once more, the three took up their way toward the distant gates, along deserted avenues.
Twice they sighted Lotharians of flesh and blood. At sight of them and the huge banth which they must have recognized as Komal, the citizens turned and fled.
"They will carry word of our flight to Tario," cried Jav, "and soon he will send his bowmen after us. Let us hope that our theory is correct, and that their shafts50 are powerless against minds cognizant of their unreality. Otherwise we are doomed51.
"Explain, red man, to the woman the truths that I have explained to you, that she may meet the arrows with a stronger counter-suggestion of immunity52."
Carthoris did as Jav bid him; but they came to the great gates without sign of pursuit developing. Here Jav set in motion the mechanism53 that rolled the huge, wheel-like gate aside, and a moment later the three, accompanied by the banth, stepped out into the plain before Lothar.
Scarce had they covered a hundred yards when the sound of many men shouting arose behind them. As they turned they saw a company of bowmen debouching upon the plain from the gate through which they had but just passed.
Upon the wall above the gate were a number of Lotharians, among whom Jav recognized Tario. The jeddak stood glaring at them, evidently concentrating all the forces of his trained mind upon them. That he was making a supreme54 effort to render his imaginary creatures deadly was apparent.
Jav turned white, and commenced to tremble. At the crucial moment he appeared to lose the courage of his conviction. The great banth turned back toward the advancing bowmen and growled55. Carthoris placed himself between Thuvia and the enemy and, facing them, awaited the outcome of their charge.
Suddenly an inspiration came to Carthoris.
"Hurl your own bowmen against Tario's!" he cried to Jav. "Let us see a materialized battle between two mentalities56."
The suggestion seemed to hearten the Lotharian, and in another moment the three stood behind solid ranks of huge bowmen who hurled taunts57 and menaces at the advancing company emerging from the walled city.
Jav was a new man the moment his battalions58 stood between him and Tario. One could almost have sworn the man believed these creatures of his strange hypnotic power to be real flesh and blood.
With hoarse59 battle cries they charged the bowmen of Tario. Barbed shafts flew thick and fast. Men fell, and the ground was red with gore60.
Carthoris and Thuvia had difficulty in reconciling the reality of it all with their knowledge of the truth. They saw utan after utan march from the gate in perfect step to reinforce the outnumbered company which Tario had first sent forth61 to arrest them.
They saw Jav's forces grow correspondingly until all about them rolled a sea of fighting, cursing warriors62, and the dead lay in heaps about the field.
Jav and Tario seemed to have forgotten all else beside the struggling bowmen that surged to and fro, filling the broad field between the forest and the city.
"Come!" he whispered to the girl. "Let them fight out their empty battle—neither, evidently, has power to harm the other. They are like two controversialists hurling64 words at one another. While they are engaged we may as well be devoting our energies to an attempt to find the passage through the cliffs to the plain beyond."
As he spoke, Jav, turning from the battle for an instant, caught his words. He saw the girl move to accompany the Heliumite. A cunning look leaped to the Lotharian's eyes.
The thing that lay beyond that look had been deep in his heart since first he had laid eyes upon Thuvia of Ptarth. He had not recognized it, however, until now that she seemed about to pass out of his existence.
He centred his mind upon the Heliumite and the girl for an instant.
Carthoris saw Thuvia of Ptarth step forward with outstretched hand. He was surprised at this sudden softening65 toward him, and it was with a full heart that he let his fingers close upon hers, as together they turned away from forgotten Lothar, into the woods, and bent66 their steps toward the distant mountains.
As the Lotharian had turned toward them, Thuvia had been surprised to hear Carthoris suddenly voice a new plan.
"Remain here with Jav," she had heard him say, "while I go to search for the passage through the cliffs."
She had dropped back in surprise and disappointment, for she knew that there was no reason why she should not have accompanied him. Certainly she should have been safer with him than left here alone with the Lotharian.
And Jav watched the two and smiled his cunning smile.
When Carthoris had disappeared within the wood, Thuvia seated herself apathetically67 upon the scarlet sward to watch the seemingly interminable struggles of the bowmen.
The long afternoon dragged its weary way toward darkness, and still the imaginary legions charged and retreated. The sun was about to set when Tario commenced to withdraw his troops slowly toward the city.
His plan for cessation of hostilities68 through the night evidently met with Jav's entire approval, for he caused his forces to form themselves in orderly utans and march just within the edge of the wood, where they were soon busily engaged in preparing their evening meal, and spreading down their sleeping silks and furs for the night.
Thuvia could scarce repress a smile as she noted69 the scrupulous70 care with which Jav's imaginary men attended to each tiny detail of deportment as truly as if they had been real flesh and blood.
Sentries71 were posted between the camp and the city. Officers clanked hither and thither72 issuing commands and seeing to it that they were properly carried out.
Thuvia turned toward Jav.
"Why is it," she asked, "that you observe such careful nicety in the regulation of your creatures when Tario knows quite as well as you that they are but figments of your brain? Why not permit them simply to dissolve into thin air until you again require their futile73 service?"
"You do not understand them," replied Jav. "While they exist they are real. I do but call them into being now, and in a way direct their general actions. But thereafter, until I dissolve them, they are as actual as you or I. Their officers command them, under my guidance. I am the general—that is all. And the psychological effect upon the enemy is far greater than were I to treat them merely as substanceless vagaries74.
"Then, too," continued the Lotharian, "there is always the hope, which with us is little short of belief, that some day these materializations will merge75 into the real—that they will remain, some of them, after we have dissolved their fellows, and that thus we shall have discovered a means for perpetuating76 our dying race.
"Some there are who claim already to have accomplished77 the thing. It is generally supposed that the etherealists have quite a few among their number who are permanent materializations. It is even said that such is Tario, but that cannot be, for he existed before we had discovered the full possibilities of suggestion.
"There are others among us who insist that none of us is real. That we could not have existed all these ages without material food and water had we ourselves been material. Although I am a realist, I rather incline toward this belief myself.
"It seems well and sensibly based upon the belief that our ancient forbears developed before their extinction78 such wondrous79 mentalities that some of the stronger minds among them lived after the death of their bodies—that we are but the deathless minds of individuals long dead.
"It would appear possible, and yet in so far as I am concerned I have all the attributes of corporeal80 existence. I eat, I sleep"—he paused, casting a meaning look upon the girl—"I love!"
Thuvia could not mistake the palpable meaning of his words and expression. She turned away with a little shrug25 of disgust that was not lost upon the Lotharian.
He came close to her and seized her arm.
"Why not Jav?" he cried. "Who more honourable81 than the second of the world's most ancient race? Your Heliumite? He has gone. He has deserted you to your fate to save himself. Come, be Jav's!"
Thuvia of Ptarth rose to her full height, her lifted shoulder turned toward the man, her haughty82 chin upraised, a scornful twist to her lips.
"You lie!" she said quietly, "the Heliumite knows less of disloyalty than he knows of fear, and of fear he is as ignorant as the unhatched young."
"Then where is he?" taunted83 the Lotharian. "I tell you he has fled the valley. He has left you to your fate. But Jav will see that it is a pleasant one. To-morrow we shall return into Lothar at the head of my victorious84 army, and I shall be jeddak and you shall be my consort85. Come!" And he attempted to crush her to his breast.
The girl struggled to free herself, striking at the man with her metal armlets. Yet still he drew her toward him, until both were suddenly startled by a hideous growl15 that rumbled43 from the dark wood close behind them.
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1
funnel
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| n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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deity
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| n.神，神性；被奉若神明的人(或物) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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puny
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| adj.微不足道的，弱小的 | |
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enrage
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| v.触怒，激怒 | |
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horrified
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| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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wriggling
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的现在分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）；蠕蠕 | |
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14
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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15
growl
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| v.（狗等）嗥叫，（炮等）轰鸣；n.嗥叫，轰鸣 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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tawny
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| adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色 | |
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hideous
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| adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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reverencing
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| v.尊敬，崇敬( reverence的现在分词 )；敬礼 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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hurl
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| vt.猛投，力掷，声叫骂 | |
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hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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shrug
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| v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等) | |
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lair
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| n.野兽的巢穴；躲藏处 | |
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latch
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| n.门闩，窗闩；弹簧锁 | |
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arena
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| n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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retinue
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| n.侍从；随员 | |
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throngs
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| n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 ) | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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tenantless
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| adj.无人租赁的，无人居住的 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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countless
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| adj.无数的，多得不计其数的 | |
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42
crumbled
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| （把…）弄碎， （使）碎成细屑( crumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 衰落； 坍塌； 损坏 | |
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43
rumbled
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| 发出隆隆声，发出辘辘声( rumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 轰鸣着缓慢行进； 发现…的真相； 看穿（阴谋） | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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45
mightiest
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| adj.趾高气扬( mighty的最高级 )；巨大的；强有力的；浩瀚的 | |
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46
quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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47
martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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48
undoing
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| n.毁灭的原因，祸根；破坏，毁灭 | |
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hordes
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| n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落 | |
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50
shafts
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| n.轴( shaft的名词复数 )；（箭、高尔夫球棒等的）杆；通风井；一阵（疼痛、害怕等） | |
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51
doomed
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| 命定的 | |
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52
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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53
mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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54
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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55
growled
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的过去式和过去分词 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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56
mentalities
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| n.心态( mentality的名词复数 )；思想方法；智力；智能 | |
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57
taunts
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| 嘲弄的言语，嘲笑，奚落( taunt的名词复数 ) | |
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battalions
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| n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍 | |
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59
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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gore
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| n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶 | |
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61
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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62
warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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64
hurling
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| n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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65
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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67
apathetically
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| adv.不露感情地；无动于衷地；不感兴趣地；冷淡地 | |
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68
hostilities
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| n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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70
scrupulous
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| adj.审慎的，小心翼翼的，完全的，纯粹的 | |
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71
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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72
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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73
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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74
vagaries
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| n.奇想( vagary的名词复数 )；异想天开；异常行为；难以预测的情况 | |
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merge
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| v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体 | |
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perpetuating
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| perpetuate的现在进行式 | |
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77
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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78
extinction
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| n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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80
corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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81
honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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82
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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83
taunted
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| 嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落 | |
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84
victorious
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| adj.胜利的，得胜的 | |
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85
consort
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| v.相伴；结交 | |
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