Chapter LVII.
OF A BATTLE BY FIRE AND HOW YWAIN AND AITHNE WERE NO MORE SEEN IN PALADORE.

THEN Ywain heard a voice which called him by his name, and it was the voice of Aithne, and she came to him and stood beside him. And he said to her: Come not nigh the bier, for there is one thereon which hath a secret in his face. And she said: I also have seen that face, for I saw it in a dream, And for the secret, be not troubled overmuch, for the end is coming when all things shall be made plain. Then said Ywain: O beloved, I doubt not: but when I looked upon the dead I trembled, and I tremble yet, for the face will not be gone from me.

Then Aithne came near to him and stood before him, and she laid her hands upon his forehead and closed up his eyes. And immediately his care went from him, and he was covered round as with soft wings of peace. And afterwards Aithne drew down her hands from off his face, and he looked before him: and the bier was vanished and that which lay upon it, and the place was void. Howbeit the seven candles were not vanished, but they stood burning in seven great candlesticks, and the flames of them were like seven spearheads of gold.

So they two stood hand in hand and looked upon the light: and in the same instant there came a noise of shouting from before the Hall, and they ran hastily and came forth upon the steps. And there beneath them was the whole place filled with torches and with spears, and they heard their enemies shouting fiercely against them. And they heard also the sound of bowstrings, and the arrows came thick about them: and upon every arrow was a pennon of quick flame, and they came through the night like fiery serpents flying. And some of the arrows entered into the Great Hall and lit upon the beams and upon the carven wood: and the flame licked upon the wood, and there was no force to stay it. And Ywain saw well that the end was come, for there was no rescue, and the fire began to roar among the timbers of the roof: and in his heart was no more care, but he rejoiced with a new joy, such as he had not known in all his days. And he came forth before his people, and in his right hand he took his sword, and in his left hand he took the hand of his beloved. And he looked down upon the faces of his enemies and he laughed aloud and cried to them: Come near and take what is left of the night, for to-morrow is ours and all that is to come.

Then the arrows flew more thickly, and the torches came onward with the spears, and the place was filled with flame and death. And Ywain and Aithne went swiftly down, and all their people with them: and the battle swayed about them heavily, and they were no more seen.