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diff --git a/33529-h/33529-h.htm b/33529-h/33529-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9633652 --- /dev/null +++ b/33529-h/33529-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9026 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Return Of Tharn, by Howard Browne. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .tn { + margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 0%; + margin-top: 0%; + margin-bottom: 0%; + padding: 1em; + background-color: #f6f2f2; + color: black; + border: dotted black 1px; + font-size: smaller; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps; font-size: 1.2em;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + .caption {font-weight: bold; font-size: .8em;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 0em; margin-top: + 0em; margin-right: 0em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 2%; margin-right: 2%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Return of Tharn, by Howard Carleton Browne + +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 Return of Tharn + +Author: Howard Carleton Browne + +Release Date: August 24, 2010 [EBook #33529] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RETURN OF THARN *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Adam Styles, Roger L. Holda and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class='tn'><p>TRANSCRIBERS NOTE: This etext was produced from Amazing Stories October, +November and December 1948. Extensive research did not uncover any +evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Part I]<br />[Pg 40-41]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><p> +<img src="images/image1.jpg" width="600" height="434" alt="Maddened and in pain from the flames, the lion sprang +over the burning stockade" /> +<span class="caption">Maddened and in pain from the flames, the lion sprang +over the burning stockade</span> +</p></div> + +<h1>The RETURN of THARN</h1> + +<h2>By HOWARD BROWNE</h2> + +<div class='blockquot'><h4>When Tharn set out to rescue his beloved Dylara, he did not dream +the whole Cro-Magnon world opposed him</h4></div> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Trakor</span>, youthful member of the tribe of Gerdak, moved at a swinging trot +along a winding game trail that led to the caves of his people. Through +occasional rifts in the matted mazes of branches, leafs, creepers and +vines of the semi-tropical forest and jungle, rays of the late afternoon +sun dappled the dusty elephant path under his naked feet.</p> + +<p>His slim young body, clothed only by the pelt of Jalok, the panther, +twisted about his loins, was bathed in perspiration, for both heat and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span>humidity were intense here in the heart of primeval jungle. From time +to time he transferred the flint-tipped spear to his left hand while he +rubbed dry the sweating palm of his right against his loin cloth; for a +slippery spear shaft could mean the difference between life and death in +a battle with some savage denizen of this untamed world.</p> + +<p>Trakor was beginning to worry. There was less than an hour of daylight +remaining and he was still a long way from home. The thought of spending +even a small portion of a night alone in a territory that abounded in +lions, panthers, leopards and the other fearsome creatures of forest and +plain, sent shivers of dread coursing along his spine.</p> + +<p>And there was no one but himself to blame for this predicament! A boy of +seventeen had no business attempting a task that would have given an +older, more experienced warrior pause. Only a fool, he told himself +bitterly, would have gone forth alone to hunt without having first +gained experience by many trips in the company of seasoned hunters, thus +learning the habits of the wild creatures.</p> + +<p>It was all Lanoa's fault! In the soft fragrance of midnight hair curling +about the tanned oval of her lovely face, in the smoothly rounded +perfection of her slender body, in the golden depths of her clear, +glowing eyes, were the seeds of madness that had sent him forth on a +fool's errand! Before coming under her spell he was content to spend his +days learning from old Wokard the art of painting scenes of tribal life +and the hunt on the walls of the caves of his people.</p> + +<p>Not until he watched Lanoa's other suitors displaying the trophies of +the hunt did young Trakor make his decision to lay aside his paints and +venture out in search of game. For it was easy to see how greatly Lanoa +was impressed by the boastful tales of the other young men.</p> + +<p>But where they hunted in groups, for safety's sake, Trakor would go out +alone after Neela, the zebra, or Bana, the deer. And when Lanoa saw him +return to the caves of Gerdak with the carcass of Neela across his +shoulders, his heavy spear trailing from a casual hand, then would she +realize that of all the young men of the tribe it was Trakor who was +best suited to be her mate!</p> + +<p>Thus the stuff of dreams ... and how different the reality! Since early +morning of this day he had wandered through the forest and across wide +stretches of prairie, seeking any of the various species of succulent +grass-eaters that served as the principal fare of the Cro-Magnons. And +while he had caught sight of grazing herds on several occasions, his +utter lack of experience in the art of stalking prevented him from +coming anywhere near enough for a successful spear cast.</p> + +<p>Now he was slinking back home empty handed to face the gibes of those he +had thought to impress, while the light of day gradually waned and the +dark shadows of the jungle grew heavier across his path.</p> + +<p>But the boy's wounded pride began to trouble him less as the certainty +that he must spend a night in the open became increasingly evident. The +everyday noises of the jungle, so nerve-wracking to those unable to +interpret them, yet unnoticed by the jungle-wise, kept him in a constant +state of apprehension while his fertile imagination pictured lurking +shapes crouched behind the wall of tangled underbrush lining either side +of the trail.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Without</span> warning, the narrow path debouched into a fair-sized clearing, +through the center of which moved the sluggish waters of a shallow +stream, its low banks covered with reeds.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p><p>Compared with the dull half-light of jungle depths, the glade seemed +bright as midday, although the sun had already dipped behind the +towering rampart of trees to the west. Trakor's heart swelled with +renewed confidence and his step was almost jaunty as he moved through +the knee-deep grasses and rustling reeds to the river bank.</p> + +<p>Now he knew exactly where he was. Another hour at a half-trot would +bring him to the caves of Gerdak. The jungle wasn't such a fearsome +place after all! He had spent an entire day in the open and not once +come across anything more dangerous than monkeys and birds. Tomorrow he +would go out again to hunt, nor would he return empty-handed a second +time.</p> + +<p>Dropping to his hands and knees at the river's edge, he drank deeply of +the brackish waters. Rising, he took up his spear, waded the ankle-deep +stream and trotted lightly onward, his goal the break in the opposite +wall of trees which marked the continuation of the same trail he had +been following.</p> + +<p>Thus did young Trakor betray his abysmal ignorance of the jungle and its +inhabitants. No experienced wayfarer of the wild places would have +approached that opening without the utmost caution; for it is often just +such a setting the great cats choose as a place to lie in wait for game.</p> + +<p>The slender youth was within a few feet of the bole of a mammoth tree +that marked the trail's entrance, when a sudden rustling amid a clump of +grasses to one side of the path brought him to a startled halt.</p> + +<p>Before Trakor could recover from his initial shock, those trembling +grasses parted, and with majestic deliberation, Sadu, the lion, stepped +into the trail less than twenty paces from the paralyzed youngster.</p> + +<p>Huge, impressive, his sleek, tawny coat and bristling mane shimmering in +the fading sunlight, his tufted, sinuous tail moving in jerky +undulations, stood the jungle king, his round yellow eyes fastened +hypnotically on his intended prey.</p> + +<p>Trakor knew that only seconds remained for him in this life, that within +fleeting moments he must go down to a horrible death beneath rending +fangs.</p> + +<p>And with that knowledge came a fatalistic courage—a courage he had not +dreamed he possessed. With icy calmness he closed the fingers of his +right hand tightly about the shaft of his spear and brought it up level +with his shoulder, point foremost, ready for a cast when the great beast +should charge.</p> + +<p>Slowly Sadu crouched for the spring, his giant head flattened almost to +the ground, massive hindquarters drawn beneath him like powerful +springs, his long tail extended and quivering.</p> + +<p>Voicing a thunderous roar, Sadu sprang.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Racing</span> across the plains and through the jungles of a savage world, +moving with unflagging swiftness by night and by day, came Tharn, mighty +warrior of an era already old twenty thousand years before the founding +of Rome—an era which witnessed the arrival to recognizable prehistory +of the first <i>true man</i>.</p> + +<p>Somewhere to the south of this Cro-Magnon fighting man, separated by +endless vistas of primeval forest, grass-filled plains and towering +mountain ranges, were the girl he loved and the men who had taken her.</p> + +<p>Still fresh in Tharn's memory were the events of the past few weeks: the +battles in Sephar's arena; the bloody revolt engineered by Tharn and his +friends; the arrival of his father and fifty warriors of his tribe; the +ascension of his close friend, Katon, to the kingship of Sephar; the +finding of his own mother, long given <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span>up for dead after disappearing +from the tribal caves ten summers before; the stunning shock upon +learning that Jotan had taken Dylara with him when he and his party of +fellow Ammadians began their journey back to far-off Ammad, mother +country of a civilization and culture far in advance of the Cro-Magnon +cave dwellers.<span class='fnanchor'>*</span></p> + +<p><span class='footnote'><span class='fnanchor'>*</span> "Warrior of the Dawn", December, 1942-January, 1943, <i>Amazing +Stories</i>.—Ed.</span></p> + +<p>The thrust of a knife from the cowardly and treacherous hand of Sephar's +high priest had come near to costing Tharn his life on the eve of his +departure in quest of Dylara. As it was, an entire moon passed before +the caveman was able to leave his bed.</p> + +<p>Pryak, the high priest, had died horribly in payment of his treachery; +but Tharn suffered a thousand deaths from enforced idleness while the +girl he loved was being carried farther and farther from the one person +who possessed the ability to effect her rescue.</p> + +<p>And then, over a moon ago, Tharn bade farewell to his mother and to the +father whose name he bore, and plunged into the heart of the unfamiliar +territory south of Sephar, taking up the trail of those Ammadians who +held Dylara.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Near</span> sunset of this particular day, Tharn awoke from a nap, as it was +his practice during the baking heat of mid-afternoons. By thus +conserving his strength during the more trying portion of the days, he +was able to spend many hours after nightfall, when the air was cooler, +in pursuit of his quarry.</p> + +<p>Rising to his feet on a softly swaying branch a full hundred feet above +the jungle floor, Tharn flexed the mighty muscles of arms and legs, his +naked chest swelling as he drew in great draughts of humid atmosphere. +The slender fingers of his strong, sun-bronzed hand pushed back the +shock of thick black hair crowning his finely shaped head and strikingly +handsome features, while the flashing, intelligent gray eyes roved +quickly over the mazes of foliage surrounding him.</p> + +<p>Nor was it his eyes alone that probed those curtains of growing things; +ears and a nose keen as those of any jungle dweller were no less active.</p> + +<p>He was on the point of descending to the game trail below when Siha, the +wind, brought to his sensitive nostrils the scent of man commingled with +the acrid smell of Sadu, the lion.</p> + +<p>For the space of a dozen heartbeats he stood there, high above the +hard-packed earth, while his keen mind rapidly analyzed the message his +nose had picked up. From the strength of those scents he knew both man +and beast were not far away, while the direction of the breeze told him +their position.</p> + +<p>Since the day Tharn, the son of Tharn, set out in search of the girl he +loved, he had encountered men on several occasions and always those +meetings were unpleasant. The Cro-Magnon tribes inhabiting the mountain +ranges between Sephar and the land of Ammad were distinguished by their +ability as fighters and an unflagging suspicion of strangers. Were it +not for Tharn's tremendous strength and incredible agility, he would +have died long ere this.</p> + +<p>Consequently his first reaction was to let Sadu and the unknown man +settle their impending quarrel without his own intervention. But a basic +part of Tharn's character was his ready willingness to come to the aid +of the underdog, to champion the cause of the weak and oppressed. It was +a trait which had brought him to the brink of disaster more than once; +but Tharn, were he to have given the matter any thought at all, would +not have had it otherwise.</p> + +<p>Thus it was that the caveman altered his course to the east and he set +off through the trees, swinging <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>among the branches with the ease and +celerity of little Nobar, the monkey. Now and then, with the agility of +long practice, he sent his lithe body hurtling across some gap between +trees, to grasp with unerring accuracy the limb his quick eye had +selected. Yet notwithstanding his seemingly reckless pace his passage +was almost soundless; and though the tangled verdure appeared as a solid +wall, only rarely did his flying figure scrape against the riot of +vegetation hemming him in.</p> + +<p>A few minutes later the giant Cro-Magnard swung into the branches of a +tree at the edge of a large circular clearing. Even as he reached the +broad surface of a bough extending over the floor of the open ground, he +caught sight of his old enemy, Sadu, the lion, crouching in the trail +almost directly beneath him. Simultaneously he saw Sadu's intended prey: +a slender Cro-Magnon youth, some four years younger than Tharn himself, +who was standing stiffly erect, facing the lion, a flint-tipped spear +poised in his right hand.</p> + +<p>Tharn felt himself thrill to the boy's unflinching courage even as he +recognized its futility, since no human could thus withstand the +iron-thewed engine of destruction that was Sadu, the lion.</p> + +<p>Tharn was given no opportunity to make use of his arrows or grass rope; +for even as he observed the two figures below, the lion's tail shot +stiffly erect, a shattering roar split apart the jungle stillness and +Sadu charged.</p> + +<p>As a swimmer dives from a springboard, so did Tharn launch himself into +space, his right hand snatching the flint knife from the folds of his +loincloth as he left the branch.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Never</span> before had the cave lord thus attacked the king of beasts; but +never before had he sought to wrest Sadu's prey, unharmed, from the +animal's fangs and claws. As it was, he landed full upon the lion's +back, crushing the beast to earth only inches short of its goal.</p> + +<p>Voicing a startled shriek, Sadu rebounded from the forest floor like a +tawny ball and turned to rend his foolhardy attacker.</p> + +<p>Tharn, however, was not on the ground. His mind, trained from birth to +function with lightning-like rapidity, had chosen the only way to +prevent his unplanned act from resulting in certain death for himself. +And so it was, as his diving body crushed Sadu to the ground, he passed +his strong left arm about its neck, locked his powerful legs about its +loins, and plunged his flint knife into its side, seeking the savage +heart.</p> + +<p>Roaring, snarling and spitting in a frenzy of rage, Sadu reared high and +toppled back upon the human leech. But Tharn's legs locked only the +tighter while the heavy knife, backed by biceps like banded layers of +steel, sank home again and again.</p> + +<p>Had the battle endured seconds longer the outcome might very well have +been reversed. But before then Tharn's weapon tore twice into that +untamed heart, and Sadu, with a final fearsome shriek, collapsed to move +no more.</p> + +<p>As Tharn rose to his feet, his calm gray eyes met the awed, +half-mesmerized gaze of the boy whose life he had saved. At sight of the +incredulous expression on the young face, the cave lord's firm lips +curved in a winning smile that lighted up his strong, noble features.</p> + +<p>As for Trakor, he could not have moved or spoken had his life depended +on it. There was no doubt in his mind but that he was in the presence of +one of the gods old Wokard often described. Who else but a god could +slay Sadu with only a knife; who else but a god could possess such a +combination of inhuman strength and unbelievable agility? The noble +poise of that handsome head above broad <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>shoulders, the soft sinuous +curves of that straight and perfect figure, the unclouded bronze skin, +the calm dignity of bearing and manner—all those things were attributes +of the benign gods who watched over and protected the people of Gerdak's +tribe.</p> + +<p>Tharn's smile broadened as he guessed something of what was running +through the boy's mind.</p> + +<p>"Do you," he asked, "hunt often for Sadu with only a spear?"</p> + +<p>Trakor shivered. "I would not hunt him with a forest of spears! When he +came out of the grasses my blood turned to water and my toes crawled +under my heels. Now I know what it is to be afraid!"</p> + +<p>"You should have taken to the trees while I fought with Sadu," Tharn +said. "Had he killed me, he would have slain you as well."</p> + +<p>"Even Sadu cannot kill a god," the boy said simply.</p> + +<p>Tharn blinked. "A god? I am no god. I am Tharn, a man of the caves, like +you."</p> + +<p>Trakor, while tremendously flattered at being compared with the +stranger, was far from convinced that Tharn was telling the truth.</p> + +<p>"A caveman could not slay Sadu thus," he declared, pushing a bare toe +gingerly against the dead beast's back. "No, you are a god, for gods +have been described to me many times by old Wokard, who knows all about +such things."</p> + +<p>The giant Cro-Magnard shrugged, smiling, and sought to change the +subject. "Who are you?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I am Trakor, of the tribe of Gerdak."</p> + +<p>"The caves of your people are nearby?"</p> + +<p>"An hour's march in that direction," Trakor said, pointing.</p> + +<p>Tharn's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "So far? Do you often go alone this +deep into the jungle?"</p> + +<p>Whereupon Trakor found himself telling the forest god the whole story: +how the raven-haired Lanoa had shown, by her admiration for the young +hunters of the tribe, that she would never become the mate of a man who +did not excel in the hunt; how he was determined to prove to her and to +the others of Gerdak's tribe that he too was a great hunter.</p> + +<p>Tharn listened with grave attention, and while there were times when he +was tempted to smile at some unconscious revelation of the boy's +character, he resisted the impulse. It required courage to venture alone +into the forest armed only with a spear. The soul of an artist, as +revealed by Trakor's love of painting, had clashed with the hot blood of +youth and a desire to appear to advantage in the eyes of a lovely woman. +Older and more conservative men than Tharn would have named Trakor's act +sheer lunacy; but Tharn was neither old nor conservative. Under the +circumstances he would have done exactly the same thing.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>When</span> Trakor was finished, Tharn said, "There will be other days for +hunting. Unless you are willing to travel the jungle at night, you had +best start for the caves of Gerdak."</p> + +<p>Trakor sought to hide his apprehension as he looked about the +dusk-filled glade and back to the dark hole which marked the game trail +entrance.</p> + +<p>"You are right," he said, turning to the cave lord. "I am grateful to +you for saving me from Sadu, mighty Tharn. Who knows but that someday I +may be of help to you."</p> + +<p>"Who knows?" Tharn repeated gravely.</p> + +<p>He remained standing there as Trakor turned and walked briskly toward +the wall of foliage to the south. The boy's shoulders were squared and +his brown-thatched head erect as he moved away, and Tharn felt a warm +glow of admiration at the fierce pride that would not let its owner ask +for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span>further protection. For he knew that secretly Trakor dreaded the +thought of traversing the final stretch of night-shrouded jungle.</p> + +<p>Purposely he waited until the youth was nearly out of sight, to learn +if, at the last moment, Trakor's step might falter or his head turn for +one last appealing glance. But the boy forged steadily ahead....</p> + +<p>"Wait, Trakor," Tharn called.</p> + +<p>The youth turned quickly and watched as Tharn gathered up his bow, +quiver of arrows and grass rope from where they had fallen when he +leaped to do battle with Sadu. With his weapons restored to their usual +places, the caveman rejoined Trakor at the forest's edge.</p> + +<p>"Since my way lies in the same direction," Tharn said, "I will go with +you for a time."</p> + +<p>"Good," Trakor said laconically. He might have said more, but he doubted +the steadiness of his own voice, so great his relief.</p> + +<p>Side by side they moved briskly along the winding trail, while the gloom +of early night grew amidst the semi-tropical depths of forest and its +inextricably tangled maze of branches, vines and creepers.</p> + +<p>In some way these two members of the first race of <i>true men</i> to trod +the globe were much alike; in others, as different as day from night. In +age Tharn was no more than four years beyond his companion; in height +perhaps an inch taller. Both were darkly tanned and each was clothed +only by a loin-cloth of panther skin.</p> + +<p>But there the similarity ended. Where Trakor was slender and with +muscles not yet fully developed, Tharn's bronzed body was sheathed in +supple sinews that rippled like steel cables beneath smooth skin. There +was an undefinable surety, a boundless confidence, reflected in the +graceful majesty of his expression and bearing. Unconsciously Trakor +sought to carry himself in a like manner, for he was deep in the throes +of hero worship.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Tharn," Trakor said diffidently, at last, "are you not truly a +god?"</p> + +<p>"It might be," Tharn said lightly. "Since I have never met a god, I +would not know."</p> + +<p>Trakor thought over the answer for a while. It did not seem that a real +god such as old Wokard described would speak so of himself. Could it be +that his new found friend, for all his superhuman abilities, was +actually an ordinary man, just as he had claimed from the first?</p> + +<p>Well, man he might be, but never an ordinary one!</p> + +<p>"I am glad you are a man, Tharn," he said finally. "I do not think I +would like to know a god."</p> + +<p>"Nor would I," Tharn agreed soberly.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>They</span> moved rapidly ahead for a time, neither speaking. Suddenly the +thunderous challenge of a lion rose from the depths of jungle not far to +their right. Trakor shivered slightly and shot a quick glance at his +companion. It was too dark for him to make out Tharn's expression but he +seemed entirely unmoved by the sound of Sadu's voice.</p> + +<p>A moment later Trakor heard the rustle of something moving in the +undergrowth beside the trail, and a prickly sensation crawled along his +spine. Sadu was hunting again! He would have liked to call Tharn's +attention to the faint sound but hesitated to do so lest he appear +overly nervous. Again came the slight rustle.</p> + +<p>"It is Gubo, the hyena," Tharn said unexpectedly.</p> + +<p>Trakor gasped. "How do you know that?" he demanded, both relieved and +bewildered.</p> + +<p>"He is upwind from us."</p> + +<p>"Upwind? You mean you can scent him?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>The young man from the tribe of Gerdak nearly betrayed his skepticism. +Never before had he heard of a man whose nose could receive and +interpret a scent spoor. It smacked of a kinship with the animals +themselves.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure?" he asked uneasily.</p> + +<p>Tharn's quick ear caught the undercurrent of incredulity in the boy's +voice, and he smiled under the cover of darkness. It was not the first +time his unique ability had been doubted. He drew Trakor to a halt.</p> + +<p>"Watch," he said.</p> + +<p>Lifting his head the cave lord gave voice to the hunting squall of a +leopard. So perfect was his imitation of Tarlok's cry, so fearsome the +sound, that Trakor shrank back in quick alarm.</p> + +<p>As the harsh scream rose on the night air, there was a sudden flurry of +motion among the tangled foliage to their right, a blurred figure +skidded into the trail ahead of where they stood and disappeared around +a bend of the path. In the brief moment in which it was visible, Trakor +recognized the animal as Gubo.</p> + +<p>Crestfallen, Trakor could think of nothing to say. Never again, he +resolved, would he doubt any statement made by this god-like stranger. +There were many questions he burned to ask, but an aura of reserve +seemed to surround the man—an aura he hesitated to intrude upon. At +last he could contain his curiosity no longer.</p> + +<p>"Where lie the caves of your people, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>"Nearly two moons' march to the north," the cave lord replied readily +enough.</p> + +<p>"You came so great a distance alone?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>Tharn did not at once reply. During the moon since he had set out from +Sephar in search of Dylara this was his first opportunity for a friendly +word with a fellow man. On the several occasions that he encountered +hunting parties of Cro-Magnon warriors, he had been regarded as +legitimate prey to be hunted down and slain. Tharn expected no different +attitude; it was the way of his own people when they came across +fighting-men of other tribes. Consequently he gave such groups a wide +berth, fighting against them only when given no other choice.</p> + +<p>Long periods of silence, however, were no hardship to Tharn. Since +boyhood he was accustomed to spending most of his days and many nights +alone in the jungles and on the broad plains of this savage, untamed +world, finding his greatest pleasure in matching his courage, cunning +and strength against the denizens of forest and prairie. And because +none of the other young men of his father's tribe was so highly +developed mentally or physically, he made no intimates among them.</p> + +<p>It was the kind of life which tends to develop a reticent nature in any +man; and while Tharn was in no way morose or antisocial he was given to +saying little beyond what must, of necessity, be put into words.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Under</span> the warmth of Trakor's awed respect and undisguised admiration, +however, Tharn's customary reserve began to thaw and he spoke at greater +length than he intended.</p> + +<p>"Two moons ago," he began, while they moved steadily along the twisting +elephant path, "the girl I wanted as my mate was taken by a group of men +who called themselves Ammadians. These men came from a great territory +that lies south of your own caves. Ages ago many hundreds of the +Ammadians left their country and traveled into the north, stopping +finally in a high valley only a few marches from where the caves of my +people now are."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here they built many strange caves on level ground by piling heavy +slabs of rock together, surrounding them all by a great wall of stone. +They named this place Sephar and spoke of themselves as Sepharians."</p> + +<p>"From time to time bands of Ammadians cross the plains and mountains and +jungles between Ammad and Sephar. The leader of one of those bands, an +Ammadian named Jotan, saw Dylara and wanted her for himself. Not long +before this, Dylara had been taken from me by a hunting party of +Sepharians, and she was held captive by Sephar's chief until he gave her +to Jotan."</p> + +<p>"Soon thereafter Jotan's party set out on the return journey to Ammad. +Because of a wound, it was an entire moon before I was able to set out +in pursuit of those who hold Dylara."</p> + +<p>So engrossed was Trakor in the other's story that he quite forgot his +uneasiness regarding the night-cloaked jungle about him. His imagination +was fired by Tharn's adventures, and his ready sympathy went out to the +cave lord in his romantic quest.</p> + +<p>"Then you must enter the land called Ammad and take Dylara from those +who have her?" he asked.</p> + +<p>Tharn nodded. "At first," he said, "I hoped to overtake Jotan and his +men before they could reach Ammad. But several times I lost their trail +for days on end. Once a raging fire swept over a great stretch of +grasslands I was crossing and I was forced to spend many days circling +the burned section before I was able to pick up the signs of their +passage. Then, ten suns ago, I lost the trail completely; since then I +have been guided only by the directions given me when I left Sephar."</p> + +<p>For a little while Trakor did not speak. Then: "Are these men you call +Ammadians not so large as the people of our tribes? Do they cover their +bodies with a strange kind of skin that comes from no animal? And do +they wear strange coverings on their feet? And do they carry a strange +length of branch with a tight length of gut tied to each end and many +small spears such as you are carrying?"</p> + +<p>Tharn, his pulses suddenly beginning to pound, seized the boy by one +arm, bringing him to an involuntary halt. "Such are the Ammadians," he +said tensely. "What do you know about them?"</p> + +<p>"I have heard the warriors of my tribe speak of them," Trakor said. +"There have been times in the past when we fought them. But they are +brave and good fighters and we do not have the gut-strung branches which +throw the small spears so straight and so far. So now we seek no quarrel +with them unless they come too near our caves."</p> + +<p>"Why, it was no more than five suns ago that Roban, son of Gerdak +himself, watched a large party of them as they made their way up the +great cliffs not far to the east of our caves. I heard him tell about it +at the cooking fires that same night."</p> + +<p>"Did he speak of women being among them?" Tharn demanded.</p> + +<p>Trakor scratched his head. "I do not think so. As I remember it now, I +did not hear the whole story; for Lanoa walked away from the fires and I +followed her before Roban had finished."</p> + +<p>Tharn's hand dropped from the boy's arm. "Come," he said, and once more +they set out along the path.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> +<h3>CRO-MAGNON HOSPITALITY</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> the two Cro-Magnon men rounded an abrupt bend in the elephant path, +the jungle and forest ended sharply at the edge of a wide clearing +before a sheer cliff, its surface dotted with many cave entrances. Near +the escarpment base a dozen cooking fires blossomed against the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span>darkness, and the shadowy forms of members of Gerdak's tribe moved +about them.</p> + +<p>For a moment Tharn and his companion remained standing at the forest +edge watching the activity. The cave lord's acute sense of caution, +without which few dwellers of this savage world lived long, kept him +motionless while his sharp eyes took in every detail of the surrounding +terrain. This business of approaching a village of strangers—and +therefore enemies!—was a move not lightly to be taken, even when +accompanied by one of its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>Trakor tugged at his arm. "Come, Tharn! Come and receive the gratitude +of my father and my people for saving me from Sadu. When they hear how +you slew him with nothing more than a knife they will worship you as a +god!"</p> + +<p>His vague reluctance still with him, Tharn permitted the youth to urge +him into the open. They were well into the clearing before one of the +men about the fires caught sight of them and gave a warning shout.</p> + +<p>Instantly a score of warriors caught up their spears and formed a +bristling line facing the newcomers, while others piled dry branches on +the fires sending flames shooting high to illuminate the scene with +almost midday brightness.</p> + +<p>"Put down your spears!" cried Tharn's companion, laughing. "It is +I—Trakor, son of Kygor. Where are your hunters' eyes that you do not +know me?"</p> + +<p>But the line of spear heads did not waver. Now, moving from behind the +formation of fighting men came Gerdak, chief of the tribe. Short, squat +and very ugly was Gerdak. Set nearly flush on his broad sloping +shoulders was a bullet-like head, almost hairless as the result of an +old scalp infection. Firelight reflected in his pig-like eyes made them +glow like burning sparks as he glowered from beneath shaggy brows at the +tall stranger at Trakor's side.</p> + +<p>"Who is he?" growled the chief, jerking a grimy thumb at the cave lord.</p> + +<p>"He is my friend," Trakor said, and there was the beginning of anger in +his tone. "His name is Tharn. In all the world there is no greater +fighter."</p> + +<p>Nothing changed in Gerdak's expression. "He is not one of us. Tell him +to go at once or I will kill him!"</p> + +<p>Trakor stiffened. Suddenly his anger flamed into the open—flamed with +such intensity that he completely forgot the object of his wrath was his +own chief.</p> + +<p>"<i>YOU</i> will kill him! Ha! There are not fifty among you who could kill +him! With only a knife he slew Sadu—leaping upon him as though Sadu +were no more than Bana, the deer. He comes among us as my friend—treat +him as such!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke Trakor, beside himself with the hot anger of the young, had +advanced until he was standing directly before the burly chieftain. With +his last words the boy so forgot himself as to shake a fist in the +other's face.</p> + +<p>With a lightning sweep of one knotted fist Gerdak struck the infuriated +boy squarely in the face. So terrible the force of the blow that +Trakor's feet completely left the ground and he fell, unconscious, a +full ten feet from where he had been standing.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Even</span> as the boy's body was falling Tharn acted. With a catlike bound he +reached the chief, fastened a hand about the man's bull neck and lifted +him into the air. Holding the dazed Gerdak in a grip of steel he began +to shake him until bones creaked in protest and his senses fled and he +hung, limp and lifeless, in the circle of those mighty fingers.</p> + +<p>As Gerdak crumbled to the ground, his spellbound warriors came to life. +With shouts of rage they leaped for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>ward to close upon the stranger who +had dared to lay hands on their chief. But the agility and muscles that +had brought their owner through countless jungle battles were more than +Gerdak's warriors had reckoned with.</p> + +<p>With a panther-like leap Tharn reached Trakor's prone figure. Snatching +it from the ground to a place across his shoulder the cave lord turned +and raced for the safety of the forest. Behind him came a shouting, +cursing mob of raging fighting-men, brandishing spears and knives of +flint. Had they thrown those spears within the first few seconds, the +outcome would have been certain and Gerdak avenged. But they did not, +and seconds later Tharn and his burden were lost among the shadows of +overhanging trees.</p> + +<p>For more than an hour Gerdak's warriors ranged the vicinity in search of +the pair, thrusting their spears among the tangled undergrowth and +racing along the game trail on the chance their quarry was following it. +Finally they reluctantly abandoned the hunt and returned to where the +body of their chief still lay on the clearing floor. Discovering a spark +of life yet remaining, they bore him to his cave and after a while +succeeded in bringing him back to consciousness.</p> + +<p>It would be many suns before Gerdak fully recovered from his experience, +but deeply planted in his dull-witted mind were the seeds of fear—fear +that the mighty stranger called Tharn might return.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A weaving</span>, bobbing sensation was Trakor's first impression as his hurt +brain struggled back to consciousness. Beneath him was warm smooth +flesh, and now and then he felt the brush of leaves or a vine against +his back and sides.</p> + +<p>When he opened his eyes he found himself being borne at a rapid pace +through the forest top. For a moment he was unable to grasp the meaning +of his strange position, then a familiar voice said, almost in his ear:</p> + +<p>"Lie still for a little while. We are almost there."</p> + +<p>It was Tharn's voice and with it came the memory of what had transpired +before Gerdak's fist struck him unconscious. With a sigh, Trakor let the +tenseness leave his body and he lay quietly across his new friend's +broad shoulder.</p> + +<p>Onward went Tharn, threading his way among the tangled labyrinth of +branches with practiced ease. Broad boughs bent alarmingly beneath the +double burden as he neared their tips while passing from one tree to +another; but always he found the next before the weight proved too +heavy. Yet so accustomed to such jungle highways was the cave lord that +he seemed fairly to be flying through the trees.</p> + +<p>Finally Tharn came to rest upon a wide branch high above the ground. +Gently he deposited Trakor to a sitting position beside him, permitting +the boy to rest his back against the tree's bole.</p> + +<p>So intense was the darkness about them that Trakor was barely able to +make out the form of his rescuer although he was only a few inches away. +Trakor grasped a small branch to insure him from slipping from his high +flung perch and for a little while said nothing, waiting until he could +be sure the words would come out without a quaver.</p> + +<p>"Where are we, Tharn?" he said finally, pleased at the matter-of-fact +tone he was able to muster.</p> + +<p>The darkness hid Tharn's understanding smile. "A short distance from the +caves of your people."</p> + +<p>"They are no longer my people," Trakor said hotly. "Even when I told +them you were my friend they were against you."</p> + +<p>He was silent for a moment. Then: "What happened after Gerdak struck +me?"</p> + +<p>Briefly Tharn told him of what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span>transpired in the clearing. When he was +finished, the boy was thoughtful for a little while. The realization was +strong that never as long as Gerdak lived would he be able to return to +his own people. That alone did not cause him to regret what had +happened; it was the knowledge he might never again see his father and +mother that was hard for him to bear. As he was still hardly more than +boy quick tears stung his eyes and he was thankful the darkness +prevented his companion from seeing these signs of weakness.</p> + +<p>The turn events had taken within the clearing had hurt Tharn, too. Lost +was his opportunity of questioning Roban, son of Gerdak, about the party +of Ammadians Trakor had mentioned. He broke the momentary silence to +say:</p> + +<p>"Have you any idea where the Ammadians scaled the cliffs you mentioned?"</p> + +<p>Not until now did Trakor recall the reason his new friend had sought out +the caves of Gerdak. The realization that his own unthinking anger was +largely responsible for Tharn's failure to get the information was +galling and he said so at length.</p> + +<p>Tharn halted the flow of self recrimination. "Gerdak," he pointed out, +"would not have allowed his son to tell me anything. I hardly expected +any other reception so we have lost nothing.... Do the Ammadian +travelers who pass this way scale the cliffs at the same place each +time?"</p> + +<p>"No," Trakor replied sadly. "There are many places that afford a way +over them."</p> + +<p>"And you recall nothing Roban said which would indicate the place this +last party used?"</p> + +<p>"No, Tharn. It could be any one of ten." When the man beside him made no +reply, he added: "What do we do now?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Trakor's</span> use of the word "we" brought the realization to Tharn that he +was now faced with two problems. The first, of course, was to locate the +trail of Dylara's abductors—and already his keen mind had hit on a +short cut to that end. The second problem showed every indication of +being a great deal harder to solve: What was he going to do with Trakor?</p> + +<p>To permit the boy to return to the caves of Gerdak was unthinkable. The +chief would be sure to blame him for what had happened; and while he +might not actually kill Trakor he would certainly make his life +unbearable. Nor could he leave this inexperienced youngster to face the +jungle alone. Sadu or Jalok would be feeding on his soft flesh before +two suns were gone!</p> + +<p>The only alternative was to take the boy with him on his search for +Dylara. It would mean slowing his pursuit of the Ammadians to a relative +crawl—a thought galling to the cave lord....</p> + +<p>"What do we do now?" Trakor said again.</p> + +<p>Tharn shrugged lightly, his decision made. "We wait awhile. Now we shall +sleep for an hour or two."</p> + +<p>"Up here?" Trakor's voice faltered a little.</p> + +<p>"Would it be better to sleep on the ground?" Tharn asked with grim +humor.</p> + +<p>As though to underscore the question, the distant scream of a panther +came to their ears. Trakor shivered. "The tree is better," he admitted. +"It is only that I have never slept in a tree," he laughed uncertainly. +"I suppose I can get used to it."</p> + +<p>"Lean your back against the trunk," Tharn said, "and allow your legs to +drop on either side of the branch you are sitting on, resting your feet +on the branches directly below. That way you will not fall, no matter +how soundly you sleep."</p> + +<p>The boy obeyed, and while he found the position less restful than the +heap of pelts in the cave of his father, it was bearable. He knew he +would not <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span>be able to sleep, for already the chill of the jungle at +night was creeping into his bones.</p> + +<p>Seconds later he was sleeping soundly, while above him Tharn too slept +in a fork of the same tree.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A hand</span> shaking his shoulder awoke Trakor with a start. Crouching on the +branch beside him was Tharn, his magnificent body faintly discernible in +the diffused light of Uda, the moon.</p> + +<p>"Come," Tharn said. "It is time we set about locating the path used by +the Ammadians in scaling the cliffside."</p> + +<p>"At night?" Trakor asked wonderingly. "Would it not be better to wait +until there is enough light to pick up the trail?"</p> + +<p>"I have another plan," Tharn replied evasively. "Here," he added, +stooping. "Place your arms about my neck."</p> + +<p>Although he did not understand the reason behind the order Trakor +followed his companion's bidding. An instant later he was swept up and +out into the maze of branches while borne in Tharn's arms.</p> + +<p>Where before much of the passage through the middle terraces of the +trees had been hidden from Trakor by darkness, now the way was lighted +by the moon, disclosing to the youth's horrified eyes the awful depths +beneath. Gradually Trakor's fears grew less as he observed the unfailing +sureness with which Tharn trod this high-flung pathway, and in its place +came an abounded admiration of his agility and strength. Never before +had he heard of a human who used the same avenues as little Nobar, the +monkey—and used them with the same nimbleness and speed. Occasionally +warriors of his tribe lay in wait for game among tree branches, but such +climbing was as nothing when compared to this.</p> + +<p>That uncanny instinct which so often had guided Tharn through unfamiliar +territory did not fail him this time, and within half an hour he and his +burden were gazing from the safety of a high branch at the deserted +cliffside containing the caves of Gerdak.</p> + +<p>At the sight of the familiar scene a great weight seemed to press +against Trakor's heart. Was his new-found friend deserting +him—returning him to certain suffering at the hands of short-tempered +Gerdak? Did not Tharn know that never again would he dare to return to +his own cave—that the chief would make him pay a thousandfold for +championing the giant stranger?</p> + +<p>Dreading the reply, he asked: "Why have we come back here, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>"You told me Roban, son of Gerdak, knows the route taken by the +Ammadians," said Tharn. "I am going to ask him where I may find it."</p> + +<p>"But you cannot!" cried Trakor. "The instant Gerdak and his warriors see +you their spears will cut you to pieces!"</p> + +<p>"Then I must keep from being seen," Tharn observed lightly. "Point out +to me the cave where Roban sleeps. I will enter and get him, bringing +him here that I may question him in peace."</p> + +<p>Trakor was horrified by the suggestion. "It is impossible! Mighty as you +are, you could not hope to enter and leave the chief's own cave without +being caught. Always several warriors sleep just within the entrance, +for there are several among the tribe who hate Gerdak and he fears +assassination while he sleeps."</p> + +<p>For a long moment Tharn seemed lost in thought and Trakor was +congratulating himself upon his success in talking the cave lord out of +his mad scheme. But Tharn's next words showed his silence had been +prompted by another reason altogether.</p> + +<p>"Describe Gerdak's cave to me," he said, "telling me, if you can, where +in it Roban is most likely to be sleeping."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>For a second Trakor was tempted to disclaim all knowledge of the +subject. But then the realization came that Tharn would go ahead with +his plan with or without the information he sought.</p> + +<p>Carefully he told all he could about the chief's cave, describing in +minute detail its layout and plan, together with such information as +where the guards were likely to be sleeping and the probable location of +Roban's sleeping furs.</p> + +<p>Roban, he said, would not be difficult to pick out. He was about +Trakor's own age but very skinny, with long legs and arms and a +peculiarly shaped head, the crown rising almost to a point. He was an +unpleasant youngster, sly and cunning, and generally disliked.</p> + +<p>Tharn listened attentively; and when his new friend was done, he +unshipped the quiver of arrows from its place on his back and handed it +and his spear to Trakor. The grass rope he left coiled across his +shoulder and under the opposite arm, and his flint knife remained in the +folds of his loin-cloth.</p> + +<p>"Wait here for me," Tharn said. The boy nodded, not trusting himself to +speak, and watched the other slip easily through the branches to the +ground at the clearing's edge.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Broken</span> cloud formations dotted the midnight sky and Tharn waited +patiently until one of them could obscure the full moon long enough for +him to gain the foot of the steep scarp a hundred yards away. Several +times small clouds blotted out Uda's radiant beams; but not until a +sizable one moved into the proper position did Tharn leave the +protecting shadows of the tree.</p> + +<p>With great bounding strides, silent as the shadows themselves, Tharn +crossed the clearing to the cliff's base. For a few moments he skirted +its edge until he located a series of man-carved ridges which formed a +rude and perilous ladder to the cave entrances above. With the +sure-footedness of long practice he swarmed lightly upward, past cave +after cave, until he came to rest a few feet below the yawning hole +marking the entrance to Gerdak's dwelling.</p> + +<p>He crouched there motionless, his ears straining for some indication +that those within were still awake. But other than a faint sound of +someone snoring, he heard nothing.</p> + +<p>With infinite stealth he drew himself onto the ledge outside. To his +unbelievably sensitive nostrils came the assorted smells of a Cro-Magnon +shelter. Through the medium of scent he established that five men and +two women were within, all of them his ears said were sound asleep.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the cloud was gone from the moon's face and silver effulgence +bathed the cliffside, leaving Tharn exposed to possible discovery. And +so, crouching, the naked blade of his flint knife held ready, Tharn +entered the lair of Gerdak, chief of a Cro-Magnon tribe.</p> + +<p>As Tarlok, the leopard, stalks the wariest of grass-eaters, so did Tharn +make his way into that black hole. No human ear would have been able to +mark his passage as his naked feet, seemingly endowed with eyes of their +own, threaded their way past one sleeping body after another.</p> + +<p>Two warriors lay athwart the entrance; these Tharn stepped across, so +close he could feel the animal heat from their bodies. Past a stack of +spears piled against a side wall, avoiding a block of stone on which +were piled several baked clay pots and dishes, skirting a heap of furs +where an old woman slept, mouth open and the breath whistling between +toothless gums ... these were danger points along the way.</p> + +<p>At last he reached the rear wall of the cave—and there he found the +object of his search. A lanky length of tanned human lay face up on a +pile of skins, breathing heavily, arms thrown <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span>wide. A few feet away, +near a side wall, lay the stocky form and hairless pate that belonged to +Gerdak, the chief.</p> + +<p>The time had come for the high point of danger in Tharn's plan. +Crouching beside the sleeping form of Roban, Tharn tightened his hold on +the hilt of his knife, swung his arm in a short savage arc and brought +the butt of the knife hard against the young man's skull!</p> + +<p>There was a single violent upheaval of limbs which Tharn smothered +instantly beneath his own weight, a sobbing cry which died unborn as a +mighty hand pressed against the parted lips ... and Roban lay senseless.</p> + +<p>Swinging the unconscious youth to his shoulders, Tharn turned to make +his way back to the cave entrance. Three cautious steps he took ... and +then a muscular hand closed about his ankle!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> +<h3>SADU ATTACKS</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Sadu</span>, the lion, pacing slowly and majestically through the velvet +blackness of a jungle night, came to a sudden halt as Siha, the wind, +brought to his sensitive nostrils the acrid scent of burning wood.</p> + +<p>For several long minutes the great cat stood as though turned to stone, +his broad nostrils twitching nervously under the biting fumes. Sadu was +unpleasantly familiar with the red teeth that ate everything in their +path, for it had been scarcely a moon ago that he barely escaped the +fangs of a forest fire.</p> + +<p>Had it been smoke alone which Sadu smelled, he would have turned away +and sought his night's food elsewhere. But commingled with the scent of +fire was another smell, and it was the latter that finally sent him +slinking ahead.</p> + +<p>After the lion progressed another several hundred yards in this manner, +the winding game trail debouched abruptly into a large natural clearing +bordering the reed-covered banks of a wide shallow river.</p> + +<p>Standing amid the impenetrable shadows cast by a great tree at the +clearing's edge, Sadu surveyed with slitted eyes the bustle of activity +about the open ground. There were at least fifty men there, some of them +tending a blazing windrow of branches arranged in a large circle to +encompass a considerable section of open ground where were heaped +several mounds of supplies. Others were preparing the evening meal, +bringing water from the river and performing the other duties which go +with establishing camp for the night.</p> + +<p>It was the scent of these men that had brought Sadu here. Ordinarily he +would have passed up the two-legged creatures for the more satisfactory +flesh of zebra or deer, but there had been an absence of such meat +lately because grass-replenishing rain had not fallen in many moons and +the grass-eaters had strayed away from the vicinity in search of fresh +pastures. Too, Sadu had found man easy prey when he was alone—in +numbers he was dangerous, particularly when backed by burning brands and +sharp-pointed sticks.</p> + +<p>The circle of fire with which these men had surrounded themselves gave +Sadu pause. Only the pangs of hunger kept him from turning about and +seeking less complicated prey. Slowly the heavy lips rolled back, baring +the great fangs, and from the depths of the cavernous chest came a +series of grunting coughs.</p> + +<p>As the dull, rumbling challenge reached the ears of those within the +camp, men straightened from their tasks and looked fearfully into the +heavy darkness beyond the light from the fires. A few unslung their bows +and tested the strings, while others made sure their heavy war spears +were within reach.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the center of the camp itself, a group of five people—two girls and +three men—broke off their conversation as the first notes of Sadu's +voice reached them, and looked nervously at one another.</p> + +<p>"Sadu is hungry too," one of the girls observed lightly as she turned +her attention back to the freshly grilled meat on the clay dish before +her.</p> + +<p>"Will he attack us?" the other girl asked unsteadily, her dark eyes +round with fear. Her slender, softly rounded body was covered with a +knee-length tunic of some coarse, woven material and a cloud of black +curls framed the delicate features of her olive-skinned face.</p> + +<p>"I do not think so, Alurna," the first girl said, without taking her +eyes from her food. "Sadu fears fire; he would have to be close to +starving to brave the flames."</p> + +<p>One of the three men, a slight, small-boned man whose round, +full-fleshed face habitually wore an expression of slow-witted +amiability, moved a little closer to the fire. "How do we know," he said +anxiously, "whether this lion is not that hungry?"</p> + +<p>The first girl shook back her wealth of reddish brown hair and looked at +the speaker, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter. She said, "We +<i>can't</i> know, Javan—not until he either springs through the fire or +turns around and goes away."</p> + +<p>If the words brought any comfort to Javan, his actions failed to show +it. Once more he shifted his position until he was close to sitting in +the burning branches and the fingers of his right hand were trembling +uncontrollably as he groped for his flint-tipped spear.</p> + +<p>"Dylara jests, Javan," the tall, broad-shouldered man next to him said. +"There are too many of us for even several lions to attack."</p> + +<p>"You say that, Jotan," Dylara said, "because you do not know Sadu as I +know him. Often he will charge a hundred warriors through fires far +larger than ours, yet at times several lions have run away from one man +walking alone in the jungle. More than any other beast, Sadu is a +creature of moods, and no one can say for sure what he will do."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> third man in the group rose now to scrape the remaining food on his +plate into the fire. He said, "We are certainly in no position to +dispute with Dylara the habits of animals." There was a subtle note of +condescension in his voice that only Jotan and the princess Alurna +noticed. "You must remember that Dylara is different from us. Most of +her life has been spent among the people of the caves, and there can be +no doubt but that the barbarians know the jungle and its life far better +than we can ever hope to."</p> + +<p>Jotan's pale blue eyes frosted over and the hard, firm angle of his jaw +tightened. For nearly two moons now he had endured Tamar's gibes at his +love for a girl who had been a barbarian slave of Sephar's court. Many +times during those sixty suns had Tamar said that no member of Ammad's +ruling class, as was Jotan, had a right to take as mate some half-savage +cave girl. There was such a thing, argued Tamar, as <i>noblesse oblige</i>, +and Jotan was not only alienating his friends by this mad passion but +breaking the laws of his class and his country.</p> + +<p>Not that Tamar had anything personal against Dylara. On the contrary, he +thought her beautiful and as gracious and regal as Alurna herself. But +there was the matter of birth and blood—barriers too great for +acceptance as the noble Jotan's mate.</p> + +<p>All this was in Jotan's thoughts as he answered Tamar's last remark. +"Perhaps it would be better for us," he observed lightly, "if we had a +little of Dylara's knowledge of the jungle creatures and their ways. +Perhaps then we would be spared such terror <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span>at the sound of Sadu's +roar."</p> + +<p>He made the statement while looking full into Tamar's eyes, and was +rewarded by seeing a tinge of red creep into his friend's freshly +scraped cheeks. And because no man likes to be called a coward, no +matter how indirectly, Tamar sought to hit back ... in the one way that +would cut Jotan the deepest.</p> + +<p>"It is unfortunate," he said mildly, "that we could not have brought +along with us the wild man who came to Sephar seeking Dylara. I'll wager +he would not turn a hair were Sadu to charge among us at this moment."</p> + +<p>As though in direct challenge to the statement, Sadu, in the darkness +beyond the camp, again lifted his voice in the hunting roar of the king +of beasts.</p> + +<p>This time the hot blood of anger welled into Jotan's face and a biting +retort formed on his lips. But a glimpse of Dylara's suddenly stricken +expression checked them there, unuttered.</p> + +<p>In the brief silence that followed Tamar's words, Dylara was aware that +the others were watching her as though to learn if Tamar's edged comment +would goad her into a response.</p> + +<p>And so she made answer; and while the words were directed to Tamar, it +was Jotan whom they hurt.</p> + +<p>"You are right, Tamar," she said proudly. "Tharn, more than any man I +have ever known, is free of fear. How could he know fear when there is +no man or animal that could match his strength, agility or quick mind."</p> + +<p>"Had you seen him, as I did, crush the skull of a full-grown lion with a +single blow of his fist, had you seen him close in battle with Tarlok, +the leopard, with only a stone knife to use against Tarlok's teeth and +claws, had he carried any of you through the highest branches of the +forest top—then you would know why I am sure he came through the +battles in Sephar's arena! That is why I know that even now he is on his +way to take me from you."</p> + +<p>"And when he does come, neither you nor all the warriors with you can +keep him from his purpose. You are children—all of you!—when compared +to Tharn!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> nails of Jotan's fingers were biting into his palms. "And would you +go with him, Dylara?" he asked between stiff lips.</p> + +<p>The girl's lovely brown eyes softened as she saw the pain under his +carefully expressionless face.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I would go with him," she said gently. "All of us know that I am +no more than a prisoner among you. All of you have been kind and +thoughtful and friendly toward me. Yet there is never a moment that I am +not under the eyes of a guard. That is why I say that, given the chance, +I would escape and return to the caves of Majok, my father."</p> + +<p>Alurna shuddered. "You would not get very far, Dylara. The jungle beasts +would get you the first night."</p> + +<p>"I think not," Dylara said matter-of-factly. "You keep forgetting that I +am not a Sepharian. The jungle and plains are not to me the horrible +places they seem to you who have spent your lives behind the stone walls +of your cities."</p> + +<p>"How can you think of returning to such a life, Dylara?" Jotan said, +almost pleadingly. "It is no way for a girl to live—in constant danger +day after day, living in cold, damp holes in a cliff, wearing only an +animal skin."</p> + +<p>"Wait until you have seen the city of Ammad! As wonderful as Sephar must +have seemed to you, it is crude and barbaric when compared to the +splendor of the cities of my country. And in all the world there is no +palace so lavish as that of Jaltor, king of all Ammad. Why, a few days +among the glories and comforts of life among my people and the thought +of returning to your caves would be hateful indeed!"</p> + +<p>But Dylara was shaking her head. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span>"No, Jotan. Tamar is right when he +says I would not fit into such a life. I was taken to Sephar as a slave +to the Sepharians; and, as considerate as you have been, I am being +taken to Ammad while still a slave."</p> + +<p>"Not as a slave!" Jotan protested. "You are to become my mate. You will +be shown the same honor, the same respect that I am given. I am a noble +of Ammad, Dylara. Jaltor, ruler of Ammad, is my father's closest friend. +He—all Ammad—will be at your feet the day we go before the high-priest +of the God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud and he makes you my mate."</p> + +<p>The conversation clearly had gotten out of hand. Both Jotan and Dylara, +so hard did each strive to make the other see his side of the argument, +were putting into words things they ordinarily would never have said in +front of those with them.</p> + +<p>And all during the exchange, Alurna, princess of Sephar, sat there and +watched them, her head bowed slightly and a hand shielding her face that +none might see the hatred and jealousy mirrored there.</p> + +<p>For Jotan was hers! Whether he was aware of that as yet was immaterial. +Men had been blinded by beauty before and still brought to their senses +before it was too late. As lovely as the cave girl was, Alurna knew that +her own beauty suffered little by comparison—something that Jotan would +have seen long ago were his eyes not blinded by a mad infatuation.</p> + +<p>There was little else to do for the time being, Alurna realized, except +wait. Tonight or tomorrow or a moon from now the opportunity for ridding +herself of her brown-haired rival would come along. She had almost +arranged the girl's death in Sephar, but Dylara had slain the hired +assassin. Next time the result would be different. Fortunately it was +not something that had to be done in a hurry. Dylara gave no indication +of willingly becoming Jotan's mate, and being a person of high +principles, Jotan would have her no other way. The only danger, really, +was that his unfailing courtesy, thoughtfulness and complete adoration +might succeed in winning the cave girl's love.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Sadu</span>, the lion, standing beyond the circle of light cast by the fire, +raised his voice in a challenging roar that cut into silence the +encampment of humans. His hunger was growing with the passage of time +and the sight of the many two-legged creatures behind the leaping +flames.</p> + +<p>Again, Sadu's majestic voice rolled out, filling the clearing with +spine-tingling sound, and from the depths of night-shrouded jungle +behind him came an answering roar. A moment later the foliage parted and +a second lion slunk through the shadows just beyond the periphery of +light. The newcomer was a great, tawny-maned beast even larger than the +first. He eyed the blazing piles of branches and the men beyond them +with slitted eyes for a long moment, then uttered a series of low, +coughing grunts. In response to the signal, three more lions—a female +and two full-grown males—emerged from the undergrowth to join their +leader.</p> + +<p>The first lion eyed the strange family and bared his great fangs, +warning them with a low rumble that he would permit no interference in +his hunting. They stared at him silently with a kind of dignified +reserve, then turned their attention toward the humans beyond the wall +of fire.</p> + +<p>Two full hours dragged past. Within the camp the larger part of the +caravan was sleeping soundly, huddled against the chill night air in +sleeping furs. The normal guard of ten warriors had been doubled against +the possibility of attack by the great cats.</p> + +<p>Suddenly one of the lions rose to its feet and with regal deliberateness +stalked into the open ground bordering the line of fires. Slowly the +jungle king strode along the unsteady line <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span>of burning wood, his lithe +sinews rolling beneath the shimmering hide, the sinuous tail moving in +graceful undulations. Soundless were his padded paws on the turf and the +mighty voice was silent.</p> + +<p>Several minutes passed before one of the guards caught sight of the +single lion. The man lifted a loud shout of alarm and several more of +the sentries hastened to join their companion. When he pointed out Sadu +less than a spear's cast outside the fires, the others readied their +weapons for the attack they expected at any moment; while Sadu, seeing +the flurry of motion among the hated manthings, lifted his mighty head +and gave voice to a thunderous roar. "... Dylara! Dylara!"</p> + +<p>The cave girl awakened instantly at sound of the frightened voice. She +sat up and threw back the folds of her sleeping furs. In the flickering +reddish glow of the night fires she saw the slender form of the princess +Alurna bending over her.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" Majok's daughter demanded.</p> + +<p>"The lions!" Alurna moaned through chattering teeth. "Listen!"</p> + +<p>Fully aroused by the other's panic, Dylara rose from the ground and +tried to pierce the velvet wall beyond the light. Most of the camp's +sentries were grouped at a point near the line of fire, fingering their +spear and bows nervously and staring at something between them and the +jungle.</p> + +<p>... Sadu ceased his uneasy pacing, his tail lashing now in brief, jerky +movements. Too long had he put off feeding. The fearsome fires were +dimmer now; let them die down just a little more and he would leap +across them and take his food.</p> + +<p>Elsewhere among the sheltering trees the other lions watched him with +unblinking attention. By now there were fully a score of the mammoth +brutes lying among the tall grasses and reeds. In two's and threes—even +one family of six—they had assembled, drawn to the scene by the voices +of the first arrivals.</p> + +<p>Again Sadu threw back his head and poured out his rumbling roar, seeking +to build up his confidence sufficiently to brave the fires protecting +his prey. Cautiously he began to inch his way toward the flames, his +hindquarters held low, his majestic head extended and flattened until +his nose was close to the ground.</p> + +<p>While behind him other lions, made bold by his move, also began to creep +toward the circle of fire.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Dylara</span> stiffened as Sadu's august voice echoed through the clearing. Her +brown eyes, keener than most, began to pick out points of glowing yellow +among the black shadows of the trees—bits of light that she recognized +instantly as the eyes of lions. Even as she was conscious that there +were many of them, she became aware of their growing size.</p> + +<p>The cave girl waited no longer. Pushing past the fear-ridden princess, +she went quickly to where Jotan slept nearby beneath a mound of furs and +began shaking him urgently by the shoulder.</p> + +<p>The Ammadian opened his eyes. "What—what is it? Dylara? What is wrong?"</p> + +<p>"The lions!" Dylara said hurriedly. "Many of them. They are preparing to +charge us!"</p> + +<p>Flinging aside his furs, Jotan leaped to his feet and raced among the +sleeping warriors, arousing them with a prodding foot and a few urgent +words of explanation. Meanwhile, Dylara hurried to where the sentries +were keeping watchful eyes on the first lion.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" she exclaimed. "Throw some of the burning branches among the +trees. There is still time to drive Sadu away!"</p> + +<p>... Sadu, at sight of the rapidly awakening camp, halted his slow +advance. For a moment he hesitated, his highly strung nerves twitching +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>with indecision. And when several of the men dragged burning branches +from the fires and threw them, like blazing spears, in his direction, he +snarled uneasily and drew back. Already a few of the other lions had +turned tail to flee back into the jungle. In another moment the retreat +would become a rout and Sadu must seek elsewhere for food.</p> + +<p>And then there occurred one of those unpredictable turns of fate which +none can foresee. One of the blazing brands, propelled by a strong arm, +struck full against the flank of a retreating lion. There followed a +puff of smoke as hair burned away a wide patch and seared the skin +beneath.</p> + +<p>Sadu's uncertain temper blazed with the flame. With a startled roar that +paled to nothing the surrounding chorus of growls, screams and curses, +he wheeled about and bore down upon the camp, roaring as he came. A few +feet short of the flaming stockade, Sadu rose in a mighty leap, cleared +the flames easily, and landed squarely among the startled Sepharians.</p> + +<p>Instantly pandemonium raged. The men scattered wildly from Sadu's +flailing claws and glistening fangs, only to encounter other lions who, +emboldened by the success of the first, had turned back to leap the +barrier. Already a dozen of the tawny, sinuous bodies were sowing death +among the ranks of Jotan's followers.</p> + +<p>The princess Alurna huddled among a heap of furs and sought to close her +eyes against the horrors of the growing massacre. But not seeing at all +was infinitely worse than reality, and so her eyes remained open and +staring.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a huge, yellow-maned monster bounded toward her. A lithe spring +brought it atop a mound of supplies scarcely ten feet from where she lay +paralyzed with fear. Slowly the lordly head swung in a menacing circle +and the savage eyes fixed upon her shrinking form. The small ears +twitched back until they lay tight against the sleek skull, the mammoth +maw parted to disclose awesome fangs and a low growl rumbled low in the +deep chest.</p> + +<p>Jotan, shouting orders in an effort to rally his scattered men to some +semblance of order, caught sight of the doomed princess as Sadu rose in +his spring toward her. Careless of his own safety, he drew back his +strong right arm and launched his heavy war spear. The keen blade +flashed across the intervening space and caught Sadu squarely in the +chest, knocking him to one side and killing him instantly.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>While</span> all this was taking place, Dylara, daughter of Majok, had remained +crouched close to one of the heaps of burning branches where she knew +Sadu would be reluctant to approach. She saw man after man go down +beneath the ravaging cats, and twice she saw lions leap back into the +darkness, carrying the limp corpse of some unfortunate Ammadian. She +witnessed, too, Jotan's rescue of the princess Alurna, and despite the +awful carnage about her, she smiled grimly as Urim's daughter ran +forward and threw her arms about the tall Ammadian noble.</p> + +<p>At the moment it abruptly dawned on Dylara that this was her opportunity +to escape from those who held her an unwilling captive. She turned her +head and stared out into the open ground between camp and forest edge, +seeing the long shadows cast by the flickering flames. If she could but +cross that ribbon of grassland safely and gain the safety of the trees!</p> + +<p>Even as she silently voiced the wish, her mind was made up for her. From +behind one of the piles of supplies emerged a tawny shape. Two blazing +eyes caught sight of the cave girl, and heedless of the nearby fire, the +giant cat began to slink toward her.</p> + +<p>Dylara, wise to the ways of the jungle, acted. Without a second's +hes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span>itation she whirled about and raced through a narrow break in the +circle of fire, heading for the darkness beyond. Even as she acted, she +knew this might be merely exchanging one peril for another: there could +easily be ten lions between her and the safety of the trees.</p> + +<p>With an earth-shaking roar, Sadu gave chase.</p> + +<p>Her heart pounding wildly, Dylara shot across the open ground like an +arrow from a bow. Behind her, gaining ground as though his frail quarry +were standing still, came the lion, its jaws widely distended, low +growls welling from its throat.</p> + +<p>The low-spreading branches of a forest tree loomed ahead of the fleeing +girl. Sadu was only a few feet behind her ... already he was launching +the last leap that would crush the girl to earth just short of her goal.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>In</span> the camp itself, Jotan's bellowed commands were beginning to take +effect on the disorganized warriors. Those still alive and unwounded +managed to form a spear-bristling phalanx, standing shoulder to +shoulder, while the blood-hungry cats moved slowly around them. Twice, a +lion charged that square of flint spear-tips, only to fall back with +roars of rage and bleeding from wounds. For a few minutes longer the +beasts continued to circle warily about the men, now and then feinting +charges in an effort to draw them into breaking ranks.</p> + +<p>But the warriors, heartened by the confident bearing of their leader, +held fast in spite of the fearful nearness of distended jaws and +gleaming fangs.</p> + +<p>At last, as though by some strange understanding, the lions began to +withdraw, dragging with them some of the torn bodies of warriors who had +died during the battle. Only the sharp commands of Jotan himself +prevented the others from an attempt to save their fallen comrades from +so horrible a fate—Jotan who was realist enough to know that any such +foolhardy action—no matter how noble the purpose—could only result in +further casualties.</p> + +<p>When at last the lions were gone, Jotan set about restoring the broken +defenses of the camp. Fires were increased in number and size, scattered +supplies and weapons were reassembled and the wounded cared for.</p> + +<p>Not until all this was done did Jotan learn of Dylara's disappearance. +At first he was nearly frantic with worry, picturing her as being +dragged away by one of the marauders. It was not until he questioned the +wounded that the true story came out.</p> + +<p>"No, Sadu did not get her. Not in the camp anyway." The warrior, wincing +from the pain of a long gash in one arm, pulled himself into a sitting +position as he replied to Jotan's questions. "She was crouched down near +the fires until one of the lions began to creep up on her. She wasted no +time in doing something about that!"</p> + +<p>"What <i>did</i> she do?" Jotan demanded impatiently.</p> + +<p>"The only thing she could have done: slipped through the fires and ran +for the trees."</p> + +<p>The young Ammadian noble glanced toward the Stygian gloom of the distant +jungle and a faint shudder coursed through him. "What a mad thing to +do!" he said, half to himself. "I would rather face Sadu here in the +light than plunge into those shadows." To the wounded man he said, "Did +you see her reach the trees?"</p> + +<p>The other man shook his head. "My eyes are not that good. The lion +chased her into the darkness and I lost sight of them both. She had a +good start and she ran very swiftly."</p> + +<p>"Which way did she go?"</p> + +<p>The warrior waved an arm toward the south. Jotan picked four men who, +carrying spears and torches, accompanied their leader in that direction.</p> + +<p>They reached the fringe of trees and jungle to the south of the camp, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span>and walked among the tree boles, calling out the cave girl's name. But +only the voices of disturbed bird life and the distant scream of a +panther answered their cries.</p> + +<p>"Sadu must have gotten her after all," said one of the four.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it!" Jotan snapped. "She knows the jungle beasts too +well for that to happen."</p> + +<p>"Then why," asked another of the men, "does she not answer our calls?"</p> + +<p>Jotan ignored the question. "Return to the camp," he said through a +strange lump in his throat. "When morning comes, we will take up the +search for her."</p> + +<p>Alurna, still weak and shaken from her recent experience with Sadu, +watched the five men enter the camp. She saw Jotan dismiss the others +and come over to where she was seated between Tamar and Javan. When +there was no sight of Dylara, and when she noticed Jotan's grim +expression, her heart bounded with a wild and horrible hope.</p> + +<p>"Well, Jotan?" Tamar said quietly.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>His</span> friend spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "There is no trace of +her," he admitted, and in his voice was a note of such intense suffering +that Tamar's heart went out to him.</p> + +<p>Javan, blinked stolidly at the stricken man, put into words the unvoiced +question of the others. "The lions...."</p> + +<p>Jotan shook his head. "I don't believe they got her. There were no signs +of a struggle. No ... bones." His voice faltered on that last word, and +he threw his hands wide in sick bewilderment. "I don't know what to +think!"</p> + +<p>The princess Alurna spoke up suddenly in silken tones. "Have you +forgotten so soon, O noble Jotan, the cave girl's own words?"</p> + +<p>Jotan stared deep into the faintly mocking gray-green eyes of Urim's +daughter. "What do you mean?" he said stiffly.</p> + +<p>"Did she not say: 'I would escape and return to the caves of Majok, my +father'? Did those words mean so little to you?"</p> + +<p>Harsh lines deepened at the corners of Jotan's lips. "Yes, she said +that. But she would not try to get away at night. Especially tonight, +when there are the God knows how many lions roaming about the camp. The +hardiest warrior would not dare that, let alone a frail girl."</p> + +<p>"How long," Tamar broke in, "will you go on thinking of Dylara as a +'frail' girl? Can't you understand that she is not our kind of woman? +She does not fear the jungle: all that she needed was a chance to get +into it without our seeing her, and tonight she was given that chance. +You have Sadu to thank for that."</p> + +<p>For several long minutes Jotan sat there without speaking, his gaze +fixed unseeingly on the leaping flames of the campfire. What strange +currents and cross-currents, he mused, had been set into motion by his +love for the girl of the caves. There was the steadily widening rift +with Tamar—Tamar whose only flaw was his stiff-necked pride in lineage +and noble blood—Tamar, who was his closest friend, his almost constant +companion since boyhood. Together they had learned the arts of hunting +and fighting, together they had served as fellow officers in Jaltor's +armies, together they had crossed those interminable stretches of +jungle, plain and mountain between Ammad and far-off Sephar. Could he +afford to risk an almost certain break with Tamar by pursuing further +his mad infatuation for the missing cave girl?</p> + +<p>There was another complication, too—one leaving him open for +repercussions even more unpleasant than the loss of a friend. There was +no doubt in his mind but that the Princess Alurna was in love with him. +He knew that in the eyes of his family and friends she would make any +man a mate to be proud of. From the stand<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span>point of beauty alone she was +almost as lovely as Dylara. More than that, however, Alurna was the +niece of Jaltor, monarch of all Ammad and a personal friend of Jotan's +own father. Jotan shuddered slightly. He could well imagine Jaltor's +reaction upon learning that the daughter of his dead brother had been +spurned in favor of a half-wild woman of the caves!</p> + +<p>And then the lithe, softly curved body of Dylara came unbidden before +his mind's eye ... and all else was forgotten. He rose stiffly from +where he sat among his friends, conscious from their expressions that +they knew he had arrived at a decision affecting them all.</p> + +<p>"When the dawn comes," he said in a strangely toneless voice, "we break +camp and continue on toward Ammad. Not all of us will go on, however. A +few warriors shall accompany me in search of Dylara ... and I shall not +return without her!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Part II]<br />[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 509px;"><p> +<img src="images/image2.jpg" width="509" height="800" alt="Hers was the beauty famous across half a world" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Hers was the beauty famous across half a world</span> +</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> +<h3>THE SEEDS OF TREACHERY</h3> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 250px;"><p> +<img src="images/image3.jpg" width="250" height="293" alt="Dinosaur" /> +</p></div> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Otar</span>, a warrior in the service of Vokal, a powerful and high-ranking +nobleman of the city of Ammad, was violently unhappy this night. His +sandaled feet beat an angry rhythm against the pavement in front of the +arched opening in the high stone wall about his master's estate. Thirty +paces one way, an about face executed with the military precision Vokal +demanded of his guards, then thirty paces back again, spear held rigidly +across his tunic-clad chest.</p> + +<p>The velvety blackness of a moonless night weighted the street and +matched his mood—a blackness only intensified by the feeble yellow rays +of a lantern in a niche above the gate. Silently he cursed the captain +of the guards who had demoted him to night sentry duty, then he cursed +Vokal for his mad judgment in picking so heartless a captain to begin +with.</p> + +<p>There was a sound reason for Otar's unhappiness. Only the day before he +had taken a mate—the incomparable Marua, daughter of one of Vokal's +understewards—Marua, whose exquisite blonde beauty and matchless form +had brought her a host of male admirers, many of them in high positions +in Vokal's service. Among them was Ekbar, captain of the nobleman's +guards; and therein, Otar knew, lay the reason why he was walking a +midnight post outside Vokal's sprawling estate. The thought of his +lovely new mate alone in his snug apartment in the guard's quarters +while he paced away the hours brought a fresh flood of curses to his +lips.</p> + +<p>"Greetings," said a hoarse whispering voice behind him.</p> + +<p>Otar, startled, whirled and leveled his spear in one rapid motion. "Who +speaks?" he growled.</p> + +<p>An indistinct figure, muffled to the chin in a black cloak, was standing +in the street only a foot or two beyond reach of the questing spearhead.</p> + +<p>"Fear not," said the harsh voice. "It is I—Heglar, nobleman of Ammad. I +am here to hold an audience with the noble Vokal. At his own invitation. +Here." He held out his hand from under the cloak and something gleamed +from the center of his palm in the faint light. "Examine this by the +rays from yonder lantern."</p> + +<p>Cautiously, his heavy spear ready in his right hand, Otar took the +object and backed away until he could see it clearly. His careful +maneuvering was in line with orders, for attempts at assassination were +fairly common among Ammad's nobles in their ceaseless efforts for power +second only to Jaltor himself, king of all Ammad.</p> + +<p>A single glance was all Otar needed. It was Vokal's personal talisman: a +small square of gold bearing on one side a peculiar design cut in the +soft metal. No humblest warrior in all <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>Vokal's vast retinue who did not +know that design and his duties when faced with it.</p> + +<p>He returned the talisman to the man who called himself Heglar and +stepped back, bringing his spear sharply to a saluting position. "You +may pass, noble Heglar. This path will bring you to a side door of +Vokal's palace. The guard there will see to it that you are taken to +him."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Vokal</span> stood on a small balcony of stone outside his private apartment on +the fourth level of his huge, many-roomed palace. He was a tall slender +graceful man in his early fifties, with a narrow face, small cameo-sharp +features and a languid almost dreamy quality in his movements and +expression. Prematurely gray hair waved back from a brow of classical +perfection, and the hand he lifted to smooth that hair was narrow and +long fingered and beautifully kept. He was wearing the knee-length tunic +common to all men and women of Ammad, but his was of a better weave, its +belt of the same material was a full two inches wider and trimmed with +the purple of Ammadian royalty.</p> + +<p>From this elevated position he was able to look out over the northern +section of the city of Ammad—a vast orderly array of box-like stone +buildings, some gray and some white, rising one to three floors above +the streets. Fully five miles from where Vokal stood was the northern +section of the great gray wall of stone encircling the city, and the +buildings became smaller and simpler in design the nearer they were to +that wall.</p> + +<p>A man's position in Ammad was determined by how near the city's center +his dwelling stood. At the metropolis' exact center was the mammoth +palace of Jaltor, king of Ammad and supreme ruler of a vast country of +jungle, plain and mountain extending a moon's march in all directions. +Like Vokal's own palace, Jaltor's rose from the crest of one of the +city's five hills; but the king's, in addition to being at the exact +center of Ammad, stood on the highest of them all. It could be seen from +the windows on the opposite side of Vokal's palace—the principal reason +his personal quarters were here. Sight of that huge sprawling pile of +white stone, its roof six levels above the ground, was a constant source +of irritation to him.</p> + +<p>A sound of soft knocking from behind him aroused Vokal from his reverie, +and he turned unhurriedly and re-entered the room.</p> + +<p>The knocking was repeated. Vokal sank gracefully into an easy chair +covered with the soft pelt of Tarlok, the leopard, crossed his shapely +bare legs and studied the effect with approval.</p> + +<p>Again the sound of knocking, a shade louder this time. "Enter," called +Vokal around a yawn which he covered with the tips of two fingers.</p> + +<p>A door opened, revealing the rigidly erect figure and carefully +expressionless visage of an officer of the palace guard.</p> + +<p>Vokal concluded his yawn. "Yes, Bartan?"</p> + +<p>"The noble Heglar is here, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"Excellent! Permit him to enter immediately."</p> + +<p>The guard executed a sharp quarter turn and stepped back, allowing a man +swathed to the chin in the voluminous folds of a black cloak to push +past him into the room.</p> + +<p>"Greetings, noble Vokal." The words came out in a hoarse croak that +grated against the host's sensitive ears.</p> + +<p>"Greetings, noble Heglar." Vokal's smile seemed even dreamier than +usual. "Remove your cloak, please, and be seated.... Bartan, tell a +slave to bring us wine."</p> + +<p>"At once, Most-High." The guard withdrew, closing the door softly.</p> + +<p>Vokal's gray-blue eyes went to his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span>guest and he smiled blandly. "I +trust all is well with you and the members of your family, noble +Heglar."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Stripped</span> of his cloak, Heglar was revealed as a man of extraordinary +thinness and considerable age. The pronounced hollows in his cheeks and +a thin nose the dimensions of an eagle's beak, together with the rocky +ridge of an underslung jaw, gave him an emaciated look. But his body was +straight as a young sapling, his shoulders for all their boniness were +surprisingly broad, and his light blue eyes were alert and piercing.</p> + +<p>He ignored his host's solicitous inquiry concerning his family and bent +and unknotted the thongs of his heelless sandals. Kicking them off he +leaned back in his chair and, sighing with relief, placed his bare feet +on a low stool in front of him.</p> + +<p>If he caught the faint wrinkle of disgust about Vokal's shapely lips he +ignored it. "You'll forgive an old man for humoring his feet," he +croaked. "I'm not accustomed to long walks these days."</p> + +<p>"By all means give them comfort."</p> + +<p>"I tried to learn from your messenger the reason behind your asking me +here tonight. He would tell me nothing—simply gave me your message, +handed me your emblem piece—" he dug a hand into a pocket of the tunic, +took out the square of gold and handed it to Vokal—"and left without +another word."</p> + +<p>"You could hardly expect one of my men to do otherwise," Vokal said +frostily.</p> + +<p>"One never knows." The old man settled himself more comfortably in his +chair. "I was curious and a little doubtful at the interest of the third +most powerful man in all Ammad—especially when his interest concerns +the most impoverished and least influential noble of that same country."</p> + +<p>There was a soft knock at the door and a slave girl slipped in, placed a +tray of wine and two goblets on a low table between the two men, and +went out as silently as she had entered.</p> + +<p>Heglar's eyes followed her trim figure until the gently closing door +shut off his view. "Believe me," he said, watching Vokal fill the two +goblets, "there was a day I had slaves like that one. Many slaves—and +more warriors than any noble in all Ammad. Only old Rokkor himself, +Jaltor's father, had more of them."</p> + +<p>He sighed gustily. "But that's all in the past now. My only regret is +that I must leave my young mate and our two children with little more +than a roof above their heads when I die."</p> + +<p>"Your love for the gracious and beautiful Rhoa is well known throughout +all Ammad," Vokal murmured, handing his guest one of the filled goblets.</p> + +<p>The old man gulped a third of its contents before taking the container +from his lips. "And why shouldn't I love her?" he demanded harshly. +"Thirty summers my junior, lovely enough to have her pick of men—and +she chooses me. Forty summers I spent with my first woman—and what a +sour-faced old hyena <i>she</i> was—and not a child to show for it. Now we +have two, Rhoa and I—and I have nothing to leave them but a miserable +hovel in place of the palace I once owned."</p> + +<p>Vokal sipped daintily from his goblet and let the garrulous old man +ramble on. Let him go on bemoaning his lowly position and living over +his past glories. Every word of it would make the old one more agreeable +to Vokal's proposition.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p><p>The nostalgic refrain went on until Heglar had emptied his first glass +of wine and extended it for a second helping. This time he spilled a few +drops on the floor as a voluntary offering to the +God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud—a tribute given usually only +during formal dinners—gulped down several swallows of the alcoholic +grape beverage, then turned those sharp eyes on Vokal.</p> + +<p>"But," he said hoarsely, "you didn't ask me here to talk of the old +days. What do you want of me, noble Vokal?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>There</span> was a short period of silence during which Vokal appeared to be +making up his mind. Wavering light from candles set in wall brackets +about the long, richly furnished room gave a lean, almost vulpine cast +to his calm face and a glittering sparkle to his cold eyes. Finally he +said:</p> + +<p>"I want to make you a wealthy man again, Heglar."</p> + +<p>The hand holding the wine goblet jerked involuntarily and some of the +wrinkles in the aged face seemed to deepen. "... Why me?"</p> + +<p>Vokal smiled dreamily. "Right to the point, eh, Heglar? It is one of my +reasons for selecting you."</p> + +<p>"Hmm." The old one looked down into his half-empty goblet to hide the +sudden gleam in his eyes. "Tell me more of these reasons for wishing to +make me rich."</p> + +<p>"The list is long," Vokal said graciously, "so I shall give only the +principal ones. First, it is well known throughout all Ammad that you +are a man of your word—that once you give a pledge nothing in this +world or the next could force you to go back on your word."</p> + +<p>Heglar scowled. "One of the reasons I am a poor man today!"</p> + +<p>"Secondly," Vokal went on, "it is reported that you are a walking dead +man, that you have only a few moons left to live because of the sickness +in your throat." At the other's startled expression he waved a languid +hand. "It is common knowledge, noble Heglar; your physician is a +talkative man."</p> + +<p>"Thirdly," he continued, his voice calm, almost indifferent, "your long +and honorable career as a mighty warrior proves you a man of great +physical courage, and you are still strong and active enough for a +dangerous task."</p> + +<p>A wry smile touched the old man's lips. "Then I am expected to earn this +wealth you are offering me?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. I am not noted for being a charitable man, noble Heglar."</p> + +<p>"... Are there other reasons?"</p> + +<p>"Lastly," Vokal said imperturbably, "as a nobleman you have the freedom +of Jaltor's court and may come and go there as you please."</p> + +<p>He looked sharply at the older man as he finished speaking and for a +long moment they stared into each other's eyes in silence.</p> + +<p>Heglar was the first to speak. "Now that you have listed my +qualifications, what use do you expect to put them to?"</p> + +<p>Vokal bent forward and fixed him with his penetrating gaze. "I must call +upon the first of them before this conversation can go any further. Will +you give me your solemn pledge that not one word of this will go beyond +the two of us?"</p> + +<p>"... Yes."</p> + +<p>"Good. I want you to forfeit the few remaining moons of life left to +you."</p> + +<p>Heglar blinked. It was the sole sign of emotion aroused by that +startling declaration. "Those few moons are priceless to me, noble +Vokal," he said, a faint smile hovering about his lips.</p> + +<p>"I am prepared to pay heavily for them."</p> + +<p>"You would have to.... What do you want me to do?"</p> + +<p>Vokal leaned back in his chair and placed the tips of his fingers +lightly together, looking over them at the old man. His eyes had gone +back to being dreamy again. He said:</p> + +<p>"I want you to <i>attempt</i> the assassination of Jaltor, king of Ammad!"</p> + +<p>The breath left Heglar's lungs in an explosive gasp. "What madness is +this!" he cried hoarsely. "Why do you want Jaltor dead? Certainly his +death would not better your position as a noble in the court. His son +would take the throne; and even if something happened to <i>him</i>, his +sister would be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span>next in line. Are you planning to do away with the +entire royal family, noble Vokal?"</p> + +<p>Vokal was shaking his head. "I'm afraid you did not understand me, my +friend. I said that I wanted you to <i>attempt</i> Jaltor's +assassination—not to kill him."</p> + +<p>"This makes no sense to me!"</p> + +<p>"It is very simple. I want you to attend one of Jaltor's morning +audiences within the next day or two. Work your way close to him, draw a +knife and make a clumsy attempt to stab him. But be sure you fail. The +guards will overpower you instantly; and when Jaltor demands to know why +you tried to kill him, refuse to answer other than to hint that you were +not alone in the plot."</p> + +<p>"Knowing Jaltor as we both do, he will order you put to torture in an +effort to learn the facts. Endure that torture as long as you possibly +can. Then blurt out the name of the man who hired you."</p> + +<p>Heglar was watching him through narrowed eyes. "I'm beginning to see the +light," he said dourly. "The name I give him will be that of the man you +are really after."</p> + +<p>"Exactly."</p> + +<p>"Whereupon I will be put to death."</p> + +<p>"Jaltor has never been famed for his leniency, noble Heglar."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> old man drained his goblet of wine and put it on the table with a +steady hand. "At least he is a just man. He would punish only those he +believed implicated in the plot; my family would not be persecuted." He +seemed to be speaking to himself. "Rhoa would be a wealthy woman and my +children would never know want or hardship...."</p> + +<p>His eyes came slowly up to Vokal. "My price will be one thousand tals!"</p> + +<p>It was a staggering amount—the equivalent of twelve thousand young male +slaves—but Vokal never hesitated. "I will pay it, noble Heglar," he +said quietly.</p> + +<p>"In advance."</p> + +<p>"As you wish. I need no assurance beyond your word that you will carry +out the exact terms of the arrangement."</p> + +<p>Heglar sighed. "You have my word.... What name will Jaltor's torture +wring from my reluctant lips?"</p> + +<p>"That of the noble Garlud."</p> + +<p>"Oho!" Heglar nodded in tribute. "That clears up the picture. Garlud is +second only to Jaltor as the most powerful man in all Ammad. With him +out of the way, you, as the next in line among Ammad's noblemen, will +take Garlud's place and all the benefits that go with it. I congratulate +you, noble Vokal, on your shrewdness."</p> + +<p>They filled their earthen goblets and drank. After a moment Heglar said, +"There is one drawback to your plan, my friend. I hesitate to mention +it, for a man as thorough as you has doubtless anticipated that flaw and +taken steps to overcome it."</p> + +<p>"No man is perfect," Vokal said equably. "To what do you refer?"</p> + +<p>"Garlud has a son. As is our custom he will inherit his father's +position and estate even though Garlud is executed for treason."</p> + +<p>"And if the son is dead also?" Vokal said silkily.</p> + +<p>"So you <i>have</i> thought of it! I might have known. In that case, since +Garlud's mate died over a moon ago, his wealth returns to the State, +except for the palace which is given to the next nobleman in line."</p> + +<p>"Precisely."</p> + +<p>"Uh-hunh. Do you know for sure that Garlud's son—let's see: his name is +... ah—"</p> + +<p>"Jotan."</p> + +<p>"Of course. A fine young man too—as I remember him. You're sure he's +dead?"</p> + +<p>"If not, he soon will be."</p> + +<p>"But he is not in Ammad, I understand. Didn't he make a trip to Sep<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>har, +Vokal?"</p> + +<p>"He is due back within half a moon at the earliest."</p> + +<p>"How will you handle the matter when he arrives at Ammad's gates?"</p> + +<p>Vokal smiled his dreamy smile. "He will not arrive at Ammad's gates, O +Heglar! The day you attempt Jaltor's assassination a party of my most +trusted guards will leave Ammad to intercept Jotan and his men. Their +orders will be to leave not one of them alive."</p> + +<p>"It is clear that you have thought of everything!" The old man gulped +down his wine and stood up. "It is late, and at my age I need a great +deal of sleep—especially if I am to be tortured by Jaltor's experts in +that line! So, if you will pay me my thousand tals, noble Vokal, I shall +leave you."</p> + +<p>"Of course." Vokal rose smoothly to his feet, went to the door and +summoned a guard outside. "Arouse Yodak and instruct him to bring a +thousand tals to me here."</p> + +<p>"At once, Most-High." The guard saluted and went quickly down the hall.</p> + +<p>Heglar was shaking his head admiringly. "You take some long chances, +Vokal!"</p> + +<p>The gray-haired nobleman glanced sharply at him. "What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"This matter of your guards calling you 'Most-High'. That is a mark of +respect given only to kings, you know. I doubt if Jaltor would approve +of your appropriating it to your own use."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> other's blue-gray eyes seemed to film over. "Kings have been known +to die, noble Heglar—and at times the ranking nobleman takes his place. +One must prepare for every possibility."</p> + +<p>"Even to having one's guards form the habit of saying Most-High, eh?"</p> + +<p>The arrival of a small frail-bodied old man in hastily donned tunic +ended the conversation. He was bearing a small cloth bag which gave off +the sounds of clinking metal.</p> + +<p>"The thousand tals, Most-High," he quavered, holding out the bag.</p> + +<p>Vokal took it and dismissed the man. "... Would you care to count them?" +he said upon placing the bag in Heglar's hands.</p> + +<p>"It is not necessary," the old man said, then smiling, added: "You need +my specialized services too badly to cheat me!"</p> + +<p>Vokal summoned a guard and instructed him to appoint several warriors to +escort the old man safely to his home, as robbery under cover of night +was far from unusual on Ammad's numerous streets.</p> + +<p>When the door had closed and Vokal was alone once more, he returned to +his chair and filled his wine cup. "A thousand tals," he mused. +"Heglar's assistance comes high indeed. But let him fondle them for a +little while before they come back to me—along with the lovely Rhoa. I +wonder what the old man would say if he knew his mate has been my +mistress these past three moons!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> +<h3>BEYOND THE HEIGHTS</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> Tharn felt those fingers close about his ankle he dropped instantly +to his other knee to keep from being upset and swung his free hand in a +sweeping blow at the point where reason told him the face of his +attacker would be.</p> + +<p>So quickly had he acted that his knuckles thudded home on an unseen jaw +before its owner was able to shout an alarm. There followed a convulsive +twist of a body in front of him and the clutching fingers loosed their +hold.</p> + +<p>His unconscious prize still hanging from his shoulders, Tharn regained +his feet and raced cat-like for the mouth of the cave. Behind him he +caught the sound of a startled grunt, followed by a wild yell that +roused <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span>every occupant of the cave while Tharn was still a good thirty +feet short of his goal.</p> + +<p>A huge form shot up in front of him, a raised knife silhouetted against +the star light beyond. Behind him naked feet whispered against rock as +several enemy warriors rushed to close with the foolhardy intruder.</p> + +<p>Tharn was trapped! Burdened as he was by the limp weight of his captive, +he knew his chances of leaving Gerdak's cave were almost nonexistant.</p> + +<p>But not once did the thought come to him of abandoning his catch—his +only means of locating the route of those who held Dylara. With a single +bound he was upon the man in his path; a supple twist of his body +allowed the descending knife to slip harmlessly past. At the same +instant he drove a hip into his attacker, who, off balance, was knocked +headlong into two other warriors.</p> + +<p>The way was clear now to the cave's mouth and Tharn was congratulating +himself that he would at least reach open air when two more warriors +dropped from above onto the narrow ledge of Gerdak's cave. Evidently +they had been aroused by the chorus of yells and had come down from +their caves to investigate.</p> + +<p>At sight of their leveled spears Tharn skidded to a halt. Behind him he +could hear at least two of Gerdak's personal guards moving cautiously +forward to take him from the rear. With no avenue for retreat, with a +pair of trained fighting men cutting off his advance, his chances for +escape were thinned indeed.</p> + +<p>Yet not for an instant did his confidence waver. He had weathered worse +situations, and the muscles and cunning developed by a thousand jungle +battles were weapons superior to the flint-headed spears hemming him in.</p> + +<p>Even as he came to a halt, his sharp eyes caught a glimpse of that stack +of spears he had passed when first entering the cave. One bronzed arm +shot out, circled the lot of those keen-pointed sticks and lifted and +flung them in one continuous motion.</p> + +<p>The warriors outside were engulfed by the minor avalanche of flint and +wood. They stepped back precipitantly, and one of the men was tripped up +as a shaft slipped between his legs. With a shrill cry of terror he +tottered momentarily on the brink of the ledge, then went over +backwards, his despairing scream rising thinly on the night air.</p> + +<p>Tharn had not waited to learn the outcome of his ruse. While the +remaining warrior was attempting to sidestep the shower of spears the +cave lord was upon him. Avoiding the flint point licking out at his +naked chest, he ducked and swung his free fist in a savage arc that +ended wrist deep in an unprotected belly.</p> + +<p>Bent nearly double by the blow, the enemy Cro-Magnard was lifted +completely from his feet and propelled into space, his already +unconscious body tracing a perfect parabola to death on the ground sixty +feet below.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Although</span> no enemy stood before him, Tharn was a long way from safety. A +spear thrown from the cave behind him passed scant inches from his head +signifying Gardak's personal guards had recovered their wits and were +after him once more. Below him a score of cave mouths were disgorging +armed fighting men and flaming torches dotted the cliffside. To attempt +to descend by the path that had brought him here was worse than +foolhardy.</p> + +<p>As in most Cro-Magnon settlements, the chief's own cave was nearest the +cliff's top. A glance upward revealed to Tharn the escarpment's top not +more than twenty feet distant. To swarm up that almost vertical slope +while burdened with a body would have taxed the agility of little +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span>Nobar, the monkey. But there was no other avenue of escape except to +battle an entire community—and no time to compute chances for scaling +those heights.</p> + +<p>Already two warriors, each armed with a stone knife, had gained the +ledge on either side of him, grins of triumph curling their lips, while +a faint scuffling sound against the cave floor behind him told Tharn +others were slinking toward him from the rear.</p> + +<p>With a muffled snarl Tharn wheeled and began to climb. His groping +fingers and toes found outcroppings of rock to serve as almost invisible +rungs of a perilous ladder. A lifetime of climbing, plus utter +self-confidence, sent him up that sheer surface with incredible speed.</p> + +<p>So completely unexpected was their quarry's route that Gerdak's men were +thrown into momentary confusion. By the time the first shower of spears +rose toward the climbing cave man he was three-quarters of the way to +freedom. As a result most of the weapons fell short of their mark, while +the others, because of the uncertain light and the swiftness of their +target's progress, missed completely. Immediately a second flight of +spears were launched—but time had run out. Tharn was already over the +lip of the precipice as they were rising in his direction.</p> + +<p>He found himself on rolling, grass-covered ground. A hundred yards ahead +was a jungle-cloaked forest, its towering trees close-knit to the point +of impenetrability.</p> + +<p>With long, loping strides Tharn crossed the ribbon of grassland, melting +into the shadows of the overhanging branches as the first of Gerdak's +warriors appeared at the cliff's top.</p> + +<p>The ground was too choked with verdure for more than snail-like +progress, and Tharn, his unconscious burden still draped across one +broad shoulder, took to the trees. With a celerity that long ago had +become second nature to him he raced through the branches, moving +parallel to the strip of grassland he had crossed a few moments earlier. +The shouts of his bewildered pursuers faded, swallowed up finally by the +noises peculiar to a nocturnal jungle.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later altered his course and returned to the ribbon of open +ground. By this time his captive was showing signs of returning +consciousness and Tharn tightened his grip on the youth's arm to prevent +him from attempting to get away. He could feel tremors of fear course +through the flesh pressing against his shoulder and he smiled grimly. A +terrified prisoner was usually a tractable one.</p> + +<p>At this point the cliffside was neither as steep nor as high as that +housing Gerdak's tribe. Tharn went over its edge without hesitation, +slipping groundward with the reckless abandon of a falling stone, yet +landing there without an appreciable jar.</p> + +<p>The forest at this point came almost to the base of the cliff. Tharn +entered, swung lightly up to the middle terraces and set out on the +return journey to that point opposite Gerdak's caves where he had left +Trakor.</p> + +<p>While he had still a goodly distance to go he heard the sounds of +shouting voices and caught an occasional glimpse of a flaming torch +through rifts in the foliage ahead. Evidently Gerdak was not lightly +giving up hope of getting his hands on the man who had made fools of him +and his warriors.</p> + +<p>An unerring instinct developed through years of travel through uncharted +terrains brought Tharn to the very tree where he had left his new found +friend. But even as he entered its branches his nose told him what his +eyes verified.</p> + +<p>"Trakor," he called out, keeping his voice down lest some nearby enemy +warrior hear it. "Trakor, where are <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span>you?"</p> + +<p>There was no answer. Trakor was gone.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Even</span> as Sadu left the ground in a final leap aimed at crushing Dylara's +fleeing figure to earth, the girl sprang for a low-hanging branch of a +jungle giant. As her fingers closed about its rough bark she flung her +body to one side, Sadu's cruel talons raking the air scant inches away. +Before the beast could turn and leap a second time she was twenty feet +above it and climbing with the speed of desperation.</p> + +<p>She heard the sound of tearing foliage as the lion sprang blindly into +the lower branches, a thump as it toppled back to earth, then an angry +roar of protest at being cheated of its prey. She stopped her climb then +and leaned her head weakly against the bole, panting and shivering from +strain and utter relief.</p> + +<p>Below her, Sadu stalked back and forth a time or two, voicing his +displeasure. This lasted for no more than a moment or two, however; Sadu +was too much of a realist to waste time in bewailing his ill luck. The +rumblings of satisfaction from his fellows as they bore their kills into +the forest, the screams of dying men, told him there was food aplenty +back among the fires.</p> + +<p>Dylara caught a glimpse of the brute as it slunk swiftly toward the +terrified encampment. She crouched there, watching the awful scenes of +carnage while gradually her heart stopped its mad pounding and the +trembling left her legs and arms. She knew regret that many of the men +she had learned to know and respect were dying so horribly, but the +sight of what went on did not affect her beyond that. Except for these +last few moons all of her eighteen years had been spent practically +cheek by jowl with the jungle and its denizens, the only life she had +known. The fiercest animals had stalked her at times, just as the +warriors of her father's tribe had stalked them. She knew first-hand the +stinging insects, the loathsome snakes whose bite or coils could bring a +lingering death or a quick one. She knew the chill nights of the rainy +season, the unbearable heat and humidity at other times. As a result +death and suffering were able to touch her deeply only when they +affected some one close to her.</p> + +<p>It was a kind of life that had its compensations. She was far more +self-reliant and much better equipped for survival under her present +circumstances than the average Ammadian would have been. Her eyes and +ears were more sharply attuned to impending danger, she could climb far +better, she knew how to find water where her recent companions would +perish of thirst, she could distinguish between poisonous and +non-poisonous fruits and roots.</p> + +<p>Yet for all of that she was still a girl, young and, by jungle +standards, weak. She caught herself wishing Tharn were with her—and +even as the thought came she knew a fleeting doubt.</p> + +<p>Did she love him? It was a question she was not yet able to answer. The +memory of his handsome face and splendid body rose to torment her with +doubt. She recalled him as he appeared in Sephar's arena facing +insurmountable odds with a laugh and a careless toss of his +black-thatched head, remembered his blazing eyes and rippling muscles as +he plummeted to earth between her and charging Sadu, appearing just in +time to stave in the lion's skull with one terrible blow. In all the +jungle, in all the world, there was no man a tenth his equal in cunning, +strength and courage! Even among his own kind he was unique; for no man +in Cro-Magnon history could use his nose the way the beasts used theirs, +no man who could travel among the trees with the rock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span>eting agility of +little Nobar, the monkey.</p> + +<p>If only he had met and wooed and won her instead of seizing her by force +and carrying her away like some bit of jungle loot! Pride and the +awareness of her position as daughter of a tribal chief could not permit +her to surrender to a man who would do such a thing. It was the way the +Hairy Men<span class='fnanchor'>*</span> won their mates, and Dylara, daughter of Majok, must give +her heart, not have it taken!</p> + +<p><span class='footnote'><span class='fnanchor'>*</span> The Hairy Men was the Cro-Magnards' name for Neanderthal Man. The +Neanderthalers appeared in Earth's prehistory roughly 100,000 years +before the birth of Christ and centered in Southern France and Spain of +today. At the time of the Cro-Magnards' arrival, perhaps 80,000 years +later, Neanderthal Man was nearly extinct, possibly because of climatic +changes due to the recession of the last Ice Age. Cro-Magnon Man, the +first of <i>Homo Sapiens</i> (true men), regarded these ape-like subhumans as +little more than beasts and eventually exterminated them.—Ed.]</span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Even</span> as she told herself this for the hundredth time, she realized such +thoughts were probably empty. The chances were overwhelming that Tharn +had not survived the rigors of the Sepharian Games: battles between men +and between men and beasts for the entertainment of Sephar's populace +and held in honor of the God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud. Jotan +and the others had told her many times that no man in all Sephar's +history had ever come through those Games alive.</p> + +<p>And even if he should! Would he undertake to follow her across the +almost limitless stretch of plains, mountains and jungles to the country +of Ammad? Even if he should accomplish such a feat—how could he hope to +wrest her from the depths of a stronghold as impenetrable as she +understood Ammad to be?</p> + +<p>No, it was unthinkable. She had best wait until the lions were driven +from the encampment below, then slip from her tree and go back to Jotan. +Since the day he had won her from Sephar's high priest he had treated +her with unfailing courtesy and kindness, declaring over and over his +love for her but not once attempting to force his attentions upon her. +After a little while she might allow herself to be won over into +accepting him as her mate. It would be an honored, sheltered life and in +time she might know complete happiness.</p> + +<p>Dylara was shaking her head even as these last thoughts were crowding +in. No. Her place was with her own kind, with Majok and the others. It +was a long, long way back to them and in the attempt she might leave her +bones to bleach on some mountain top or disappear down the maw of one of +the great cats. But there was no other acceptable choice—and no time +like the present to get started.</p> + +<p>Carefully she began to work her way into the jungle, moving cautiously +far out on a strong limb until she was able to clamber into the branches +of the next tree. The curtain of greenery was too thick for the light of +moon or stars to penetrate, leaving her to grope her way in utter +darkness. Each vine she scraped against was pictured in her mind as the +sinuous coils of Sleeza, the snake; each fluttering of a disturbed bird +was an aroused panther or leopard.</p> + +<p>She was not going on this way much farther; her nerves, steady as they +were, could not take much of such suspense. Only deep enough into the +jungle to keep the inexperienced Ammadians from following her trail; +with the coming of Dyta, the sun, she would locate a game trail pointing +in the direction she wished to go, then descend to the ground and follow +it.</p> + +<p>An hour later her trembling limbs refused to continue this inch-by-inch +progress. And so Dylara made her way toward the high flung branches of a +forest patriarch to where Jalok, the panther, and Tarlok, the leopard, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>dare not go. Here the foliage was less compact and Uda's pale beams +displayed to her rapt eyes an endless sea of tree tops everywhere about +her.</p> + +<p>Finding a comfortable fork fully a hundred feet above the jungle floor, +Dylara composed herself to wait the coming of dawn. Finally she drifted +off to sleep, while far below a lion roared that he had made his kill +and filled his belly for the night.</p> + +<p>And not long after, a jungle dweller, swinging swiftly through the +trees, came to a sudden halt on a swaying branch as a vagrant breeze +brought the scent of her to its quivering nostrils. For a full minute it +remained motionless as if carved from stone, then it turned sharply +aside and went on, fairly flying along the dizzy pathway of swaying +boughs, following that scent spoor to its source.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>While</span> Tharn was puzzling over the strange disappearance of Trakor, his +keen ears caught a sudden yell of surprise from the direction of +Gerdak's caves, followed by a chorus of exultant exclamations that told +him the Cro-Magnards had flushed some sort of game and had succeeded in +bringing it down.</p> + +<p>Quickly he lowered his captive to a broad branch, stuffed a handful of +leaves into its mouth, bound them there with a short length of vine, +then lashed the wrists to the tree bole. This done he was on the point +of swinging off to investigate what lay behind those sounds when he +caught a glimpse of a familiar object swinging from a neighboring +branch.</p> + +<p>His blackwood bow and quiver of arrows left earlier with Trakor! With +them in their accustomed places along his back and shoulder, Tharn swung +the short distance between tree and clearing. From a wide branch he +gazed down at the scene below.</p> + +<p>A knot of enemy warriors was moving slowly toward the caves of Gerdak, +among them the still struggling figure of Trakor. Wavering flames of +resin-wood torches lighted up his features and Tharn saw there was only +rage in his expression and nothing of fear. Already shouts from the +group had aroused others of the tribe and a score of them were running +forward to meet it.</p> + +<p>With quick, certain movements of his powerful hands Tharn unshipped his +bow and withdrew several arrows from his quiver. Steadying himself on +the swaying branch, he notched an arrow, drew back the stubborn wood, +steel muscles moving under his naked back, took careful aim....</p> + +<p>"Twang!"</p> + +<p>Like a plucked violin the bow sang his single note, polished wood +flickered in the light of torches and one of Trakor's captors threw wide +his arms and sank into a briefly twitching heap. Before his fellows +could grasp the significance of what was taking place three more of +their number were down, each with a thin-bodied arrow protruding from +his chest or back.</p> + +<p>There was a general scrambling as those holding Trakor released him and +threw themselves headlong to escape the rain of death. The advancing +wave of warriors halted with breathtaking abruptness, those behind the +front rank crashing into it. Momentarily freed, Trakor looked wildly +about him, as confused as the others.</p> + +<p>"Run!" shouted Tharn. "Into the jungle, Trakor!"</p> + +<p>The youth heard—and obeyed. As he broke into a run, one of Gerdak's +fighting men, either more courageous than his companions or angered +beyond reason at losing their prize, scrambled to his feet and lifted +his spear for a cast at the flying figure.</p> + +<p>Again Tharn's bow twanged and a tufted arrow appeared magically embedded +in the spearman's chest. Voicing a piercing shriek he toppled back, +spear rolling from his fingers.</p> + +<p>Tharn was already among the low<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>er branches of a tree when Trakor came +crashing into the jungle. As the boy plowed past, the cave lord reached +down with one arm and caught him under the arms, lifting him to the +branch beside him before the youngster was fully aware of what was +happening.</p> + +<p>"Tharn!" It was a gasp of such utter relief that the giant Cro-Magnard +smiled.</p> + +<p>"I thought I left you safe in a tree," he said.</p> + +<p>"I meant to stay there, Tharn," Trakor admitted sheepishly, "but I heard +one of them shout to the others that you had been captured and was being +held in Gerdak's cave. I thought that because of the darkness I might +pass among them without being recognized, reach the chief's cave and in +some way set you free."</p> + +<p>"You could never have done it." Tharn's voice was stern, revealing +nothing of his inner feelings. He was more deeply touched by this +evidence of loyalty than he cared to admit. For this untrained boy to +pit his relatively puny muscles against an entire community in an effort +to rescue his benefactor was proof enough that here was material for the +shaping of a great warrior; and with this thought Tharn's last remaining +reluctance to be saddled with Trakor during the search for Dylara +disappeared.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> warriors of Gerdak appeared to have recovered their courage; already +several of them were entering the jungle in search of Trakor and the +mysterious bowman. Two of them passed cautiously beneath the very tree +in which their quarry was seated. Tharn touched his own lips in warning, +pointed up at the branches overhead, then lifted the youth to his back +and climbed in perfect silence to where he had left the captive Roban.</p> + +<p>In the dim light Tharn could see the whites of rolling, fear-filled eyes +and beads of perspiration dotting the receding forehead. A muffled +chattering pushed through the wad of leaves and the prisoner shrank away +as far as the vines binding his wrists to the tree would permit.</p> + +<p>The cave lord was undecided as to his next step. He dared not remove the +gag from Roban's lips and question him here. A single shout would bring +Gerdak's men to the scene; and while this would mean little if any +danger to Tharn and his new-found companion, it could mean he might lose +the services of Roban as involuntary guide.</p> + +<p>The alternative was to carry Roban deeper into the jungle where he might +be questioned without interruption, but Tharn knew that Trakor could not +hope to follow through the tree tops.</p> + +<p>There was but one answer: he must carry both of them. Quickly he +loosened Roban's bonds and swung him lightly across one shoulder, then +turned to Trakor.</p> + +<p>"Lock your arms about my neck," he said.</p> + +<p>There was wonder and doubt in Trakor's expression as understanding came +to him. But such was his faith and confidence that he did not hesitate +to comply with the order.</p> + +<p>And once more Trakor, heart in his mouth, rode the skyway. Where before +the awful depths had sent cold fear to his core, he was now confident +and unafraid; yet actually the danger of plunging earthward was far +greater this time. Bough after bough bent perilously beneath their +triple burden as Tharn threaded his way, like a tightrope artist, along +them, held erect only by his uncanny sense of balance. Constantly he was +forced to search out branches of sufficient strength, stepping out and +onto them without the additional safety of a steadying hand hold.</p> + +<p>Fifteen minutes of this was enough to satisfy him he was beyond any +territory Gerdak's warriors would reach before dawn. The search would go +on, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span>of course, until Roban, dead or alive, was found; for he was son of +a chief and not lightly to be abandoned.</p> + +<p>Near the pinnacle of a towering tree Tharn lowered his two passengers to +adjoining branches. While Trakor watched, he removed Roban's gag, after +warning him to utter no outcry on pain of instant death. The youth +nodded violently in agreement, and for a moment he was unable to speak +so cramped were his jaws.</p> + +<p>Tharn glanced to where Trakor sat, an interested spectator to Roban's +discomfiture. "This is the chief's son?"</p> + +<p>Trakor nodded. "He is Roban."</p> + +<p>Tharn turned his sharp eyes to the captive, who was glowering at him in +mingled fear and hatred, and said:</p> + +<p>"A few suns ago you saw a party of Ammadians scaling the cliffs near +your caves. Exactly where was this?"</p> + +<p>Roban scowled unpleasantly. "I don't know what you are talking about."</p> + +<p>"You know well enough. Answer me or die!"</p> + +<p>"You would not dare kill me," Roban blustered. "I am Gerdak's son. +Unless you let me go at once he will come with many warriors and hunt +you down. He will kill you, but not quickly. First he will take his +knife and...."</p> + +<p>He broke off suddenly, gasping as Tharn's fingers bit into his skinny +shoulder. "I, too, can use a knife! Answer my questions quickly or I +will prove it to you!"</p> + +<p>Roban licked dry lips. "What do you want to know?" he mumbled.</p> + +<p>"The exact spot where the Ammadians climbed those cliffs."</p> + +<p>"What are Ammadians?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Tharn</span> described them in a few words and Roban nodded grudgingly. "Yes, I +saw them. There is a place in the cliffs, a sun's march to the west of +my father's caves, where a river tumbles over the edge. It was there +they climbed the cliffs."</p> + +<p>"He is lying!" Trakor exclaimed. "At the cooking fires he said it was +east of our caves."</p> + +<p>Roban's small eyes, evil and ratlike, swung toward him. "Your mother was +a hyena! Wait till my father gets his hands——"</p> + +<p>Tharn shook him until his teeth rattled. "Where?" he growled. "The truth +this time or I throw you to a lion!"</p> + +<p>The words tumbled out. "Half a march to the west. There is a low point +in the cliff there, making it easy to climb. They are not good climbers; +it took them a long time to——"</p> + +<p>"Were there shes with them?"</p> + +<p>"Shes?" The youth's beady eyes flickered. "I—I cannot say. I did not +see——"</p> + +<p>Tharn shook him again. "Enough of your lies!" he thundered. "How many +shes were with them?"</p> + +<p>"T-t-two." Roban was thoroughly frightened now. "I saw no others, +although there may have——"</p> + +<p>"Describe them."</p> + +<p>"One had black hair; the other's hair was the color of Dyta, the sun, as +he seeks his lair for the night. Both were very beautiful, although the +black-haired she was less beautiful."</p> + +<p>Tharn's chest swelled with elation. At last he had found the trail of +Dylara and those who held her. He was eager to be on his way, flying +through the trees to wrest her from the Ammadians. They were only five +suns ahead—a distance he could cover in a quarter that time....</p> + +<p>His gray eyes went to where Trakor sat watching him. As those eyes met +his, the youth smiled. "The golden-haired one must be Dylara," he said. +"Your search is nearly ended, Tharn. Hurry on to her."</p> + +<p>The cave lord caught the faint note of sadness in the young man's voice +and his admiration for the lad went still higher. Even as he was urging +Tharn to go on without him it was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span>with the knowledge that were the cave +lord to do so it would mean Trakor's doom. Trakor could not now return +to the caves of Gerdak without being slain on sight; yet to remain alone +in the jungle would mean certain death.</p> + +<p>Tharn rose to his feet on a swaying branch, light from the moon picking +out his slow smile. "Come, Trakor," he said. "We must reach that point +at the cliff before dawn."</p> + +<p>Trakor offered a protest. "But I will only slow—"</p> + +<p>In reply Tharn picked him bodily from the branch and placed him across +his shoulder, hearing the young man's sigh of relief as he did so.</p> + +<p>"But what about me?" cried Roban. "You can not leave me here!"</p> + +<p>Tharn looked at him in simulated surprise. "Have you forgotten? Your +father is coming with many warriors to hunt me down. You, yourself, have +said so. Wait for them here."</p> + +<p>"But Tarlok may find and eat me!"</p> + +<p>"Even Tarlok does not stoop to carrion," Tharn pointed out. Before +Gerdak's son could reply, Tharn and Trakor were gone into the inky +depths below.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> +<h3>JALTOR'S DECISION</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Knuckles</span> pounding heavily against his door awakened Garlud, nobleman of +Ammad. There was an urgency in the sound that brought him bolt upright +from his pillow in alarm.</p> + +<p>"Who's there?" he called out.</p> + +<p>"Open!" thundered a heavy voice. "Open in the name of Jaltor of Ammad!"</p> + +<p>Hardly able to believe his ears Garlud left his bed and groped for the +brazier of coals kept in one corner of the room. Igniting a +tallow-soaked bit of cloth from it, he lighted two of the room's +candles, crossed to the door and unbarred it.</p> + +<p>Four stalwart warriors wearing the tunics of Jaltor's personal guard +pushed into the room, leaving Garlud's major-domo, who had brought them +there, hovering anxiously outside. At sight of the latter's worried face +Garlud smiled a reassurance he was far from feeling and said, "Return to +your bed, Bokut. I will see my visitors to the door when they are ready +to leave."</p> + +<p>He closed the door on Bokut's unrelieved expression and turned to +Jaltor's men. One of them he recognized immediately as Curzad, captain +of the king's guard, whose strong intelligent face was set in grim +lines.</p> + +<p>"Well, Curzad," Garlud said lightly, "your expression is forboding +enough to put fear in the bravest of men. What errand brings you here?"</p> + +<p>"My master's respects, noble Garlud," the captain replied woodenly, "and +he bids me escort you to the palace at once."</p> + +<p>"Does it require four of you to help me find my way to Jaltor's palace?" +Garlud demanded, his voice suddenly sharp.</p> + +<p>The captain's face seemed even bleaker. "I obey my orders, noble Garlud. +I must ask you to don clothing at once and come with us."</p> + +<p>For a moment it seemed that Garlud was about to refuse ... then a slight +smile crooked the corners of his mouth and he turned to take up his +tunic. He slipped into the garment without haste, drew the strings of +his sandals tight about his ankles, then straightened.</p> + +<p>"I am ready," he said.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>It</span> was a cold, forbidding room, its walls, ceiling and floor of bare +roughened gray stone, and located deep beneath the palace of Jaltor, +supreme ruler of all Ammad. Against the far wall was a narrow bed +occupied by the naked body of an elderly man. It was a body thin to the +point of emaciation, the ribs standing out <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>sharp and distinct beneath +yellowing skin. Two middle-aged men, their expressions grave, were +gingerly applying liquid-soaked cloths against scorched blotches +covering the naked man's chest. The man himself appeared to be in a +comatose state, although from time to time he groaned and stirred +feverishly under the attempts to soothe his suffering.</p> + +<p>There was another man in the room—a man of such appearance that he +dominated it through his physical dimensions alone. In height he was a +full seven inches beyond six feet, yet built proportionately so that he +did not seem that tall. His wide shoulders seemed to fill the room, his +body sloping to narrow hips and long powerful legs. His face was almost +startlingly handsome, with a fierce regal cast to its large, sharp-lined +features. Chill black eyes of exceptional brilliance burned from beneath +heavy black brows that matched the thick, slightly curling growth above +a high rounded forehead. It was the face of a man of strength and +intelligence, a man ruthless and proud and yet who could be given to +quixotic acts of kindness, a man dictatorial but usually just, a man +incapable of brooking interference.</p> + +<p>He was pacing the room now with quick restless strides, badly restrained +anger riding his expression. Once a quick turn caused him to brush +against one of four stools grouped about a wooden table set on four +crossed timbers, and he kicked the stool viciously aside causing it to +shatter against the wall.</p> + +<p>At the sound of splintering wood the man on the bed cried out in such +utter fear that his two attendants fell back. He did not appear fully +conscious however and they resumed their attempts to ease his pain.</p> + +<p>That cry of fear had altered the pacing of the tall man momentarily and +he turned his burning eyes on the men at the bedside. "Is he awake?" he +asked sharply, his deep voice beating against the walls like surf +against a rocky shore.</p> + +<p>One of the attendants shook his head nervously. "Not yet, Most-High. But +soon now, I think. He is old and weak and the burns are grievous."</p> + +<p>"Time is short and he must not die—yet."</p> + +<p>"Yes, noble Jaltor."</p> + +<p>Again there was silence within the room, broken only by the mutterings +of the half-conscious man and the heavy tread of feet as Jaltor resumed +his pacing....</p> + +<p>A brief knock at the room's only door brought Jaltor around sharply. +"Enter!" he thundered.</p> + +<p>The door opened and four guards came in. With them was a trim figured +man a few years short of middle-age, his strong regular features +impassive. As his escort halted he continued on into the room, pausing +only when he stood facing Ammad's monarch.</p> + +<p>"Greetings, noble Jaltor," he said quietly. "You sent for me?"</p> + +<p>Anger and bewildered sorrow seemed to be fighting for dominance in the +ruler's expression. "I thought you my friend, Garlud!" he burst out +suddenly. "How could a senseless ambition so drive you that you would +turn against your king?"</p> + +<p>The blood seemed to drain from Garlud's cheeks and his eyes went wide in +shocked wonder. "Turn against you?" he repeated, aghast. "What madness +is this?"</p> + +<p>Jaltor's eyes narrowed and a sneer curled his upper lip. "Before you add +lies upon lies, Garlud, give greetings to a friend of yours."</p> + +<p>With these words the king stepped aside, for the first time permitting +Garlud to see the man on the bed.</p> + +<p>The nobleman's jaw dropped. "Why, it's old Heglar!" he exclaimed. "What +in the God's name has happened to him?"</p> + +<p>"What usually happens to enemies <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span>of Jaltor?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Garlud</span> took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You have spoken in +riddles from the moment I came in here. For almost forty summers—since +we were boys together—we have been more like brothers than friends. For +that reason, if no other, I believe I am entitled to an explanation +instead of badgering and half-veiled threats."</p> + +<p>Jaltor's face darkened. "I'm the one who demands an explanation! Why did +you set Heglar to attempt my life this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"I—set...."</p> + +<p>"Do you deny," thundered the king, "that this very morning you held a +long and carefully guarded conversation with Heglar in an ante-room +outside my audience hall?"</p> + +<p>"It is true that I spoke with him this morning," Garlud said slowly. "We +did not talk for long, nor were we 'guarded' about it."</p> + +<p>"I see!" Jaltor's tone was triumphant. "And what did the two of you talk +about?"</p> + +<p>"He sought me out as I entered the room on my way to the audience +chamber. He drew me into a corner and asked if I had had word from +Jotan, my son, recently. I told him I had not, but that I expected him +to return within half a moon, perhaps even sooner."</p> + +<p>Understanding dawned suddenly in Garlud's face and he added: "I wondered +then why he drew me aside to ask the question, but at the time I thought +little about it."</p> + +<p>"And now?" Jaltor urged mockingly.</p> + +<p>"I am beginning to see he had a reason of his own."</p> + +<p>"You deny any part in the plot to kill me?"</p> + +<p>"I do."</p> + +<p>"But you knew there was such an attempt made this afternoon?"</p> + +<p>"I heard some such rumor."</p> + +<p>"But," persisted Jaltor, "you did not think it necessary that you learn +if your friend—your <i>brother</i>, as you said a moment ago—had been +injured in that attempt?"</p> + +<p>"I was assured you were not even scratched," Garlud replied quietly.</p> + +<p>"Humph!" Jaltor paced up and down a time or two, his face working, the +great hands opening and closing spasmodically. Abruptly he stopped in +front of the other and bent until his face almost touched Garlud's.</p> + +<p>"Before you walked into this room, if anyone had asked for your opinion +of Heglar what would you have said?"</p> + +<p>"That I knew him well and liked and respected him."</p> + +<p>"Would you have said he was an honorable man?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Have you ever known him to tell a lie?"</p> + +<p>"Not to my knowledge."</p> + +<p>"Does he have any reason to hate you?"</p> + +<p>"None that I know of."</p> + +<p>"Have you any idea why he tried to kill me?"</p> + +<p>"None. I am completely surprised that he tried to do so."</p> + +<p>"Then why," Jaltor thundered suddenly, "did he say his attempt to kill +me was engineered by <i>you</i>?"</p> + +<p>Garlud met his angry glare without visible emotion. "I can hardly be +expected to answer that question, Most-High, since this is the first I +have heard of such a charge."</p> + +<p>"Then Heglar lied in so naming you?"</p> + +<p>"He—is mistaken."</p> + +<p>Jaltor snorted. "Don't bandy words with me! When one man says he talked +with another about killing a third, he cannot be <i>mistaken</i>. He is +either telling the truth or lying. Which is it, in this case?"</p> + +<p>"If Heglar's mind was clear at the time he so accused me, then he lied!"</p> + +<p>"But my good Garlud," cried Jaltor, his reasoning tone a mockery, "you +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span>told me only a moment ago that to your knowledge Heglar is an honorable +man and does not tell lies."</p> + +<p>"Then it must be," Garlud said, openly serene, "that he has started to +tell them now. Either that or his mind has become affected by his +disease. It is common knowledge that there is a sickness in his throat +and he has only a few moons of life remaining."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Jaltor</span> turned on his heel and began his pacing anew. The four guards +remained stiffly at attention near the door, their eyes fixed unseeingly +on the opposite wall, their ears obviously hearing none of this. Against +the far wall the two attendants continued their unceasing efforts to +bring consciousness and comfort to the old man on the bed.</p> + +<p>Without pausing in his pacing, Jaltor said, his voice more subdued now: +"It is useless to throw doubt on Heglar's sanity, noble Garlud. After +his bungling attempt on my life I questioned him. He told me it was his +own idea to take my life, that no one else had anything to do with it. +Over and over he said that, even when my questions called for no such +answer, until I began to suspect he was trying to shield an accomplice. +When I charged him with this he became so upset I was sure he lied. So I +had my guards torture him into telling the truth. That is when he named +you."</p> + +<p>"A man will say anything to escape torture, Most-High," Garlud pointed +out calmly.</p> + +<p>"Do you think I'm not aware of that?" growled the monarch. "It was not +until he endured torture I doubt I could have stood up under that he +gave your name."</p> + +<p>"Naturally, in view of our long friendship, I thought he was lying. I +ordered further torture to bring out the truth. Again and again he lost +consciousness under the white-hot iron, and each time we revived him he +gave your name. Finally I was convinced despite my reluctance. I then +sent for you to hear the charge from Heglar's own lips."</p> + +<p>Garlud shook his head. "I cannot believe that you would so easily turn +against me, my friend. One man's unsupported word—and you believe the +worst of me."</p> + +<p>Jaltor's expression did not soften. "A word wrung from a man after long +torture, noble Garlud, carries beyond ordinary denial."</p> + +<p>"Would you wish to put me to the same test?" Garlud asked grimly.</p> + +<p>"No. You are comparatively young and a brave man. Should you will +yourself to deny Heglar's charge, no amount of physical suffering would +wring a confession from you."</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, Most-High." It was one of the men at the bedside who +spoke. "The man is conscious now, but I fear he is dying."</p> + +<p>"Good." Jaltor motioned to his erstwhile friend. "Come, Garlud, hear +these things from the man's own lips."</p> + +<p>They approached the bed, the two attendants falling back respectfully. +From the narrow surface Heglar looked up at them, his faded blue eyes +glazed with pain, his rib-ridged chest rising and falling with shallow, +uneven breathing. The smell of burned flesh came from his body in +sickening emanations and his lips were torn where he had bitten them in +agony.</p> + +<p>Jaltor said stonily, "I have brought the noble Garlud here to listen to +your charges, Heglar. Now accuse him or clear his name!"</p> + +<p>The faded blue eyes flickered to the erect figure of the other man. It +was not until the third effort that he was able to speak.</p> + +<p>"I failed, Garlud." The words were barely audible. "Forgive me, my +friend. They ... made me tell. I am ... old. Once they would not ... +have been able...."</p> + +<p>Compassion came into Garlud's expression. "Heglar, Heglar," he said +softly. "You know I had nothing to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span>do with your attempt to kill Jaltor. +What have I done to you that makes you say this awful thing about me?"</p> + +<p>Was there a flicker of remorse in those faded blue eyes? If so, it was +gone before Garlud could be sure. "It ... is useless, Garlud," the +feeble voice whispered. "I had to ... tell him."</p> + +<p>"You are dying, Heglar." Sweat stood out on Garlud's forehead. "Would +you face the God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud with a lie upon your +lips?"</p> + +<p>"I ... I——"</p> + +<p>The noble's hand closed on the old man's shoulder. "The truth, Heglar! +Who is the real one behind this?"</p> + +<p>The aged eyes closed and Heglar's face began to work. "No! No! I have +... no——"</p> + +<p>"You must tell us, Heglar! Speak, man!"</p> + +<p>Once more the lips opened. "I—I ... Rhoa!"</p> + +<p>Abruptly Heglar's head rolled to one side, his body went limp and with +his mate's name on his lips he died.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> a long moment there was silence within the room. Garlud stood as +though turned to stone, his eyes fastened unbelievably on the lifeless +face of the old man. It was a tortured face; death had brought peace to +it. What terrible compulsion, Garlud wondered dully, had forced an +honorable man to die with a lie upon his lips?</p> + +<p>"You have heard, noble Garlud?"</p> + +<p>It was Jaltor's deep voice—stern, unflinching, empty of feeling. Garlud +looked up into those piercing black eyes and despite himself he felt a +tiny chill move along his spine.</p> + +<p>"I heard, Most-High."</p> + +<p>Jaltor passed a hand over his own face—a slow pressing gesture that +momentarily left the skin white beneath its tan. "For the sake of our +long friendship," he said thickly, "I am prepared to temper justice with +mercy. Admit your part in the plot and I will spare your life. +Although," he added, "I will leave you nothing else. Your wealth is +confiscate, your palace will go to the noble next in line, as is our +custom, and you shall be turned from Ammad. Your king has spoken!"</p> + +<p>"And if I persist in my claim of innocence?" Garlud said evenly.</p> + +<p>"The evidence is plain. You will be put to death."</p> + +<p>"Very well." Garlud did not hesitate. "Order your guards to kill me +then, my friend! I shall die as honorably as I lived during the years +when we were friends."</p> + +<p>Jaltor's jaw hardened. "And what of Jotan?" he said coldly.</p> + +<p>Something akin to fear darkened Garlud's eyes. "My son? What of him? +Surely your sense of justice has not so rotted that you would harm him!"</p> + +<p>Sudden rage twisted Jaltor's countenance. "No man speaks so to Jaltor of +Ammad and lives!"</p> + +<p>Garlud's smile was undismayed. "Have you forgotten, Most-High. I have +already been sentenced to death!"</p> + +<p>"And by your attitude," Jaltor shouted, "you have sentenced your son to +the same fate."</p> + +<p>"On what grounds?"</p> + +<p>"I need no grounds! I know your son, noble Garlud. When he hears that +you are dead and that it was my order, he will attempt to avenge you. I +know the love he holds for you, and it will be that mistaken loyalty +which will lead him into an attempt to assassinate me. Your power is +great in Ammad, Garlud; I helped you gain that power because you were my +friend. Because you have won the affection and respect of many warriors +they would rise to his leadership against me. All Ammad might be torn by +civil war. For that reason Jotan must die!"</p> + +<p>Garlud's face was livid with rage <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>and his hands were trembling. "Then +kill us both, you son of Gubo. You have become a fearful, evil old man +who hides from shadows and who fears all men—even his friends! Kill us +both that we may not pollute our lungs with the air you breathe!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>With</span> an almost casual sweep of his mighty arm Jaltor hurled the raging +nobleman into the grasp of the guards. "Confine him to the lowest pit +beneath the palace!" he thundered. "Let the rats chew him a few suns +before I have him torn to bits!"</p> + +<p>Without a backward glance the king strode from the room. He made his way +up flight after flight of steps, through room after room of the sleeping +palace, until he reached his own wing. Through several long, winding +corridors he moved, oblivious to the salutes of startled guards on night +duty, until he entered his private apartment. He went directly to his +sleeping quarters, curtly ordered his two personal slaves into the next +room, then undressed quickly and got into bed.</p> + +<p>But not to sleep. For over an hour he tossed on the huge bed wooing +sleep that would not come. Finally he rose, drew a richly woven robe +about his shoulders and stepped out onto a small balcony overlooking one +entire half of the vast city six floors below.</p> + +<p>The rays of a full moon bathed the impressive scene. Because of the +lateness of the hour no lights gleamed from windows of the box-like +buildings and the broad streets were deserted.</p> + +<p>Slowly reason was beginning to take hold of him as anger faded. Was +Garlud correct in saying that he was becoming an old man fleeing from +shadows, suspicious of all men? He went back over the golden days when +he and Garlud were young warriors taking their first taste of battle +against the then scattered states that today made up the country of +Ammad. He recalled the day Garlud had saved his life by leaping in front +of him and taking the tearing impact of a thrown spear. Garlud had very +nearly died of that wound and he—Jaltor—had remained day and night at +his bedside until the crisis passed.</p> + +<p>And that was the man he had sentenced to death! The man whose friendship +had meant more to him than all his kingdom. Surely personal ambition +alone could not have driven him into plotting the assassination of his +best friend!</p> + +<p>There was something behind all this that did not meet the eye. Had the +would-be assassin been anyone other than old Heglar he would have +dismissed his involvement of Garlud as a trumped up lie and executed the +man on the spot.</p> + +<p>Had Heglar lied? Was there some motivation so strong that the old man +had been forced into bearing false witness against one of the most loved +noblemen in all Ammad? Was all this some intricate plot, with Garlud +instead of Jaltor as the real victim?</p> + +<p>Jaltor, stern, ruthless and high-handed though he was, was a man with +ideals and a strong sense of honor. Also, he was extremely intelligent +and a veteran of the machinations of intrigue. The more he thought about +this whole business the more certain he was that all the facts were not +yet revealed.</p> + +<p>For a long time he stood there on the small balcony, staring out over +Ammad with unseeing eyes. After a while a slow smile came to his strong +lips and he nodded his head a time or two in satisfaction. There was a +way....</p> + +<p>Leaving the balcony he strode quickly to the room's single door and +threw it wide. "Quick!" he snapped to one of the startled slaves, "tell +Curzad I want him here at once!"</p> + +<p>When the captain of the guards, as <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>alert and bright-eyed as though he +had not been dragged from a sound sleep by Jaltor's summons, appeared in +the doorway the king bade him enter and close the door.</p> + +<p>"Curzad," he said, "you have known the noble Garlud almost as long as I +have. Does it seem likely to you that he would be mixed up in a plot to +kill me?"</p> + +<p>The iron-faced warrior shook his head impassively. "No, Most-High. His +love and respect for you are beyond doubt."</p> + +<p>"You think I acted unwisely in finding him guilty?"</p> + +<p>"That is not for me to say, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"I <i>know</i> that! But you are not made of stone; you must have formed some +opinion."</p> + +<p>"It is not wise to hold an opinion which differs from that of Ammad's +king."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Jaltor</span> gestured with sharp impatience. "This is man to man, Curzad. Give +me your honest impressions of this affair."</p> + +<p>"If you command it, Most-High. I do not believe the noble Garlud had +anything to do with old Heglar's attempt to knife you. I think the old +one hated Garlud for some reason and named him because of that hatred."</p> + +<p>"But you knew Heglar's reputation as a completely truthful man?"</p> + +<p>"I do not say he would lie for another's purpose. But for his own ... +that is a different matter."</p> + +<p>"But he did not give Garlud's name willingly, Curzad. Only after +prolonged torture could we wrest the name from his lips."</p> + +<p>The captain shrugged. "Would you for even a moment have believed him +otherwise. Old Heglar was no fool, Most-High. Were his motive strong +enough for bringing ruin to Garlud he would have planned it exactly that +way. An accusation lightly given is usually lightly taken."</p> + +<p>Jaltor smote a fist into his palm. "By the God, Curzad, I believe you've +hit it! Only my thought is that the plan was not his. When a man hates +another both are usually aware of that hatred—and Garlud was at a +complete loss to understand why he was accused."</p> + +<p>"That is true, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"Very well, here's what must be done." Jaltor began to pace the floor, +speaking the while. "I want you to speak with the guards who were with +you when I questioned Garlud tonight. Swear them to complete secrecy on +the entire matter on pain of death. The same goes for the two attendants +who were working over Heglar at the time."</p> + +<p>"It shall be done, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"Good! Now who in Garlud's household knows you brought him here?"</p> + +<p>"We encountered only Bokut, his chief steward, and two guards—one at an +outer gate and one stationed at his palace entrance."</p> + +<p>"Very well, take those three into custody. Question them as to whom they +told of the incident and place <i>those</i> under arrest as well. Leave no +one who can spread word that Garlud was brought to the palace at my +orders."</p> + +<p>"You see what I'm getting at, Curzad? Let us say there is someone whose +identity we do not know at the bottom of this plot against Garlud. +Heglar makes his clumsy attempt at killing me and fails according to +plan. I order him tortured to learn the names of others involved. He +gives me Garlud's name."</p> + +<p>"Now, if I believe the charge, Garlud is arrested and executed, and the +mysterious someone is satisfied. But if I do not believe the charge +Garlud remains free, and this unknown person must try again or give up +and the matter is never solved."</p> + +<p>"But say Garlud simply disappears without anyone knowing what's become +of him. Has he learned of what <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span>was in store for him and gone into +hiding, trying the while to learn who is responsible for his plight? Or +have I executed him secretly? Is Heglar still alive and in a position to +eventually expose the true culprit?"</p> + +<p>"The man we want is going to have to get answers to those questions, +Curzad. He'll use great care at first; but when each effort meets a +blank wall he'll become increasingly desperate. Desperate men make false +moves, Curzad—then is when we'll have him!"</p> + +<p>The captain nodded expressionlessly but there was a gleam of admiration +in his deep-set eyes. "And what of Garlud himself, Most-High? Shall I +have him removed from the pits and placed in more comfortable quarters?"</p> + +<p>Jaltor pulled thoughtfully at his lower lip. "N-no, I think not. Let him +stew there awhile. I am not giving up my suspicions of him entirely, +Curzad; old Heglar's dying statement can not be utterly disregarded +until we have proof he was lying."</p> + +<p>"And should Jotan, his son, return from Sephar while his father +languishes in the pits?"</p> + +<p>The king nodded. "I have thought of that. It may be necessary to take +him and his men into custody before they reach the city itself. It would +defeat my purpose were he allowed to enter Ammad and start hunting for +his father. On the other hand I cannot arrest him openly; it would tell +our mysterious enemy more than I want him to know."</p> + +<p>"Let us wait a few suns to decide that, Curzad. We have the time; Jotan +and his men are not due for half a moon yet. If our real quarry has not +revealed himself in, say, seven suns, I shall send you and a detachment +of guards out to intercept Jotan."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> +<h3>THE SPIDER MEN</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Dylara</span> awakened with a convulsive start as the lofty branch upon which +she had been sleeping swayed and bent beneath suddenly added weight.</p> + +<p>As she started up, a scream rising to her lips, hands reached out of the +night's impenetrable curtain and tore her roughly from where she sat. +Instinctively she attempted to struggle free, only to receive a buffet +alongside the head that left her limp and only half conscious.</p> + +<p>Her first impression was that one of the great apes, occasionally +glimpsed among the more impenetrable reaches of jungle, had seized her; +for she could feel coarse long hair matting its chest and arms. Even as +the thought sent her heart sinking with fear and loathing, she knew she +was mistaken, since the creature's body was much too slender, its arms +too thin and frail to belong to one of the bulky anthropoids.</p> + +<p>That she was in deadly peril Dylara did not doubt, but not to know the +form such peril took was inconceivably worse. It was this, fear of the +unknown that crystallized her determination to break from this stifling +embrace or die in the attempt; and she was gathering her strength for +the effort when her captor suddenly whirled about on the narrow branch +and, with her across his back, dived headlong into space!</p> + +<p>The shock was too much for human nerves. Dylara voiced a single scream +and her senses fled under the lash of pure panic.</p> + +<p>She came back to reality to find she was being borne through the trees +with incredible speed. Now and then a vine flicked against her shivering +body or leaves brushed against her face, and several times the thing +carrying her leaped outward through space that seemed boundless, only to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span>land lightly upon a swaying branch in another tree.</p> + +<p>Even Tharn, she realized, could not have matched the creature's amazing +agility, for it was using both hand and feet with equal dexterity after +the manner of little Nobar, the monkey.</p> + +<p>Gradually, as the likelihood of being dashed to earth seemed more and +more remote, Dylara began to think once more of escape. The time was not +now, of course; she could only cling desperately to her captor's thin +shoulders and wait for this breathless journey to end. Eventually those +wiry muscles must tire and the creature stop—then she would make her +bid for freedom.</p> + +<p>Abruptly and without slackening its pace the hairy thing uttered a +piercing shriek like nothing Dylara had ever heard before. Twice more +the awful sound rang out; and then, far ahead, came an answering cry +faint and wavering.</p> + +<p>Instantly the creature put on an added burst of speed, rocketing through +the branches in dizzying bounds that threatened to tear away Dylara's +none too certain hold. So swift was the pace now that within a few +minutes a wide clearing loomed ahead and her captor began to slip +groundward.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the hairy creature halted on a wide limb bordering the clearing +as a host of shadowy forms rose around him. There was not enough light +for Dylara to make use of her eyes but she sensed these were the figures +of creatures similar to the one which held her.</p> + +<p>They chattered shrilly among themselves in a completely unfamiliar +tongue for several moments, then all of them moved ahead a short +distance until the clearing itself was reached.</p> + +<p>Dylara was expecting the entire party to descend to the ground. But +instead they began to climb higher and higher. At last the one carrying +her came to a halt well within the embrace of a jungle patriarch; and at +that moment Uda, the moon, appeared from behind a cloud and poured her +silver rays into the clearing.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> the first time since her capture she was able to see well enough to +distinguish objects. She was surrounded by a group of some ten or twelve +man-like beings—but beings like nothing she had ever dreamed of!</p> + +<p>All were well over six feet in height, but so thin in body they seemed +much taller. All were naked except for girdles of grass about their +hips, the rest of their bodies being covered with monkey-like hair. +Their arms and legs were incredibly long and thin, their toes long and +prehensile. Each face was hairless and almost perfectly round, +containing small beady eyes, a brief blob of nose, a tiny lipless mouth +and almost no chin at all. It was more the face of some particularly +repellent insect—a comparison that leaped to Dylara's mind at sight of +the long hairy limbs, the thin torsos pinched in deeply at the waist and +the quick, jerky way in which they moved restlessly about her.</p> + +<p>The one holding her let her slide from its back and the others moved +closer, reaching out to pluck at her tunic with abnormally long nailless +fingers, their voices like the rising skirl of an insect swarm.</p> + +<p>Angrily she pushed away the exploring fingers. "Who are you?" she cried, +"and what do you want of me?"</p> + +<p>One of the things, evidently angered at being repulsed, snaked out a +long arm and caught her roughly about the waist, dragging her to him. +Instantly the one that had brought her here leaped upon the intruder, +nearly sweeping Dylara from her precarious footing on the branch. For an +instant the pair clawed frantically at each other, but their companions +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span>pushed between them and broke up the battle.</p> + +<p>The incident seemed to touch off a long and heated discussion, during +which Dylara was apparently forgotten. They stood in a tight knot among +the branches, their ridiculous faces pushed together in almost a solid +lump, while their keening voices went on and on with a monotonous kind +of intensity.</p> + +<p>A slow-moving cloud stole across Uda's shining face, plunging the scene +into heavy darkness. Dylara felt sudden hope leap in her breast. Surely +they were too intent with their arguing to notice her if she slipped +away! Besides, how could even the keenest eye pierce the blackness of a +jungle night?</p> + +<p>She took a slow step away from them, balancing herself lightly on the +broad bough. Another—and still another. The high-pitched debate went on +in full volume.</p> + +<p>Cautiously she lowered herself to a branch immediately below, then +waited with pounding heart to learn if her move had been detected.</p> + +<p>Nothing had changed! She bent again ... and from nowhere a sinuous arm +slithered out of the blackness, caught her about the middle and jerked +her back and into the group.</p> + +<p>The discussion appeared to be ended. One of the creatures swept the cave +girl into his embrace and continued to climb toward the stars, leaving +his companions where they were.</p> + +<p>A solid mass of foliage loomed suddenly in front of Dylara—and in that +moment Uda came into the open sky once more. In the few seconds left for +Dylara to drink in the scene she saw a sight she was never to forget.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Suspended</span> among branches of the trees about her were conical huts of +twigs and grasses. Their floors evidently did not rest on the boughs +themselves but each separate structure bobbed lightly up and down from +the end of a thick grass rope tied to a branch overhead. In the base of +each was an opening only large enough to permit entry on only hands and +knees.</p> + +<p>Dylara's breath went out of her in a sudden gasp. Now she knew why her +first impression of these creatures had likened them to insects. There +was a species of spider that built nests above the ground—nests conical +in shape and swung from twigs!</p> + +<p>The hair-covered arms, legs and bodies, the pinched-in abdomens, the +round heads set flush with the shoulders. These were spider men!</p> + +<p>A wave of unbearable nausea overwhelmed her, robbing her of all +strength. Dazed, she felt herself being thrust through an opening in one +of the swaying huts, felt the spider-man follow her in—then once more +she was lifted by a pair of long thin arms.</p> + +<p>Weakly she lifted her hands to strike out at the loathsome thing holding +her—then blackness poured into her brain and she knew no more.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> the better part of two weeks Tharn and Trakor made little progress +along the trail taken by those Ammadians who held Dylara. With the +patient stoicism of all creatures of the wild he accepted the +unavoidable delay in his plans brought on by his acquisition of the +untrained Trakor; and as the best way of lightening his burden, set out +to school the boy in the lore of the jungle.</p> + +<p>Most of that first week was spent in acquiring the knack of using the +tree tops as a highway. Trakor, like most Cro-Magnards, was accustomed +to climbing in search of fruit and birds' nests. But when it came to +hurtling from bough to bough and tree to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span>tree in a dizzying pathway +high above ground, he was both hesitant and doubtful.</p> + +<p>Patiently Tharn strove to build up the youth's confidence. At first he +spent hours in developing within him that sense of balance which is the +basis for forest-top travel. Once Trakor could thread his way along a +swaying branch a hundred feet in the air without reaching wildly for a +hand-hold, Tharn undertook to teach him the grasp, swing and release +used in plunging through space from one jungle giant to the next.</p> + +<p>At first the boy fell many times and his body was a mass of painful +bruises. But he endured the pain without complaint, returning to the +branches for more with unabated enthusiasm. Hour after hour, day after +day he strove for something approaching Tharn's expertness at the craft, +and while he knew he would never succeed in reaching the high standards +of his teacher, he was gaining confidence that eventually he would near +that mark.</p> + +<p>Within a week he was bounding about the trees with a sure-footedness and +celerity that brought praise from his companion. He took the utmost +pleasure in challenging the jungle lord to arboreal races, and while he +never won them he came close on several occasions. Soon his confidence +passed into a cocksure attitude and he began to take long +chances—leaping twenty feet across a treeless gap to catch some narrow +limb waving in a strong breeze, or hurtling through space at the end of +a trailing vine in imminent danger of being dashed to death on the +ground below.</p> + +<p>Nor did Tharn protest these activities or urge him to greater caution. +The youth must learn from experience what could and could not be done. +He gloried in Trakor's small triumphs and comforted him in his failures, +and always he was careful not to say or do anything that would weaken +the boy's mounting confidence.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>When</span> Tharn was satisfied the boy was reasonably at home among the trees, +by night or by day, the second phase of his education was undertaken. He +taught him to follow an animal's spoor along the dust of a game trail, +he showed him how not only to classify each into its proper category but +schooled him in such fine distinctions as judging an animal's height, +weight and age from imprints left by its feet. Luckily Trakor was +endowed with eyes and ears beyond the normal in keenness, and it was not +long until he was able to give an excellent account of himself in +woodcraft.</p> + +<p>And daily his strength was increasing under the unaccustomed tasks +imposed on his muscles. Swinging by the hands through mile after mile of +branches molded biceps and back muscles into bands of steel and endowed +his fingers with a vise-like grip. His body, already deeply tanned, +became burned to a dusky hue and he began to fill out into a specimen of +perfect manhood.</p> + +<p>If Tharn chafed at the delay in his reunion with Dylara he did not +display it and he continued the boy's education as though he had a +lifetime to put into doing so. But Trakor knew what all this was costing +the other, and while he never mentioned it, the determination grew to +make it up to the cave lord. There was a bond between them now, based on +mutual respect and admiration, plus a hero-worshiping desire on Trakor's +part to become exactly like Tharn himself.</p> + +<p>Exactly half a moon from the day Tharn had snatched Trakor from under +the noses of Gerdak's warriors, the boy made his first kill—a fat buck +that had come down to a water hole to drink. He had dropped upon its +back from the lower branches of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>a tree, as Tharn had taught him, and a +knife thrust into its heart had brought it down.</p> + +<p>They sat side by side among the branches of a tree, gorging themselves +on strips of raw flesh hacked from the side of Trakor's kill, while +below them a pack of Jackals quarreled over the buck's remains. Sunset +was only minutes away and already dusk was seeping into the forest +aisles.</p> + +<p>Trakor was full of plans for the morrow. "When Dyta comes again," he was +saying, "let us hunt out the lair of one of the great cats. I need a new +loin cloth and I will cut one from the hide of Jalok or Tarlok—after I +have slain him."</p> + +<p>Tharn hid his smile by sinking his gleaming teeth into the meat in his +hands. "And how will you go about killing Tarlok?" he said casually.</p> + +<p>Trakor was surprised at the question. "The same way you slew Sadu the +day we met. I will spring upon him from a tree and drive my knife into +his heart."</p> + +<p>"You will spring into his teeth!" Tharn said grimly. "Let this be your +most important lesson: Seek no fight with the great cats. A life time in +the jungle is not training enough to pick a quarrel with any of them. +There will be times when one of them will stalk you down and trap you; +then, if you are lucky, you instead of Tarlok or Jalok or Sadu will come +out alive."</p> + +<p>"But you have slain them!" Trakor argued.</p> + +<p>"True. But never have I sought them out for that purpose. Each time we +fought it was because I had no choice, and always the margin between +victor and vanquished was so narrow it easily might have gone the other +way."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid!"</p> + +<p>"Fear has nothing to do with it. A true warrior does not doubt his +bravery; only a coward feels he must prove to himself that he is brave. +Survival in the jungle depends on knowing and respecting its denizens; +he who struts along the trails looking for trouble finds himself filling +trouble's belly!"</p> + +<p>And so Trakor changed the subject and they talked of other matters. But +deep within the boy burned the determination to hunt down one of the +great cats at the first opportunity. Tharn, knowing this—his own +development had gone through the same stage—said no more on the +subject.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>While</span> they talked Tharn watched his companion, marveling at the change +these past two weeks had made in him. Trakor was every inch a true +jungle dweller. He sat with his back comfortably against the tree bole, +his shock of black hair falling almost to his shoulders in back and +rudely hacked off above his eyes. His swelling chest and broad shoulders +were burned almost black by the sun, the skin as clear and unblemished +as a woman's. The thin waist, narrow supple hips and long straight legs +were the hallmarks of a true warrior, and his sharp alert eyes and +handsome clean-cut features were evidence of nobility and intelligence. +Fate had placed worthy clay into Tharn's hands for molding and he looked +upon his work and found it good.</p> + +<p>With this realization came a decision. "Tomorrow," he said, "I must take +up the trail of those who hold Dylara. Already she may be within the +city of Ammad and I dare not wait longer."</p> + +<p>Trakor flushed. "It is my fault. Had you not met me she might be with +you at this moment."</p> + +<p>"And had I not met you," Tharn said lightly, "I might still be looking +for the trail I lost a moon earlier. Or Sadu might have caught and eaten +me had I gone on instead of lingering here."</p> + +<p>"A score of Sadus could not catch you!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tharn did not reply and his smile was hidden by the handful of leaves +with which he wiped the blood of his meal from his lips. "Let us sleep +now," he said quietly. "We have many suns of traveling ahead of us."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Otar</span> was utterly miserable. Fresh blisters had broken on his feet for +the fourth day in a row and each step was agony. Life as a guard in +Vokal's palace had not been strenuous enough to prepare him for a long +journey into the jungle, and as he limped along in the company of his +fifty companions he heaped silent curses upon the head of Ekbar, captain +of Vokal's guards, who had selected him to take part in this mysterious +excursion into the jungles surrounding Ammad.</p> + +<p>Otar knew full well why he had been one of those so selected. The lovely +Marua had chosen him as her mate instead of Ekbar, and the captain was +allowing to pass no opportunity to keep them apart. True, Ekbar was +leading the expedition and therefore was unable to take advantage of +Otar's absence from the side of his lovely mate. But in view of his +aching feet and terror of the grim jungle hemming him in night and day, +this was small consolation.</p> + +<p>This was the eighth day since Ammad's walls had faded into the south and +still no word from Ekbar as to how much farther they must go. Night was +not far distant; at any moment now the several advance scouts Ekbar sent +on ahead each day would be straggling back to make their reports to the +captain. That would be the signal to make camp for the night—something +others of the party besides Otar were looking forward to.</p> + +<p>In a column two abreast the fifty shuffled along, war spears ready in +their hands, bows and arrow-filled quivers at their backs, a stone knife +in the belt of each tunic. Over them hung the brooding humid jungle on +either side of the elephant path, while in their ears rose and fell the +now familiar pattern of sound formed by buzzing insects, chattering +monkeys and raucous-voiced birds. Except for the clouds of insects that +had a way of working down inside a tunic this was not so bad. It was +when night came and the challenging cries of Sadu and Tarlok and Jalok +made hideous the darkness beyond the camp's circle of fires, that Otar +knew the depths of fear. Then was when heavy paws padded against the +earth nearby and yellow eyes gleamed out of the night.</p> + +<p>"Here comes one of the scouts!" said the man next to Otar, pointing. +"Look how excited he is!"</p> + +<p>A stocky built man in a once white tunic was running swiftly along the +path toward the column's head, waving his arms. Instantly Ekbar lifted +his spear in a horizontal position and the column ground to a halt.</p> + +<p>Otar could see the two of them, Ekbar and the scout, carrying on a +heated discussion, but he was too far back to make out the words. While +they talked, the remaining three scouts arrived and joined in the +conversation.</p> + +<p>It lasted for several minutes; then Ekbar, tall and square-shouldered, +gave the signal to resume the march. Several of the troops groaned +openly; but the groans changed to elated murmurs of satisfaction almost +immediately when the winding trail debouched into a small circular +clearing divided by a small jungle stream.</p> + +<p>The order was given to make camp and prepare food. Those whose nightly +duty it was to gather branches for a fiery circle to keep the cats at +bay were called back when they started into the jungle—a matter that +caused considerable discussion among the others.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>They</span> were not long left in doubt. Ekbar gathered the warriors in a tight +circle and, standing in its center, gave them their first explanation +since leaving Ammad.</p> + +<p>"An enemy force lies encamped an hour's march ahead of us," he said in +his high-pitched, almost querulous voice. "For that reason we must forgo +our nightly fires lest the glow be seen and the enemy warned. Instead, +once you have eaten, you are to spend the night in the trees. A few of +us will go on ahead under cover of darkness and learn the number of +enemies we must face. Early on the morrow we attack!"</p> + +<p>His chill eyes went around the circle, then he lifted one arm and began +to point out individuals, calling their names and ordering each to step +forward.</p> + +<p>Otar, anger stiffening his jaw, was among the first to be summoned. When +the new group reached six, Ekbar dismissed the others and bade them +follow him.</p> + +<p>Half an hour after leaving the main body darkness came down upon the +seven Ammadian warriors, blacking out their immediate surroundings. +Unconsciously they moved closer together and their voices stilled. The +jungle was unfamiliar territory to most of them and a place where death +might lay behind each bush along the way.</p> + +<p>Presently they detected a wavering glow filtering through the trees +ahead, and Ekbar warned them in a low voice to proceed with added +caution. A little later he motioned them to a halt and went on ahead, +his body crouched, his spear and knife ready for action.</p> + +<p>He reappeared almost immediately. "They have made a dry camp in a small +clearing just around a bend of the trail," he whispered. "Follow me and +let not so much as a blade of grass bend under your feet!"</p> + +<p>Like disembodied wraiths the seven members of Vokal's palace guard crept +among the towering trees to one side of the trail. With slow stealth +they worked their way forward until they lay, side by side among the +thick undergrowth at the clearing's edge. Trained ears would have marked +their passage long before they reached that position, but the ears of +the five sentries on duty were no keener than those of the average +Ammadian.</p> + +<p>Most of the camp lay sleeping behind barricades of burning branches, +their huddled shapes beneath sleeping furs visible by light of +flickering flames. The sentries were pacing to and fro, stopping +occasionally to pass a remark or two among themselves. The only sounds +came from the crackling wood of the fires and, very distant, the hunting +squall of a leopard.</p> + +<p>Ekbar's eyes, a bit keener than those of his companions, noticed +something. "Look!" he whispered. "Several in a row of sleepers nearest +us have bandages on their heads. Yes, and one of the sentries is +carrying his arm in a sling. They've come through a fight of some kind +recently."</p> + +<p>Otar, who had been peering intently at the five sentries, voiced a +muffled explanation.</p> + +<p>"Your scouts were wrong, Ekbar!" he said, his voice rising to its normal +volume. "These men are——"</p> + +<p>A savage hand about his neck choked off his words. "Quiet, you fool!" +whispered Ekbar, his fingers tightening their hold.</p> + +<p>One of the watch had lifted his head and was staring intently in their +direction. After a long moment he shrugged slightly and busied himself +with adding branches to the fire. Only then did Ekbar release his hold.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Otar</span>, anger and bewilderment plain in his expression, massaged his +aching neck. "I tell you," he whispered, "those are not enemies. They +are warriors of the palace of the noble Garud of Ammad. One of those +sen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>tries is Dretox, an acquaintance of mine who went with Jotan, +Garud's son, to Sephar several moons ago. It is plain that they are +returning to Ammad and we should go out and welcome them instead of +skulking here in the bushes."</p> + +<p>"And I say these men are enemies!" hissed Ekbar heatedly. "Listen and +judge for yourself."</p> + +<p>"The morning of the day we left Ammad an attempt was made on the life of +Jaltor, our king. The news swept the city; I know that some of you, at +least, must have heard it. Vokal, our master, as one of Ammad's +noblemen, learned Garlud was behind the attempted assassination. On the +direct and secret orders of Jaltor himself, Vokal has sent us to +intercept and kill Jotan, who once he learns Garlud is dead after +plotting to have the king slain, may attempt to even the score by +leading a revolt that could plunge all Ammad into civil war."</p> + +<p>"That is why we are here and that is why these men are enemies. And on +the morrow we shall attack them and put them all to instant death!"</p> + +<p>It was reason enough and they were satisfied. Such intrigues were common +in Ammad; several of the six had served more than one nobleman during +their lifetimes.</p> + +<p>"One thing bothers me," Ekbar was whispering. "It was believed Jotan +took fifty men with him to Sephar, also two friends who are sons of +noblemen. These last two must be overcome and spirited away without +learning our identity. When Jotan and the rest are dead, we will release +the pair of them and let them find their way to Ammad. I want a +suggestion on how that can be done."</p> + +<p>No one spoke for a while. The sentries continued to move among the fires +a few feet away, and the sounds of a nocturnal jungle rose and fell +about them.</p> + +<p>It was Ekbar himself who hit on a plan, as befitted one of a captain's +rank.</p> + +<p>"We shall need one of those sleeping men," he said. "I will take two of +you and circle the camp to the opposite side. After we have time enough +to reach that point, the rest of you will make a noise of some kind to +attract the guards' attention. Be careful not to make them too +suspicious lest they rouse the camp. While they are looking in your +direction, we will creep up and grab the first man we come to."</p> + +<p>The men signified that they understood, and Ekbar, Otar and a warrior +named Kopan set out to take up their arranged positions. Hardly were +they ready when a low moaning sound rose from among the bushes across +the clearing and the foliage there began to shake violently.</p> + +<p>Instantly the five guards grouped behind that section of the burning +circle nearest the disturbance. They raised their spears ready for +casting and one of the five hurled a burning branch across the narrow +ribbon of open ground.</p> + +<p>"Now!" Ekbar grated.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Stooping</span>, the three men raced for the encampment. They cleared the +burning barrier at a bound, snatched up the nearest of the sleeping +figures, muffling his face with his own sleeping furs before he could +awaken, then turned and vanished into the jungle. So quickly had they +acted, so swift and sure their motions, that none of the other sleepers +so much as stirred and the guards never noticed.</p> + +<p>The instant the abductors had disappeared the moans stopped and the +shaking foliage stilled. For a long time the guards continued to stand +there waiting, but when no other disturbance materialized they sighed +with relief and went back to the restless patrolling.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Ekbar and his men were returning to their own camp, their +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>captive with them. They drew him into a sheltered place under the +trees, lighted a small fire that his expression might tell them if he +answered their questions with lies and went to work on him.</p> + +<p>He was a young man, clear-eyed, intelligent and not at all frightened. +He stared at his captors without recognition, obviously puzzled to find +they were men of his own nationality.</p> + +<p>"What is your name?" rasped Ekbar, scowling menacingly.</p> + +<p>"Tykol—if that helps you any! What is the meaning of this? Who are +you?"</p> + +<p>"I will ask the questions here!" Ekbar snapped. "And you will answer +them if you wish to see Dyta, the sun, again! Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"I understand well enough, but that does not mean I will tell you +anything!"</p> + +<p>Without the slightest change of expression Ekbar whipped out the knife +at his belt and sank three inches of the cold flint into one of the +man's thighs. Tykol cried out involuntarily and struggled to free his +arms from the vines binding them to his sides.</p> + +<p>Ekbar waited until his struggles ceased. A small stream of blood welled +from the knife wound and began to drip against the leaves beneath.</p> + +<p>"What," said Ekbar, "are the names of the two young noblemen +accompanying Jotan?"</p> + +<p>Tykol, his active mind racing, did not at once reply. It was clear these +men meant no good to any of Jotan's followers. His cue was to simulate a +certain amount of fear to satisfy them his answers were the truth until +he could discover exactly what was afoot.</p> + +<p>Ekbar leaned forward and lifted his knife again. "Shall I give you a +second taste of this?" he growled.</p> + +<p>Tykol appeared to flinch. "No," he mumbled. "I will tell you. Their +names are Javan and Tamar."</p> + +<p>"How many men are with them?"</p> + +<p>"Thirty-seven."</p> + +<p>"You lie!" Ekbar snarled. "Fifty were in the party when it left Ammad."</p> + +<p>The young captive digested this information quickly. It proved these men +were Ammadians like himself; how else could they have known that?</p> + +<p>"I am not lying," he said sullenly. "Three nights ago lions attacked our +camp and killed and ate the others, wounding many of the rest of us."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Ekbar</span>, remembering the bandages he had glimpsed while spying on the +camp, nodded to himself. It would make his task of wiping out the +balance of them that much easier.</p> + +<p>"What positions do these two men hold in the line of march during the +day?" he demanded.</p> + +<p>"Javan now marches at the head of the column."</p> + +<p>The captain's head jerked up sharply. "Don't lie to me, you son of Gubo! +Jotan marches there; he is in charge of his men. There is no need for +you to attempt to shield him—he will be dead in a few hours!"</p> + +<p>It was all Tykol needed. He knew now that he himself would not live to +see tomorrow's sun; and while the thought was sobering enough it did not +dim his determination to save the life of his beloved master.</p> + +<p>And so Tykol threw back his head and laughed—laughed until a heavy blow +from the fist of Ekbar sent him sprawling. The captain gestured angrily +to the others to drag the youth upright again, then said:</p> + +<p>"You laugh, fool. Does the thought of Jotan's death mean so little to +you?"</p> + +<p>"That is not why I laugh," Tykol told him, grinning. "I laugh because no +act of yours can take his life—for he no longer has a life to take!"</p> + +<p>Strong fingers twisted into the front of his tunic and jerked him +forward. "What do you mean? The truth, jackal, or I cut you in bits!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tykol appeared properly cowed. "The lions got him—as they got the noble +Tamar. It was terrible, I tell you! For hours they crouched just outside +the circle of fires while their roars filled the night. We tried to +drive——"</p> + +<p>"Enough!" growled the captain. "We shall soon find out if you are lying. +If our scouts learn Jotan is still with his men I promise you a slow and +horrible death."</p> + +<p>"And when you find I am telling the truth," Tykol said, feigning +eagerness, "will you then let me go?"</p> + +<p>Ekbar sat there fingering his knife, thinking. If this man spoke true +words there would be no need for massacring Jotan's warriors. It would +be far better to permit them to reach Ammad and tell of his death under +Sadu's rending fangs. Thus the last threat to Vokal's plans would have +been accomplished without an air of mystery behind it that some one, +becoming curious, might dig into.</p> + +<p>But he would need more than this man's word. On the morrow he would send +scouts who could recognize Jotan, back to spy on the column. If Jotan +was not there, then Tykol's story would be proved true; Ekbar would +withdraw his men and return to Ammad, leaving the remnants of Jotan's +troops to straggle back unmolested by him.</p> + +<p>Either way he no longer had use of Tykol. His attention came back to the +bound man in front of him. "Yes," he said, replying to the young man's +last question, "you shall have your freedom. In fact I shall give it to +you now."</p> + +<p>With those words he lunged forward and drove his knife into Tykol's +heart!</p> + +<p>Thus died a true warrior—loyal unto death to the man he served, knowing +his heroism would lie with his bones unknown, yet making his supreme +sacrifice without hesitation and without self-pity.</p> + +<p>Ekbar wiped clean his stone blade on the dead man's tunic and rose to +his feet. "Haul this carrion deeper within the jungle," he told his +sober-faced men, "and rouse the camp. We start back to Ammad at once."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII</h2> +<h3>A PRIZE FOR VOKAL</h3> + + +<p>"<span class='smcap'>I tell</span> you it is useless, Jotan," Tamar said. "For three suns now we +have beat the jungle searching for some sign of her. How long do you +expect to keep up this useless hunt?"</p> + +<p>There were five of them in the group: Jotan, Tamar and three of the +former's best fighting men. They were seated on a fallen log at the edge +of a narrow stream, having finished washing away the stains of jungle +travel only minutes before. Directly overhead hung the midday sun, +flooding them with humid heat, and hemming them in on all sides stood +towering giants of the forest.</p> + +<p>Jotan shook his head and said nothing. The strain and hopelessness of +the last three days had aged him visibly: there were new lines in his +face and his eyes were haggard. He recognized his injustice in +subjecting his friends to the dangers of jungle travel, especially when +their number was so small; but Dylara meant everything to him and he +could not give her up without a struggle.</p> + +<p>"I beg of you," Tamar persisted; "give up the search that we may turn +about and rejoin the others. We are not equipped to follow this trail +all the way back to Sephar. Already we have lost two of our men—one of +them the only man among us who was qualified to track her down. For all +we know she may be dead—the victim of one of the numerous cats +infesting this section of the country."</p> + +<p>"You may return if you like," snapped Jotan, stung by that last remark. +"I am going on—alone if necessary! <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span>Oh, I know why you want to call it +off," he went on, scowling. "You never had any use for her because she +is a girl of the caves instead of a nobleman's daughter. But whether you +like it or not, Dylara is the only woman I shall ever love and I am +going to find her—or give my life in the attempt."</p> + +<p>Tamar, hearing, knew his friend meant exactly what he said. It was +useless to plead with him on the basis of not being able to pick up her +trail. But there was another way—and he bored into it, playing it up +for all it was worth.</p> + +<p>"Your life is your own, Jotan," he said stiffly. "But do you have the +right to sacrifice the lives of the rest of us in a quest that is +completely hopeless? If we had found anything to indicate we were on the +right trail I would not for an instant try to dissuade you. It is true I +do not think the girl worthy of your love—but that is not important. +You do love her and I would fight against the world in defense of your +choice."</p> + +<p>"But to go on this way without a single lead to show us we have even the +faintest chance for success, to throw away the lives of these three +men—and our own—is rank folly! Perhaps you regard it as some sort of +admirable determination; in truth it is sheer stubbornness."</p> + +<p>For a long time Jotan sat there staring with unseeing eyes at the +sluggishly moving waters of the tiny river. There was no denying the +truth in Tamar's words. He knew his best friend meant every word of his +statement that he would back Jotan's choice of a mate against a world; +he had proved that back in Sephar by saving Dylara's life by a bit of +quick thinking, when he might as easily have let a plot against her go +on to its inevitable end. Equally as undeniable was his statement that +it was sheer injustice to sacrifice needlessly the lives of loyal men on +what could only be classified as a fool's errand.</p> + +<p>Impulsively he turned to one of the three warriors sitting in a stolid +row beside him. "Tell me, Itak," he said, "what is your greatest desire +at this moment?"</p> + +<p>"To serve you, noble Jotan," the man replied promptly and with complete +honesty.</p> + +<p>"And after that?"</p> + +<p>Itak's dark face split in a wide smile. "When we left for Ammad, my mate +was heavy with child. I would like to learn if I have a son or a +daughter."</p> + +<p>Slowly Jotan rose from the log and stretched his long, powerful arms. +"We have rested long enough," he said, his face empty of all emotion. +"Let us be on our way—back to join our companions!"</p> + +<p>Open relief showed in the three warriors' faces. Only Tamar fully +understood what those words had cost his friend and he stood up and laid +a comforting hand on his shoulder. For only a second he left it there +and neither spoke.</p> + +<p>Then packs were swung to stalwart backs and the five men disappeared +among the trees along the narrow game trail leading into the south—and +Ammad.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Consciousness</span> returned to Dylara at the moment the spider man was +placing her roughly on a heap of foul-smelling grasses. In the almost +impenetrable darkness she was aware that his hands were moving +lingeringly along the contours of her body and in sudden terror she +struck out at his face, guided by the sound of hoarse rapid breathing.</p> + +<p>Her nails struck home and she raked them fiercely across an unseen +cheek, bringing forth a startled cry of pain and anger. An open hand +caught her heavily above the ear and once more her senses swam, leaving +her weak and defenseless.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>Dimly she was aware that the awful creature was dropping to its knees +beside her and once more long slender hair-covered fingers tugged at her +tunic.</p> + +<p>And then there was a startled grunt, a flurry of motion—and she was +alone. Even as she started up wonderingly the floor of the swinging hut +vibrated sharply under a heavy impact, followed by the sounds of furious +struggle.</p> + +<p>What it all meant, Dylara did not know. Perhaps one of the other +spider-men, jealous of her captor's prize, had come to take her for +himself. Or perhaps the spider-man's mate had arrived to protect the +sanctity of her home.</p> + +<p>Whatever the reason, it was Dylara's chance—and she took it without +hesitation. Hugging the walls to keep free of the two battling figures +rolling about the floor, she edged her way swiftly toward the small +aperture that served as a door, then dropped to her knees and crawled +through. At any moment she expected one of those slender hands to close +about one of her ankles; but that did not happen and she gained one of +the branches outside.</p> + +<p>Never in all her life before had the daughter of Majok descended from a +tree with such reckless abandon—but never before had she so strong a +motive for haste. In fact she slipped and fell the last ten feet, her +heart bounding into her throat as she toppled into Stygian blackness.</p> + +<p>She was on her feet like a cat, not stopping to learn if the fall had +injured her, and ran blindly into the tangled fastness of brush, vine, +creeper and tree. Thorns tore at her skin and tunic, brambles tugged +painfully at her hair, the stems of bushes tripped her up, trees loomed +up too late for her to avoid slamming into them.</p> + +<p>But Dylara was impervious to pain and heedless of obstacles. On and on +she went, stumbling, running, crawling—fighting to put distance between +her and the ugly monstrosities in those conical, tree-top huts.</p> + +<p>How long this mad flight endured or how far it took her Dylara was never +to know. But at last overtaxed muscles rebelled, her laboring lungs +refused their task, and the cave girl collapsed in a pitiful heap among +a tangled maze of head-high bushes.</p> + +<p>Twice she sought to rise and go on. But each time her legs turned to +water beneath her and she sank back to earth. Tears of utter +helplessness flooded her eyes; she put her head down against one +arm—and in that instant she fell sound asleep.</p> + +<p>When she awakened night had fled and sunlight, pale and without warmth +after filtering through layer upon layer of foliage, made visible her +immediate surroundings.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>She</span> got shakily to her feet and stood there swaying a little as outraged +muscles reminded her painfully of last night's mad flight. Little lines +of dried blood on her arms and legs marked where thorns had raked her +and she realized her body was one aching mass of bruises. Added to this +was an inflexible stiffness brought on by sleeping on damp earth.</p> + +<p>But all this was relatively unimportant. She was free once more—free to +begin her long journey back to the cave of her father. She must hasten +back to the trail which Jotan and his men had followed from Ammad and +retrace her way southward toward home.</p> + +<p>And at that moment the full impact of her predicament came home with +stunning force.</p> + +<p>She was utterly and completely lost! Whether the trail to Sephar was to +the east or west of where she now stood was as unknown to her as the +opposite side of Uda, the moon. True her goal lay to the north; but +unless she could locate the original path Jotan had followed, she might +spend <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>the rest of her life picking a way through the towering mountains +and endless plains between.</p> + +<p>Surging panic cut her legs from under her and she dropped into a sitting +position on a fallen log and buried her face in her hands. For a long +time she sat thus, fighting back her tears, trying to think logically. +But what use was logic in this tangled wilderness of growing things?</p> + +<p>Still, she told herself, she could not sit there forever, an unresisting +morsel for the first meat-eater to come along. She stood up, brushed +away an accumulation of leaves, thorns and dirt from her tunic, and +struck resolutely out toward the east, pushing her way slowly through +the walls of plant life everywhere about her.</p> + +<p>Monkeys raced and chattered among the branches overhead and disturbed +rodents and the crawling things that infest the rotting jungle floor +fled from her path. After a dozen yards she was bathed in perspiration +and her skin seemed to crawl with the dampness.</p> + +<p>If only she could find some sort of pathway that would allow her to make +progress without battling this ocean of pulpy, slimy vegetation—a +footing solid enough to prevent sinking to her ankles with every step. +Three different times she narrowly avoided treading on snakes—small, +brightly colored reptiles whose bite would have meant a lingering death; +and once she nearly collapsed with fright when a looping vine caught her +about the neck unexpectedly and she thought it the folds of a python.</p> + +<p>And then, after an hour of this, she stumbled unexpectedly into an +elephant path, its powdery surface marked by the passage of numerous +other animals. Unfortunately for her purpose it ran almost east and west +instead of north and after following it into the east for the better +part of two hours, it began gradually to veer southward, taking her +further and further from the caves of her father.</p> + +<p>Her only hope was that sooner or later she would come upon an +intersecting trail that would lead northward. The thought of leaving the +narrow strip of open ground and plunging back into that green maze was +more than she could endure. And so she went on, staggering now and then +under the lashes of heat and weariness, finding an occasional waterhole +to quench her thirst and stripping fruit from trees and bushes to +satisfy hunger.</p> + +<p>Near nightfall she came upon a large clearing through which flowed a +wide shallow stream. It had been several hours since last water had +passed her lips and sight of the river lifted her spirits. She pushed +her way through a heavy growth of reeds on the near bank, knelt and +drank thirstily, then slipped out of her tunic and submerged her entire +body in the brackish liquid.</p> + +<p>Emerging at last, she dried her body with handfuls of grasses, her +lithe, sweetly rounded figure gleaming like an image molded of pure gold +in the fading sunlight. Her spirits were soaring again, for when first +leaving the water she had glimpsed the beginnings of a second trail into +the forest—a trail pointing straight as a spear shaft toward the north.</p> + +<p>Already her plans were made. She would spend the night among the +high-flung branches of that tree at the trail's entrance, when dawn came +again she would start out once more—this time toward home.</p> + +<p>Donning her tunic she ran lightly toward the tree, its base buried among +a heavy growth of bushes.</p> + +<p>While from the depths of tangled undergrowth near the bole of that tree, +a pair of glowing yellow eyes were fixed in an unblinking stare upon the +swiftly approaching girl!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A storm</span> was blowing up. Tharn, belly flat against a broad branch <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>while +he gnawed the sweet pulpy interior of a hard-shelled fruit, caught the +signs of it in the scent of the air, in the uneasy pattern of a shifting +breeze, in the faintly yellowish cast of the sky overhead. He mentioned +the possibility to Trakor, who, wedged into a fork nearby, was dozing in +the heat of day.</p> + +<p>"A nice dry cave would come in handy if the rain comes," the youth +observed. "I know how Gerdak's warriors hated being caught in a storm. +They say the jungle is never more dangerous, with winds blowing branches +through the air with the speed of flying spears, great trees being +uprooted to crash down and crush the unlucky, while Rora, the lightning, +flickers angrily about their heads."</p> + +<p>"It is a part of jungle living," Tharn said philosophically. "This one +will not come for half a sun yet—if it comes at all. Or it may be only +a little storm."</p> + +<p>"And if it is a bad one?" Trakor asked.</p> + +<p>"Then we find a very big tree that is not too old and stand under it +until it passes."</p> + +<p>"But sometimes storms last for many suns!"</p> + +<p>"Not at this season. The rain may fall for suns on end but then the wind +is not too strong and there is no danger in moving about."</p> + +<p>This was the sixth day since he and Trakor had set out in sustained +pursuit of those Ammadians who were holding Dylara. They traveled mostly +during the morning and afternoon hours, laying up during the heat of +day. To Trakor every hour brought new confidence, increasing dexterity +in tree-top travel and his store of jungle lore, under the expert +tutelage of Tharn, increased by leaps and bounds. He could stalk Neela, +the zebra, or Bana, the deer, across wide stretches of grasslands and, +more often than not, get close enough to this wariest of all prey to +bring one down with a single spear cast. Tharn had spent all of one sun +making him a bow, and with it and a handful of arrows from Tharn's own +quiver the boy had learned to handle the weapon with some degree of +success. No member of the cat family had faced him and his new-found +abilities thus far, but the time must eventually come and he looked +forward to it with ill-concealed impatience.</p> + +<p>But it was in the trees where Trakor excelled. Already he could keep +pace with Tharn for short periods, although he was far from being able +to match his friend's over-all agility and stamina. Only when it came to +racing swiftly through the trees in the blackness of night was he +hopelessly outclassed; for here success depended on an uncanny kind of +sixth sense that Tharn had managed to develop only by constant practice +and use since almost the day he was able to walk.</p> + +<p>Nor was Trakor capable of such quick thinking as that displayed by his +hero. A sudden development would freeze Trakor momentarily, while Tharn, +because of both environment and heredity possessed reflexes that would +have put Rora, the lightning, to shame, would already have the situation +in hand.</p> + +<p>And as the days passed the bond between the two of them increased in +strength and permanence. To Trakor, Tharn was even more a god than on +that day he had dropped from the skies to save the youth from the fangs +of Sadu. He sought to emulate everything about him—his expression, his +walk, his way of speaking—even his way of thinking. Almost every word +the mighty Cro-Magnard uttered was stored deep within the mind of his +worshiping companion, to be secretly mulled over and absorbed. As for +Tharn, he admired the boy's boundless enthusiasm, his unflagging desire +to master the lore of the jungle, his uncomplaining accept<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>ance of +hardship and his quiet courage.</p> + +<p>To Tharn the jungles and plains of his world made up all he wanted from +life. To range far and wide in search of adventure, to match his wits +and prowess against its savage denizens, animal and human, had made that +life complete. With the advent of Dylara, and love, fresh horizons had +opened before his eyes, but not once had he pictured life with her as +his mate as closing the door on his previous existence. He would have +her, he reasoned, and the jungle too.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>But</span> with the admission of Trakor still another phase presented itself. +Self-sufficient as he had always been, even unto childhood, loneliness +was no more than a puzzling word. But now he caught himself thinking of +ranging those jungles and plains with a companion—one nearly his own +age—and the thought pleased him more than he permitted to show. As the +days passed the resolve grew to bring Trakor with him and Dylara back to +his own people. Always there would be the three of them—Dylara, Trakor, +Tharn, inseparable.</p> + +<p>The eddying gusts of wind suddenly brought a strangely familiar scent to +Tharn's sensitive nostrils, dispelling his mood of reverie and bringing +him instantly upright on the swaying branch.</p> + +<p>Trakor, startled by the abrupt move, looked up at him sharply. Tharn was +standing with head thrown slightly back, his nostrils quivering, his +entire body as motionless as though cut from stone.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>Tharn's eyes went to the boy and in them was something that brought +Trakor beside him instantly.</p> + +<p>"Come," the cave lord said.</p> + +<p>Side by side they set off through the trees, following the winding path +far below. Tharn was moving swiftly, and when he elected to do so few in +all the jungle could match his pace. Trakor, to his consternation, began +to fall steadily behind and he put on a fresh burst of speed, taking +chances he ordinarily would never have dreamed of. Despite this, Tharn +continued to widen the gap and within minutes the youth lost sight of +him altogether.</p> + +<p>The passage of both was practically soundless, for that is important for +survival in the wild. As a result Trakor was unable to make use of his +ears in trailing the other, but as Tharn had continued on above the +pathway, it would seem logical that he would continue to do so. He +hesitated to call out, for to do so, he thought, would be to confess his +lesser ability; besides a cry might serve to warn whatever had excited +Tharn's interest.</p> + +<p>While far ahead of him now, Tharn raced onward, his face an +expressionless mask, his heart thudding with desperate hope.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Five</span> dust-covered, disheveled men moved steadily along a winding game +trail, the rays of a noon-day sun pouring down on their tunic-clad backs +through rifts in the arching branches overhead. They moved in single +file without speaking, almost without thinking, their every energy +intent only on cutting down the distance between them and the major +portion of their party.</p> + +<p>Jotan was at the rear of the column, Tamar and he alternating at holding +down this exposed position. The back of the warrior ahead of him was ten +or twelve feet distant—a space Jotan almost automatically maintained.</p> + +<p>The trail underfoot swerved abruptly to by-pass an especially heavy +growth of trees and momentarily Jotan was out of sight of his +companions. A dozen more strides and he too would make the turn and +rejoin them.</p> + +<p>A sudden rustling among the bran<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>ches directly overhead caused him to +look up in alarm, just as a crushing weight struck full upon his +shoulders and drove him to his knees. Steel fingers sought and instantly +found a hold on his neck, choking back an instinctive cry for help.</p> + +<p>Jotan was a powerful, fully trained warrior, with muscles superior to +most of his kind. Yet in the first few seconds of struggle he realized +with sinking heart that his strength was as a child's when compared to +that of the unseen and silent creature on his back.</p> + +<p>A film began to form before his protruding eyes, his senses reeled, his +laboring lungs fought for air—then blackness poured into his brain.</p> + +<p>... Slowly the fog of unconsciousness left Jotan of Ammad and at last he +opened his eyes. At sight of the half-naked man crouched over him +instant recognition dawned in his expression. "You!" he gasped.</p> + +<p>"I," said Tharn impassively, "Where is she?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know."</p> + +<p>"You lie!" The cave lord's hand shot out and sank incredibly powerful +fingers into the Ammadian's bare arm. "Tell me where she is or I will +kill you!"</p> + +<p>Jotan raised a shaking hand and massaged the aching muscles of his +throat where those mighty fingers had left their mark. He saw now that +he was high in the branches of a tree, that sitting on a branch behind +his captor was another cave man—a youth, rather—who was watching him +from inscrutable eyes.</p> + +<p>"She never really believed you were dead," the Ammadian said slowly, +almost as though thinking aloud. "I tried to tell her no man comes +through the Games of the God alive. Even now I can hardly believe that +you are actually here."</p> + +<p>Tharn was not to be side-tracked. "Where is she?" he growled. "For the +last time—or do I choke the information from you?"</p> + +<p>"That will not be necessary, my friend," Jotan said sadly. "For all I +know Dylara may be dead."</p> + +<p>Nothing changed in Tharn's expression but his fingers bit sharply into +Jotan's arm bringing an involuntary cry to the Ammadian's lips. "What do +you mean?"</p> + +<p>Whereupon the young nobleman of Ammad recounted the events of that +terrible night when the lions had fallen upon his followers and sent +Dylara racing for the safety of the trees. Tharn heard him out, his face +as empty of emotion as though carved from granite.</p> + +<p>"For three suns," Jotan said in closing, "we searched the jungle for a +sign of her. But to no avail. Either the lions got her or she is +somewhere to the north, making her way back to the caves of her people. +Two suns ago my men and I gave up and we were on our way back to rejoin +the rest of our party when you found me."</p> + +<p>"Where is this place from which Dylara fled Sadu?"</p> + +<p>"A sun's march to the south."</p> + +<p>Tharn nodded. "You may return to your friends," he said. "If she is +still alive I will find her. If she is dead, or if I find her alive and +learn that you have harmed her, I will come back and kill you!"</p> + +<p>Jotan shrugged. Not for an instant did he doubt that the young giant +meant exactly what he said. Somehow his own life seemed unimportant with +Dylara gone. He knew that, alive or dead, Dylara was lost to him and +that he would never see her again.</p> + +<p>He shook off his thoughts. "Then I am free to go?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Where will I find my friends?"</p> + +<p>"The trail where I found you is directly below. They have discovered +your absence and have backtracked in search of you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>Without another word Jotan rose to his feet and began the long descent +groundward.</p> + +<p>Once the intervening foliage hid the Ammadian from view, Tharn said to +Trakor, "A sun's march to the south," he said. "We should make it in +half that time—perhaps less. Come."</p> + +<p>Side by side the two Cro-Magnards set off through the leafy reaches of +the trees.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Dylara</span>, only a few yards from the trail's mouth, came to a sudden halt. +Years of elbow rubbing with the jungle and its inhabitants reminded her +that trail mouths a short distance from water were where Sadu and Tarlok +were most likely to be lying in wait for game. And this was the time of +day the meat-eaters began their search for food.</p> + +<p>Standing there near the clearing's edge, she peered intently at the +waist-high grasses shrouding the boles of trees on both sides of the +trail. A light breeze stirred them softly, and at one spot directly +beneath a jungle patriarch's broad boughs, a trailing vine swayed in +unison with the wind.</p> + +<p>But wait! That vine was quivering unsteadily, then moving <i>against</i> the +breeze! Instantly Dylara's eyes were fixed on that spot. Little by +little her searching gaze made out the outlines of some amorphous shape +crouching motionless behind a curtain of grasses.</p> + +<p>Imagination? Perhaps, she told herself. But the jungle dweller without +it soon left his bones to bleach along the trails. Cautiously she took a +backward step ... another, and yet a third.</p> + +<p>The long grasses at that point were very still now as the breeze died. +Was she being overly careful—running from shadows? A tree stump, a +fallen log—any of several explanations would cover that motionless bulk +lying there.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the brooding silence was torn apart by a thunderous roar and +Sadu, the lion, aware that his prey was on the point of escape, sprang +from the depths of foliage and bore down upon her with express-train +speed, snarling and growling as he came.</p> + +<p>Even as Dylara turned to flee, she knew her life was finished, that +nothing could save her now. Any hope that she would reach safety among +the trees was futile; the nearest was long yards away and Sadu would +have buried his talons and fangs in her defenseless flesh while she was +still far short of escape.</p> + +<p>Yet so strong was the urge of self-preservation that she was racing like +the wind for sanctuary despite the uselessness of flight; while behind +her Sadu was cutting down the gap between them as though the Cro-Magnard +princess were standing still.</p> + +<p>The knowledge that his prey was inescapably doomed did not cause Sadu to +loiter along the way or grow over-confident. He judged the intervening +space with a practiced eye; and, at precisely the right moment, he +launched his great, heavy-maned body in the final Gargantuan leap that +would end full in the center of that smoothly tanned back.</p> + +<p>It was then that Dylara caught a foot in a tangle of grasses and plunged +headlong!</p> + +<p>Sadu, soaring in a majestic parabola, overshot his mark and landed a +full two yards beyond. Instantly he wheeled to pounce on his dazed +prey—and in that instant twelve heavy warspears tore into his exposed +flank!</p> + +<p>The combined impact of those dozen flint heads knocked him to the +ground. Fountains of blood darkened his shimmering hide; his legs +scrambled madly to bring him upright—then he slumped back and moved no +more.</p> + +<p>Dylara, wide-eyed and shivering, was rising to her feet when a horde of +white-tunicked Ammadians hem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span>med her in. One of them, a tall, +square-shouldered warrior of middle-age, caught one of her arms and +helped her up.</p> + +<p>Still dazed by her narrow escape from death, Dylara looked about the +circle of curious faces. None of these men was familiar, although their +dress and appearance told her into whose hands she had fallen.</p> + +<p>"Who are you, woman?" demanded the square-shouldered one roughly, "and +what are you doing thus far from Ammad?"</p> + +<p>She met his stern gaze unflinchingly. "I am Dylara, daughter of Majok, +and I do not belong in Ammad. Let me go at once!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> man's eyes narrowed speculatively. "What have we here?" he said, an +appraising gleam in his eyes. "Your bearing and appearance is that of a +nobleman's daughter; your words have the sound of the cave-dwellers. +Which are you, anyway?"</p> + +<p>Briefly, Dylara weighed her chances of deluding this sharp-eyed man into +believing her the daughter of some Ammadian. Even as the thought came to +her she realized such a story would never stand up. Either way he would +take her to Ammad; and from the expressions of some of those warriors +crowding about her and feasting their eyes on her face and figure, she +would be better off telling the truth. The mere mention of Jotan's name, +while expunging her last hope of being released, would at least save her +from possible molestation....</p> + +<p>"I am the noble Jotan's," she said, thankful that the earnest young man +was not around to hear that declaration. "I was accompanying him from +Sephar to Ammad when an attack by lions separated us."</p> + +<p>The Ammadian leader's expression was one she could not analyze. He said, +almost humbly, "Perhaps you are the daughter of some Sepharian noble?"</p> + +<p>It might have been wise for her to make such a claim. But strong within +this lovely girl was pride of race and a faint contempt for these +comparatively frail and dull-witted people.</p> + +<p>"No," she said, head held high, "I am not a Sepharian. I am the daughter +of Majok, chief of a tribe. I was captured by the Sepharians and I was +given to Jotan."</p> + +<p>The man's bow was a travesty on humbleness. "It is an honor to meet a +slave of the noble Jotan. I am Ekbar, captain of the guard of the noble +Vokal. You will find my master one who can properly appreciate such +beauty and charm as yours. Come, let us hasten on that you may the +quicker become known to him!"</p> + +<p>Dylara felt the blood drain from her face. "You fool! Do you think the +noble Jotan would allow such to happen? Were your master to lay so much +as a hand on me, Jotan would kill him!"</p> + +<p>"You think Jotan's slaves mean so much to him?" Ekbar said mockingly.</p> + +<p>"I am no slave," Dylara blazed. "I am to be Jotan's mate."</p> + +<p>The other's smile broadened. "I'm afraid Jotan is past needing a mate. +You see, Jotan is dead!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX</h2> +<h3>TRAKOR'S MISTAKE</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>It</span> was close to nightfall when Tharn and Trakor reached the clearing +where Jotan's party had been attacked by lions several nights before. +Ashes from the long-dead fires still showed their outlines, tracked now +by the hoofs and paws of jungle beasts. An air of desolation seemed to +hang above the scene like the miasmic vapors from some foul swamp.</p> + +<p>The two Cro-Magnards knelt at the stream and quenched their thirst. For +nearly an hour the two young warriors sat side by side on the bank +without speaking, while gradually <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span>shadows from the encircling wall of +trees stretched farther and farther across the glade. And then with the +suddenness peculiar to tropical climes night filled the forest and the +voices of hunters and hunted rose and fell about the clearing.</p> + +<p>Trakor stirred uneasily as the roar of Sadu, monarch of the jungle +night, rolled across the forest aisles from nearby. His ears, far +sharper now from constant use, caught a faint stirring among the river +reeds a dozen yards from where Tharn and he were seated; and an instant +later those rustling stalks parted and Tarlok, the leopard, slunk into +the open.</p> + +<p>The young man from Gerdak's caves sat very still, hardly daring to +breathe, as the lithe, powerfully muscled feline stood clearly revealed +in the light of stars. For a long moment the cat stood as motionless as +some beautifully carved statue, then gracefully bent its neck to dip the +soft furry muzzle into the water.</p> + +<p>Trakor felt a cool breeze against his face and knew why Tarlok failed to +sense the presence of Tharn and him. What, he wondered, would happen if +Siha, the wind, should suddenly reverse its course and bring their scent +to Tarlok's sensitive nostril's? Would that terrible engine of +destruction spring instantly upon them, rending and tearing before they +could give effective battle? It was an interesting problem to weigh, +although Trakor felt he could do it far more justice from a seat on some +lofty branch.</p> + +<p>Tarlok finished slaking his thirst and without an instant's hesitation +turned and vanished among the reeds. Trakor listened to the almost +inaudible sounds of the cat's passage and felt a little glow of pride. A +moon ago he would have mistaken those rustlings as the passage of +Siha—if he had heard them at all.</p> + +<p>Tharn stirred. "I am hungry!"</p> + +<p>"And I!" agreed Trakor, abruptly aware that he had not eaten since +mid-morning.</p> + +<p>"Let us find a comfortable branch for the night, then I will hunt food +while you wait there."</p> + +<p>"Why can't I go with you?" Trakor demanded. "I am a good hunter. Did I +not, a sun ago, track down and slay Neela, the zebra, with my own +knife?"</p> + +<p>"That was while Dyta was high in the sky," Tharn reminded him. "Hunting +Neela or Bana at night requires long practice and many disappointments. +Tonight I am too hungry to wait."</p> + +<p>A towering forest giant offered a secure and comfortable haven for the +night; and while Trakor sat there fuming at being left out of things, +Tharn swung off into the darkness in search of their dinner.</p> + +<p>Less than an hour later he was back, a haunch of venison across one +shoulder. Together they squatted on a broad branch and cut strips of the +still dripping flesh from Bana's flank. They ate quickly and in silence, +Trakor already having adopted the almost taciturn air common among +jungle dwellers; and when they were finished, a handful of leaves served +each as a napkin.</p> + +<p>Not long thereafter both were sleeping soundly on their swaying couch, +as indifferent to the cacophony of roars, shrieks and screams making +hideous the jungle night as though such sounds did not exist.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>They</span> dined on the remainder of Bana's haunch shortly after sunrise the +following morning. After descending to drink from the stream in the +clearing, Tharn set out to explore the former site of Jotan's camp in an +effort to pick up Dylara's trail.</p> + +<p>Trakor squatted on his haunches and watched the cave lord with wide, +wondering eyes. For several minutes Tharn moved slowly about the cleared +ground, his powerful body bent low, his unbelievably keen eyes searching +every inch of earth. Gradually his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span>companion began to understand there +was nothing aimless in his movements: he was circling in a gradually +narrowing spiral toward the exact center of the camp site.</p> + +<p>After a while Trakor tired of watching and went back to the river to +drink. He was on his way back when a sharp exclamation from his friend +caught his attention.</p> + +<p>He was amazed to find Tharn on his hands and knees sniffing at the +ground. Those nostrils appeared to quiver, to expand and contract, like +an animal's when it picks up a fresh spoor.</p> + +<p>A prickling sensation tugged at Trakor's scalp. Was it possible that +this god-like human could actually scent, and <i>recognize</i> that scent, +where a man or woman had stood days before? No human nose had any +business being that efficient!</p> + +<p>Tharn looked up to find him standing there. "She slept here for several +hours," he said. On hands and knees he began to move in a straight line +across the ground, swerved to one side near the former location of the +fires, then on again across the wide ribbon of open ground between the +heaps of ashes and the forest's edge. At the base of a large tree, he +stood up and beckoned to Trakor.</p> + +<p>"Sadu chased her to this tree," he explained, his voice as confident as +though he had witnessed the entire proceedings instead of reconstructing +them through the mediums of sight and smell. "He did not get her. Come."</p> + +<p>Lightly Tharn swung himself into the branches, Trakor close behind him. +To the cave lord this was an engaging sport—a sport made more +interesting because happiness for him depended on his ability to follow +a cold trail.</p> + +<p>Here a bit of lint from Dylara's tunic had caught beneath a segment of +bark; there a newly budded shoot had been crushed by a naked foot. A +speck of green moisture on an adjoining branch marked where that same +foot had come to rest a little later; and further on a scuffed section +of bark, almost too small to be detected, showed where a foot had +slipped slightly.</p> + +<p>To Tharn, guided by uncanny powers of perception and a woodlore second +not even to the beasts themselves, all these marks were as evident and +recognizable as words on a printed page to a scholar.</p> + +<p>Dylara's progress had been snail-like that night as she worked her way +through impenetrable darkness; Tharn moved along her pathway speedily +and without faltering, Trakor following.</p> + +<p>In ten minutes the cave lord covered the distance Dylara had required an +hour to travel. Abruptly he altered his course upward toward the forest +top, until, high among the smaller branches, he stopped and looked to +his nose for information.</p> + +<p>Almost at once Trakor noticed a troubled expression carve itself on +Tharn's handsome face. "What is it, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>His companion's lips set in a narrow line. "I do not know. Some strange +manlike creature with long hairy arms and legs surprised her here and +carried her away."</p> + +<p>Moving slowly now, with many pauses, Tharn set out on the arboreal +pathway accompanied by the bewildered Trakor.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> nearly three full hours Tharn continued on through the middle +terraces. It took him a good part of that time to get some sort of +accurate picture of how that strange, hairy creature had regulated its +progress. The distance between marks left by its hands and grasping feet +seemed far too great for anything other than the most agile of monkeys.</p> + +<p>So intent was Tharn on following the spoor, and so intent on Tharn was +his companion, that the first indica<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>tion either had of danger was when +fully a score of spider-like forms engulfed them from the depths of as +many hiding places among the foliage.</p> + +<p>The first wave swept the still inexperienced Trakor completely from his +branch, and he would have fallen headlong through space toward the +ground below had not one of the ambushers caught him by an ankle and +jerked him roughly back to a different type of danger. In a mad fury +that was half rage and half fear the youth struck out blindly with his +knife, killing three of his attackers and wounding several more before +he went down beneath the sheer weight of numbers.</p> + +<p>It was Tharn who took the subduing! With the first rustle of foliage his +knife was in his hand and he met the onslaught of twisting, shrieking +spider-men like a rocky crag meets a storm-swept sea. Enemy after enemy +toppled into the void, their bodies torn by his keen blade of flint; +others went to join them with skulls crushed by superhuman blows or with +spines snapped like twigs. Early in the battle Tharn learned it was +useless merely to push them from the limb: they would fall a few feet +until some long sinuous limb would catch a lower branch and back they +would come to the fight.</p> + +<p>But the odds were far too unequal, and very slowly they pulled him down, +as a pack of dogs will pull down a wide-antlered elk. Thick vines lashed +his arms to his sides until he was trussed and helpless.</p> + +<p>Then both captives were lifted by the loudly exultant spider-men and +borne to a conical shaped hut of grasses hanging by means of a thick +rope of that same material from a pair of stout branches above its roof. +Here they were thrown roughly to the swaying, bobbing floor on opposite +sides of the structure, then left to themselves as the long-limbed +spider-men departed.</p> + +<p>Trakor waited until he was certain the last of them was gone, then +despite his bonds he managed to roll over until he was facing his friend +three or four yards away. The cave lord was lying motionless on his +side, swathed with strand upon strand of stout vines, his eyes open, his +expression as calm and untroubled as though he were comfortably +ensconced in his own cave.</p> + +<p>"What will they do with us, Tharn?" whispered the youth.</p> + +<p>Those broad shoulders moved in a faint shrug. "Who knows?"</p> + +<p>It was far from being a satisfactory answer. Trakor was silent for a +little while, thinking unhappy thoughts. Through the hut's thin walls +came the shrill, unfamiliar chattering of many voices. Evidently the +spider-men were holding some kind of a meeting—a meeting, Trakor was +sure, concerning the eventual fate of their captives.</p> + +<p>"Tharn...."</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Can't we <i>do</i> something? Must we lie here like two helpless old men +until they get around to k-killing us?"</p> + +<p>Tharn caught the slight break in the youth's words and his slow smile +disclosed flashing teeth. "They will not kill us for a while—otherwise +we would have been dead before this. Perhaps they intend to torture us +first—either to enjoy our suffering or to honor their tribal god."</p> + +<p>"But now we can do nothing. Four of them are watching our every move +through chinks in these walls; our first move toward escape would bring +them upon us."</p> + +<p>Trakor's eyes roved about the hut's sides. He could see no signs of +gleaming eyes peering in on them, but long ago he had learned never to +doubt Tharn's ability to know things beyond the evident.</p> + +<p>His voice went down. "Can they hear us?"</p> + +<p>"Of course," Tharn said. "But that does not mean they can understand +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span>us. We do not speak their tongue, so we need not worry of being +overheard."</p> + +<p>"But what can we <i>do</i>?" Trakor demanded for the second time.</p> + +<p>"At present, nothing. There is a way for us to escape but it depends on +them leaving us here until Dyta finds his lair for the night."</p> + +<p>"And if they don't leave us here until dark?"</p> + +<p>Tharn's smile appeared again. "Would you cheat them of their pleasure by +worrying yourself to death?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Trakor</span> digested that in silence, seeing the wisdom in his friend's quiet +words. He found his fear lessening fast; there was something in Tharn's +calm acceptance of their present difficulty that inspired confidence in +their eventual escape.</p> + +<p>With the waning of his own fear he found room for concern about someone +else. "Tharn!" he gasped. "Are these the ones who captured Dylara?"</p> + +<p>A somber expression crept into the cave lord's eyes. "I am sure of it."</p> + +<p>"Do you think that they have ... that they...." He could not finish.</p> + +<p>"After we get away," Tharn said grimly, "I will learn the answer to +that. She may be held in another hut at this moment; but if they have +slain her...."</p> + +<p>The rest of the morning and the long afternoon which followed wore on. +None of their captors entered the hut to learn how they were faring, +although not once were they unobserved from without. During the heat of +midday the sound of shrill voices stilled; but along toward evening it +started up again.</p> + +<p>Tharn's position was such that he could see through the small aperture +which served at the hut's doorway. As a result he was able to see a +horde of the spider-men begin the construction of a good sized platform +of small branches in a neighboring tree. At first their purpose was not +clear to him; but when, shortly before darkness set in, he saw two tall +straight branches denuded of vegetation thrust upright, side by side, +into the platform, he understood something of what they had in mind. +This understanding became certainty a little later when he noticed a +score of the female members of the tribe busy at the task of putting +sharp points on many long straight sticks, using flint knives for that +purpose.</p> + +<p>He and Trakor would be bound to those stakes and slowly prodded to +death! The all-important question was, would that take place this night +or would the spider-men wait until dawn? It hardly seemed logical they +would be so tortured without sufficient light for the spider-men to +observe their sufferings; and to use fire among the inflammable tree +tops would be sheer folly—if indeed these creatures were fire users at +all.</p> + +<p>Darkness came and still none of the spider-men entered the hut. Both men +were suffering the pangs of thirst, but hunger had not yet become a +problem. Evidently their hosts had no intentions of pampering them.</p> + +<p>Sometime later three of the spider-men crawled into the hut and +immediately set about examining the prisoners' thongs. So intense was +the darkness now that they had to depend solely on the sense of touch. +Satisfied the bonds were intact, the three found places on the floor and +presently the sounds of even breathing told all were asleep.</p> + +<p>Tharn lay there unmoving while the minutes slipped by and became hours. +With the inexhaustible patience of all wild creatures he bided his time, +waiting until the sleep of those guards was sound. Several times he +heard Trakor stir impatiently and he smiled a little under cover of +darkness. Trakor was waiting for a miracle.</p> + +<p>The position of the three spider-men<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> was such that leaving by the +door was impossible, even were the prisoners able to gain use of legs +and arms. Even if they were able to loose their bonds, a simultaneous +attack could account only for two—leaving the third free to raise an +alarm.</p> + +<p>Slowly, with many pauses lest the jiggling of the flooring arouse those +guards, Tharn began to roll himself to Trakor's side. So carefully did +he move that almost a full hour had passed before he reached his +objective.</p> + +<p>He felt the animal heat of the youth's body, and a barely audible word +reached his ears. "Tharn?"</p> + +<p>"Shhh!"</p> + +<p>And then Tharn began to gnaw at Trakor's bonds. His strong sharp teeth +bit into those tough green vines, filling his mouth with an unpleasant +taste. It was slow, jaw-tiring work and the vines were many, stringy and +reluctant to part. But the cave lord's indomitable patience and +perseverance were not to be denied.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>At</span> long last Trakor was able to free his hands. He winced as blood began +to move again in his veins and minutes passed before he was able to +control his hands. His questing fingers found the knots holding Tharn +helpless and very soon both men were free to act.</p> + +<p>Still lying side by side, Tharn began to whisper instructions. Twice one +of the sleeping spider-men stirred and the two Cro-Magnards held their +breaths until he had quieted.</p> + +<p>When Trakor nodded to indicate Tharn's plan was clear to him, the cave +lord rose to his feet and, like a shadowy wraith, moved to the nearest +wall. This was a tense moment in the execution of his plan; its entire +success depended on how substantial that wall would prove to be.</p> + +<p>A brief examination by the means of touch alone told him the hut was +constructed by first forming a cage-like skeleton of fairly thick but +pliable boughs, then interlacing the openings with grass. The horizontal +"beams" were roughly three feet apart; the roof, as Tharn had earlier +been careful to gauge, was something like fifteen feet above the floor +at its highest point.</p> + +<p>Tharn's original plan had been to force an opening in one of these walls +large enough for Trakor and him to wriggle through into the open air. +But his ears and nose told him that this hut was practically ringed with +patrolling sentries, several of which were perched among branches +directly above the hut itself. The minute he and Trakor appeared outside +they would be buried under an avalanche of spider-men.</p> + +<p>But there was another way—a way daring and imaginative and infinitely +dangerous. But in its daring lay the very chances for its success—while +danger was so common a phenomenon in jungle life as to rouse little more +than indifference among its dwellers.</p> + +<p>Using the relatively sturdy skeletal branches foot—and hand—holds +Tharn began to climb up that rounded wall. After some eight feet of this +the inner side of the conical roof began and the cave lord was hard +pressed to cling to the inward sloping surface.</p> + +<p>But his steel thews served their purpose, and a moment or two later he +had gained the single heavy section of branch at the very point of the +roof. Here the thick grass rope which held the entire hut in the air +entered from above, its ends tied securely about the cross piece on +which Tharn was now perched.</p> + +<p>From a hidden pouch in the folds of his loin cloth Tharn took a bit of +keen-edged flint: the primitive razor with which he painstakingly +scraped each second day his sprouting beard. With this he began to saw +through the taut rope holding the hut aloft!</p> + +<p>Gradually the straining rope began to part. Once it gave, the entire +struc<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span>ture, weighted by its five occupants, would plummet toward the +ground nearly a hundred feet below. There were enough intervening +branches to break the fall sufficiently to keep them from being dashed +to instant death; but for those three sleeping spider-men it would be a +mad, whirling journey that, once it ended, would daze them long enough +for Tharn and Trakor to break for freedom.</p> + +<p>Three strands remained, then two. The entire hut lurched sickeningly, +the final strand parted with an audible snap as Tharn caught frantically +at the cross piece, and down went the hut!</p> + +<p>It was a mad mixture of crashing sounds, of breaking branches, of shrill +screams, of falling and bouncing bodies, of clawing hands and feet. +Slithering, scrambling shapes sought to stabilize themselves by +attaching themselves to walls, ceiling or roof, but to no avail. Only +Trakor, digging his fingers and bare toes desperately into the yielding +flooring, and Tharn, wrapped tightly about that crosspiece, were able to +hold their positions; while back and forth between them shuffled the +three spider-men.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Halfway</span> down, one entire wall broke loose, spilling the guards into the +void. As the mazes of foliage grew denser nearer the ground, the remains +of the hut began to slow its fall, grinding to a complete stop some +twenty feet above ground.</p> + +<p>Instantly Tharn and Trakor were out of the ruins and racing away through +the branches. Behind them they could hear a wild chorus of angry +screams, but apparently the spider-men were still too dazed and +bewildered to set up a planned pursuit.</p> + +<p>An hour later Tharn called a halt. They stood silently on a high branch +for a little while, listening for some sign that their late captors had +taken up the chase.</p> + +<p>"We have thrown them off," Tharn said finally. "I'll give them a few +hours to get over their shock and return to sleep—then I'm going back."</p> + +<p>"Going back!" echoed Trakor, aghast, "Why?"</p> + +<p>"I must learn what they have done with Dylara. Too, my knife, rope and +bow and arrows are somewhere within the wreckage of that hut."</p> + +<p>"But even you, Tharn, would be helpless against so many," protested +Trakor.</p> + +<p>Tharn shrugged. "It is the only way," he said, and there was that in his +tone which ended further discussion.</p> + +<p>They stretched their bodies out on adjoining branches and after a while +Trakor fell into a troubled sleep. He awakened with a start, to find the +first flush of dawn across the eastern sky and an empty branch where +Tharn had been during the night.</p> + +<p>He had little time to worry about his companion's absence; for barely +had he opened his eyes than a rustling among the foliage of a +neighboring tree brought him hastily to his feet in time to see Tharn +emerge into view.</p> + +<p>Across the caveman's back was his quiver of arrows, his bow and his +rope; thrust within the folds of his loin cloth was his flint knife, and +across one shoulder was the meaty foreleg of Neela, the zebra. This last +he thrust into Trakor's dazed hands.</p> + +<p>"Fill your belly," he said, grinning at the youth's slack-jawed +expression. "We have work to do."</p> + +<p>"But—But——"</p> + +<p>"It was easy," Tharn said, "but only because I was very fortunate. When +I got there they were not sleeping; for the commotion I doubt that they +will sleep for a long time. While waiting for an opportunity to climb +among their huts to hunt for Dylara, I set out to get back my weapons. +The knife and rope were still in the broken hut and I found them at +once. But I was forced to hunt about under the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>trees for my arrows and +bow—and a good thing it was!"</p> + +<p>"Why do you say that?"</p> + +<p>"I came across Dylara's trail. It seem——"</p> + +<p>"In the <i>dark</i>? How could you <i>see</i>?"</p> + +<p>Tharn tapped his nose and smiled as understanding dawned in his young +friend's eyes. "It seems," he continued, "that she managed to get away +from them just a little while ago, for her scent spoor was still fresh. +I followed it far enough to learn that she found a game trail leading +into the east which she followed. It is not far from here; feed, and we +will set out to overtake her."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Early</span> that afternoon Tharn and Trakor were swinging lightly through the +trees above a winding elephant path cutting almost due south through the +jungle. Even from his elevated position Tharn was able to make out an +occasional print of a sandal in the powdery dust below. Dylara had left +those marks—left them so recently that the passing feet of animals had +not yet obliterated them.</p> + +<p>The thought of her nearness brought an almost painful sensation of +swelling deep within his chest and a strange ache at his wrists. The +realization that he might soon be holding her within the circle of his +arms, that his lips would be pressed against hers before another sun or +two, made him eager to race madly ahead, outdistancing his slower +companion.</p> + +<p>But would she be as moved at sight of him? He recalled words spoken by +her on those two brief occasions they had been together—first when he +had wrested her from the caves of her father and taken her deep within +the jungle. How her eyes had blazed with loathing! How her voice had +rung out with hatred and disdain. "I hate you!" she had said; nor did +she retract those words days later when, at the last possible instant, +he had slain Sadu to save her life.<span class='fnanchor'>*</span></p> + +<p><span class='footnote'><span class='fnanchor'>*</span> "Warrior of the Dawn," December, 1942-January, 1943, <i>Amazing +Stories</i>.—Ed.</span></p> + +<p>True, when Sadu sank lifeless to the ground between them, she had thrown +herself into his arms, and the warm promise of her lips had crystallized +forever within him his love for her. But that impulsive act might have +been born of gratitude alone; he had been given no opportunity to find +out one way or the other; for Jotan and seven of his men had arrived at +that moment to take her from him.</p> + +<p>Love, Tharn had long before decided, was a wonderful and annoying thing, +bringing, as it did, both pleasure and torture, peace and unrest. All +his wondering, all his doubts were for nothing until he could come face +to face again with Dylara. And even then he might not know her answer; +she would welcome him, of course, for in him alone was her sole hope of +returning to her people.</p> + +<p>But he did not want her to return to her own caves! She must go with him +to his tribe—and go she must, with or without her own consent!</p> + +<p>The winding trail below ended suddenly at the edge of an extensive +clearing, through which ran a wide shallow sluggish river. From deep +among a thick growth of reeds on the latter's opposite shore came a +spine-tingling chorus of snarls and growls and the sounds of jaws +grinding against bones.</p> + +<p>Tharn seemed literally to fall the fifty or sixty feet between his +elevated position and the ground below. The density of that growth of +reeds kept him from seeing what animals were feeding there and the wind +at his back left his nose useless in obtaining that information. Yet he +charged in that direction with all the silent ferocity of Sadu himself, +a swelling fear within him that it was Dylara's soft flesh which was +furnishing those un<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span>seen beasts with their dinner.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Knife</span> in hand, lips curled back in a savage snarl, the cave lord tore +his way through the tangled growth. With the first sounds of his +passage, that chorus of growls ceased, and Tharn knew those unseen +jungle dwellers were prepared to defend their kill.</p> + +<p>Without slackening his pace he burst full upon a pack of hyenas +surrounding the half-devoured carcass of Sadu, the lion. Snarling and +spitting their rage they held ground, evil teeth bared, the hair +standing stiff along their spines, ready to give battle; for, in +numbers, cowardly Gubo was a force to be reckoned with.</p> + +<p>An instant later three of them lay dead and the rest fleeing wildly into +the surrounding jungle, while Tharn restored his bloody knife to its +place in the folds of his loin-cloth and knelt beside Sadu's remains.</p> + +<p>Trakor arrived on the scene while Tharn was completing his examination. +Wide-eyed he stared at the lion and then at the stern face of his +companion. He said, "What happened to Sadu, Tharn? Surely Gubo did not +kill him?"</p> + +<p>The cave lord shook his head. "Sadu died under many Ammadian spears."</p> + +<p>"Ammadian?" repeated Trakor, astonished. "Not those who were hunting for +Dylara?"</p> + +<p>"I am not sure—yet."</p> + +<p>Tharn rose and began to circle slowly that section of the clearing +adjacent to Sadu's remains. Trakor watched him, fascinated, as he +scrutinized the trampled grasses in an effort to piece together details +of what had taken place. Twice he knelt and placed his nostrils close to +the ground, the last time remaining in that position for several +minutes.</p> + +<p>Finally he straightened and beckoned to Trakor. "They have her," he said +tonelessly. "She was fleeing from Sadu. Their spears cut him down in +time, then they took her with them. There are many of them—at least +fifty—and they are none I have come across before. Evidently we are +very near to Ammad."</p> + +<p>"How far are they ahead of us?"</p> + +<p>"A sun's march—if that."</p> + +<p>"What do we do now, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>"Overtake them, of course—and take Dylara from them."</p> + +<p>He said this last with a crisp decisiveness that left no room for doubt. +But Trakor was shaking his head.</p> + +<p>"There are fifty of them, Tharn. How can two of us fight so many?"</p> + +<p>"There are other ways than by fighting. First we must catch up with +them; then we will work out a way to get her."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> swift journey through the jungle that afternoon was something Trakor +was never to forget. As though driven by some overpowering urge, Tharn +raced southward through the middle terraces with astonishing speed. +Trakor sought manfully to match his pace, but time and again the cave +lord left him behind, only to hold up on some high flung branch until +his younger companion could close the gap. Twice Tharn stopped for rest +periods—not because his own iron physique needed them, but to prevent +Trakor from collapsing entirely. The realization was galling to the +youngster, and it brought home forcibly to him that, for all his rapid +progress in jungle lore and jungle living since Tharn had adopted him, +he was still as a new-born child compared to Tharn.</p> + +<p>And while Tharn fretted at thus being forced to slow his pace, he kept +his impatience from showing by expression or word. Paradoxically he had +spent almost a moon in teaching his companion the ways of the forest and +its inhabitants without progressing along the trail to Ammad, but Dylara +was a comparatively long way ahead at that time. Now that she was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span>within a few hours of him, even an instant's delay galled him.</p> + +<p>Night came with the abruptness peculiar to this part of the world, and +still the winding elephant trail below showed no signs of the Ammadians. +Lack of light slowed Trakor to a comparative crawl, and while from time +to time he urged Tharn to go on without waiting for him, the cave lord +only shook his head.</p> + +<p>And then, two hours after Dyta had sought his lair for the night, a +faint glow against the southern sky marked the location of fire. This +could have meant the most dread of all jungle perils—a forest fire; but +the glow seemed too small and much too localized for that.</p> + +<p>"The Ammadian night fires," Tharn said in reply to his friend's +question. "Doubtless they have camped in some clearing along the way and +have made a circle of fire to keep Sadu and Jalok at bay."</p> + +<p>Not long thereafter the two Cro-Magnon men came to a halt high in the +branches of a great tree. Below and before them was a wide clearing, in +the center of which a host of white-tunicked men squatted about small +cooking fires. The savory odors of freshly grilled meat rose on the air +and Trakor felt his mouth water. Food had not passed his lips since that +morning and traveling, he realized, made for large appetites.</p> + +<p>The entire encampment was girded by windrows of blazing branches and +thorn bushes under constant attendance by several of the Ammadian +warriors. Spears, knives, bows and arrows were much in evidence, and +there was that atmosphere of relaxed competence about the entire scene +that indicated beyond doubt these were seasoned veterans who knew the +jungle and its ways.</p> + +<p>But of it all nothing existed for Tharn beyond a slenderly rounded +white-tunicked figure seated in the company of several warriors about a +cooking fire almost exactly in the center of the camp. At sight of that +wealth of reddish gold hair and the sweet curve of a tanned cheek, he +knew his search was over, that the girl he loved was almost within his +reach. A burning impulse bade him throw caution to the winds and charge +among those hated Ammadians and wrest her from them.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97a" id="Page_97a">[Part III]<br />[Pg 97]</a></span></p> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"><p> +<img src="images/image4.jpg" width="600" height="441" alt="Under the threat of the guard's sword he knelt in a +humble way" /> +<span class="caption">Under the threat of the guard's sword he knelt in a +humble way</span> +</p></div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98a" id="Page_98a">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Those</span> who let emotion rule filled early graves, however. A dead Tharn +was useless to himself and useless to Dylara—and any such wild charge +would be completely suicidal. Dylara seemed in no immediate danger, +although it was clear from her actions, as well as the actions of those +about her, that she was not sharing that cooking fire as an honored +guest.</p> + +<p>He fingered the string of his bow at its place about his shoulder. How +he would have liked to send her some message that help was near, that +soon she would be taken from these men and restored to the arms of one +of her own kind. An arrow from out of the darkness into the heart of one +of those men near her!</p> + +<p>No. To do that would rouse the camp, keep them all awake for the rest of +the night. For Tharn's purpose those Ammadians must remain lulled by a +sense of security provided by their circle of fires. The quieter the +night, the smaller the number of sentries to be posted when the time +came for seeking sleeping furs for the night.</p> + +<p>Trakor, too, was making good use of his eyes. This was the first party +of Ammadians he had ever seen and he was open-mouthed with interest. The +strange white skins they wore, the pieces of beautifully shaped leather +on their feet, fascinated him and he longed to own such wondrous things. +He stared for a long time at Dylara, marveling at her beauty. Even +Lanoa, whose beauty paled into nothingness that of every woman of +Gerdak's tribe was just another she when compared to this vision of +loveliness. The thought made him smile a little sadly. It was the first +time he had thought of Lanoa in nearly a moon.</p> + +<p>Tharn said, "Remain here, Trakor, while I hunt for food."</p> + +<p>The younger man nodded and Tharn slipped silently away. After he was +gone Trakor lay down on a branch so situated as to give him an unimpeded +view of the scene below and continued to watch....</p> + +<p>A slight movement of his support aroused him. Tharn, laden with meat +from a fresh kill, came to squat beside him and they filled their +bellies with the hot, succulent raw flesh.</p> + +<p>The young man wiped his hands and lips free of blood and turned +inquiring eyes on his companion. "Have you thought of a way to take her +from them, Tharn?"</p> + +<p>The cave lord shook his head. "It will depend on where she sleeps and on +how many guards are posted. Nothing can be done until the camp is +settled for the night. Now we shall sleep."</p> + +<p>With Tharn wedged into a tree fork in a neighboring tree, Trakor was +left to select his own couch. He made no move toward doing so, however, +but continued to lay along that same branch watching the Ammadians. He +wondered how Tharn was able to go so calmly to sleep when so much that +was new and exciting was taking place. His own weariness was completely +forgotten.</p> + +<p>An hour passed. Most of the camp was sleeping now. Four guards were +moving slowly about the circle of fires; these and a group of five or +six warriors talking about the ashes of a cooking fire were the only +exceptions. Dylara was sound asleep, wrapped in a bundle of borrowed +furs and lying well away from the nearest Ammadian.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A plan</span> was taking shape slowly in Trakor's active mind. Why couldn't +<i>he</i> rescue Dylara? This was his big chance to show Tharn how well he +had profited by the cave lord's teachings. How proud his friend would be +when he awakened to find Dylara beside him safe and sound, rescued by +the stealth and daring of his protege!</p> + +<p>The longer Trakor thought about it, the better it looked. Impatiently +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99s" id="Page_99s">[Pg 99]</a></span>he glowered at the dawdling warriors about the last fire. Were they to +sit there gossiping throughout the night? At any moment Tharn might +awake and spoil the whole thing!</p> + +<p>Good! That last group was breaking up. One of them went over to the side +of the sleeping girl, bent and stared at her, then straightened and +called something to his companions. There was a brief sound of coarse +laughter, the warrior rejoined his fellows and all sought their sleeping +furs.</p> + +<p>Another hour inched by. It was an unusually quiet night. Only twice did +Trakor hear the voices of the big cats and each time it was from a +distance. The darkness was absolute except for the dying flames from the +protecting circle of fire below. Heavy clouds, forerunners perhaps of +the storm Tharn had forecast, obscured moon and stars.</p> + +<p>Those four guards continued their casual pacing. Trakor, watching +intently, observed something finally that served to crystallize his +plans. At fairly regular intervals those four came together at a point +well away from where Dylara lay. Each time they stood in a group for +several moments while they exchanged pleasantries, breaking the monotony +of standing guard.</p> + +<p>With slow caution, lest he arouse Tharn, the young cave man slipped +groundward. There he began a slow circling of the clearing, masked from +the sentries by heavy foliage. When he reached a spot on a direct line +from where Dylara lay, he gently lowered himself bellyflat in the ribbon +of grasses between the forest and the protecting wall of fire and began +to inch himself forward like a giant snake.</p> + +<p>Luckily the grass was high enough to hide him. His greatest danger was +that one of those experienced warriors might glimpse the manner in which +the grass tops were swaying.</p> + +<p>He was near enough now to feel the heat of flames. His heart was +pounding mightily and his fingers seemed to be trembling as he dragged +himself still closer. Did they tremble with fear, he asked himself? No; +it was only excitement that caused him to react so—of this he was +certain.</p> + +<p>According to his calculations those four guards should be close to +another of those brief meetings on the opposite side of the camp. Slowly +he lifted his head until he could make out their, and his own, position.</p> + +<p>He was a few seconds behind schedule: the four of them were already +together and not quite as far away as he would have liked. But in his +favor was the fact that he was much closer to where Dylara lay sleeping +than he had expected to be.</p> + +<p>There was no time for hesitation, no time to bolster his courage. Rising +to his feet, his body bent into a deep crouch, Trakor sped with swift +silence through a break in the fire wall. Beyond this, five hurried +strides brought him beside the sleeping cave princess. He wasted no time +in glancing around to learn if his daring move had been witnessed. He +could feel the skin crawl at his back as he bent, shoved a fold of the +girl's sleeping furs across her face to drown out any involuntary cry, +and swung her up into his arms.</p> + +<p>He wheeled to flee ... then froze in his tracks at sight of three spears +leveled at his naked chest.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X</h2> +<h3>BEYOND AMMAD'S WALLS</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> stifling folds of fur suddenly thrust forcibly against her face +awakened Dylara from a sound sleep. So dazed was she by the sudden +attack that her paralyzed muscles were unable to resist as she felt +herself swung up into a crushing embrace.</p> + +<p>Then her momentary inertia snapped and she was on the point of +strug<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100a" id="Page_100a">[Pg 100]</a></span>gling to free herself when the strong arms about her abruptly +relaxed their hold and she staggered free.</p> + +<p>With her eyes uncovered once more she saw a young warrior of the +caves—a youth no older than she—beside her. Straight and tall he +stood, menaced by three spears in the hands of three Ammadian fighting +men, his strong, handsome, intelligent face reflecting fierce pride and +deep chagrin. About his shoulders were looped a heavy blackwood bow, a +quiver of stone-tipped arrows and a long grass rope. A flint knife was +thrust within the folds of a loin-cloth of panther skin.</p> + +<p>He stood there, a barbaric figure, eyeing those three spearheads leveled +at his broad chest—eyeing them with a kind of dignified contempt that +so reminded Dylara of Tharn, greatest warrior of them all, that she felt +quick tears spring to her eyes. How truly magnificent were the men of +her own kind when compared with these underdeveloped, almost frail, +Ammadians!</p> + +<p>Now came Ekbar, captain of Vokal's guards, pushing his way roughly +through the press of aroused warriors hemming in both captives. He +shoved his tall, square-shouldered body in front of Trakor and took in +the situation at a glance.</p> + +<p>"Disarm him!" he barked.</p> + +<p>Hands tore away bow, arrows, rope and knife. Ekbar moved closer, his +deep-set gray eyes moved appraisingly over the youth's splendid frame, +and the already surly cast to his countenance deepened under a scowl.</p> + +<p>"So, barbarian," he thundered, "you sought to take your mate from us! +Only a stupid cave beast would expect to outwit Ammad's warriors. By +what name are you called?"</p> + +<p>"Trakor," said the youth, his voice emotionless.</p> + +<p>"Trakor, eh? Where lie the caves of your tribe?"</p> + +<p>"I belong to no tribe."</p> + +<p>Without warning, Ekbar brought up a calloused hand and struck the young +Cro-Magnard across the face, staggering him. "Another of your lies," he +snarled, "and I turn you over to my men as a spear target. Where are +your caves?"</p> + +<p>Trakor made no attempt to reply. An angry red welt marked his cheek +where Ekbar's hand had landed. His eyes were gleaming like sun against +ice, but nothing else in his face betrayed the fury and hatred boiling +within him. Truly, Trakor had come a long way since that day when Tharn +had saved him from Sadu.</p> + +<p>"How many came here with you?" Ekbar demanded.</p> + +<p>"I came alone."</p> + +<p>"Is this girl your mate?"</p> + +<p>"No. I have never seen her before."</p> + +<p>"Do you expect us to believe you risked certain capture to steal from us +a girl you never saw before?"</p> + +<p>Trakor shrugged. "You asked me. I do not care whether you believe me."</p> + +<p>Ekbar's scowl deepened as he turned to Dylara. "You said you were +brought here by Jotan. Was this barbarian one of his slaves?"</p> + +<p>Dylara shook her head. "No. Nor have I ever seen him before tonight."</p> + +<p>The captain chewed his lip uncertainly. "It is very strange," he +complained. "I think both of you are lying. Well, if there are others +who hope to take you from us, they will get the same welcome!"</p> + +<p>He motioned to two of his men. "Bind this cave beast's arms and legs. +Put him and the girl together in the center of the camp and triple the +guard. Vokal shall have two new slaves at least!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>An</span> hour later most of the Ammadian camp was asleep once more. A dozen +guards now patrolled the site and the fires were high again with +additional fuel.</p> + +<p>Dylara lay on her side, covered with sleeping furs to keep out the chill +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101a" id="Page_101a">[Pg 101]</a></span>damp earth and night air. Only a few feet away lay Trakor, bound and +helpless, his broad back turned to her exactly as they had left him.</p> + +<p>It was a good-looking back, she admitted—not yet fully developed since +its owner was still quite young, but it was well-formed and muscular +nonetheless.</p> + +<p>What, she wondered, was the real reason behind his attempt to take her +from the Ammadians? Was he a member of some neighboring tribe? Had he +come to spy on the men of Ammad, caught sight of her and tried to take +her for himself?</p> + +<p>She flushed a little at the thought. Not given to false modesty, Dylara +knew she was very beautiful. But beauty, it seemed, could be more curse +than blessing. It was that beauty which had led Tharn to take her by +force from her own people; that beauty which had brought Jotan to her +feet and caused him to take her with him on his return to Ammad. And now +it appeared this handsome young cave warrior had been drawn into a +lifetime of slavery by a single glimpse of her!</p> + +<p>Yet she was woman enough to feel a little glow of pride at this tribute +to her loveliness. He was young and very attractive—in many ways like +Tharn, although his physical development was far short of the latter's.</p> + +<p>The thought of Tharn brought an image of his mighty steel-thewed body +and god-like face before her mind's eye. Where was he this night? Were +his bones dotting the sandy surface of Sephar's arena while Nada, his +mother, mourned? Or had he won through against hopeless odds and escaped +to return to the caves of his people. She did not know, of course; +perhaps she would never know....</p> + +<p>Trakor rolled over to face her.</p> + +<p>For a long moment the man and the woman stared deep into each other's +eyes. Then the youth's lips parted in a slow smile, his strong regular +teeth gleaming in the distant light of the fires.</p> + +<p>"I am Trakor," he whispered. "You are Dylara!"</p> + +<p>Open astonishment showed on her face. "How could you know that?"</p> + +<p>She had spoken in her natural voice and alarm flickered in Trakor's eyes +as they shifted to look about the silent camp. "Shhh!" he hissed. "Keep +your voice down, else they hear and separate us."</p> + +<p>Obeying, she said, "But how do you know my name?"</p> + +<p>"Tharn told me."</p> + +<p>"<i>Tharn!</i>" In spite of Trakor's warning, the word burst from her throat +in a single loud exhalation. "But that is im——"</p> + +<p>"Shhh!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A sleeper</span> a yard or two away stirred and turned over, while Dylara and +Trakor lay unmoving, hardly daring to breathe. Dylara felt her heart +thumping wildly while a hundred mixed emotions seemed to be battling +within her. Questions, many questions welled up and sought to force her +lips apart. At last she could bear it no longer.</p> + +<p>"He is alive?" she whispered. "Is he still in Sephar? When did you see +him last? Did he send you to find me? How were you able to follow me +here?"</p> + +<p>Trakor was shaking his head, smiling. "Tharn did not send me. I came +here with him. He is in one of the trees bordering this clearing!"</p> + +<p>"Ohhh!" Dylara closed her eyes as a wave of weakness seemed to roll over +her. Tharn is here! Tharn is here! Elation, thanksgiving and relief +swelled her heart almost to the bursting point. No matter now that fifty +Ammadians lay between her and the cave lord. Fifty times fifty of them +could not prevail against the might and cunning of Tharn!</p> + +<p>Suddenly a new thought cut sharply across the flood of elation. Why <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102a" id="Page_102a">[Pg 102]</a></span>was +she so happy and thrilled to learn he had sought her out? Had not she, +only a few suns ago, decided in favor of Jotan?</p> + +<p>But Jotan was dead; the grinning Ekbar had told her so. Now, as then, +she marveled at how little the news depressed her. Yet she had brooded +many times over the thought that Tharn was dead....</p> + +<p>She opened her eyes. "But why did he send you to take me? Has he been +hurt?"</p> + +<p>Trakor reddened. "It was my idea; I wanted to help him."</p> + +<p>He told her the whole story then, how he had met Tharn, the debt he owed +the cave lord, their hunt, together, for Dylara—everything. When he +came to that part of his story detailing his ill-advised attempt to free +Dylara, he stammered a little but got it all out.</p> + +<p>Dylara was smiling as he finished. "It was very brave of you to try what +you did. And although they caught you and have us both now, we need not +worry. Tharn will take us from these people."</p> + +<p>"I know that," Trakor said quietly. "It is only that he may think less +of me for bungling things this way."</p> + +<p>The girl shook her head. "You must know him better than that."</p> + +<p>They fell silent as one of the guards sauntered in their direction +during his routine inspection of the camp. Dylara, weary from her hours +of jungle travel during the day before, fell asleep before the guard was +at a safe distance for further conversation with Trakor.</p> + +<p>When the youth saw she was sleeping, he lay there for a long time, +staring at her loveliness and thinking bitter thoughts of his clumsiness +in being taken captive. Tharn, he knew, would be unable to attempt a +rescue with so many guards about; but tomorrow night the Ammadians, +their suspicions lulled, would doubtless post no more than the usual +number of sentries. To Tharn, four of the dull-witted Ammadians would be +hardly any problem at all!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Shortly</span> before dawn the men of Ammad were filling their bellies and +preparing to break camp. When the line of march was being formed, Dylara +and Trakor were separated—the girl being placed between two warriors +midway along the column; while the young caveman, his arms bound firmly +behind his back, was stationed well up toward the front. Ekbar strode +back and forth along the line, making certain each man was in his +appointed spot, inspecting Trakor's bonds, and cautioning those +responsible for both prisoners.</p> + +<p>Shortly before Dyta pulled his shining head above the eastern horizon of +serrated tree tops, the Ammadian captain barked an order and the double +line of warriors got under way.</p> + +<p>By mid-morning both forest and jungle began to thin out as the path +underfoot lost its level monotony and began to become a steep incline. +The air seemed to grow steadily cooler and gradually all underbrush +beneath the trees began to thin out, then disappear entirely, leaving an +almost park-like appearance to the forest. Even the trees were further +apart and more and more often there were stretches of grassland without +any trees whatsoever.</p> + +<p>Shortly after noon, Ekbar called a halt at the edge of a vast plain +covered with a rich green species of grass which seemed to grow no +higher than a man's ankles. Here and there on the gently undulating vista +of grassland stood trees, usually no more than one or two together. To +the south, nearly at the horizon, was a long dark line that Trakor at +first took to be clouds but which, later, he was to learn was the +beginning of another expanse of forest and jungle.</p> + +<p>Food was distributed and eaten, an hour's rest period was announced, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103a" id="Page_103a">[Pg 103]</a></span>the Ammadians gathered their strength for the final stage of the +journey. From remarks the two prisoners overheard they learned that +Ammad lay half a day's march beyond that distant line of trees, and that +every man in the group was anxious to put the city's strong walls +between him and the hated jungle.</p> + +<p>Trakor was beginning to worry. Crossing that vast plain during the heat +of day was bound to be a trying experience, especially for the +comparatively frail girl. But worse than that, Tharn was going to be +placed at a disadvantage in following them. These Ammadians were not +complete fools; they would keep a sharp lookout in all directions +against possible attack from animals or men; for Tharn to attempt to +follow them during daylight hours would mean certain detection. Still, +even though the cave lord was forced to wait until darkness before +venturing out into the open, he could easily overtake the Ammadians +while they were camped for the night.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>All</span> during the long afternoon which followed, Trakor kept shooting brief +glances over his shoulder toward the north, half-expecting to catch a +glimpse of his friend. But other than a distant herd or two of +grass-eaters, no sign of life appeared.</p> + +<p>Night came while the column was still an hour's march from the last +barrier of jungle between it and Ammad. At any moment Trakor expected to +hear the captain call a halt.</p> + +<p>That call never came. Instead the group pushed on until the trees were +reached; a brief stop was made near the mouth of a wide trail at that +point while gumwood branches were found and ignited, and once more the +column took up the march.</p> + +<p>After two hours of plodding along the winding game path, flames from the +smoking torches casting eerie shadows among the thick foliage and heavy +tree boles, Trakor could stand this uncertainty no longer.</p> + +<p>"When," he said to the Ammadian warrior next to him, "are we to make +camp for the night?"</p> + +<p>The man gave him a sidelong glance and a crooked grimace of derision. "I +thought you men of the caves were accustomed to walking long distances?"</p> + +<p>"I can walk the best of you into the ground!" retorted Trakor. "But when +night comes you usually stop and huddle behind fires lest the great cats +get you."</p> + +<p>The Ammadian scowled. "We are afraid of nothing! But only animals and +uncivilized barbarians wander about the jungle at night. We are but a +little way from Ammad; it would be senseless to spend a night in the +open when the city is so close."</p> + +<p>Trakor's heart sank. "Only a little way from Ammad!" The words beat +against his mind like the voice of doom. Dylara and he were lost; Tharn +could not save them now!</p> + +<p>Yet hope did not leave him entirely. His boundless faith and admiration +where the cave lord was concerned would not let it die. He caught +himself glancing time and again at the low-swaying boughs overhead. +Every flickering shadow from the torches was transformed into the +lurking figure of his giant friend.</p> + +<p>But as the hours passed and nothing happened those last faint +glimmerings of hope began to fade and his spirits sank lower and lower.</p> + +<p>Ahead of him, Dylara was going through much the same travail. She +staggered often now from weariness; for she had been on her feet, except +for that brief period at noon, since early morning and she lacked the +strength and stamina of the others. She wondered, too, if Tharn would +make an attempt at rescuing Trakor and her before Ammad was reached; but +the memory of his fearless en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104a" id="Page_104a">[Pg 104]</a></span>trance into Sephar in search of her +brought the thought that he might do the same thing this time.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Abruptly</span> the forest and jungle ended at open ground. Beyond a mile of +open ground, flooded by Uda's silver rays, stood the towering stone +walls of Ammad.</p> + +<p>To the dazed, unbelieving eyes of Trakor it was like a scene from +another and wonderful world. In either direction, as far as he could +see, rose that sheer, massive man-made wall of gray stone, broken at +wide, regular intervals by massive gates of wood. Far beyond the wall he +could see mammoth structures of stone at the crest of five small hills. +The sides of those hills were lined with other, and smaller buildings of +the same material. Lights twinkled from breaks in their walls, an +indication that, unlike the cave men, Ammadians did not spend most of +the night hours asleep.</p> + +<p>Dylara, accustomed to city walls and buildings of stone from her long +stay in Sephar, was not so overcome by the scene. Still Ammad's size, +even from the small part visible at this point, brought a gasp to her +lips. She had thought Sephar wonderful beyond compare, but next to +Ammad, it was hardly more than a frontier outpost.</p> + +<p>A challenging voice rang out from the shadowy recess shielding the +nearest gate and Ekbar's column ground to a halt. Three Ammadian +soldiers, their white tunics gleaming under the moon's rays, moved +toward them and Vokal's captain advanced to meet them.</p> + +<p>After a brief discussion, the three warriors returned to their posts, +the twin gates swung wide, Ekbar's command sounded and the column of +fifty Ammadians, accompanied by the two prisoners, filed briskly through +the opening.</p> + +<p>Trakor, looking back over his shoulder, saw the twin gates move slowly, +grindingly together, saw the reaches of distant jungle narrow, then +disappear as those two sections of heavy planking ground firmly into +place.</p> + +<p>And in the dull, sodden thud of their meeting, the last flicker of hope +was extinguished in Trakor's heart.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>It</span> was the hour of Jaltor's daily audience. The vast throne room was +crowded with men and women from all walks of Ammadian life. Slaves, +freedmen, merchants, traders, warriors and noblemen crowded that +two-thirds of the room set aside for their use.</p> + +<p>At the far end of the hall-like chamber, set off from the heavily +crowded section by a line of stalwart guards armed with spears, stood a +pyramid-shaped dais, its sides serrated into wide steps. At the +flattened apex stood a richly carved, high-backed chair of dark wood. +Here sat Jaltor, king of all Ammad, his tremendous, beautifully +proportioned body seeming to dwarf not only the chair and its supporting +dais but the entire room as well. He was bending forward slightly at the +waist, his head turned slightly the better to hear the words a nobleman +was droning into his ear. The shuffling of many feet, the buzz of many +muted voices from beyond the line of guards formed a backdrop of sound +against the message he was receiving.</p> + +<p>Because of the ever-present possibility of assassination at the hand of +some disgruntled commoner or a hired killer, only the noblemen of Ammad +were allowed to pass that spear-bristling line of guards. As a result, +the citizenry of the city was split into factions, each faction owing +its allegiance to that nobleman situated in its district. The nobleman +justified <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105a" id="Page_105a">[Pg 105]</a></span>the loyalty of his faction by protecting its members against +criminals and vandals both within and without his district and by +pleading their side of any dispute that could be settled only by Jaltor, +head of the State.</p> + +<p>Rivalry between noblemen was strong and usually bitter, although none of +this ever appeared on the surface. A nobleman whose influence and power +showed signs of weakening found his territory subjected to raids, his +followers won away from him by threats and promises. With the loss of +influence and power his wealth would dwindle, his guards and warriors +would desert to other noblemen, until at last Jaltor must step in and +elevate some favorite of his own, or some friend of another noble, into +the victim's place.</p> + +<p>Against a side wall of the teeming throne room, on this particular +afternoon, stood Vokal, nobleman of Ammad. On his smooth, finely +featured face was his accustomed air of dreamy disinterest in his +surrounds, his soft gray hair was carefully arranged to point up its +natural wave, his slender shapely arms were carelessly folded across the +chest of his plain white tunic. There was no purple edging on that tunic +now; in the palace of Jaltor only the king himself could display that +color.</p> + +<p>Beneath that serene exterior, however, was no serenity. Vokal was badly +worried. Eleven suns had passed since the day word of Heglar's attempt +to kill Jaltor had electrified all Ammad. Guards had hustled the old man +roughly from the throne room—and from that moment on no one heard of +him again.</p> + +<p>But he should have been heard of! Four slaves of slaves—the lowest +human element in Ammad—should have dragged his traitorous old body +through Ammad's streets to be spat upon and reviled by loyal citizens.</p> + +<p>And Garlud—what of Garlud? No one had seen him either since that day. +Not that his absence caused much speculation—almost none in fact. It +was not unusual for Ammad's noblemen to absent themselves from the city +for days, even moons, on end. A hunting trip, a visit to friends in +other of Ammad's cities—any of several explanations would have +accounted for his disappearance.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> true reason should have been his involvement in Heglar's plot to do +away with Jaltor. But only Vokal of all Ammad's thousands could know +that—and he had no business knowing it. Garlud's affairs were going on +smoothly in his absence, in charge of the captain of his guards. By this +time, if Vokal's plans had not miscarried, the silvery haired nobleman +should have been summoned by Jaltor, told of Garlud's perfidy, and his +holdings and position handed to him in view of Jotan's continued +absence.</p> + +<p>And then there was Rhoa—Heglar's young and beautiful wife ... and +Vokal's mistress. He had not seen her since the day her husband had made +the attempt on Jaltor's life. This was agreed upon between them for +safety's sake; the understanding was that once Heglar's death was known, +Vokal could court and win her in the usual manner.</p> + +<p>But what had been foreseen as only two or three days of separation had +lengthened into eleven and still no word of Heglar's fate. Long before +this those thousand tals paid to Heglar should have come back into +Vokal's hands, accompanied by Rhoa herself. Vokal was becoming +increasingly uneasy about those missing tals; let enough time elapse +before he could take Rhoa as mate and she might reconsider, refuse Vokal +and keep the thousand tals for herself. There would be nothing he could +do about it, either. To threaten her or use force could anger her into +betraying him.... Vokal shuddered. Only this morning <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106a" id="Page_106a">[Pg 106]</a></span>she had sent word +to him that she was tired of this uncertainty, that something must be +done to learn what had happened to her husband.</p> + +<p>Another thing: Ekbar and his men should have returned before +this—returned with word that Jotan, Garlud's son, was dead and no +longer in a position to step into his father's sandals as first ranking +nobleman of Ammad. What was delaying the man?</p> + +<p>Well, Vokal told himself doggedly, he could wait no longer. There were +ways to get at the truth—ways that would not betray his interest in the +matter. For instance, there was Sitab, an officer in Jaltor's own palace +guard....</p> + +<p>But first would come another plan at breaking that wall of silence. This +same morning, Vokal had remembered a case involving a merchant whose +shop was on the boundary line between Vokal's territory and the +neighboring district belonging to Garlud. A moon or so before, one of +Vokal's collectors had informed Ekbar that this merchant was claiming +allegiance to Garlud, even though his shop was not in the latter's +territory.</p> + +<p>It was a minor matter and as a rule a nobleman did not complain to +Jaltor about these single isolated cases. It was only when there was +evidence of some systematic raid by a neighboring nobleman that a +complaint was filed. Clearly Garlud had not ordered any such raid, but +enough evidence was there at least to bring the matter to Jaltor's +attention, thus making it necessary for Garlud to defend himself against +the charge.</p> + +<p>"Vokal—the noble Vokal." The cry of Jaltor's personal clerk rang out +over the packed room. "Approach the Throne and present your plea."</p> + +<p>With gentle courtesy Vokal pushed between the press of humanity, passed +through the line of armed guards and mounted the steps of Jaltor's dais.</p> + +<p>He bowed low before the giant ruler of Ammad. "Greetings, Most-High. +Vokal, your loyal subject, begs permission to plead a grievance."</p> + +<p>Jaltor gave him a warm and friendly smile. He had always liked Vokal; +the nobleman's quiet manner and gentle courtliness were always welcome.</p> + +<p>"It is unusual for the noble Vokal to <i>have</i> a grievance," he said. +"That in itself is in your favor. What is troubling you?"</p> + +<p>"A matter of a boundary dispute involving a merchant in my territory. It +seems he has been 'influenced' into transferring allegiance to another +nobleman."</p> + +<p>Jaltor nodded his understanding. "Have you been bothered by many such +cases involving the same nobleman?"</p> + +<p>"No, Most-High," Vokal said. "And I am quite sure Garlud knows nothing +of this one. Perhaps one of his collectors is a bit—over zealous. By +bringing the matter to Garlud's attention at this time, further +incidents can be averted."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Nothing</span> changed in Jaltor's expression at mention of Garlud's name; +Vokal was sure of that. He said, neither too quickly nor too slowly:</p> + +<p>"I agree, noble Vokal: this must have happened without Garlud's +knowledge. Unfortunately the matter can not be brought to his attention +just now, but I shall see to it that he hears about it at the earliest +possible moment."</p> + +<p>It was an opening Vokal could not resist. "The noble Garlud is not in +Ammad at present?"</p> + +<p>"I believe not." Jaltor's voice and manner remained unchanged, but +something flickered in his eyes—something Vokal did not miss.</p> + +<p>"My deepest thanks to you, Most-High," he said with that gracious and +gentle air for which he was noted.</p> + +<p>"It is always a pleasure to talk with you, Vokal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107a" id="Page_107a">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was a dismissal and Vokal, bowing low, withdrew. As he crossed the +huge throne-room toward the exit, his thoughts were sharp and incisive.</p> + +<p>Something had happened to Garlud. Jaltor's eyes and the brevity of his +answer to Vokal's question confirmed that. But what? And why was the +nobleman's fate kept such a secret? Did Jaltor suspect Garlud of having +accomplices other than old Heglar?</p> + +<p>These were questions demanding quick and positive answers. First he must +learn what had happened to the missing nobleman. If his death could be +verified—and, of course, Heglar's as well—there was a way to make the +information open to the public. That done, and Vokal would be free to +move up in rank to a place second only to Jaltor himself—as well as +being able to marry Rhoa and recover his thousand tals.</p> + +<p>A great deal of careful thought must go into his next move. And so Vokal +left the palace and returned to his home, where, in the quiet of his +private apartment, he would be able to concentrate on these pressing +problems.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>When</span> the long hour of public audience was over, Jaltor returned to his +quarters. His step was quick and purposeful and his dark eyes were +alight with an inner excitement.</p> + +<p>At the entrance to his apartment, the guard on duty there leaped to +attention at his approach. To him Jaltor snapped, "Find Curzad at once +and inform him I wish to see him immediately."</p> + +<p>The guard saluted and went swiftly off along the corridor.</p> + +<p>A clay jug of wine, cooling in a low basin of water on one of the tables +of polished wood, caught the monarch's eye. Not bothering to use one of +the several goblets standing nearby, Jaltor swung the jug to his lips +and took a long, satisfying draught on the contents, wiped his lips on +the back of a muscular forearm and began to pace the floor.</p> + +<p>A light knock sounded at the door and Curzad, as iron-faced and reserved +as ever, came into the room. He was in the act of closing the door +behind him when Jaltor said, "Wait. Send the guard out there away. I +don't want our conversation overheard, even by the most trustworthy of +your men."</p> + +<p>Curzad obeyed, then closed the door and came into the room, standing +there stiff-backed, waiting further orders.</p> + +<p>Jaltor jerked a thumb at a chair. "Sit down, my friend, and help +yourself to the wine."</p> + +<p>The captain of the palace guards let himself gingerly down into the +luxurious depths of soft upholstery and reached for the wine jug and a +goblet. Most of Ammad's noblemen would have lifted outraged eyebrows at +such familiarity between the world's most powerful monarch and a mere +warrior. But Curzad and Jaltor had fought side by side in many a battle +and through many a campaign, and each honored and respected the other.</p> + +<p>The tall broad-shouldered king dropped into a chair across from Curzad +and took up jug and goblet. "Tell me, Curzad, how fares the noble +Garlud?"</p> + +<p>"As well as in the days he walked Ammad's streets a free man," the +captain said in his deep calm voice. "As an old fighting-man, hardship +affects him but little."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps his cell is too comfortable," Jaltor said, his lips twitching +slightly.</p> + +<p>"There are no comfortable cells beneath your palace, Most-High. Garlud's +least of all. He sits alone and in utter darkness, the only sounds the +scurrying feet and squeaking voices of rats. Only the strong mind of a +great warrior can endure such <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108a" id="Page_108a">[Pg 108]</a></span>for very long without cracking."</p> + +<p>"Are you suggesting I am too harsh with him?" Jaltor was openly smiling +now.</p> + +<p>"I am suggesting nothing to Ammad's king."</p> + +<p>"It has been eleven suns since I sent my closest friend to languish in +those pits," Jaltor said, smiling no longer. "Nor has it been easy for +me, Curzad. But I must learn who, if not Garlud, was behind old Heglar's +attempt on my life."</p> + +<p>He tossed off the wine and put his goblet down on the table top. +"Something happened today," he said, "that may be the first crack in +this eleven-sun wall of silence. One of Ammad's noblemen brought up +Garlud's name to me during the afternoon audience."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Some</span> of the impassiveness in Curzad's expression slipped a little and +his fingers whitened on the goblet's stem. He made a sound deep within +his massive chest but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"It may mean nothing, however," Jaltor went on, "for the way in which it +came up was both necessary and natural. To make it even more likely to +amount to nothing, the nobleman was Vokal—a man I have never hesitated +to trust."</p> + +<p>"Garlud once enjoyed a similar distinction," Curzad commented dryly.</p> + +<p>Jaltor's eyes flashed. "Do you forget that Garlud was named by a man +whose word had never been doubted?"</p> + +<p>"I forget nothing, Most-High," was the quiet reply.</p> + +<p>A moment's silence followed, then Jaltor said, "Well, a few more days, +one way or the other, will not matter. If Vokal is the man we are +looking for, he will make another attempt at learning Garlud's +whereabouts. So far he is our only lead—other than old Heglar's +beautiful mate, Rhoa. Twice she has come to me, asking what has happened +to him, and both times I have refused to say. Oddly enough," he added +thoughtfully, "she seemed more curious than worried."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it would be wise to have her watched."</p> + +<p>The monarch gave a brief snort of laughter. "I am not completely a fool, +my friend. Rhoa has been under constant surveillance since the day old +Heglar died. Thus far her actions have been above suspicion."</p> + +<p>Curzad's shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. "Meanwhile," he said, +"Garlud's son, Jotan, draws closer to Ammad. Any sun now he and his men +may approach its gates."</p> + +<p>"Which is one of the reasons I sent for you. Shortly before Dyta brings +his light tomorrow, send fifty of your most trusted warriors to +intercept and take captive Jotan and his men. Return them to Ammad under +cover of darkness and confine them all in the pits. It might be wise to +place Jotan in the cell next his father and a trusted warrior in a +neighboring cell to listen in on their conversations."</p> + +<p>"You'll never trick Garlud so easily."</p> + +<p>"No man is perfect, Curzad," observed Jaltor, smiling grimly. "I intend +to overlook no possibility in getting to the bottom of this matter."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI</h2> +<h3>CAME THARN</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Once</span> Tharn was satisfied that the column of fifty Ammadians, with Dylara +and Trakor in its midst, meant to cut directly across that wide expanse +of sun-baked grasses, he set out on a circuitous course to pass them +that he might be the first to reach the distant forest beyond. It meant +covering a quarter again as much ground, but the advantage made this +extra effort worth while.</p> + +<p>As he moved across the prairie at a tireless trot, bitter thoughts +filled his mind. Last night Dylara had been <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109a" id="Page_109a">[Pg 109]</a></span>almost within arm's reach +and it seemed his long search for her was on the point of ending. +Caution, ever a strong attribute of jungle dwellers, had brought on his +decision to wait until the camp was settled down for the night before he +attempted to wrest her from the Ammadians who held her captive. Had the +circumstances demanded it, Tharn would have unhesitatingly charged all fifty +of those armed men; but only the inexperienced uses force where stealth +will do.</p> + +<p>And so Tharn had restrained his impatience, deciding to nap an hour or +two while he waited. He had awakened to loud voices and had witnessed, +in helpless rage, Ekbar's cross-examination of Trakor and Dylara. His +first reaction was anger that Trakor had attempted a deed beyond his +still limited prowess, but understanding came at once. It was in this +fashion that the boy had sought to show his gratitude to Tharn, and in +so doing had alerted the camp—and gotten himself captured in the +bargain!</p> + +<p>Thus by the impulsive act of a hero-worshiping boy had Tharn's original +task become a double one—and doubly difficult to accomplish +successfully.</p> + +<p>At first he considered entering the camp after another hour or two, but +with the trebling of the guard he gave up the idea—for the night at +least. There would be other nights—nights when the number of guards +would be normal and their behavior the same. Guards, it was well known, +were apt to become heavy-eyed and less alert along toward dawn.</p> + +<p>All during the following morning Tharn trailed the Ammadians. At first +he did so from a position among the branches above them; but along +toward mid-morning the trees began to thin out, as well as the +undergrowth normally covering the ground between the giant boles, and he +was forced to lag further and further behind. When the fifty men reached +the prairie's edge and stopped to rest, he managed to work his way close +enough to hear conversations among several of the men.</p> + +<p>Their talk was filled with eagerness at being close to Ammad once more, +and Tharn was aware of a feeling of sharp disappointment. Was it +possible this group would reach the city before nightfall? If that were +true, his chances of freeing Dylara and Trakor were small indeed.</p> + +<p>An hour later Tharn was standing in the shelter of a large tree, his +eyes regretfully watching as the entire party forged across that broad +stretch of open ground where he might not follow.</p> + +<p>Two hours before sunset Tharn reached the wall of jungle and trees. The +column of Ammadians were still far out in the grasslands and would need +another three hours to reach the game trail where Tharn was standing. +The cave lord decided to spend that time in reconnoitering. There was +the possibility that Ammad itself lay not too deep within the forest to +make it worthwhile for the approaching column to continue its march even +after darkness fell.</p> + +<p>It was as he had feared. Less than an hour's swift progress through the +forest's upper terraces brought him to the edge of a vast clearing, much +like the one surrounding Sephar, beyond which rose sheer grey walls of +stone. From his elevated position he could see beyond that barrier, and +he saw that, except for its far greater size and magnificence, Ammad was +not much different from Sephar. But in size alone did Ammad make Sephar +seem a small jungle clearing by comparison. In diameter it was at least +ten miles and there were five small hills grouped near its center, at +the apex of each a magnificent structure. The general layout of streets +was much the same as he had found in Sephar, but there were more people +on them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110a" id="Page_110a">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> nearly an hour Tharn sat high among the concealing foliage of his +tree and watched the scene below and before him. Hunting parties well +laden with trophies of the hunt entered the clearing from the trail +beneath him and the great gates of wood, guarded by Ammadian warriors, +swung open to let them through the massive wall. It was a wall much +higher and stronger than Sephar had boasted and getting past it was +going to take some doing.</p> + +<p>Tharn shrugged and turned back to pick up those who were holding Dylara +and Trakor. Perhaps, he thought as he moved swiftly along the aerial +highway, it would not be necessary for him to pass those walls. Even if +those fifty Ammadians did not make camp for tonight, he might still find +a way to rob them of their captives. Let them lower their guard for even +a moment, let them become only a little careless—and their hands would +be empty before their minds had caught up with their eyes!</p> + +<p>He arrived at the prairie's edge only a few moments before Ekbar and his +men reached the game trail's mouth. Tharn, narrow-eyed and alert, +watched them halt and gather gumwood torches, saw these latter ignited +and the march resumed. It was as he had feared: they intended to press +on until Ammad's walls hemmed them safely in.</p> + +<p>Even Tharn's iron-willed reserve broke a little at this last blow. +Through the velvety darkness of a semi-tropical night he moved +stealthily above them, his fangs bared slightly, his hand hovering often +near his blackwood bow and the quiver of arrows.</p> + +<p>Several times he saw Trakor's upturned face as the youth sought to +pierce the wavering shadows cast by the flaming shadows. He knew well +what was passing through Trakor's mind and, despite his own +disappointment, he smiled a little. Let the headstrong cave youth worry +a little; it would be small payment indeed for the trouble he had +caused!</p> + +<p>But most often Tharn's eyes went to Dylara. He saw her stagger now and +then from sheer physical exhaustion and his heart went out to her. How +he would have loved to wrest her from that spear-bristling line of +warriors! There was no way to do that, however. A barrage of arrows +could have cleared away those men directly around her, but a rope about +her wrist had its other end bound about the arm of the man beside her; +and even had Tharn leaped down on the heels of his arrows to slash away +that rope spears might fell either or both of them.</p> + +<p>No, for all his giant strength and agility he was as helpless to aid the +girl of his choice as though miles lay between them.</p> + +<p>Finally the time came when Tharn realized Ammad was only a short +distance ahead. He must resign himself to the unescapable fact that +Dylara and Trakor were going to be taken beyond those walls whether he +liked the idea or not. This meant his energies and cunning must be +diverted to a different channel; and with this in mind the cave lord +halted on a broad leafy branch above the column, waiting while the twin +lines moved ahead at a snail's pace.</p> + +<p>A pair of tall husky Ammadian warriors were last in line. One of them +carried a blazing torch, the other had a heavy pack about his shoulders. +They plodded along, weariness evident in the lines of bent shoulders and +dragging feet. The one with the pack seemed especially tired and every +fifty or sixty feet he would pause momentarily to shift his burden to a +new position. Each time this happened the distance between him and his +companion became a matter of ten or fifteen feet until, pack adjusted, +the man hurried forward to join his unheeding partner.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111a" id="Page_111a">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>A wry smile touched Tharn's firm lips. With uncanny ease he slipped to +the ground and moved silently along behind the wall of undergrowth +flanking the trail, his course parallel with the column's rear guard.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A bend</span> in the path was coming up. Already most of the column had made +the turn and was out of sight. Quickly Tharn raced ahead until he was at +a point no more than ten feet from the turn. Crouching here, concealed +by a maze of creepers and brush, he picked up a short length of dead +branch and waited.</p> + +<p>As the last two Ammadians reached a position directly opposite to the +crouching cave lord, Tharn thrust out the branch two or three inches +above the path's surface and squarely between the legs of the pack +bearer.</p> + +<p>The man's swinging foot struck against the unyielding wood and, weighted +by the heavy pack and weary from the long hours without rest, he +stumbled and fell headlong.</p> + +<p>His companion, aroused by the thump of a falling body and a string of +curses rising on the night air, turned back and bent to help him up.</p> + +<p>"What happened, Posak?"</p> + +<p>"What does it look like? Do you think I decided to lie down and rest +awhile?"</p> + +<p>Still muttering under his breath Posak got shakily to his feet and +turned his back on his companion to pick up the heavy pack. When he +turned back again, his amazed eyes beheld his friend face down and +motionless in the trail and the mightily muscled figure of an almost +naked cave man standing over him and holding the torch.</p> + +<p>Posak opened his mouth to yell a warning to the others of the column. +The cry was never voiced. An iron fist swept from nowhere to crash full +against the point of his chin. There was a sharp brittle sound like a +branch breaking and Posak sank lifelessly to the ground, his neck +snapped cleanly in two.</p> + +<p>Quickly Tharn propped the torch of gumwood against a tree bole and +dragged the two corpses into the brush. With rapid care he stripped +tunic and sandals from one body and donned them. The tunic he found to +be tight across his chest but still adequate; the sandals fitted him +perfectly.</p> + +<p>So quickly had the cave lord acted that by the time he caught up the +torch and rounded the bend in the trail, the end of Ekbar's column was +no more than a dozen yards away. No one seemed to be looking back of his +shoulder in search of the missing pair, a fact probably explained by the +sight of open ground directly ahead.</p> + +<p>Blazing torch held high, thus leaving his face shadowed, Tharn moved +easily along at the rear of the column of Ammadians, across the ribbon +of open ground about Ammad's walls, and on through the city gates.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Vokal</span> awakened under the touch of gentle but insistent fingers against +his shoulder. He opened his eyes to find one of his personal slaves, a +lighted candle in one hand, bending over him.</p> + +<p>"What do you want, Adgal?" he demanded, scowling.</p> + +<p>"Ekbar has returned, Most-High," the slave replied, cringing. "I told +him you were sleeping but he demanded that I arouse you at once."</p> + +<p>The nobleman bounded from the bed and caught up his tunic. "Where is +he?"</p> + +<p>"In the outer chamber, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"Good. Tell him I'll be out immediately."</p> + +<p>When Vokal entered the wide living room he found the captain of his +guards standing at rigid attention just inside the door. The nobleman, +his tunic fresh and unwrinkled, his <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112a" id="Page_112a">[Pg 112]</a></span>thick grey hair as smoothly brushed +as though this were midday instead of the dead of night, strolled to a +nearby table, poured out a single glass of wine and sank into a chair. +His thin shapely fingers lifted the goblet slowly to his lips, he sipped +the liquid as slowly, savoring its bouquet. Finally he put down the +goblet and swung his dreamy-eyed gaze to the uncomfortable and +self-conscious captain of the guards.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ekbar?" he said softly.</p> + +<p>"He is dead, Most-High."</p> + +<p>"Indeed? You took care of the matter yourself?"</p> + +<p>"No, Most-High. He was killed many suns before my men and I came upon +his men. Sadu, the lion, slew him."</p> + +<p>Vokal stiffened slightly. "How do you know this?"</p> + +<p>Ekbar retold, in detail, the story given him by Tykol. For several +minutes after he finished Vokal sat there and thought it over while he +sipped from his goblet of wine. "... You are sure he was not lying?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Most-High. There were but thirty-seven of them, where once there +was fifty, and many wore strips of cloth over wounds left by Sadu's +claws. Scouts who knew Jotan by sight reported he was not with the +column." He hesitated. "One part of their report I did not understand, +however, although it probably is not important."</p> + +<p>"Tell it to me."</p> + +<p>Ekbar shrugged. "There was a woman with them—a young and very beautiful +girl. The scouts say she was very lovely—dark-haired, a pleasing figure +and clearly the daughter of some nobleman."</p> + +<p>"Why did you not ask this Tykol who she was?"</p> + +<p>"I learned about her the following day. By that time Tykol was dead."</p> + +<p>Vokal nodded. "The balance of Jotan's men were not aware of being +watched?"</p> + +<p>"No, Most-High. I took pains to keep that from them. Since Jotan's +earlier death was something we had not foreseen, I acted as I thought +you would order. Since Jotan is not with them it would be better that +they reached Ammad and told of his death under the fangs and claws of +Sadu."</p> + +<p>"You have acted wisely, Ekbar, and I shall not forget it."</p> + +<p>The captain flushed with pleasure. He said, "We did not return +empty-handed, noble Vokal. Two cave people fell into our hands—one of +them a beautiful young woman who told us some wild story about being +Jotan's intended mate."</p> + +<p>At Vokal's look of languid interest, Ekbar repeated the story Dylara had +told him.</p> + +<p>"And you say," Vokal said when the captain finished, "that this cave +girl is very beautiful?"</p> + +<p>"There is none in all Ammad who is more lovely," Ekbar said, his +deep-set eyes glittering.</p> + +<p>"How interesting!" Vokal leaned back in his chair, his long, well-kept +fingers toying with the stem of his wine goblet. "Where is she now?"</p> + +<p>"Both she and the cave man we captured a little later are under guard in +the outer corridor, Most-High. I thought you might wish to look them +over before they were placed with the other slaves."</p> + +<p>"Bring them in, my good Ekbar," murmured Vokal.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> captain saluted stiffly and withdrew. A moment later he was back +again followed by the two captives and a second guard.</p> + +<p>For several moments the nobleman let his eyes move slowly over the two +cave people. The man, he saw, was, despite his youth, a remarkable +physical specimen, extraordinarily handsome and evidently intelligent +and keen-witted as so many of the cave dwellers were. With the proper +attitude toward his new master it would <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113a" id="Page_113a">[Pg 113]</a></span>not be long before he rose to +the status of a warrior and an end to his position as slave. Judging +from the flashing eyes and his air of insolent contempt, it would take a +few days of iron-fisted discipline, however, to make him amenable. Well, +Ekbar was a past master of that art.</p> + +<p>The girl, though, was another matter entirely. Ekbar had not exaggerated +in naming her more beautiful than any of Ammad's women—including those +of noble birth. Despite her travel-worn tunic and the weariness evident +in every line of face and figure, her beauty shone through like Dyta's +brilliant rays. A man could lose his heart in that red-gold wealth of +softly curling hair falling to her shoulders; he could drown in the +depths of those sparkling brown eyes. He smiled a little at these +thoughts. What would Rhoa, dark-haired, olive-skinned, beautiful and +passionate, think if she knew he was having such thoughts about a wild +girl of the caves?</p> + +<p>Well, Rhoa need not know. Most noblemen had beautiful slave girls and +most noblemen's wives ignored the fact....</p> + +<p>Dylara bore his steady gaze with calm indifference. The enforced +association with the men of Ammad during the past several moons had +taught her a great deal about them; that, plus a native shrewdness, told +her she could expect little sympathy and no help from this +silver-haired, languid-eyed man whose property she now appeared to be.</p> + +<p>"Your name, cave girl?"</p> + +<p>The soft, almost caressing voice repelled her. There was something ugly +and evil behind it—a reflection of the man's true personality.</p> + +<p>She met his gaze unflinching. "I am Dylara."</p> + +<p>"What is this wild story you told the captain of my guards—the story +that you were the noble Jotan's mate?"</p> + +<p>"I was never his mate. I am no man's mate."</p> + +<p>"But he wanted you. Why, then, did he not take you?"</p> + +<p>"Because, in spite of his being an Ammadian, Jotan was a true nobleman. +He sought to win me with kindness and consideration instead of taking me +by force."</p> + +<p>Deliberately Vokal let his eyes wander over the beautiful lines of her +figure. "From your tone I judge that you do not believe all Ammadians +would be so considerate. From looking at you I would say he was more +stupid than anything else...."</p> + +<p>"However, that is no longer important. Jotan is dead—and you now belong +to me—to do with as I see fit. You may be sure I will not confuse +consideration with stupidity!"</p> + +<p>There was no mistaking his meaning. Dylara felt her cheeks burn, but +before she could voice the angry retort trembling on her lips, Vokal +turned his eyes to the silent and expressionless Ekbar.</p> + +<p>"Confine the girl in one of the private rooms in the slave quarters," he +said. "As for her companion, put him in with those slaves who work on +the palace grounds. Keep me informed as to his general attitude. If he +gives you any trouble, have him beaten until he becomes tractable."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Once</span> past Ammad's walls. Tharn permitted the rest of Ekbar's column to +draw gradually away from him until, to the eye of the casual passerby, +he was not a part of that body but only a solitary warrior abroad on +some affair of his own.</p> + +<p>He would have liked nothing better than to continue on with the column +until it passed through the walls of whatever estate they were headed +for. But already his luck had held up far beyond what he had originally +expected; to remain longer with Ekbar's warriors would have meant +risking almost certain discovery that he was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span>not one of its original +members.</p> + +<p>He must keep the column in sight, however, until it reached its goal. +Once he knew which of these stone walled estates was to swallow up +Dylara and Trakor he would be free to enter in his own way and undertake +their rescue.</p> + +<p>At this late hour Ammad's streets were nearly deserted. An occasional +solitary figure strode along with purposeful steps, and twice small +groups of men, staggering and loud-mouthed from too much wine, blundered +and weaved along the paved thoroughfares. On these latter occasions +Tharn was careful to cross the street to avoid contact, for drunken men +were notoriously unpredictable.</p> + +<p>At last Ekbar's column ground to a halt outside a wide gate in a high +wall of stone midway along one of the streets. Twin lanterns burned from +a niche above those gates, their rays glinting on the spear points of +four armed guards stationed there.</p> + +<p>From the shadows of a wall across the street, Tharn watched as Ekbar +held a brief conversation with those four sentries; then the gates swung +wide and the column, Dylara and Trakor among its members, disappeared +from view.</p> + +<p>Tharn voiced a low grunt of approval and satisfaction. Somewhere within +the huge sprawling building of four floors looming massively against the +night sky was the girl he loved and the young man he had befriended. +Within another hour the dwellers of that cliff-like dwelling would have +finished welcoming the returning warriors and be back in their beds. +Then would Tharn enter in search of their captives.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>In</span> the interim a general reconnaissance seemed in order. The palace sat +squarely atop one of Ammad's low hills amid wide grounds. Here and there +behind the encircling wall a tree lifted its crested top, the night's +gentle wind stirring its leaves and branches.</p> + +<p>Making certain his bow, quiver of arrows, grass rope and flint knife +were in their accustomed places, Tharn set out for a leisurely stroll. +For several hundred yards the street he followed lay unbroken by any +intersecting avenue and in all that length the only life in sight was +the group of four guards lounging outside that wide gateway which had +swallowed up Dylara and Trakor.</p> + +<p>When he reached a position directly opposite those four Tharn was aware +that all of them were watching him from across the strip of paving that +made up the street itself. At any moment he might be challenged and +ordered to a halt.</p> + +<p>But the challenge did not come and he passed casually on along the walk. +They were behind him now and, unless he turned his head to look back, +out of range of his eyes. His ears, however, were busy and soon they +caught the sound of voices.</p> + +<p>An intersection appeared ahead and unhesitatingly the cave lord cut +diagonally across it and moved out of sight of the four sentries. If he +expected to find this section of the wall unguarded, however, he was +doomed to disappointment. Half way down the block a single lantern sent +out feeble rays from a small niche directly above a single gate—a gate +guarded by a patrolling sentry.</p> + +<p>Because of the comparative narrowness of this street and the high walls +on either side, heavy shadows left it in almost total darkness. Tharn, +across the street and still a good hundred and fifty yards away, had not +yet been observed by that lone sentry.</p> + +<p>He might, Tharn realized, be able to pass the man once without arousing +undue interest or suspicion. But should he attempt to retrace his steps +later on the guard would be almost certain to take some sort of action. +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span>It was not that Tharn would be unable to handle the matter if that +should happen, but there was always the possibility that others might be +aroused by a warning cry.</p> + +<p>Stooping, Tharn removed his sandals and, hugging the wall where shadows +lay deepest, began a slow, careful advance.</p> + +<p>Thirty paces the guard took in each direction before executing a brisk +about face and retracing his steps. The leather soles of his sandals +made crisp clear rhythmical sounds against the stone underfoot. Each +time his measured pacing brought him toward Tharn, the cave lord +remained frozen, hugging the wall; when he wheeled and started back +Tharn raced lightly ahead, even while he counted off each step the +sentry took. On the twenty-ninth pace Tharn would freeze again, then +repeat the maneuver.</p> + +<p>Finally the man of the caves reached the point where he dared go no +further. He was still fifty or sixty feet down the street and another +fifteen feet to one side. Hardly daring to breathe, he stood as +motionless as the wall at his back until the man finished the routine of +thirty paces toward him; then, as he wheeled and started back, Tharn +unslipped his bow with unthinkable swiftness, fitted an arrow to its +string. Mighty muscles rippled smoothly across that bronzed back as a +steady hand bent the stubborn wood, a single musical "twang" sounded +against the still air and flint-tipped death flickered for an +immeasurable instant between the two men.</p> + +<p>True to its target flew Tharn's arrow, the sharp point striking squarely +at the juncture of neck and the skull's base. Wide flew the sentry's +arms and he fell soundlessly in a crumpled heap, the spear still tightly +clutched in one dead hand.</p> + +<p>Even while the body was still falling Tharn was bounding toward the now +unguarded gate. Unbarring it, he drew the lifeless warrior out of sight +beyond, then closed the gate with his back.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Here</span> at the wall's base was darkness, but a few steps beyond was a +moonfilled clearing dotted with carefully spaced bushes and an +occasional tree. A curving path of crushed rock led across cropped grass +and ended at a wide door of the palace itself.</p> + +<p>Although the hour Tharn had alloted himself before entering the palace +was not up, there were no signs of life anywhere about the grounds, nor +did man-made light gleam through any of the windows on this side of the +building. Yet uppermost in Tharn's mind was that sense of caution when +caution was possible, and he decided to wait for a while before entering +the palace itself.</p> + +<p>With a quick soundless rush he crossed the stretch of greensward between +him and the nearest tree. A single agile leap took him among its +branches and, finding a comfortable fork, he settled himself to wait.</p> + +<p>Unexpectedly, it proved a wise move. Hardly was he at rest when a group +of six guards, their spear-points and white tunics sharp and clear in +the light of Uda, the moon, rounded a far corner of the building.</p> + +<p>At first Tharn thought some one had sighted him entering the grounds and +given an alarm. He abandoned the idea immediately, however, for the +actions and general attitude of the six indicated this was no more than +a routine patrol. Evidently Ammad's nobleman had many enemies....</p> + +<p>In a way Tharn's choice of a point to break into this palace was an +unfortunate one. He would have preferred to enter on the side where +Uda's rays did not reach. But four guards instead of one were stationed +at that gate and an attempt to pass them would have been foolhardy at +best.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<p>Now, indeed, he must wait—wait until he could learn how much time would +elapse between appearances of those six guards. He settled himself +firmly into the branch's fork, using this period of enforced idleness by +attempting to locate some means of ingress in that section of palace +wall visible to him.</p> + +<p>All windows of the first two floors appeared to be guarded by slender +columns of stone. He had seen such forms of protection on some of +Sephar's structures and he knew that even his own great strength would +be unable to force them.</p> + +<p>The windows of the top two floors were shielded only by drapes of soft +material, with here and there a balcony dotting the white stone surface. +Could he but reach one of the former, entry would be simple. But nowhere +on the smooth sheer surface could he make out hand- and foot-holds for +that purpose.</p> + +<p>Half an hour dragged by. Nobody passed by, no light showed at any of the +windows, no sound broke the tomb-like silence. He wondered at the +failure of the six-man patrol to appear a second time.</p> + +<p>Well, he could not remain in this leafy retreat forever. With a slight +shrug of his giant shoulders, Tharn descended to the lower branches, +took a long and cautious look around, his ears and nose alert for some +sign of life. Nothing.</p> + +<p>Dropping to the ground, the cave lord ran lightly toward that corner of +the palace around which those six guards had disappeared more than half +an hour before. He was within feet of his goal when a sudden chorus of +shrill cries from behind him broke the silence.</p> + +<p>A single glance over his shoulder told him the story. The ground patrol +had chosen this particular moment to reappear!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Once</span> Dylara had been thrust not ungently within a room off a fourth +floor corridor and its door barred from the outside, Trakor was turned +over to a single guard to be taken to one of the slave dormitories. From +the cave youth's appearance of utter hopelessness, the dispirited droop +of his shoulders, it was clear all fight had gone out of him since +Ammad's gates had closed at his back. He shuffled wearily along the hall +ahead of his yawning guard, down a flight of stairs to the third level +and along a lengthy corridor, lined with doors and completely deserted +at this hour.</p> + +<p>At the corridor's far end loomed two massive doors, heavily barred. +While Trakor stood passively by, head hanging listlessly, the Ammadian +put down his spear and reached with both hands to lift free the broad +bar. In so doing he momentarily turned his back to the cave youth—and +that momentary lapse spelled his doom.</p> + +<p>Steel fingers closed about his throat, a naked leg tripped him up and he +was flat on his back before his lips opened to a cry that was never +uttered. Blindly the guard sought to reach the knife at his belt; but +Trakor, anticipating this, ground a knee into that wrist.</p> + +<p>The man's heels hammered spasmodically against the stone in mute agony +and fear and his by no means weak body thrashed and bucked. But those +fingers only tightened their hold.</p> + +<p>Trakor, his face only inches from that of the enemy, saw those +fear-filled eyes start from their sockets, saw lips and cheeks turn dark +with constricted blood, felt the broad chest beneath his rise and fall +wildly as the lungs fought for air.</p> + +<p>For several minutes after the Ammadian warrior lay limp and still +beneath him Trakor kept his fingers buried in that lifeless throat. +Finally he rose shakily to his feet and looked <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span>down upon the body of +his first kill. Exultation filled him, and pride—and a strange sense of +sadness....</p> + +<p>He shook his head briefly as if to clear away such thoughts. Guided by +the dim light from candles in wall brackets set at wide intervals along +the corridor, he bent and stripped the corpse of its tunic and drew it +over his own shoulders. His late foe had been a tall man and the tunic +came a bit higher on Trakor's legs than Ammadian fashion dictated, a +grievous matter which he ignored. A keen-edged knife of stone went under +the tunic's belt; the heavy spear he left where the warrior originally +had placed it.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Trakor</span> went back along that corridor with long swinging strides, his +naked feet soundless against the stone, his head erect, his ears and +eyes alert for the slightest sound or movement.</p> + +<p>Ascending the same flight of stairs he had descended a few minutes +earlier, he paused at the top and looked carefully at the twin lines of +closed doors. The seventh on his left; he had counted them off carefully +while on his way to the floor below.</p> + +<p>For a full minute he stood motionless outside that barred portal, +listening for some indication that others were up and about the palace. +Then he turned back, lifted the bar and pushed open the door with slow +care.</p> + +<p>A flicker of motion from within the darkened room caused him to leap +sharply back, just in time to keep a heavy wooden chair from caving in +his head. Unchecked, the chair struck the floor with a resounding crash, +the impact tearing it loose from Dylara's hands.</p> + +<p>By the time she had bent to pick it up for a second try, Trakor was +inside and the door closed. He threw out a hand to ward off Dylara's +impromptu club, whispering, "No, Dylara! It is I—Trakor!"</p> + +<p>A muffled sob of relief and thanksgiving was torn from her throat, then +she was in his arms.</p> + +<p>At the feel of her body against his, the heady scent of her hair in his +nostrils, Trakor felt his heart leap within him and his arms tightened +suddenly about the girl's smooth, softly rounded shoulders.</p> + +<p>Then the moment was gone and they drew apart.</p> + +<p>"I can't believe it, Trakor!" Dylara whispered. "How did you manage to +get away?"</p> + +<p>"There's no time for that now," he said. "We've got to get out of this +place and back to the jungle where we belong. Tharn is out there +somewhere and we must find him before he enters Ammad in search of us."</p> + +<p>"But how...."</p> + +<p>"I don't know—yet. If we can reach the streets without being seen...." +He went to the door, pressed an ear against its planks for a moment, +then very gently drew open the heavy section of wood and put his head +cautiously out. The corridor, in either direction, was deserted.</p> + +<p>"Come," he whispered, and hand in hand they stole silently toward the +head of those stairs Trakor had recently climbed.</p> + +<p>From somewhere below them a door slammed heavily and sandaled feet, +several pairs of them judging from the sound, approached the base of +that same flight of steps.</p> + +<p>Without speaking Trakor and Dylara turned and, on tiptoe, raced in the +opposite direction. As he ran, Trakor drew his knife in preparation for +any enemy who might suddenly loom in their path.</p> + +<p>A turn in the corridor brought them to a second flight of steps, down +which they raced at full speed. Past landings at the third and second +floors they fled, stopping at last in front of a closed door marking the +main level of the palace.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" Trakor breathed, placing <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>a restraining hand on the girl's arm.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Silence</span> seemed to press down upon them, a silence so complete they could +hear the breath rustling in their nostrils.</p> + +<p>With almost exaggerated care Trakor drew back the door. Moonlight +streaming in at several stone-barred windows revealed a large hall, its +walls hung with rich tapestries and a long wide table, lined with +chairs, running almost its entire length.</p> + +<p>Dylara, familiar with such scenes from her days in Sephar, said, "The +palace dining hall." She pointed to an open doorway in the opposite +wall. "That should lead to the kitchens. No one will be there at this +time of night."</p> + +<p>"Good!"</p> + +<p>They crossed quickly to the designated opening, along a short narrow +hall, through a second doorway and on into a low-ceilinged room whose +furnishings bore mute testimony that Dylara's guess had been right.</p> + +<p>"Look!" whispered Dylara, pointing.</p> + +<p>Thin lines of moonlight formed a rectangle on the far wall, marking a +doorway leading to open air. Quickly Trakor was across the kitchen and +straining to lift the heavy bar from its catches.</p> + +<p>And in that moment a sudden chorus of deep-throated shouts of alarm from +beyond that door reached their ears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII</h2> +<h3>NO DEEPER DUNGEON</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Jaltor</span>, king of all Ammad, rose from his chair as his four visitors +entered the apartment. Straight and tall he stood, his magnificent body +in its purple-edged tunic seeming to dwarf all else within the room.</p> + +<p>No one spoke. Curzad, captain of the palace guards, closed the door +softly and stood with his back against it, arms folded and his rugged +features empty of all expression.</p> + +<p>It was Jotan, son of Garlud, who was the first to speak. The anger that +showed in his burning eyes and the thrust of his chin thickened his +words until they were more nearly a growl.</p> + +<p>"What means this, Jaltor? Why was my party intercepted outside Ammad's +walls and dragged here in secrecy? Why are we thus treated like common +criminals? I demand an explanation!"</p> + +<p>"You may request an explanation, Jotan," Jaltor said calmly. "As Ammad's +king I answer no man's demands."</p> + +<p>In the strained silence following his words, Jaltor's gaze moved on to +where Alurna, daughter of Urim and princess of Sephar, stood staring at +him in wonder and uncertainty. His expression softened and when he spoke +his voice had lost completely its former edge.</p> + +<p>"Curzad has told me of your father's death. We have both suffered a +great loss, for Urim was my brother—my only brother. Later I should +like to know the details of his passing; but first I wish to explain my +reasons for what has happened tonight."</p> + +<p>There were mixed emotions evident in the expressions of his listeners. +Tamar was clearly worried and puzzled, Javan appeared even more dazed +and uncomprehending than usual, while Jotan was close to bursting with +outright anger and injured pride.</p> + +<p>Jaltor indicated chairs with a wave of his hand. "Be seated, please. +This may take some time."</p> + +<p>They obeyed in silence, and even though sitting none of them was +relaxed. Jaltor remained on his feet, legs spread, his keen eyes somber.</p> + +<p>"A little less than half a moon ago," Jaltor began, "an attempt was made +to assassinate me. The reason it was not successful lay in the peculiar +clumsiness of the assassin. He was <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span>captured immediately and put to +torture in an effort to learn the names of others, if any, involved in +the plot. He was an old man, strangely enough, and before he died he +told me who had hired him."</p> + +<p>"I don't see," Jotan burst out, "what this has to do with any of us. +Certainly we are not involved."</p> + +<p>"The name he gave," Jaltor went on, as though there had been no +interruption, "was Garlud!"</p> + +<p>In the sudden, shocked silence that followed the measured tread of a +guard in the corridor outside came clearly through the closed door.</p> + +<p>"I don't believe it!" Jotan shouted. He leaped from his chair to face +the monarch. "Ever since I can remember you and my father were the +closest of friends!"</p> + +<p>"And long before that Jotan," Jaltor said quietly.</p> + +<p>"Yet because some common killer gave his name, you believe such an +impossible story? My father could have no reason for wanting you dead. +What have you done to him?"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Jaltor</span> ignored the last question. He said in the same quiet voice: "Not +a common killer, Jotan. It was old Heglar who so named your father."</p> + +<p>The young Ammadian nobleman fell back a pace in complete amazement. "Old +Heglar? Why, he wouldn't...." His voice trailed off.</p> + +<p>"Exactly. Heglar would not lie."</p> + +<p>Jotan lifted a shaking hand to rub his forehead in a kind of dazed +helplessness that struck to the heart of every person in the room. "No," +he said, his voice suddenly loud, "I do not believe it. Where is my +father? Let me talk to him."</p> + +<p>"Where," Jaltor said coldly, "would apt to be any man who plotted the +death of Ammad's king?"</p> + +<p>Slowly Jotan's hand fell from before his eyes as the meaning of those +chill words came home to him. "You—you <i>killed</i> him? Garlud? My father? +Your friend?"</p> + +<p>Nothing altered in Jaltor's sober expression—and in that Jotan read his +answer. With a strangely inarticulate snarl he launched himself at the +king, seeking to lock his fingers in that deeply tanned neck.</p> + +<p>Curzad leaped from his place at the door, brushing past the paralyzed +onlookers, and reached out to engulf the crazed young nobleman in his +strong arms. Jotan, helpless in that iron grip was borne back, tears of +rage and frustration streaming from his eyes.</p> + +<p>Jaltor raised a steady hand to his bruised throat, his expression +unchanged. "Confine him in the pits, Curzad. Later I shall decide what +is to be done with him."</p> + +<p>Tamar started up from his chair in angry protest. "What kind of justice +is this?" he cried. "Will you send a man to his death because grief +causes him to——" He stopped there, stricken into abrupt silence by what +he saw in the ruler's eyes.</p> + +<p>It took the combined efforts of Curzad and two of the corridor guards to +subdue Jotan sufficiently to get him out of the room and on his way to +the pits. When the room was quiet again, Jaltor dropped into an empty +chair across from Alurna and the two young noblemen.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, "I can tell you the whole story."</p> + +<p>And tell them he did, from start to finish. "So you see," he summed up, +"why Jotan must be kept captive. Had I told him the truth nothing would +have satisfied him until his father was freed and another method used to +force the real accomplice into the open. When this unknown conspirator +learns that Jotan's party has returned from Sephar, apparently without +Jotan himself, he is going to be more puzzled than ever. A puzzled man +makes mistakes—which is what we want him to do."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>Alurna shuddered. "But the pits! If they are like the ones beneath +Sephar, you are punishing terribly two men who are innocent of +wrongdoing."</p> + +<p>"You must understand," Jaltor reminded her, "that the possibility exists +that Garlud is guilty. I have lived long enough to know that ambition +can drive the noblest of men to ignoble acts. Old Heglar's dying words +cannot be lightly dismissed."</p> + +<p>"You," he continued, nodding to Tamar and Javan, "are free to return to +your homes. Should anyone ask what has happened to the leader of your +party, tell him that—well, that the lions got him. That will fit in +with what happened during the night that you were attacked by Sadu."</p> + +<p>The two young noblemen rose to leave, greatly relieved by Jaltor's +explanation, but still concerned. After they were gone, the monarch said +to Alurna:</p> + +<p>"I know you must be worn out from your long journey from Sephar. But sit +there a little longer, if you will, and tell me the circumstances of my +brother's death."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>It</span> required the better part of an hour for the dark-haired princess to +relate what had taken place in Sephar nearly three moons before. She +spoke often of Jotan during the account, and the tenderness in her eyes +at mention of his name told Ammad's king more than she realized. And +when she told of Dylara's disappearance and the possibility that Sadu +had devoured her, Jaltor caught the unconscious satisfaction in her +tone.</p> + +<p>For a little while after she had finished, Jaltor sat staring +thoughtfully into his wine goblet. Then: "Urim's mistake was to coddle +that rascally high priest. In Ammad the priesthood is no problem at all; +we keep them few in numbers and with no power to create unrest. Long ago +I put a stop to the Games honoring the +God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud.... Perhaps some day I shall find +a means of avenging the cowardly assassination of Urim, your father and +my brother."</p> + +<p>He smiled gravely into her eyes. "Do not worry about Jotan, my princess. +Soon, I hope, he will be free again and you shall have your chance to +win him."</p> + +<p>Alurna's gray-green eyes flashed momentarily ... and then she too +smiled. "Ammad's king is a wise and understanding man," she murmured.</p> + +<p>Jaltor straightened and put down his goblet. "And now I shall show you +to the suite of rooms which I ordered made ready for your use. Come."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> a long time after the slave woman detailed to serve her had gone, +Alurna lay wide-eyed on the soft bed. Moonlight through the room's wide +window formed a solid square on the floor, and in its ghostly radiance +the furnishings seemed shadowy and unreal.</p> + +<p>It was the first bed she had been in for a long, long time and sleep +should have come to her the moment she touched the pillow. But too many +thoughts raced through her mind to permit sleep—thoughts jumbled and +confused.</p> + +<p>Ever since Jotan had rejoined the main body of his men after his +unsuccessful search for Dylara, he had been moody and distraught. Those +warriors who had accompanied him and Tamar on the hunt seemed +confident—out of Jotan's hearing!—that the jungle had gotten her, just +as it had claimed the lives of countless others.</p> + +<p>And now that the way was clear to win him, Alurna slipped easily into a +new role—a role of silent understanding and ready sympathy. Slowly and +unconsciously Jotan had begun to respond to treatment. It might take +several moons, she realized, before he would begin to look upon her as a +de<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>sirable woman in addition to a warmhearted and friendly companion. +But she could wait—for many moons if necessary.</p> + +<p>Now the intrigue of some unknown enemy of Jotan's father had given the +young nobleman new worries. If only there was some way to help him—some +method by which she might earn his gratitude. Gratitude, she knew, was +an excellent base on which to build romance.</p> + +<p>Somewhere in the bowels of this very building Jotan and his father lay +in dark, damp cells, put there on the orders of her own uncle. As king +of Ammad and brother of her father he was entitled to her loyalty and +respect. But when it came to the point of choosing between Jaltor and +Jotan ... there was no doubt in her mind as to her ultimate decision!</p> + +<p>As she lay there on her back, her eyes fixed unseeingly on the ceiling +beams, a plan began to shape itself in her mind—a plan which, as +details took concrete form, brought a faint smile to her lips.</p> + +<p>And still smiling, Alurna fell asleep....</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> the Ammadian patrol bore down upon him with leveled spears, Tharn's +blackwood bow seemed to leap into his hands and two arrows flashed +across the intervening space. Two of the warriors toppled and died under +those flint arrow heads, but before the cave lord could release a third +he was forced to leap hastily aside to prevent impalement by three +thrown spears. So narrow the distance now that his bow was useless, and +so he tore his knife from its place at its belt and, with the silent +ferocity of a charging lion, hurled himself upon the remaining four +guards.</p> + +<p>Two more of the Ammadians collapsed in death, their heads almost severed +as polished flint tore into their throats. The remaining pair, upon +seeing that and hearing the bestial snarls issuing from that broad +chest, drew back sharply, wavering on the verge of outright flight.</p> + +<p>Tharn, sensing their indecision, tensed to renew his charge and put them +to rout.</p> + +<p>A cacophony of loud shouts from behind him told of the arrival of +reinforcements. There were eight of them this time, still a good thirty +yards away but fast approaching.</p> + +<p>Instantly Tharn, his knife sweeping high for a thrust, lunged at the +remaining two warriors who turned and fled a short distance before +circling back to join the second group. Tharn stopped, caught up his bow +and brought down three more of the enemy as he began a slow withdrawal. +Lights were beginning to show from some of the palace windows; at any +moment an arrow from above might strike him down.</p> + +<p>Suddenly a door in the palace wall burst open and a white-tunicked +figure came bounding across the lawn toward him. Tharn's bow was on its +way into position to send an arrow leaping to meet this new attack when +a familiar voice called out his name.</p> + +<p>"Trakor!" Tharn shouted, astonished.</p> + +<p>The boy bent while still running and caught up a spear from beside the +body of one of Tharn's victims. Hardly had he reached the cave lord's +side when a third group of palace guards appeared on the scene from +behind them.</p> + +<p>Cut off in two directions by enemies, blocked in another by the palace +itself, Tharn chose the only possible avenue of escape.</p> + +<p>"To the wall!" he shouted, then wheeled and raced across the greensward +with long flashing strides, Trakor close at his heels.</p> + +<p>Angling in sharply from two directions, the Ammadians sought to +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span>overtake them. Several spears were hurled but the distance was too +great.</p> + +<p>Trakor, seeing the high walls, knew it would be impossible to scale them +in the few moments before the Ammadians arrived. But his faith in the +cave lord remained unshaken; if a way to freedom could be found, Tharn +would find it!</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>While</span> still a few feet short of the wall, Tharn swerved sharply to the +left, crashed through a thick growth of bushes and paused in front of a +small gate. Even as Trakor was about to point out the futility of trying +to force a way through those stubborn planks, Tharn drew open the +barrier and leaped through.</p> + +<p>Trakor, stricken dumb with astonishment at this new development, +followed him into the street as Tharn slammed shut the gate and dropped +its bar into place a split second before a heavy shoulder thudded +against its opposite side.</p> + +<p>What promised to be at least a breathing space died in its infancy as a +full dozen of the white-tunicked fighting men of Vokal's guard appeared +at the juncture of streets to their left, and catching sight of them, +came tearing along the pavement in their direction.</p> + +<p>"This way," Tharn said, and the two cave men raced into the night.</p> + +<p>For nearly a quarter-hour the two Cro-Magnards fled through the black +labyrinth of Ammad's streets, twisting and turning to throw off pursuit. +Twice they encountered patrols from other estates along their erratic +pathway, but an arrow or two from Tharn's deadly bow drove them off.</p> + +<p>Finally the two men slowed to a walk, their feet soundless against the +stone surface of a narrow street between two walls in which no gates +were visible. For the moment at least, it appeared their hunters had +lost them, thus giving them a chance to gauge their present position.</p> + +<p>Judging from the way this particular street slanted upward ahead of them +they were on one of Ammad's hills. Further along a huge building loomed +against the night sky from squarely across their path—a building larger +and higher than any they had seen thus far.</p> + +<p>"Dylara is back there," Trakor said abruptly.</p> + +<p>Tharn nodded without looking around. "I know," he said simply. "We must +find some place to hole up until another night comes. Then I am going +back for her."</p> + +<p>"We were close to getting away—Dylara and I," Trakor said ruefully. "We +were on the verge of stepping out into the open when I heard the guards +attacking you."</p> + +<p>"You were that close to freedom?" Tharn asked, surprised.</p> + +<p>Briefly Trakor recounted what had taken place in Vokal's palace. When he +had finished, Tharn shook his head in savage disgust. "That makes the +second time she was almost within arm's reach of me! I suppose by this +time they have her again and she is locked away."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," Trakor admitted. "When I saw who it was Vokal's guards were +after, I gave her my knife and she crawled under one of the tables to +wait for us until we had killed the guards and could come back to get +her." He laughed shortly, bitterly. "We <i>would</i> have killed them, Tharn, +if so many hadn't come to their aid."</p> + +<p>"It is always thus," the cave lord said philosophically. "Tomorrow night +we shall try again."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>While</span> talking, they continued on up the steep rise. Now their way was +blocked by the wall they had glimpsed a few moments before. A narrow +roadway skirted its base in two directions, and to the right, several +hundred yards distant, they could make out the faint yellow rays <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>of a +lantern above a recessed gate.</p> + +<p>"What now?" Trakor asked shortly.</p> + +<p>Tharn shrugged. "A tree with foliage so thick none can see us. Judging +from the size of the building beyond this wall, its grounds should +contain many trees. Let us enter and see if we can find one large enough +for our purpose."</p> + +<p>Trakor glanced doubtfully up at the wall's edge fully fifteen feet from +the ground. "Do we go over it or through one of the gates?"</p> + +<p>"Over it. We dare not risk arousing the guards."</p> + +<p>"How can we reach its top?"</p> + +<p>In answer Tharn took up a position with his back only an inch or two +from the wall. Cupping his hands together in front of him, he bent his +knees slightly, keeping his back straight. "Extend your arms above your +head," he directed, "and place your right foot in my hands, crouching a +little while I support your weight. That way I can toss you high enough +to enable your hands to catch the wall's edge."</p> + +<p>Trakor nodded, a shade doubtfully, and followed directions. Like a +striking snake Tharn uncoiled his bent legs with a sharp upward thrust, +at the same instant jerking his locked hands up to chest level.</p> + +<p>The youth shot upward like an arrow from a bow. Tharn heard a dull thud, +followed by a low exclamation of pain. He looked up to see Trakor +sitting astride the wall rubbing one of his shins.</p> + +<p>At Tharn's instructions, Trakor lay chest down against the wall's top +and extended his right hand downward. The cave lord backed away, then +ran forward and leaped high, catching Trakor's fingers and swinging +lightly up beside him.</p> + +<p>There were trees—many of them—singly and in groups, their branches +heavy with leaves. The grounds in which they stood were immense, with +winding paths of crushed stone, winding between bushes heavy with jungle +blooms. Here and there concealed jets flung graceful and shimmering +curtains of water skyward, the falling drops pattering musically into +stone-lined pools. In the distance loomed the gleaming white walls of a +palace that, Tharn realized, was easily three times the size of any he +had seen in Sephar.</p> + +<p>Lightly the two men dropped to the closely clipped grass. Tharn would +have liked to remain aloft for a minute or two, to drink in the beauty +of the scene and to get some idea of just where within Ammad they were. +But should some sleepless Ammadian be standing at a window in that +palace, he could hardly keep from seeing those two figures atop the +wall.</p> + +<p>Side by side the two cave men strode lightly toward a cluster of eight +trees arranged in a small circle.</p> + +<p>While from the depths of a thicket of bushes bordering one of the garden +pools a pair of eyes watched them in startled wonder.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Dylara</span> crouched beneath a table in Vokal's kitchen and listened to that +nobleman's strident voice as it lashed at a group of palace guards +outside the half open door.</p> + +<p>"Do you expect me to believe," he said hotly, "that a single warrior +could slay seven of you? Were their muscles turned to water at sight of +him? And the rest of you—are you soldiers or children to be so easily +outwitted?"</p> + +<p>No one attempted a reply. Ekbar, captain of the guards, stood stiffly +by, beads of nervous perspiration dotting his forehead. His turn would +come once Vokal was through with the guards themselves. He would be +fortunate indeed to escape with no more than a tongue-lashing; he might +well end up being demoted in rank.</p> + +<p>"Who was this man?" Vokal demanded. "Did any of you recognize him? Speak +up, before I order your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>tongues cut out with your own knives! You!" He +pointed a finger at one of the men. "I understand you were one of those +who first saw him. Who was he?"</p> + +<p>The designated man, his trembling voice matching the shaking of his +knees, said hurriedly, "He was like no warrior I have seen in all Ammad, +Most-High. He was very tall, with great rippling muscles that——"</p> + +<p>"Enough!" Vokal shouted. "I might have known you would claim no ordinary +man could best the lot of you. And, I suppose, at least fifty more of +these huge strangers fell upon you?"</p> + +<p>"No, Most-High," the warrior admitted. "But there was one more, not +quite so large as the first. He came from within the palace to join his +friend and the two of them ran——"</p> + +<p>"Wait!" the nobleman said sharply. "Are you sure this second man came +from <i>inside</i> the palace?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Most-High." He pointed an unsteady hand at the door leading to the +palace kitchen. "He came from there. With my own eye I——"</p> + +<p>"Enough!" Vokal wheeled toward the captain of his guard. "Ekbar, send a +detail to comb every room of the palace. There may be more of these +strange intruders in there."</p> + +<p>"At once, Most-High."</p> + +<p>Dylara, listening from her place of concealment within the kitchen, knew +she dared stay there no longer. A moment from now the room would be +swarming with armed men and she was sure to be found. It was unfortunate +she could not have accompanied Trakor when he raced out to Tharn's +assistance, but she had known then, as now, that she would only have +slowed their dash for freedom. With Tharn and Trakor both at liberty +within Ammad's walls, they would eventually find a way to rescue her.</p> + +<p>There was no point, however, in waiting around to be rescued. If she +could make her way beyond Ammad's walls without help, so much the +better.</p> + +<p>Rising from her hiding place, the stone knife Trakor had given her ready +in one sun-tanned fist, she crossed the kitchen with stealthy swiftness +and hurried along the short hall leading to the palace dining hall.</p> + +<p>It proved to be empty of life, although she could hear the sounds of +sandaled feet entering the room she had only just quitted. Quickly she +crossed the huge chamber, carefully drew open the same door she and +Trakor had passed through a short time earlier, and raced lightly back +up the stairs there to the building's second floor.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>At</span> the landing, she stopped and pressed an ear against the planks of the +corridor door. She could hear no sound from beyond them to indicate +someone was there. Carefully, inch by inch, she drew it inward until +there was space enough for her to peer through.</p> + +<p>Not ten feet away from her were the broad backs of two guards!</p> + +<p>Despite the pounding of her heart and the almost uncontrollable efforts +of her feet to break into instant flight, Dylara very slowly allowed the +heavy door to return to its closed position. Then she was away, racing +upward on the balls of her feet, silent as the shadow of a shadow.</p> + +<p>She did not even pause at the third landing, for her quick ears caught +the tread of feet beyond its closed door. At the fourth level the stairs +ended at the corridor itself, with no door to mask them.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the long hallway was deserted. Dylara turned to her right +and hurried along, ears and eyes alert for the first sign that she was +not alone. Past a score of doors and around several corners the corridor +led and in all that time she encountered no one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>It seemed very still here on the fourth level of Vokal's palace. The +almost eerie silence seemed to press down upon her spirits like some +weighty and invisible hand. She could hear her heart pounding and the +whisper of her breathing. The floor underfoot was now covered with a +thick carpeting of some woven material and her sandals pressed +soundlessly into it.</p> + +<p>She had reached a point only a few yards from another bend in the hall +ahead of her when she caught the faint sound of voices in that +direction—voices which seemed to be growing louder.</p> + +<p>Instantly she whirled to retrace her steps, then halted again. It was a +long way back to where the corridor had last jogged; the owners of those +voices might come into view before she could reach it.</p> + +<p>There was a door in one wall almost even with where she stood now. It +might open onto a room filled with guards, or it might not open at all. +There was no time to weigh her chances.</p> + +<p>She released the latch and pushed lightly against the wood.</p> + +<p>She came into a large, low-ceilinged room, lighted by candles in +beautifully carved wooden brackets affixed to the walls. Polished tables +and luxuriously covered chairs stood about the carpeted floor. A door +stood slightly open in one of the side walls, disclosing the foot of a +wide bed, the covers rumpled as though some one had been sleeping there +moments before. Several windows open and unbarred, permitted a panoramic +view of a large section of Ammad, and one of them came all the way down +to the floor to permit entry to a small balcony.</p> + +<p>As Dylara stood there, drinking in the beauty of the room, voices +sounded suddenly loud and clear from just outside the door. A moment +later the latch moved under an unseen hand and the door itself swung +wide. But even as the latch moved, Dylara was across the room, through +the balcony entrance and crouching there, out of sight.</p> + +<p>"... one, then call me immediately."</p> + +<p>"As the noble Vokal commands."</p> + +<p>The silver-haired nobleman closed the door, muttered something under his +breath, and crossed to where an earthen jug of wine stood on one of the +tables. He filled a goblet to the brim, drained it with a flourish, blew +out all but one of the candles and went into the bedroom.</p> + +<p>Dylara swallowed her heart back to its usual place and straightened +slowly to ease cramped muscles. Give the Ammadian an hour to fall into a +deep sleep and to allow the palace inhabitants to return to their beds, +and she could make a second attempt to get away.</p> + +<p>The minutes passed with almost painful deliberateness. So complete was +the silence here that she could hear the sounds of even breathing from +the bedroom. It was the breathing of a man who was sleeping soundly; a +few minutes more and she would make her bid for freedom.</p> + +<p>Knuckles pounded sharply on the apartment door.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> Tharn and Trakor were on the point of swinging into one of the half +circle of trees, a crepitant rustle among the nearby bushes brought +their heads sharply around in instant alarm.</p> + +<p>Six stern-faced guards in spotless tunics stood less than a dozen feet +away, spears leveled at the broad chests of the two Cro-Magnards. At +sight of those weapons Tharn's hand dropped from the hilt of his knife +and utter chagrin filled his heart.</p> + +<p>He felt Trakor stiffen beside him and he put out a restraining hand. "It +is useless," he muttered. "The slightest move and they will cut us +down."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>One of the six stepped forward a few paces and peered at the two +intruders. "Who are you," he demanded, "and what are you doing on the +grounds of Jaltor, king of Ammad?"</p> + +<p>"We are men of Sephar," Tharn said, following the first line of thought +that popped into his head. "We came to Ammad with Jotan's party and were +looking over the palace grounds. There is nothing so fine in all Sephar, +let me tell you!"</p> + +<p>It was a wild, almost incredible shot into complete supposition. It was +possible that Jotan and his men <i>had</i> reached Ammad by this time; and, +while less possible, it was conceivable that the young nobleman had come +straight to the palace to pay his respects to Jaltor, instead of +postponing the visit until the following day.</p> + +<p>What Tharn did not know, of course, was that Jotan's entire party had +been met outside Ammad's gates by a force of Jaltor's own guard and +brought directly to the palace and were being held there until the king +got around to ordering their release.</p> + +<p>The officer in charge of this patrol knew all that—as did most of the +palace guard. He looked searchingly at the two men for a moment, then +said:</p> + +<p>"You are lying! Every member of Jotan's party is already under guard. +Come with us; we shall allow Curzad to hear your story."</p> + +<p>He made a small motion with his hand and instantly Tharn and Trakor were +surrounded by a ring of spear points. Side by side the two cave men +strode toward the palace, helpless to resist.</p> + +<p>Within the huge building they were led to a guard room on the first +floor, and after a few minutes the tall, broad-shouldered figure of +Jaltor's captain, sharp-eyed and alert, entered the room.</p> + +<p>He listened to the officer repeat what Tharn had said outside, then ran +his gaze slowly over the two men.</p> + +<p>"You are not warriors of Sephar," he growled. "You are not even +Ammadians. I have seen your kind before. What are two cave men doing +inside Ammad?"</p> + +<p>Tharn shrugged but said nothing. Trakor, observing his reaction, +followed his lead.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps a few days in the pits will loosen your tongues!" Curzad said +harshly.</p> + +<p>Still no reply.</p> + +<p>"As you wish." Curzad turned away indifferently. "To the deepest pits +with them, Atkor," he said to the officer. "After a few suns I will see +them again to learn if they feel more talkative."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Just</span> how many downward sloping ramps they trod on the way to the pits +Tharn had no way of knowing. Further and further below the earth's +surface they went, their hands bound behind them, while brightly lighted +subterranean corridors gave way to others only faintly illuminated. +Finally even the faint light disappeared and they moved, heavily +guarded, through blackness relieved only by flames from a torch carried +by one of the guards. There was the clearly audible trickling of water +along the stone walls and several times Tharn felt his feet sink to the +ankles in cold pools that had formed in hollows of the stone flooring.</p> + +<p>At last the wearying procession of sloping ramps ceased and they moved +along a level corridor. On either side Tharn made out heavy wooden doors +with apertures in their surfaces closed off by columns of stone in the +form of bars. Now and then light from the torch picked out white, +heavily bearded faces containing white-ringed eyes and expressions of +dull hopelessness. Not once, however, did he hear sounds from the +throats of those prisoners—only the mute despair of lost souls peering +into nothingness.</p> + +<p>Finally the officer ordered a halt. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span>At his command two of the doors, +almost directly across from each other, were opened. Tharn felt the cold +touch of flint as a knife cut away his bonds, a strong hand thrust him +roughly into the cell on the right and the door banged shut behind him.</p> + +<p>He turned back and looked out through the bars, to see Trakor, head held +proudly erect, shoved into the opposite room. Bars at the top and bottom +of each door were drawn into place, a sharp order rang out and the +Ammadian guards started back for the surface.</p> + +<p>"Curzad said 'to the deepest pits!'" one of them chuckled. "There are no +deeper dungeons than those!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h2> +<h3>SITAB'S MISTAKE</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> the sound of knocking rang through Vokal's private apartment, Dylara, +crouching on the small balcony off the central room, felt her spirits +plummet to a new low. Given another few minutes of grace and she would +have been out of this cul-de-sac and on her way to freedom.</p> + +<p>Again came the knock, louder this time. She heard a muttered exclamation +from the bedroom, then Vokal, tying the belt of his tunic, crossed +quickly to the corridor door.</p> + +<p>"What do you want? Who is it?" he called, impatience strong in his +usually calm voice.</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, Most-High," said a humble-sounding voice, "but a visitor, +bearing your personal talisman, insists on seeing you at once."</p> + +<p>"It must be that fool Sitab," Dylara heard the nobleman mutter. He threw +open the door, then stepped back suddenly as the cloaked form of a woman +pushed her way into the room.</p> + +<p>"Rhoa!" he gasped. "What are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>"I want to talk to you. Send the guard away and close the door." Her +voice, deep for a woman, sounded muffled through the folds of cloak +shielding her face.</p> + +<p>Vokal obeyed, and when the door was shut she slipped from the wrap and +dropped it across the back of a nearby chair.</p> + +<p>She was a woman past thirty, taller than average and beautifully formed. +Her hair was a dull black and she wore it long, framing the delicate +features of her olive-skinned face. Her eyes were large and very black +and at this moment there was anger in them.</p> + +<p>"What are you doing here?" Vokal said again.</p> + +<p>"It is fairly simple," she said imperiously. "I am tired of waiting, +Vokal. For half a moon now old Heglar has been missing. I do not doubt +for a moment but that he is dead. Why should we delay this thing any +longer. You promised me that once the old fool was dead I could take my +rightful place as your mate. I say the time for that is now!"</p> + +<p>"But you don't understand, Rhoa. To acknowledge our love now would play +directly into Jaltor's hands. Once our names are linked together he will +realize Heglar attempted to assassinate him because I hired him to do +so."</p> + +<p>"I have given this a great deal of thought," Rhoa said coldly, "and I +think you're being overly cautious. Let the good people of Ammad talk; +the mere fact that we take no trouble to conceal our love will prove to +them you had no hand in old Heglar's disappearance."</p> + +<p>"You're not making sense!" Vokal cried. "The minute Jaltor hears we are +together he will put enough of the threads in place to see the real +picture. He will guess that it was I who hired Heglar to attempt that +mock assassination in an effort to usurp Garlud's position in Ammad."</p> + +<p>He threw his hands wide in a gesture of despair. "In the name of the +God," he pleaded, "don't upset everything this short of success! Go back +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>to your home, Rhoa. Give me a few suns—seven; no more than seven—and +I promise you I will have things worked out the way we both want them. +Do this for me because I love you and you love me and we can be together +without fear of Jaltor."</p> + +<p>"How can you know seven days will be time enough?" she asked doubtfully.</p> + +<p>"In a few minutes I am expecting a visit from Sitab, a high-ranking +guard of Jaltor's court," he explained. "He is in my employ, secretly, +and will do as I wish. I shall instruct him to learn if Heglar and +Garlud are held in the pits beneath Jaltor's palace. If they are, he +will arrange the deaths of both; if they are not there we can assume +both are already dead and act accordingly. But first I must <i>know</i>, +Rhoa."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>She</span> stood there, erect and beautiful in the shimmering radiance of +candle light, indecision plain in her face. "When will this man Sitab +get the information for you?"</p> + +<p>"Tonight! Between the hour I discuss the problem with him and the hour +of dawn. You will do this my way, Rhoa?"</p> + +<p>A discreet knock at the door interrupted her reply. Vokal, sudden alarm +plain in his face, stiffened. "Who is there?"</p> + +<p>"The guard, Most-High," said a voice, muffled by the planks. "A second +visitor, who refused to give his name, awaits your pleasure."</p> + +<p>"It is Sitab," Vokal told the woman, whispering. "Will you give me those +seven suns, Rhoa? Will you go now, and be patient for that long? What is +your answer?"</p> + +<p>Abruptly she nodded. "Seven suns, Vokal. But no more than seven."</p> + +<p>His breath of relief was clearly audible. "Good!" He went to the door +and drew the bar. "Hide your face so that none may know who you are. +Goodbye."</p> + +<p>He drew open the heavy door and the woman, her face concealed by the +folds of her heavy cloak, swept regally through, past the staring guard +and a short, barrel-chested man in the tunic of a guard of Jaltor's +court.</p> + +<p>Vokal, his handsome face completely without expression, crooked a finger +at the latter. "Enter, my friend," he said cordially. "You have arrived +at exactly the right time."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Shortly</span> after arriving at the palace of his father, following the +surprising interview with Jaltor, ruler of Ammad, Tamar had gone to his +room and his bed.</p> + +<p>But not to sleep. His thoughts were of his friend Jotan and the trouble +that had befallen the young Ammadian noble. Tamar never doubted Garlud's +innocence and he longed to take some action that would clear both father +and son. In keeping with Jaltor's instructions he had told his own +father nothing of what had taken place, letting him think Jotan had died +beneath the claws and fangs of Sadu, the lion.</p> + +<p>After more than two hours of fitful tossing, Tamar rose from his bed and +entered the living room of his suite. He was standing at one of the +windows overlooking sleeping Ammad, when a discreet knock at the door +startled him out of his reverie.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" he called.</p> + +<p>"The corridor guard," said an apologetic voice. "A young woman wishes to +speak with you, noble Tamar. Upon an urgent matter, she says."</p> + +<p>Tamar crossed the room quickly and unbarred the door. Beyond the +stalwart figure of the guard was the softly curved form of a woman whose +hair was very black and who, despite the folds of a cloak held to shadow +her face, seemed young and beautiful....</p> + +<p>"Alurna!" Tamar gasped incredulously. "What are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>She shook her head warningly, en<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span>tered and waited until Tamar had closed +the door. The nobleman helped her remove the cloak and she sank down on +a nearby stool.</p> + +<p>"I thought you would be sleeping," she said, smiling a little.</p> + +<p>Trouble clouded his fine eyes. "I could not sleep," he said huskily. "I +tried. But I keep thinking...."</p> + +<p>"Of Jotan," the girl finished. "And his father. We must help them, +Tamar. We must not leave them to rot in the pits of Ammad."</p> + +<p>"But what can we do?"</p> + +<p>"Do you know how to reach the pits without being seen?"</p> + +<p>He stared at her. "What difference would that make?"</p> + +<p>"Why can't we free them, Tamar? Give them a chance to learn who is +behind the plot against them." She leaned toward him, her face set with +determined lines. "My uncle, it seems, is content to let them suffer +until time works out the problem of who is guilty. I say Jotan and his +father should be allowed to do something themselves to hurry matters!"</p> + +<p>"But there's no way——"</p> + +<p>"Are you sure? Have you thought about it before this?"</p> + +<p>He hesitated. "No-o. But it could mean imprisonment for us if we fail, +Alurna. Jaltor can be completely ruthless; if he learned we were +attempting to interfere with his way of doing things ... well it could +be too bad for us."</p> + +<p>Color crept into her cheeks but she met his eyes resolutely. "Jotan +means enough to me to risk that," she said flatly. "Do <i>you</i> feel that +way?"</p> + +<p>He rose and began to pace the floor. "You're right. Let me think. There +is an entrance to the corridors housing the pits of Jaltor's palace, an +entrance supposedly secret, which Jotan himself once pointed out to me."</p> + +<p>He wheeled suddenly and entered his sleeping quarters, returning a +moment later with a flint knife in a sheath at his belt and there was +the light of battle in his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Return to your room, Alurna," he said grimly. "I will go to free Jotan +and his men."</p> + +<p>She shook her head. "This was my idea and I'm going with you."</p> + +<p>"But—but this is dangerous! If I am caught I shall be thrown in the +pits myself—perhaps killed. This is no venture for a woman!"</p> + +<p>"It is a venture for <i>this</i> woman," she replied doggedly. "Jotan is to +be my mate ... even though he may not realize that yet. He must find me +beside you when we rescue him."</p> + +<p>For a long moment they stared into each other's eyes—then Tamar's +shoulder rose and fell in surrender.</p> + +<p>"As you wish," he said.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Sitab</span>, warrior of the palace of Jaltor, moved stealthily down a steep +ramp. About him was darkness more intense than that of a tomb, forcing +him to feel his way with infinite slowness lest a misstep make a noise +loud enough to rouse one or more of the guards in the arms-rooms here +and there among the subterranean corridors.</p> + +<p>From one of his hands trailed a heavy spear; in the other was a +keen-edged knife of flint ready for the first man who should find him +where Sitab had no right to be.</p> + +<p>For whoever he came across now must die. It would not do for word to +reach Jaltor on the morrow that Sitab, a trusted guard, had been seen on +his way to the pits.</p> + +<p>A miasmic odor of damp decay seemed to increase in strength the further +below the earth's surface he progressed. Now and then a water rat would +rustle across his path, its passage marked only by the rasp of claws on +rock. Damp stretches of slippery surface proved difficult to negotiate +and on several occasions he saved himself from falling only by a quick +movement of his feet. Now and then he would step into ankle-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>deep pools +of chill water, bringing an involuntary gasp to his lips.</p> + +<p>At long last his feet found no ramp where one should have been and he +realized he now stood at the beginning of the deepest corridor beneath +the palace. For a long moment he stood there, his ears straining to +catch some sound of life. As from a great distance he caught the muffled +snores of sleeping men, the faint murmurings of troubled words from a +mind dreaming of the horrors to which it awakened after each sleep.</p> + +<p>Grasping his spear tighter, Sitab inched his way cautiously along the +corridor until his ears told him he was standing between twin rows of +cells. From the belt of his robe he drew a small length of tinder-like +wood and from a pouch in the same belt came a small ball-like bit of +stone, its interior hollowed to hold a supply of moss in the center of +which glowed a single coal of fire. Drawing the perforated bit of wood +serving as a cork, Sitab let the bit of fire roll out onto the miniature +torch. It rested there, glowing redly as he breathed against it. When a +minute of this had gone by a tiny tongue of fire rose to life and within +seconds the torch was fully lighted, dispelling the ink-like gloom about +him.</p> + +<p>On silent feet Sitab moved from door to door of the cells. At each +barred opening he let the rays of light seep into the tiny interior of +the room beyond while his eyes sought to identify the sleeping men.</p> + +<p>Some he saw were hardly recognizable as human, so long had they lain +prisoner in this awful hole. Matted hair hung over faces so thin and +emaciated as hardly to be human at all. Others he saw were still in +excellent physical condition: these had been here only a little while.</p> + +<p>But none was familiar to him until he was well down the first row. As he +peered into this particular cell, he saw a man lying asleep on the bare +stone platform which served this cell, as in others, as a crude bunk. +The sleeper's face was turned toward the wall, shadowed by a raised arm, +so that Sitab was unable to make out the features. But something was +familiar about the man's general build and the shape of his head, and +for several minutes Sitab stood there waiting for the man to stir in his +sleep sufficiently for his face to be seen.</p> + +<p>When full five minutes had passed without this taking place, Sitab broke +a small piece of the rotting wood from his torch and flipped it +unerringly through the barred grating of the door. It struck lightly +against the bare arm of the sleeper, and he sighed heavily, stirred, +then turned his face toward the light.</p> + +<p>Sitab stiffened, waiting for the man to awake and cry out in alarm at +the glare of the torch. But the eyes did not open and the prisoner +lapsed back into complete slumber. Only then did Sitab see who lay +sleeping there.</p> + +<p>It was Jotan.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A slight</span> gasp escaped the guard's lips. Jotan <i>here</i>! But Jotan was +dead! Vokal himself had said as much.</p> + +<p>Sitab smiled. No matter that Vokal had been misinformed; Jotan would be +dead within seconds. Vokal would reward him well for killing both Jotan +<i>and</i> Garlud—if the latter were imprisoned here as well.</p> + +<p>How best to kill him? Open the door, creep to the side of the sleeping +man and plunge the spearhead into his heart? That would be the quietest +way ... and also the most dangerous. What if Jotan were in reality +awake—lying there waiting for this unknown visitor to enter the cell, +then jumping upon him in a bid for freedom.</p> + +<p>A glance at those muscles, even though apparently relaxed in sleep, was +enough to give him his decision. <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span>Lifting his spear, he thrust its point +between the bars of the door, aimed it squarely at Jotan's exposed +chest—and tensed his muscles to launch the heavy weapon.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h2> +<h3>AMBUSH</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>For</span> a long time after Sitab was gone, Vokal remained seated on a low +bench in the living room of his apartment. Worry was crowding in on his +mind, the ambition that had led him into discrediting Garlud was proving +itself a curse, and his love for Rhoa, wife of old Heglar, was now a +burdensome thing that had cost him a thousand tals and might end up +costing him his life.</p> + +<p>Well, the die was cast now; there was no turning back. Dawn was no more +than two or three hours away; long before Dyta's golden rays flooded +Ammad's streets Sitab should have returned with word that Heglar and +Garlud were dead. Everything depended on that now—it was still not too +late to recoup, winning back his thousand tals and a higher place in +Ammad's society.</p> + +<p>The silver-haired nobleman rose from his chair and reached for the +candle to blow out its flame. A few hour's sleep would make him better +able to face the morrow....</p> + +<p>... From her place on the narrow balcony of the nobleman's apartment, +Dylara watched the candle flame perish under the man's exhalation. This +time, she thought, I will not wait so long for him to fall asleep. She +watched him cross the room and disappear from sight into the sleeping +quarters beyond, waited for the space of a hundred heartbeats to be sure +he would not come into this room again, then very slowly, her heart in +her mouth, she began to move with extreme stealth across the floor +toward the corridor door.</p> + +<p>The journey seemed to take hours although two minutes were all that +passed before she reached out to remove the heavy bar Vokal had dropped +into place when his last guest was gone. With trembling fingers she set +the thick length of wood against the stone flooring and slowly swung the +door open a crack.</p> + +<p>Light gleamed dully from down the corridor. With great care she widened +the distance between the door's edge and its frame. When the space was +large enough, she put her head out cautiously and looked along the +corridor.</p> + +<p>Standing there, watching her with wide eyes, was one of the palace +guards!</p> + +<p>Shock held both Dylara and the guard momentarily paralyzed—then Dylara, +the first to recover, was into the corridor and running swiftly in the +opposite direction.</p> + +<p>Behind her she heard the guard shout a command. But before he could do +more, she was around a bend in the corridor and racing toward the stairs +she knew were further along....</p> + +<p>... Vokal, not yet completely asleep, leaped from his bed at the sound of a +sudden hoarse cry from outside his apartment. When he arrived at the +open door—a door he had only moments before barred from inside—he +found a knot of palace guards already assembled there.</p> + +<p>"What has happened?" he demanded sharply.</p> + +<p>The man regularly stationed outside his door explained in a few words.</p> + +<p>Vokal's cheeks paled at the full implication of what had occurred came +to him. Whoever this mystery woman was, she had overheard—<i>must</i> have +overheard—his conversations with both Rhoa and Sitab. Were she a +spy—someone who would go to Jaltor with what she had heard—Vokal was a +dead man!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Find her!" he screamed. "A hundred tals to the man who brings her +alive, to me. Death to all of you unless she is found! Go!"</p> + +<p>They went. They went as though the hounds of hell were at their heels. +Within seconds every floor of the palace was alight with torches, every +hall crowded with warriors, every room being searched. Guards at the +palace gates were alerted, patrols were set to scouring the grounds +between palace and outer wall.</p> + +<p>There was no sign of the missing girl.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Tharn</span>, sleeping soundly as a man does whose conscience is clear and +whose bed is no more uncomfortable than a hundred others he has +occupied, awakened suddenly. For a brief moment he lay without moving, +his ears searching for some indication of what had awakened him.</p> + +<p>There! The barest whisper of leather against stone from down the +corridor that ran past his cell door. A sandaled foot had made that +sound. Other ears—even the ears of a man already awake—would have +missed what his sleeping brain had caught.</p> + +<p>Soundlessly he left his stone bench and moved to the door. But the +darkness was such that even his unbelievably sharp eyes were helpless to +penetrate it. But if his eyes were useless, his ears were not. Fifty +feet further down the corridor a man was standing; he could hear his +breathing and the rustle of garments. A few seconds later Tharn's eyes +caught a tiny glow of light—a glow that soon swelled to a flickering +light strong enough for him to see the opposite row of barred cell +doors.</p> + +<p>Again came the whisper of sandaled feet. Presently an Ammadian guard +came into view, a heavy spear in one hand, a small torch of flaming wood +in the other. The guard was peering into each of the cells across from +Tharn, pausing at length at some, passing others quickly. Tharn wondered +at the man's attempt at stealth; since it was impossible for any of the +prisoners to get at him, such precautions could serve no evident ends.</p> + +<p>When the man reached a cell almost exactly across from Tharn, the cave +man saw him toss something through the opening framing the bars. He +heard the unseen prisoner sigh ... and then the guard raised his spear +and inserted its head through the same opening.</p> + +<p>Tharn was on the point of crying out a warning, his reason dictated only +by a desire to thwart as far as possible the hated symbol of authority +represented by this white-tunicked assassin. But in that moment he saw a +second figure steal into the outer periphery of light thrown by the +torch—a figure of a man whom Tharn recognized instantly as one of those +who had accompanied Jotan on his search for Dylara a few days before.</p> + +<p>As the arm holding the spear tensed to send it plunging into the unseen +prisoner, the newcomer leaped cat-like upon the would-be assassin. There +was a startled cry that echoed along the subterranean hall and the two +men became a squirming knot of arms and legs.</p> + +<p>And then abruptly the threshing figures were still as the second man +pressed the blade of a flint knife against the other's thinly clad back.</p> + +<p>"Not a move," growled Tamar, "or you are a dead man!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Now</span> a lovely dark-haired girl came into view, her face revealed by the +flickering light of the still burning torch lying on the corridor's +flooring. As she bent to pick up the bit of blazing wood Tharn +recognized her as Urim's daughter, whose life he had saved on a long +gone day.</p> + +<p>"What were you up to there?" growled Tamar. "Who are you and what——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"<i>Tamar!</i>"</p> + +<p>The cry came from behind the barred door from which the young nobleman +had just drawn the cringing Sitab. There, framed in the barred opening, +was Jotan!</p> + +<p>Alurna, a faint cry of happiness on her lips, rushed to the door and +removed the heavy bar. Jotan bounded into the narrow hallway, gave +Sephar's princess a thankful pat on the back, then turned to Tamar.</p> + +<p>"What's going on here? Who is this guard? How did you find me?"</p> + +<p>"First," Tamar said, "I'm going to find out why this son of Gubo was +about to send a spear into you!"</p> + +<p>At Jotan's blank expression, Tamar explained what had been about to +happen when he and Alurna arrived. Whereupon Jotan took the trembling +Sitab by the front of his tunic and shook him until most of his breath +was gone.</p> + +<p>"Who sent you?" Jotan snarled. "Speak before I strangle you with my bare +hands!"</p> + +<p>"I dare not tell you! He would kill me!" Sitab cried through chattering +teeth.</p> + +<p>Again Jotan shook him. "But I will cut you into tiny pieces if you do +not tell. First I will cut your toes and fingers from your rotten body, +then I will dig out your eyes and chop off your——"</p> + +<p>Sitab had fainted.</p> + +<p>Three ringing slaps brought the man back to consciousness. In a voice +made shrill with terror he gave the name of the man who had sent him.</p> + +<p>Tamar and Jotan stared at each other in utter amazement as the name of +Vokal fell from those craven lips. Angrily Jotan hurled the shrinking +figure from him, Sitab fell headlong against the stone wall and lapsed +into a motionless heap of quivering flesh.</p> + +<p>Tamar said, "That's all we need! We can go to Jaltor and tell him what +this coward has said; then he will free you and your father and put +Vokal in your place."</p> + +<p>"My father lives?" cried Jotan. "I thought Jaltor had slain him."</p> + +<p>Quickly Tamar explained what had actually happened. When he had +finished, Jotan said, "Before we do anything else I must find my father. +Help me search these cells, both of you."</p> + +<p>"He may not be on this level," Tamar said. "We could spend hours hunting +him. The thing to do would be to go to Jaltor——"</p> + +<p>But Jotan was already on his way along the corridor, peering in at the +occupant of each.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Minutes</span> later there was a sizable group of men freed from the cells and +grouped about Jotan and Tamar. Among them was Garlud, Jotan's father, +his gaunt face wreathed in smiles, his strength, sapped by long days of +imprisonment, flowing back at the realization he was free and in +possession of the name of the man who had brought about his downfall. +The others were those members of Jotan's party who had accompanied him +from far-off Sephar, released from their brief imprisonment and ready +for action.</p> + +<p>Tamar said, "And now we can go to Jaltor and tell him what happened!"</p> + +<p>"We shall have to take this man"—Jotan pointed to the fallen and +unmoving body of Sitab—"to Jaltor as our only witness against Vokal."</p> + +<p>Garlud said, "It is hard to believe that Vokal is the one behind all +this trouble. We have been friends for many years, all of Ammad loves +him, even Jaltor admires him more than almost any noble of the court."</p> + +<p>"He is behind the plot against us, father," Jotan said sharply. "There +can be no doubt about it."</p> + +<p>"We shall need overwhelming proof."</p> + +<p>"Our proof lies there." Jotan waved <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>a hand at the motionless bulk near +the wall. "Get him on his feet, somebody; it's time he told his story to +Jaltor, king of Ammad!"</p> + +<p>Tamar bent above the fallen man and shook him. "Come! You've rested long +enough!"</p> + +<p>But Sitab did not move and Tamar shook him again, harder this time, and +repeated the order. Then suddenly the young noble was kneeling beside +the still form of the guard and placing a hand against the tunic over +his heart.</p> + +<p>In the silence Tamar rose to his feet and met the stricken eyes of his +friends. "He is dead," he said simply.</p> + +<p>"There dies our proof," Garlud said glumly. "Now it is our word against +Vokal's."</p> + +<p>"No!" Jotan swung around to face his father and Tamar. "There is another +way. We can go to Vokal's palace, pull him from his bed and force him to +confess!"</p> + +<p>"And what of Vokal's loyal guards and warriors?" Garlud said soberly. +"Do you think they will idly stand aside and permit that?"</p> + +<p>Jotan swept out his hand in a half circle. "Here are fifty men—stalwart +warriors all. And in your own palace, father, are hundreds more. I say +let us go to our own palace, gather together our warriors and march upon +Vokal!"</p> + +<p>"You forget," Garlud said softly, "that I am regarded as an enemy of the +State. As such, my palace and possessions are confiscated and my +warriors stripped of their weapons and confined to quarters."</p> + +<p>"Jotan," said a quiet voice from behind them.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>The</span> group of men standing about the subterranean corridor beneath the +palace of Jaltor of Ammad, turned as the quiet voice reached their ears.</p> + +<p>Standing at the barred opening of one of the locked cells, the strong +handsome face, visible in the light of the late Sitab's torch, was +Tharn, a slight smile on his lips.</p> + +<p>"Who calls my name?" demanded the young noble, stepping nearer the door +of the cell.</p> + +<p>"It is I—Tharn, son of Tharn, the cave man. Have you forgotten the +times we have met in the past?"</p> + +<p>Recognition dawned in Jotan's expression. "Of course! You are the man +who claimed Dylara belonged to you."</p> + +<p>"And she still belongs to me," Tharn said quietly.</p> + +<p>"She lives?" Even the absence of more than dim light could not hide the +sudden hope flaring in the young nobleman's eyes.</p> + +<p>Tharn nodded. "Even now she is held prisoner by the man who has plotted +against you."</p> + +<p>Jotan stiffened. "You mean Vokal? How do you know this?"</p> + +<p>Tharn, with a few terse words, explained what had taken place at Vokal's +palace only a few short hours before. When he finished, Jotan was ready +to start out for that nobleman's palace, alone if necessary, to rescue +her. But others of the group remonstrated, pointing out the rashness of +such a move. As they stood there arguing the point, Tharn's clear voice +brought them into silence once more.</p> + +<p>"There are too few of you to march against Vokal," he pointed out. "But +all around you are men who are no better than dead as long as they +remain behind bars. Free them, arm them with the weapons of the guards +attached to this wing of Jaltor's palace, and they will march with you +to overcome your enemy."</p> + +<p>The idea caught instant hold. Moments later the group of fifty had +swollen to three times that number as cell after cell of the lower three +levels of Jaltor's pits were emptied.</p> + +<p>There were some of the prisoners who held back, preferring to remain +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span>behind bars rather than become involved in a war between noblemen; +while others had spent too long below ground to be little more than +empty shells of men.</p> + +<p>It was on the fourth level that they found several rooms furnished as +quarters for the guards stationed in this wing of the palace. An +ante-room contained a large supply of spears, bows and arrows and +knives, but guards were on duty at that point, while a dozen others +slept in the adjoining room.</p> + +<p>After a brief council of war, it was decided that Tharn and Trakor would +attempt to creep up on the two guards on duty just within the entrance +to the arms-room and overpower them without permitting an alarm to be +given. Should they succeed in doing this, it would be a simple matter to +bar the only exit to the sleeping quarters, thus effectively keeping +Jotan's men from being surprised from the rear by Jaltor's warriors.</p> + +<p>While the embryo army waited on the level below, Tharn and young Trakor +crept up the next ramp and moved stealthily toward their goal. Almost at +once Trakor returned, a broad grin creasing his face, and beckoned the +others to join him.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>They</span> found both guards bound and gagged, the door into the guard's +quarters closed and barred, and weapons enough for an army at their +disposal. With muffled cries of joy the men swept up bows, arrows, +spears and knives; and what a few minutes before had been an unarmed mob +was now a small compact army of disciplined men, ready to win amnesty +and a nobleman's favor by helping to expose a traitor.</p> + +<p>So great was the excitement, so strong the exultation of them all, that +none noticed one of the recently freed prisoners detach himself from the +group and steal back into the corridor. An instant later this man was +fleeing rapidly up the final ramp, on his way to freedom.</p> + +<p>For more than an hour now the palace and grounds of Vokal, nobleman of +Ammad, had been the scene of great activity. Every guard, every servant, +scoured the four floors and palace grounds, inch by inch, in search for +the girl who had fled Vokal's room.</p> + +<p>While seemingly everywhere at once, the silver-haired nobleman spurred +them on, his calmness gone, his eyes wild, fear riding him hard. He +alone of them all knew what it would mean for him were this girl to +escape and find her way to Jaltor with the knowledge she had gained +while lurking on the balcony outside his private suite.</p> + +<p>He was standing now in a room on the first floor, giving directions to +Ekbar, captain of his guards, when one of the warriors pushed through +the crowded room, a stranger at his heels.</p> + +<p>"Your pardon, Most-High," said the guard, "but this man came to our +gates a moment ago and demanded to see you. He says he has important +information that is for your ears alone."</p> + +<p>Vokal, turning to order the man aside, stopped and stared. The stranger +was tall and little more than a skeleton. His hair hung in long strands +to his shoulders and a heavy beard covered his face. Among a race of men +who permitted no hair to mask their countenances, the beard alone made +him worthy of attention.</p> + +<p>"Who are you," Vokal snapped, "and what do you want of me?"</p> + +<p>"I am Tarsal," croaked the stranger, "once guard in your service. Many +moons ago I fought with one of Jaltor's guards and slew him. Since that +day I have been confined in the pits of Ammad's king."</p> + +<p>Ekbar, who had been staring at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>man closely while he was speaking, +nodded. "He tells the truth, Most-High. I recognize him now."</p> + +<p>"What do you want of me?" Vokal said again, his voice shrill with +impatience.</p> + +<p>"I came to warn you," Tarsal said. "Garlud and Jotan, his son, have +escaped from their cells and have gathered together a small army taken +from Jaltor's pits. They say that it was because of you that Garlud and +Jotan were imprisoned by Jaltor, and they are coming to capture you and +take you before the king."</p> + +<p>The nobleman's skin turned a dirty white. This was ruin for him! Wildly +he sought to think of some way by which he could escape Jaltor's wrath, +once the truth came out.</p> + +<p>"What are the plans of this mob?" he demanded. "Do they expect to win +Jaltor's support in the fight against me?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of, Most-High. They spoke of stealing from the palace +and marching here to take you captive and bring you before Ammad's king +that he may hear the truth from your own lips."</p> + +<p>Vokal's brain was working with cold precision. There was a way out, +then! Were he and his warriors able to ambush this gang of prison rats, +able to wipe them out to the last man, there would be none left alive to +tell Jaltor what they had hoped to accomplish.</p> + +<p>All thoughts of the mysterious young woman who had raced from his +apartment earlier that night were forgotten as he whirled about to +confront the open-mouthed Ekbar.</p> + +<p>"There is still time," he cried, "to save ourselves. Listen to me +closely, Ekbar, and do exactly as I say!"</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>As</span> the heavily armed force of perhaps one hundred and fifty men entered +one of Ammad's broad avenues no more than two blocks from Vokal's +palace, Jotan called it to a halt while the leaders conferred.</p> + +<p>Five men comprised the leadership of the relatively small army. They +were Jotan and his father, Tamar, Tharn and young Trakor. Almost from +the first it was Tharn to whom the others turned for guidance, despite +the fact that he was a complete stranger to Ammad.</p> + +<p>"How many men," Tharn asked, "are likely to be defending Vokal's +palace?"</p> + +<p>"No less than five hundred," Jotan said grimly. "We shall be badly +outnumbered my friend."</p> + +<p>"We have something on our side worth hundreds of warriors," Tharn +observed. "Surprise is our biggest and best ally. If we can win our way +into Vokal's palace and reach the quarters of Vokal himself before his +guards are sufficiently alerted to interfere, the fight will be over +before it begins."</p> + +<p>"And how do you propose this shall be done?"</p> + +<p>Tharn rubbed his chin while his quick mind reviewed the situation. "I +think," he said finally, "That it would be better if Trakor and I went +ahead and removed the guards outside the wall gates. Then our entire +force can enter the grounds themselves and hide in the shrubbery there +until a door at the rear of the palace can be unbarred. It might serve +us best if Trakor and I go directly to Vokal's room and take him captive +before we give the signal for the rest of you to enter."</p> + +<p>Garlud was shaking his head. "No. That is risking too much. If the two +of you were captured, the entire palace would be alerted before the rest +of us could put a foot inside it. Then indeed would we be helpless; +Vokal's men could cut us down from the safety of the palace walls."</p> + +<p>The five stood there in the silent sleeping street, stone walls rising +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>steep and bleak on either side, the entire army behind them hidden from +chance view by the almost total lack of light. There was less than two +hours remaining before dawn and they must act quickly or lose their +chief aid: the darkness of the now moonless night.</p> + +<p>It was finally decided that Tharn and Trakor, as a tribute to their +superior experience in tracking down the most wary of prey, were the +ones to remove the guards outside at least two of the gates in Vokal's +wall of stone.</p> + +<p>And so it was that the two Cro-Magnards stole away into the darkness, +armed with arrows and bow and two good flint knives.</p> + +<p>Half an hour later both were back, reporting success to the other +leaders. "It was almost too easy," Tharn said thoughtfully. "Where there +were four guards at one of the gates earlier tonight, I found but +one—and he was sitting with his back to the gate and fast asleep. After +I slew him I went on to help Trakor, only to learn he had had an almost +similar experience."</p> + +<p>"It is not uncommon for guards to sleep at their posts," Jotan said +impatiently. "Let us get started before other of Vokal's guards discover +the gates are unguarded and rouse the palace defenders."</p> + +<p>"I think we should make sure we are not going blindly into some trap," +Tharn demurred. "This entire thing is suspicious ... too easy."</p> + +<p>But Jotan waved the cave lord into silence. "Can't you understand," he +said crisply, "that we don't have time for that? I say let's get on with +our plan and not spend time worrying about things that will never +happen."</p> + +<p>In this both Garlud and Tamar agreed, and so Tharn shrugged and said no +more. He was in league with these Ammadians for only one reason: to make +it that much easier for him to snatch Dylara from this strange city and +return with her to the caves of his own people. What had happened to +her, once he and Trakor had fled Vokal's palace earlier that night, +leaving her hidden within the building, was something he could not know. +But there was no other place in all of Ammad he knew where to look for +her, and so he must act in the belief that she still was behind the +palace walls, either hidden there or once more a captive of the rascally +nobleman.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>Less</span> than half an hour later all of Jotan's band of warriors squatted +behind the belt of foliage just within the walls of Vokal's sprawling +palace. In the dim light of stars they could look out between the +interstices of growing things, seeing the many windowed bulk of stone +rising four full floors above the neighboring terrain. No where in all +that vast expanse was there a sign of life. No candle showed its brief +flame at any window. Silent and dark and somehow a place of brooding +danger.</p> + +<p>After another whispered conference, Tharn left the other leaders of the +band and flitted across the open ground, moving like a black shadow +toward the same doorway through which Trakor had raced to join him only +an hour or two earlier.</p> + +<p>Those watching him from the shadowy foliage lost sight of him almost at +once; and when, a few moments later, he seemed to rise from the ground +almost under their noses, a startled gasp from a dozen throats made a +rustling sound against the heavy silence.</p> + +<p>"The door is still unbarred," Tharn reported, frowning. "I am even surer +now, noble Jotan, that we are heading straight for a trap set up by the +wily Vokal."</p> + +<p>"He could not know our plans," Jotan said impatiently. "It means simply +that they forgot to bar the door after the excitement you and your +friend caused them earlier. Things are work<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>ing out well for us."</p> + +<p>Tharn smiled his enigmatic smile and said no more. Quickly the five +leaders moved among their eager troops, issuing orders down the line. +And then, at a single word from Jotan the band of one hundred and fifty +armed men stepped into the open and started for the palace walls.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the shrill cry of a woman rose against the weighted silence. +"Back!" the voice screamed from high above them. "Go back! It is a +trap!"</p> + +<p>"Dylara!" Tharn shouted, and with great bounding strides he raced toward +the palace. Startled by the shrill shout, puzzled by Tharn's dash into +the jaws of what might be a trap, the hundred and fifty wavered +uncertainly, then charged after the racing cave man.</p> + +<p>And as the first wave of Jotan's warriors reached the halfway mark in +the clearing, a hundred flaming branches were hurled from the open +windows into the courtyard beneath, their flames lighting up the entire +ribbon of open ground and disclosing the pitifully small army to the +waiting warriors of Vokal.</p> + +<p>A rain of arrows, spears and clubs now rained down from those windows +upon the men beneath. Men reeled and fell, some instantly dead, others +badly wounded. Some of those unhit stopped in their tracks, looked +wildly around, then turned to flee for the safety of the street behind +them.</p> + +<p>And it was then that Vokal's masterful plan was fully unveiled. From +those same openings through the stone wall encircling Vokal's estate, +came other of that nobleman's warriors, stationed in places of +concealment outside, their purpose to close off the last avenue of +escape for Jotan's troops.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>In</span> all this confusion, with death threatening from all sides, Trakor had +eyes only for his friend and companion—Tharn, lord of the caves.</p> + +<p>At first he did not comprehend what lay behind the cave man's mad dash +toward the palace. But when he saw Tharn leap lightly up to catch the +sill of one window, then swarm rapidly up toward the second story, he +understood fully what lay in the giant warrior's mind.</p> + +<p>One of Vokal's warriors leaned from a window directly in Tharn's path +and raised his spear with the obvious intention of burying its head in +the cave man's defenseless body as it hung a full fifteen feet above the +ground. Trakor, seeing this, fitted an arrow to his bow with unthinkable +quickness and sent the flint tipped missile across space and full into +the enemy warrior's exposed chest.</p> + +<p>The heavy spear rolled from an already dead hand and the man fell +loosely across the wide sill as Tharn worked his way upward past the +limp body.</p> + +<p>Three more attempts were made by those within to bring down the climbing +cave man. On each occasion Trakor, standing like a rock amid a shower of +deadly weapons that struck every where about him, brought down the +would-be killer.</p> + +<p>Tharn was only a few feet from the roof's edge now, his naked feet and +long-fingered hands finding foot—and hand-holds where Trakor would have +sworn none existed.</p> + +<p>Trakor, watching, groaned with sudden fear. Barely visible in the +flickering light of torches below, a figure appeared at the roof's edge +directly above Tharn's rising form. In the figure's hands was a heavy +spear and the arm holding it swept aloft preparatory to skewering Tharn +on its point.</p> + +<p>Even as Trakor witnessed this, an arrow from his bow was flashing up +toward that menacing warrior. But the combination of bad light, distance +and the necessity for haste was too great a handicap for success, and +the arrow whizzed wide of its mark.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span></p> + +<p>Again Trakor groaned. There was no time for a second shot. Tharn was +doomed to die.</p> + +<p>And in that second a slender figure appeared at the roof's edge beside +the would-be assassin and threw itself headlong against him. The man +staggered back under the impact, his spear falling from his hand, then +turned and closed with the newcomer.</p> + +<p>As the two of them teetered there on the thin strip of stone forming the +roof's edge, Tharn's strong hands closed about that same edge and he +rose to his feet. He saw who it was that had saved his life: Dylara, +daughter of Majok.</p> + +<p>Even as he raced forward to save the girl he loved from being thrown +into the void below, Tharn knew he was too late. Voicing a scream of +fear, Dylara reeled back and toppled into space!</p> + +<p>As her feet left the roof, Tharn threw himself headlong in a direction +parallel with the edge, one arm out-thrust, the other bent to check his +fall. For one agonizing second the reaching hand encountered only air; +then his fingers brushed against cloth, closed like a snapped trap, and +as his muscular frame crashed against the roof's edge, a sudden jerk +against his outstretched arm told him he had checked Dylara's fall.</p> + +<p>A heavy sandal thudded home against his ribs, nearly rolling him into +the void and to death on the packed earth below. Before the swinging +foot could strike home a second time, Tharn was on his feet and Dylara +was swung back to safety of the roof.</p> + +<p>As Tharn released the girl, the screaming, clawing figure of his enemy +closed upon him. In the faint light, Tharn saw the other's hair was a +silvery white and beneath it was a face once gentle but now transformed +into the mask of a madman.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A grim</span> smile touched Tharn's lips as one of his brawny arms snaked out +and caught the raving beast that had once been Vokal, third most +powerful and influential figure in all Ammad. With almost casual ease +Tharn swung the human form high above his head, then tossed him, a +screaming missile of terror, to the ground below.</p> + +<p>A long eerie wailing cry ended suddenly and the thud of flesh against +earth seemed to jar into silence the tumult filling the grounds of the +late Vokal's palace. In the light of the still burning torches Vokal's +lifeless body was clearly visible to the palace defenders.</p> + +<p>In that hushed moment, Jotan took advantage of the miracle that had +saved the remnants of his fighting force.</p> + +<p>"Vokal is dead!" he shouted. "Vokal the traitor is no more! Lay down +your arms, warriors of the dead Vokal! Lay down your arms that you may +win forgiveness from Jaltor, king of Ammad!"</p> + +<p>A wavering moment of indecision followed as the warriors at the palace +windows stood with raised weapons hesitating to decide one way or the +other. And in that moment a brawny figure appeared at one of the open +windows.</p> + +<p>"Death to the invader!" shouted Ekbar, captain of the late Vokal's +guards. "Avenge the noble Vokal! Kill them all!"</p> + +<p>As the last words left his lips a second man appeared beside the +captain. Before the latter could realize what was taking place a stone +knife flashed in a savage arc, burying its length in his heart.</p> + +<p>Ekbar voiced a single scream of anguish and toppled across the sill and +to the ground beneath, dead beside the master he had so faithfully +served.</p> + +<p>While from that same window a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>young warrior of that same dead master +smiled with grim satisfaction. Otar had made sure his bride, the lovely +Marua, would never again be visited by her former suitor.</p> + +<p>With Ekbar died the last of all resistance against Jotan's invading +warriors. Scores of weapons fell uselessly to the ground and the palace +defenders began to stream from the building, their hands lifted in +surrender.</p> + +<p>And it was then that a quiet voice from behind Jotan and his father +said:</p> + +<p>"Are the pits of Jaltor so shallow that they may not hold my enemies?"</p> + +<p>The nobleman and his son wheeled about, then stiffened to rigid +attention at sight of Jaltor, king of Ammad, standing at the forefront +of a squad of his own guards.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h2> +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> + + +<p><span class='smcap'>Dawn</span> had come an hour before but the group of seven people sat about the +breakfast table in the private dining room of Jaltor, ruler of Ammad.</p> + +<p>It was a wide, richly furnished room on the top floor of the city's +palace. The east wall was composed entirely of windows, barred by +fluted, slender columns of white stone, through which streamed the +bright rays of morning sun.</p> + +<p>"Had you delayed your escape from the pits another two hours," Jaltor +was saying, "all of you would have been freed without having to fight +for proof of your innocence. For old Heglar's mate, the beautiful Rhoa, +had been followed to Vokal's palace, and when she left there, my men +picked her up and brought her to me at the palace. Strangely enough she +was not at all hesitant about betraying Vokal; I think she believed he +was trying to get out of taking her as his mate."</p> + +<p>"Then instead of helping," Alurna said, smiling, "I nearly brought about +Jotan's death. That should be a lesson to me not to mix in another's +affairs!"</p> + +<p>Jotan smiled at her briefly, then went back to his apparently careful +examination of the earthen plate in front of him. Ever since he had +seated himself across the table from Dylara and the broad-shouldered +young cave man next to her he had little to say. But in his mind there +was a welter of conflicting thoughts and emotions.</p> + +<p>Fate had thrown the girl he loved into the arms of the man who long ago +had claimed her as his mate. The fortunes of war had made that same man +Jotan's ally during the night just past. Could Jotan, then, turn against +his ally because he too loved the girl whom Jotan desired above all +others?</p> + +<p>He stole a glance at the radiant young woman who held his heart in the +hollow of one slender hand. How lovely she was! And how closely she +leaned toward the young giant of the caves who sat beside her. Her +smiles were for the man of her own kind; as the minutes passed they +seemed more and more to belong to each other.</p> + +<p>Well, it was up to Dylara now. Soon she would be called upon to make a +decision: to accompany the cave man back across the vast expanse of +plain and forest and mountain range to the caves of his people ... or to +remain within Ammad as the mate of Jotan, nobleman of Ammad.</p> + +<p>Beside Jotan, no less lovely in a completely different physical +appearance, was Alurna of Sephar, daughter of one king and niece of +another. Often her eyes strayed to the handsome young nobleman next to +her. She saw his eyes go to the girl of the caves and back to his plate +again as a wave of color poured up into his cheeks. She knew what was +going on in his mind—knew it as if he had spoken the words aloud! The +next few hours would decide what her future life would be: Jotan's mate +or <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>a woman who had lost her bid for happiness.</p> + +<p>In all that room, perhaps, only two men did not feel the cross currents +of emotions that seemed to make electric the very air about them. One +missed it entirely because he was very young and interested in only one +person—that was Trakor. The other was Tharn; and while he understood +what lay behind Jotan's studied preoccupation, he was indifferent to it. +Dylara belonged to him—and though an entire nation might stand between +them, he would claim her for his own.</p> + +<p>As for Dylara, she smiled warmly at everyone and said little. For she +too was waiting—waiting with the serenity of one whose mind is made up +as to the course her life would take.</p> + +<p>"All of you are weary," Jaltor said finally. "I suggest slaves show you +to the quarters I have set aside for those of you who wish to remain as +my guests."</p> + +<p>His eyes went to the three cave people questioningly. There was a moment +of weighted silence ... and into it Tharn said:</p> + +<p>"Dylara, Trakor and I are far from the caves of our people. I, for one, +am anxious to start back. Perhaps we will sleep until tomorrow's +sun—then begin our journey."</p> + +<p>As he finished speaking, his eyes came to rest upon the cave girl.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p><span class='smcap'>A breathless</span> hush seemed to settle over the room. The moment had +come—and Tharn had so phrased his words that the daughter of Majok now +held the key to the hopes of two men ... and the choice was hers, +without pressure from either of those two.</p> + +<p>Jotan's head came up and his eyes met the brown, sun-flecked gaze of the +cave girl. A deep, chest-swelling breath filled his lungs....</p> + +<p>"I am not tired," Dylara said calmly. "I would like to start for your +caves at once, Tharn."</p> + +<p>And with those words, and the lifting of her hand as she placed it on +the cave lord's bronzed forearm, Dylara made her choice.</p> + +<p>Pain—the awful pain of unrequited love—rose like flames in Jotan's +heart. Rose until they shook him with agony ... swelled ... and broke to +settle back under the man's iron control.</p> + +<p>He was conscious, then, that a soft hand had placed itself on one of his +as it lay palm down against the table. He looked down at it, not +understanding, then lifted his eyes slowly to meet the troubled eyes of +Alurna....</p> + +<p>Jotan said, "I had hoped that you three would remain in Ammad for a few +suns as the guests of my father and me. But I can understand your +eagerness to return to your own people."</p> + +<p>Dyta, the sun, stood two hours above the eastern horizon. On a small +hillock a few yards from the edge of dense jungle and forest not far +from Ammad's walls, stood a group of Jaltor's warriors flanking the king +and his guests.</p> + +<p>Silence, broken only by the voices of diurnal jungle, held those on the +high bit of ground as they watched the three Cro-Magnons move lightly +toward that towering wall of verdure. They moved lightly, eagerly, as +though anxious to lose themselves among the riotous vegetation, a +familiar world to them.</p> + +<p>Jotan, watching, felt a strange peace come into his heart. Only now did +realization come that at no time during the past moons since Dylara had +come into his life did he have the slightest chance to win her love. He +stole a quick glance at the girl beside him. Here was the perfect mate +for a nobleman—his own kind, fit to take up the duties of mate to one +of his own high station. Yes, he told himself, it was better this way.</p> + +<p>His eyes went back to the three now <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span>almost within the jungle's reach. +The girl turned back and waved her hand in farewell, joined by the +lifted arms of Trakor and Tharn.</p> + +<p>Abruptly a mist seemed to form before Jotan's eyes and he bowed his +head, blinking rapidly to dispel this evidence of unmanly weakness.</p> + +<p>When he looked up again only the empty distance met his eyes.</p> + +<div class='tn'><p>TRANSCRIBERS NOTES:</p> + +<p>Minor errors in text amended as follows:</p> + +<ul> +<li>Part I, page 42: Neels > Neela: 'Neela, the zebra'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 46: along > alone: 'required courage to venture alone +into the forest'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 50: squarly > squarely: 'struck the infuriated boy +squarely in the face'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 51: bobing > bobbing: 'weaving, bobbing sensation'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 52: largly > largely: 'anger was largely responsible'. +. > ,: 'I have never slept in a tree," he laughed uncertainly'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 53: discernable > discernible: 'faintly discernible'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 55: . > ,: 'fifty men there, some of them tending'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 56: inserted ,: '"Sadu is hungry too," one of the girls +observed'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 57: inserted .: 'sound of Sadu's roar.'</li> + +<li>Part I, page 58: inserted - after Be: +'God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 60: occured > occurred: 'then there occurred'. mightly +> mighty: 'rose in a mighty leap'. sewing > sowing: 'sowing death +among the ranks'. Jaton's > Jotan's: 'Jotan's rescue'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 61: affect > effect: 'beginning to take effect on the +disorganised warriors'. casualities > casualties: 'result in further +casualties'. ' > ": 'into those shadows"'.</li> + +<li>Part I, page 62: inserted ": '"When morning comes'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 67: brough > brought: 'the hours brought a fresh +flood of curses'. inserted .: 'to his lips.' inserted .: 'Here.'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 68: inserted .: 'in his movements and expression.' +inserted .: 'bring us wine.'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 69: inserted - after May: +'God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 73: continous > continuous: 'in one continuous +motion.'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 74: removed duplicate .: 'in his direction.'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 76: hundreth > hundredth: 'for the hundredth time'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 78: 'Trakor admitted sheepishly. "But I heard' > +'Trakor admitted sheepishly, "but I heard'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 79, 110 and 111: '- - -' in text changed to '----'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 80: Rokut's > Bokut's: 'He closed the door on Bokut's +unrelieved expression'. sandles > sandals: 'strings of his sandals'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 81: startingly > startlingly: 'almost startlingly +handsome'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 83: inserted ,: 'glazed with pain, his'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 84: . > ?: 'faded blue eyes?'. inserted ": '"And if I +persist'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 90: inprints > imprints: 'imprints left by its feet.' +speciman > specimen: 'specimen of perfect manhood'. worshipping > +worshiping: 'hero-worshiping'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 91: marvelling > marveling: 'marveling at the +change'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 94: inserted his: 'face with his own sleeping furs'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 95: inserted .: 'digested this information quickly.'</li> + +<li> Part II, page 97: . > ?: 'But do you have the right to sacrifice +the lives of the rest of us in a quest that is completely hopeless?'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 99: inserted .: 'this time toward home.' trodding > +treading: 'treading on snakes'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 100: worshipping > worshiping: 'his worshiping +companion'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 103: wais > waist: 'waist-high'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 105: cacaphony > cacophony: 'the cacophony of roars'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 106: inserted it: 'what is it, Tharn?'</li> + +<li>Part II, page 107: inserted .: 'chattering of many voices.' sinous +> sinuous: 'long sinuous limb'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 108: thrist > thirst: 'pangs of thirst'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 109: contructed > constructed: 'the hut was +constructed'. nut > hut: 'this hut was practically ringed with +patrolling sentries'. inserted ,: 'once it gave, the structure'.</li> + +<li>Part II, page 110: sickenly > sickeningly: 'hut lurched +sickeningly,'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 98: marvelling > marveling: 'marveling at her +beauty'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 99: forcast > forecast: 'the storm Tharn had +forecast,'. excitment > excitement: 'it was the only excitement'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 102: marvelled > marveled: 'she marveled at how +little'. then > there: 'Here and there'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 103: an > any: 'at any moment'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 104: Trakors > Trakor's: 'in Trakor's heart.' +wariors > warriors: 'traders, warriors,'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 105: Ammad' to Ammad's: 'Ammad's noblemen'. boundry +> boundary: 'a boundary dispute'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 106: boundry > boundary: 'the boundary line'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 108: similiar > similar: 'a similar distinction,'. ' +> ": 'so easily."' drily > dryly: 'Curzad commented dryly'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 109: inserted have: 'Tharn would have unhesitatingly +charged'. inpulsive > impulsive: 'the impulsive act'. +coud > could: 'he could see'. magnificience > magnificence: +'greater size and magnificence,'. worshipping > worshiping: +'hero-worshiping'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 110: this > his: 'about his shoulders'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 111: thing > think: 'think I decided'. I"ll > I'll: +'Tell him I'll be out'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 112: hestitated > hesitated: 'He hesitated.' forseen +> foreseen: 'we had not foreseen,'. speciman > specimen: +'remarkable physical specimen'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 113: amendable > amenable: 'make him amenable.' +girls > girl: 'about a wild girl of the caves?'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 114: reconnaisance > reconnaissance: 'general +reconnaissance'. retract > retrace: 'retrace his steps'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 116: hand-and > hand- and: 'hand- and foot-holds'. +threshed > thrashed: 'thrashed and bucked.'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 117: impromtu > impromptu: 'Dylara's impromptu +club,'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 119: inserted .: 'face the monarch.'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 120: inserted - after Whose: +'God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 121: beastial > bestial: 'the bestial snarls'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 122: guage > gauge: 'chance to gauge'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 123: inserted .: 'heavy with jungle blooms.'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 124: . > ,: '"At once, Most-High."' quited > +quitted: 'only just quitted.' though > through: 'to peer through.'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 127: it is > is it: 'Who is it?"'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 128: Sephar > Ammad: 'sleeping Ammad'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 130: inserted .: 'of the door.' minature > +miniature: 'the miniature torch'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 131: inserted the: 'at the sound'. occured > occurred: 'what had occurred'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 132: than > that: 'corridor that ran past'. coridor +> corridor: 'down the corridor a man'. pasing > passing: 'passing +others quickly.'</li> + +<li>Part III, page 133: sizeable > sizable: 'a sizable group'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 134: many > few: there are too few men'. level > levels: 'lower three levels'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 135: rapidily > rapidly: 'fleeing rapidly'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 137: sing > sign: 'sign of life'. excitment > excitement: 'after the excitement'.</li> + +<li>Part III, page 138 and 139: missle > missile</li> + +<li>Part III, page 141: weighed > weighted: 'moment of weighted silence'. preocupation > preoccupation: 'Jotan's studied +preoccupation,'. sunflecked > sun-flecked. and > had: 'a soft hand +had placed itself'.</li> +</ul> + +<p>All dialogue has closing quotation marks regardless of whether it +continues on the subsequent paragraph.</p></div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Return of Tharn, by Howard Carleton Browne + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE RETURN OF THARN *** + +***** This file should be named 33529-h.htm or 33529-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/5/2/33529/ + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Adam Styles, Roger L. 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