The Return of Tharn
by Howard Browne · English · Gutenberg #33529 · 415,677 chars · public domain (US)
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Title: The Return of Tharn
Author: Howard Browne
Release date: August 24, 2010 [eBook #33529]
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33529
Credits: Produced by Greg Weeks, Adam Styles, Roger L. Holda and
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*** START OF THE 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
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.
The RETURN of THARN
By HOWARD BROWNE
[Illustration: Maddened and in pain from the flames, the lion sprang
over the burning stockade]
When Tharn set out to rescue his beloved Dylara, he did not dream
the whole Cro-Magnon world opposed him
Trakor, 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Without 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Voicing a thunderous roar, Sadu sprang.
* * * * *
Racing 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 _true man_.
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.
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 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.[1]
[1] "Warrior of the Dawn", December, 1942-January, 1943, _Amazing
Stories_.--Ed.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Near 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Thus it was that the caveman altered his course to the east and he set
off through the trees, swinging 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Never 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.
Voicing a startled shriek, Sadu rebounded from the forest floor like a
tawny ball and turned to rend his foolhardy attacker.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Tharn's smile broadened as he guessed something of what was running
through the boy's mind.
"Do you," he asked, "hunt often for Sadu with only a spear?"
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!"
"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."
"Even Sadu cannot kill a god," the boy said simply.
Tharn blinked. "A god? I am no god. I am Tharn, a man of the caves, like
you."
Trakor, while tremendously flattered at being compared with the
stranger, was far from convinced that Tharn was telling the truth.
"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."
The giant Cro-Magnard shrugged, smiling, and sought to change the
subject. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Trakor, of the tribe of Gerdak."
"The caves of your people are nearby?"
"An hour's march in that direction," Trakor said, pointing.
Tharn's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "So far? Do you often go alone this
deep into the jungle?"
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.
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.
* * * * *
When 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."
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.
"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."
"Who knows?" Tharn repeated gravely.
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 further protection. For he knew that secretly Trakor dreaded the
thought of traversing the final stretch of night-shrouded jungle.
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....
"Wait, Trakor," Tharn called.
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.
"Since my way lies in the same direction," Tharn said, "I will go with
you for a time."
"Good," Trakor said laconically. He might have said more, but he doubted
the steadiness of his own voice, so great his relief.
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.
In some way these two members of the first race of _true men_ 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.
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.
"Tell me, Tharn," Trakor said diffidently, at last, "are you not truly a
god?"
"It might be," Tharn said lightly. "Since I have never met a god, I
would not know."
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?
Well, man he might be, but never an ordinary one!
"I am glad you are a man, Tharn," he said finally. "I do not think I
would like to know a god."
"Nor would I," Tharn agreed soberly.
* * * * *
They 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.
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.
"It is Gubo, the hyena," Tharn said unexpectedly.
Trakor gasped. "How do you know that?" he demanded, both relieved and
bewildered.
"He is upwind from us."
"Upwind? You mean you can scent him?"
"Yes."
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.
"Are you sure?" he asked uneasily.
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.
"Watch," he said.
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.
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.
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.
"Where lie the caves of your people, Tharn?"
"Nearly two moons' march to the north," the cave lord replied readily
enough.
"You came so great a distance alone?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Under 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.
"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."
"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."
"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."
"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."
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.
"Then you must enter the land called Ammad and take Dylara from those
who have her?" he asked.
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."
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?"
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?"
"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."
"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."
"Did he speak of women being among them?" Tharn demanded.
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."
Tharn's hand dropped from the boy's arm. "Come," he said, and once more
they set out along the path.
CHAPTER II
CRO-MAGNON HOSPITALITY
As 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
darkness, and the shadowy forms of members of Gerdak's tribe moved
about them.
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.
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!"
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.
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.
"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?"
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.
"Who is he?" growled the chief, jerking a grimy thumb at the cave lord.
"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."
Nothing changed in Gerdak's expression. "He is not one of us. Tell him
to go at once or I will kill him!"
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.
"_YOU_ 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!"
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.
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.
* * * * *
Even 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.
As Gerdak crumbled to the ground, his spellbound warriors came to life.
With shouts of rage they leaped forward 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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
A weaving, 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.
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:
"Lie still for a little while. We are almost there."
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.
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.
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.
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.
"Where are we, Tharn?" he said finally, pleased at the matter-of-fact
tone he was able to muster.
The darkness hid Tharn's understanding smile. "A short distance from the
caves of your people."
"They are no longer my people," Trakor said hotly. "Even when I told
them you were my friend they were against you."
He was silent for a moment. Then: "What happened after Gerdak struck
me?"
Briefly Tharn told him of what 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.
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:
"Have you any idea where the Ammadians scaled the cliffs you mentioned?"
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.
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?"
"No," Trakor replied sadly. "There are many places that afford a way
over them."
"And you recall nothing Roban said which would indicate the place this
last party used?"
"No, Tharn. It could be any one of ten." When the man beside him made no
reply, he added: "What do we do now?"
* * * * *
Trakor's 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?
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!
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....
"What do we do now?" Trakor said again.
Tharn shrugged lightly, his decision made. "We wait awhile. Now we shall
sleep for an hour or two."
"Up here?" Trakor's voice faltered a little.
"Would it be better to sleep on the ground?" Tharn asked with grim
humor.
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."
"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."
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 be able to sleep, for already the chill of the jungle at
night was creeping into his bones.
Seconds later he was sleeping soundly, while above him Tharn too slept
in a fork of the same tree.
* * * * *
A hand 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.
"Come," Tharn said. "It is time we set about locating the path used by
the Ammadians in scaling the cliffside."
"At night?" Trakor asked wonderingly. "Would it not be better to wait
until there is enough light to pick up the trail?"
"I have another plan," Tharn replied evasively. "Here," he added,
stooping. "Place your arms about my neck."
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.
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.
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.
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?
Dreading the reply, he asked: "Why have we come back here, Tharn?"
"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."
"But you cannot!" cried Trakor. "The instant Gerdak and his warriors see
you their spears will cut you to pieces!"
"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."
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."
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.
"Describe Gerdak's cave to me," he said, "telling me, if you can, where
in it Roban is most likely to be sleeping."
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
* * * * *
Broken 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 wide. A few feet away,
near a side wall, lay the stocky form and hairless pate that belonged to
Gerdak, the chief.
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!
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.
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!
CHAPTER III
SADU ATTACKS
Sadu, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
"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.
"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."
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?"
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
_can't_ know, Javan--not until he either springs through the fire or
turns around and goes away."
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.
"Dylara jests, Javan," the tall, broad-shouldered man next to him said.
"There are too many of us for even several lions to attack."
"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."
* * * * *
The 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."
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 _noblesse oblige_,
and Jotan was not only alienating his friends by this mad passion but
breaking the laws of his class and his country.
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.
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 at the sound of Sadu's
roar."
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.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
And so she made answer; and while the words were directed to Tamar, it
was Jotan whom they hurt.
"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."
"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."
"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!"
* * * * *
The nails of Jotan's fingers were biting into his palms. "And would you
go with him, Dylara?" he asked between stiff lips.
The girl's lovely brown eyes softened as she saw the pain under his
carefully expressionless face.
"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."
Alurna shuddered. "You would not get very far, Dylara. The jungle beasts
would get you the first night."
"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."
"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."
"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!"
But Dylara was shaking her head. "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."
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Sadu, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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!"
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.
"What is the matter?" Majok's daughter demanded.
"The lions!" Alurna moaned through chattering teeth. "Listen!"
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.
... 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.
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.
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.
While behind him other lions, made bold by his move, also began to creep
toward the circle of fire.
* * * * *
Dylara 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.
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.
The Ammadian opened his eyes. "What--what is it? Dylara? What is wrong?"
"The lions!" Dylara said hurriedly. "Many of them. They are preparing to
charge us!"
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.
"Quick!" she exclaimed. "Throw some of the burning branches among the
trees. There is still time to drive Sadu away!"
... Sadu, at sight of the rapidly awakening camp, halted his slow
advance. For a moment he hesitated, his highly strung nerves twitching
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
While 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, Jaton'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.
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!
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.
Dylara, wise to the ways of the jungle, acted. Without a second's
hesitation 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.
With an earth-shaking roar, Sadu gave chase.
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.
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.
* * * * *
In 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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!"
"What _did_ she do?" Jotan demanded impatiently.
"The only thing she could have done: slipped through the fires and ran
for the trees."
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?"
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."
"Which way did she go?"
The warrior waved an arm toward the south. Jotan picked four men who,
carrying spears and torches, accompanied their leader in that direction.
They reached the fringe of trees and jungle to the south of the camp,
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.
"Sadu must have gotten her after all," said one of the four.
"I don't believe it!" Jotan snapped. "She knows the jungle beasts too
well for that to happen."
"Then why," asked another of the men, "does she not answer our calls?"
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."
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.
"Well, Jotan?" Tamar said quietly.
* * * * *
His 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.
Javan, blinked stolidly at the stricken man, put into words the unvoiced
question of the others. "The lions...."
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!"
The princess Alurna spoke up suddenly in silken tones. "Have you
forgotten so soon, O noble Jotan, the cave girl's own words?"
Jotan stared deep into the faintly mocking gray-green eyes of Urim's
daughter. "What do you mean?" he said stiffly.
"Did she not say: 'I would escape and return to the caves of Majok, my
father'? Did those words mean so little to you?"
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."
"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."
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?
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 standpoint 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!
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.
"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!"
[Illustration: Hers was the beauty famous across half a world]
CHAPTER IV
THE SEEDS OF TREACHERY
[Illustration]
Otar, 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.
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.
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.
"Greetings," said a hoarse whispering voice behind him.
Otar, startled, whirled and leveled his spear in one rapid motion. "Who
speaks?" he growled.
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.
"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."
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.
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 Vokal's vast retinue who did not
know that design and his duties when faced with it.
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."
* * * * *
Vokal 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.
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.
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.
A sound of soft knocking from behind him aroused Vokal from his reverie,
and he turned unhurriedly and re-entered the room.
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.
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.
A door opened, revealing the rigidly erect figure and carefully
expressionless visage of an officer of the palace guard.
Vokal concluded his yawn. "Yes, Bartan?"
"The noble Heglar is here, Most-High."
"Excellent! Permit him to enter immediately."
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.
"Greetings, noble Vokal." The words came out in a hoarse croak that
grated against the host's sensitive ears.
"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."
"At once, Most-High." The guard withdrew, closing the door softly.
Vokal's gray-blue eyes went to his guest and he smiled blandly. "I
trust all is well with you and the members of your family, noble
Heglar."
* * * * *
Stripped 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.
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.
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."
"By all means give them comfort."
"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."
"You could hardly expect one of my men to do otherwise," Vokal said
frostily.
"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."
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.
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."
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."
"Your love for the gracious and beautiful Rhoa is well known throughout
all Ammad," Vokal murmured, handing his guest one of the filled goblets.
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 _she_ 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."
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.
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.
"But," he said hoarsely, "you didn't ask me here to talk of the old
days. What do you want of me, noble Vokal?"
* * * * *
There 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:
"I want to make you a wealthy man again, Heglar."
The hand holding the wine goblet jerked involuntarily and some of the
wrinkles in the aged face seemed to deepen. "... Why me?"
Vokal smiled dreamily. "Right to the point, eh, Heglar? It is one of my
reasons for selecting you."
"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."
"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."
Heglar scowled. "One of the reasons I am a poor man today!"
"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."
"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."
A wry smile touched the old man's lips. "Then I am expected to earn this
wealth you are offering me?"
"Of course. I am not noted for being a charitable man, noble Heglar."
"... Are there other reasons?"
"Lastly," Vokal said imperturbably, "as a nobleman you have the freedom
of Jaltor's court and may come and go there as you please."
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.
Heglar was the first to speak. "Now that you have listed my
qualifications, what use do you expect to put them to?"
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?"
"... Yes."
"Good. I want you to forfeit the few remaining moons of life left to
you."
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.
"I am prepared to pay heavily for them."
"You would have to.... What do you want me to do?"
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:
"I want you to _attempt_ the assassination of Jaltor, king of Ammad!"
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 _him_, his
sister would be next in line. Are you planning to do away with the
entire royal family, noble Vokal?"
Vokal was shaking his head. "I'm afraid you did not understand
me, my friend. I said that I wanted you to _attempt_ Jaltor's
assassination--not to kill him."
"This makes no sense to me!"
"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."
"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."
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."
"Exactly."
"Whereupon I will be put to death."
"Jaltor has never been famed for his leniency, noble Heglar."
* * * * *
The 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...."
His eyes came slowly up to Vokal. "My price will be one thousand tals!"
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.
"In advance."
"As you wish. I need no assurance beyond your word that you will carry
out the exact terms of the arrangement."
Heglar sighed. "You have my word.... What name will Jaltor's torture
wring from my reluctant lips?"
"That of the noble Garlud."
"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."
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."
"No man is perfect," Vokal said equably. "To what do you refer?"
"Garlud has a son. As is our custom he will inherit his father's
position and estate even though Garlud is executed for treason."
"And if the son is dead also?" Vokal said silkily.
"So you _have_ 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."
"Precisely."
"Uh-hunh. Do you know for sure that Garlud's son--let's see: his name is
... ah--"
"Jotan."
"Of course. A fine young man too--as I remember him. You're sure he's
dead?"
"If not, he soon will be."
"But he is not in Ammad, I understand. Didn't he make a trip to Sephar,
Vokal?"
"He is due back within half a moon at the earliest."
"How will you handle the matter when he arrives at Ammad's gates?"
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."
"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."
"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."
"At once, Most-High." The guard saluted and went quickly down the hall.
Heglar was shaking his head admiringly. "You take some long chances,
Vokal!"
The gray-haired nobleman glanced sharply at him. "What do you mean?"
"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."
* * * * *
The 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."
"Even to having one's guards form the habit of saying Most-High, eh?"
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.
"The thousand tals, Most-High," he quavered, holding out the bag.
Vokal took it and dismissed the man. "... Would you care to count them?"
he said upon placing the bag in Heglar's hands.
"It is not necessary," the old man said, then smiling, added: "You need
my specialized services too badly to cheat me!"
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.
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!"
CHAPTER V
BEYOND THE HEIGHTS
As 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.
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.
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 every occupant of the cave while Tharn was still a good thirty
feet short of his goal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Although 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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"Trakor," he called out, keeping his voice down lest some nearby enemy
warrior hear it. "Trakor, where are you?"
There was no answer. Trakor was gone.
* * * * *
Even 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 rocketing agility of
little Nobar, the monkey.
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[2] won their mates, and Dylara, daughter of Majok, must give
her heart, not have it taken!
[2] 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 _Homo Sapiens_ (true men), regarded these ape-like subhumans as
little more than beasts and eventually exterminated them.--Ed.
* * * * *
Even 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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
While 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.
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.
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.
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.
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....
"Twang!"
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.
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.
"Run!" shouted Tharn. "Into the jungle, Trakor!"
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.
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.
Tharn was already among the lower 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.
"Tharn!" It was a gasp of such utter relief that the giant Cro-Magnard
smiled.
"I thought I left you safe in a tree," he said.
"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."
"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.
* * * * *
The 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"Lock your arms about my neck," he said.
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.
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.
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, of course, until Roban, dead or alive, was found; for he was son of
a chief and not lightly to be abandoned.
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.
Tharn glanced to where Trakor sat, an interested spectator to Roban's
discomfiture. "This is the chief's son?"
Trakor nodded. "He is Roban."
Tharn turned his sharp eyes to the captive, who was glowering at him in
mingled fear and hatred, and said:
"A few suns ago you saw a party of Ammadians scaling the cliffs near
your caves. Exactly where was this?"
Roban scowled unpleasantly. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"You know well enough. Answer me or die!"
"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...."
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!"
Roban licked dry lips. "What do you want to know?" he mumbled.
"The exact spot where the Ammadians climbed those cliffs."
"What are Ammadians?"
* * * * *
Tharn 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."
"He is lying!" Trakor exclaimed. "At the cooking fires he said it was
east of our caves."
Roban's small eyes, evil and ratlike, swung toward him. "Your mother was
a hyena! Wait till my father gets his hands----"
Tharn shook him until his teeth rattled. "Where?" he growled. "The truth
this time or I throw you to a lion!"
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----"
"Were there shes with them?"
"Shes?" The youth's beady eyes flickered. "I--I cannot say. I did not
see----"
Tharn shook him again. "Enough of your lies!" he thundered. "How many
shes were with them?"
"T-t-two." Roban was thoroughly frightened now. "I saw no others,
although there may have----"
"Describe them."
"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."
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....
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."
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 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.
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."
Trakor offered a protest. "But I will only slow--"
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.
"But what about me?" cried Roban. "You can not leave me here!"
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."
"But Tarlok may find and eat me!"
"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.
CHAPTER VI
JALTOR'S DECISION
Knuckles 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.
"Who's there?" he called out.
"Open!" thundered a heavy voice. "Open in the name of Jaltor of Ammad!"
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.
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."
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.
"Well, Curzad," Garlud said lightly, "your expression is forboding
enough to put fear in the bravest of men. What errand brings you here?"
"My master's respects, noble Garlud," the captain replied woodenly, "and
he bids me escort you to the palace at once."
"Does it require four of you to help me find my way to Jaltor's palace?"
Garlud demanded, his voice suddenly sharp.
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."
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.
"I am ready," he said.
* * * * *
It 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
"Time is short and he must not die--yet."
"Yes, noble Jaltor."
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....
A brief knock at the room's only door brought Jaltor around sharply.
"Enter!" he thundered.
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.
"Greetings, noble Jaltor," he said quietly. "You sent for me?"
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?"
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?"
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."
With these words the king stepped aside, for the first time permitting
Garlud to see the man on the bed.
The nobleman's jaw dropped. "Why, it's old Heglar!" he exclaimed. "What
in the God's name has happened to him?"
"What usually happens to enemies of Jaltor?"
* * * * *
Garlud 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."
Jaltor's face darkened. "I'm the one who demands an explanation! Why did
you set Heglar to attempt my life this afternoon?"
"I--set...."
"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?"
"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."
"I see!" Jaltor's tone was triumphant. "And what did the two of you talk
about?"
"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."
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."
"And now?" Jaltor urged mockingly.
"I am beginning to see he had a reason of his own."
"You deny any part in the plot to kill me?"
"I do."
"But you knew there was such an attempt made this afternoon?"
"I heard some such rumor."
"But," persisted Jaltor, "you did not think it necessary that you learn
if your friend--your _brother_, as you said a moment ago--had been
injured in that attempt?"
"I was assured you were not even scratched," Garlud replied quietly.
"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.
"Before you walked into this room, if anyone had asked for your opinion
of Heglar what would you have said?"
"That I knew him well and liked and respected him."
"Would you have said he was an honorable man?"
"Certainly."
"Have you ever known him to tell a lie?"
"Not to my knowledge."
"Does he have any reason to hate you?"
"None that I know of."
"Have you any idea why he tried to kill me?"
"None. I am completely surprised that he tried to do so."
"Then why," Jaltor thundered suddenly, "did he say his attempt to kill
me was engineered by _you_?"
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."
"Then Heglar lied in so naming you?"
"He--is mistaken."
Jaltor snorted. "Don't bandy words with me! When one man says he talked
with another about killing a third, he cannot be _mistaken_. He is
either telling the truth or lying. Which is it, in this case?"
"If Heglar's mind was clear at the time he so accused me, then he lied!"
"But my good Garlud," cried Jaltor, his reasoning tone a mockery, "you
told me only a moment ago that to your knowledge Heglar is an honorable
man and does not tell lies."
"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."
* * * * *
Jaltor 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.
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."
"A man will say anything to escape torture, Most-High," Garlud pointed
out calmly.
"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."
"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."
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."
Jaltor's expression did not soften. "A word wrung from a man after long
torture, noble Garlud, carries beyond ordinary denial."
"Would you wish to put me to the same test?" Garlud asked grimly.
"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."
"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."
"Good." Jaltor motioned to his erstwhile friend. "Come, Garlud, hear
these things from the man's own lips."
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.
Jaltor said stonily, "I have brought the noble Garlud here to listen to
your charges, Heglar. Now accuse him or clear his name!"
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.
"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...."
Compassion came into Garlud's expression. "Heglar, Heglar," he said
softly. "You know I had nothing to do with your attempt to kill Jaltor.
What have I done to you that makes you say this awful thing about me?"
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."
"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?"
"I ... I----"
The noble's hand closed on the old man's shoulder. "The truth, Heglar!
Who is the real one behind this?"
The aged eyes closed and Heglar's face began to work. "No! No! I have
... no----"
"You must tell us, Heglar! Speak, man!"
Once more the lips opened. "I--I ... Rhoa!"
Abruptly Heglar's head rolled to one side, his body went limp and with
his mate's name on his lips he died.
* * * * *
For 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?
"You have heard, noble Garlud?"
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.
"I heard, Most-High."
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!"
"And if I persist in my claim of innocence?" Garlud said evenly.
"The evidence is plain. You will be put to death."
"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."
Jaltor's jaw hardened. "And what of Jotan?" he said coldly.
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!"
Sudden rage twisted Jaltor's countenance. "No man speaks so to Jaltor of
Ammad and lives!"
Garlud's smile was undismayed. "Have you forgotten, Most-High. I have
already been sentenced to death!"
"And by your attitude," Jaltor shouted, "you have sentenced your son to
the same fate."
"On what grounds?"
"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!"
Garlud's face was livid with rage 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!"
* * * * *
With 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!"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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?
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.
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....
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!"
When the captain of the guards, as 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.
"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?"
The iron-faced warrior shook his head impassively. "No, Most-High. His
love and respect for you are beyond doubt."
"You think I acted unwisely in finding him guilty?"
"That is not for me to say, Most-High."
"I _know_ that! But you are not made of stone; you must have formed some
opinion."
"It is not wise to hold an opinion which differs from that of Ammad's
king."
* * * * *
Jaltor gestured with sharp impatience. "This is man to man, Curzad. Give
me your honest impressions of this affair."
"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."
"But you knew Heglar's reputation as a completely truthful man?"
"I do not say he would lie for another's purpose. But for his own ...
that is a different matter."
"But he did not give Garlud's name willingly, Curzad. Only after
prolonged torture could we wrest the name from his lips."
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."
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."
"That is true, Most-High."
"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."
"It shall be done, Most-High."
"Good! Now who in Garlud's household knows you brought him here?"
"We encountered only Bokut, his chief steward, and two guards--one at an
outer gate and one stationed at his palace entrance."
"Very well, take those three into custody. Question them as to whom they
told of the incident and place _those_ under arrest as well. Leave no
one who can spread word that Garlud was brought to the palace at my
orders."
"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."
"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."
"But say Garlud simply disappears without anyone knowing what's become
of him. Has he learned of what 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?"
"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!"
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?"
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."
"And should Jotan, his son, return from Sephar while his father
languishes in the pits?"
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."
"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."
CHAPTER VII
THE SPIDER MEN
Dylara awakened with a convulsive start as the lofty branch upon which
she had been sleeping swayed and bent beneath suddenly added weight.
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.
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.
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!
The shock was too much for human nerves. Dylara voiced a single scream
and her senses fled under the lash of pure panic.
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
land lightly upon a swaying branch in another tree.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
For 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!
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.
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.
Angrily she pushed away the exploring fingers. "Who are you?" she cried,
"and what do you want of me?"
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
pushed between them and broke up the battle.
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.
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?
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.
Cautiously she lowered herself to a branch immediately below, then
waited with pounding heart to learn if her move had been detected.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
Suspended 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.
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!
The hair-covered arms, legs and bodies, the pinched-in abdomens, the
round heads set flush with the shoulders. These were spider men!
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.
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.
* * * * *
For 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.
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 tree in a dizzying pathway
high above ground, he was both hesitant and doubtful.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
When 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.
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.
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.
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 a tree, as Tharn had taught him, and a
knife thrust into its heart had brought it down.
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.
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."
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.
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."
"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."
"But you have slain them!" Trakor argued.
"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."
"I am not afraid!"
"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!"
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.
* * * * *
While 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.
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."
Trakor flushed. "It is my fault. Had you not met me she might be with
you at this moment."
"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."
"A score of Sadus could not catch you!"
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."
* * * * *
Otar 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.
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.
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.
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.
"Here comes one of the scouts!" said the man next to Otar, pointing.
"Look how excited he is!"
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
They 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.
"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!"
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!"
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.
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.
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."
Otar, who had been peering intently at the five sentries, voiced a
muffled explanation.
"Your scouts were wrong, Ekbar!" he said, his voice rising to its normal
volume. "These men are----"
A savage hand about his neck choked off his words. "Quiet, you fool!"
whispered Ekbar, his fingers tightening their hold.
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.
* * * * *
Otar, 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
sentries 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."
"And I say these men are enemies!" hissed Ekbar heatedly. "Listen and
judge for yourself."
"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."
"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!"
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.
"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."
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.
It was Ekbar himself who hit on a plan, as befitted one of a captain's
rank.
"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."
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.
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.
"Now!" Ekbar grated.
* * * * *
Stooping, 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.
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.
Meanwhile Ekbar and his men were returning to their own camp, their
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.
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.
"What is your name?" rasped Ekbar, scowling menacingly.
"Tykol--if that helps you any! What is the meaning of this? Who are
you?"
"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?"
"I understand well enough, but that does not mean I will tell you
anything!"
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.
Ekbar waited until his struggles ceased. A small stream of blood welled
from the knife wound and began to drip against the leaves beneath.
"What," said Ekbar, "are the names of the two young noblemen
accompanying Jotan?"
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.
Ekbar leaned forward and lifted his knife again. "Shall I give you a
second taste of this?" he growled.
Tykol appeared to flinch. "No," he mumbled. "I will tell you. Their
names are Javan and Tamar."
"How many men are with them?"
"Thirty-seven."
"You lie!" Ekbar snarled. "Fifty were in the party when it left Ammad."
The young captive digested this information quickly. It proved these men
were Ammadians like himself; how else could they have known that?
"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."
* * * * *
Ekbar, 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.
"What positions do these two men hold in the line of march during the
day?" he demanded.
"Javan now marches at the head of the column."
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!"
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.
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:
"You laugh, fool. Does the thought of Jotan's death mean so little to
you?"
"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!"
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!"
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----"
"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."
"And when you find I am telling the truth," Tykol said, feigning
eagerness, "will you then let me go?"
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.
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.
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."
With those words he lunged forward and drove his knife into Tykol's
heart!
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.
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."
CHAPTER VIII
A PRIZE FOR VOKAL
"I tell 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?"
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.
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.
"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."
"You may return if you like," snapped Jotan, stung by that last remark.
"I am going on--alone if necessary! 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."
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.
"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."
"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."
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.
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?"
"To serve you, noble Jotan," the man replied promptly and with complete
honesty.
"And after that?"
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."
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!"
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.
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.
* * * * *
Consciousness 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
* * * * *
She 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.
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.
And at that moment the full impact of her predicament came home with
stunning force.
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 the rest of her life picking a way through the towering mountains
and endless plains between.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Donning her tunic she ran lightly toward the tree, its base buried among
a heavy growth of bushes.
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!
* * * * *
A storm was blowing up. Tharn, belly flat against a broad branch 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.
"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."
"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."
"And if it is a bad one?" Trakor asked.
"Then we find a very big tree that is not too old and stand under it
until it passes."
"But sometimes storms last for many suns!"
"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."
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.
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.
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.
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 acceptance of
hardship and his quiet courage.
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.
* * * * *
But 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.
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.
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.
"What is it, Tharn?"
Tharn's eyes went to the boy and in them was something that brought
Trakor beside him instantly.
"Come," the cave lord said.
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.
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.
While far ahead of him now, Tharn raced onward, his face an
expressionless mask, his heart thudding with desperate hope.
* * * * *
Five 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.
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.
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.
A sudden rustling among the branches 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.
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.
A film began to form before his protruding eyes, his senses reeled, his
laboring lungs fought for air--then blackness poured into his brain.
... 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.
"I," said Tharn impassively, "Where is she?"
"I do not know."
"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!"
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.
"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."
Tharn was not to be side-tracked. "Where is she?" he growled. "For the
last time--or do I choke the information from you?"
"That will not be necessary, my friend," Jotan said sadly. "For all I
know Dylara may be dead."
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?"
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.
"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."
"Where is this place from which Dylara fled Sa
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