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-sh.e.l.led 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 pa.s.ses."
"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 gra.s.slands 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 outcla.s.sed; 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 pa.s.sed the bond between the two of them increased in strength and permanence. To Trakor, Tharn was even more a G.o.d 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sage 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 s.p.a.ce Jotan almost automatically maintained.
The trail underfoot swerved abruptly to by-pa.s.s 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 impa.s.sively, "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 ma.s.saged 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 G.o.d 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 n.o.bleman 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 Sadu?"
"A sun"s march to the south."
Tharn nodded. "You may return to your friends," he said. "If she is still alive I will find her. If she is dead, or if I find her alive and learn that you have harmed her, I will come back and kill you!"
Jotan shrugged. Not for an instant did he doubt that the young giant meant exactly what he said. Somehow his own life seemed unimportant with Dylara gone. He knew that, alive or dead, Dylara was lost to him and that he would never see her again.
He shook off his thoughts. "Then I am free to go?"
"Yes."