The Return of Tharn

by Howard Browne

  CHAPTER XI

  CAME THARN

  Once Tharn was satisfied that the column of fifty Ammadians, with Dylaraand Trakor in its midst, meant to cut directly across that wide expanseof sun-baked grasses, he set out on a circuitous course to pass themthat he might be the first to reach the distant forest beyond. It meantcovering a quarter again as much ground, but the advantage made thisextra effort worth while.

  As he moved across the prairie at a tireless trot, bitter thoughtsfilled his mind. Last night Dylara had been almost within arm's reachand it seemed his long search for her was on the point of ending.Caution, ever a strong attribute of jungle dwellers, had brought on hisdecision to wait until the camp was settled down for the night before heattempted to wrest her from the Ammadians who held her captive. Had thecircumstances demanded it, Tharn would have unhesitatingly charged allfifty of those armed men; but only the inexperienced uses force wherestealth will do.

  And so Tharn had restrained his impatience, deciding to nap an hour ortwo while he waited. He had awakened to loud voices and had witnessed,in helpless rage, Ekbar's cross-examination of Trakor and Dylara. Hisfirst reaction was anger that Trakor had attempted a deed beyond hisstill limited prowess, but understanding came at once. It was in thisfashion that the boy had sought to show his gratitude to Tharn, and inso doing had alerted the camp--and gotten himself captured in thebargain!

  Thus by the impulsive act of a hero-worshiping boy had Tharn's originaltask become a double one--and doubly difficult to accomplishsuccessfully.

  At first he considered entering the camp after another hour or two, butwith the trebling of the guard he gave up the idea--for the night atleast. There would be other nights--nights when the number of guardswould be normal and their behavior the same. Guards, it was well known,were apt to become heavy-eyed and less alert along toward dawn.

  All during the following morning Tharn trailed the Ammadians. At firsthe did so from a position among the branches above them; but alongtoward mid-morning the trees began to thin out, as well as theundergrowth normally covering the ground between the giant boles, and hewas forced to lag further and further behind. When the fifty men reachedthe prairie's edge and stopped to rest, he managed to work his way closeenough to hear conversations among several of the men.

  Their talk was filled with eagerness at being close to Ammad once more,and Tharn was aware of a feeling of sharp disappointment. Was itpossible this group would reach the city before nightfall? If that weretrue, his chances of freeing Dylara and Trakor were small indeed.

  An hour later Tharn was standing in the shelter of a large tree, hiseyes regretfully watching as the entire party forged across that broadstretch of open ground where he might not follow.

  Two hours before sunset Tharn reached the wall of jungle and trees. Thecolumn of Ammadians were still far out in the grasslands and would needanother three hours to reach the game trail where Tharn was standing.The cave lord decided to spend that time in reconnoitering. There wasthe possibility that Ammad itself lay not too deep within the forest tomake it worthwhile for the approaching column to continue its march evenafter darkness fell.

  It was as he had feared. Less than an hour's swift progress through theforest's upper terraces brought him to the edge of a vast clearing, muchlike the one surrounding Sephar, beyond which rose sheer grey walls ofstone. From his elevated position he could see beyond that barrier, andhe saw that, except for its far greater size and magnificence, Ammad wasnot much different from Sephar. But in size alone did Ammad make Sepharseem a small jungle clearing by comparison. In diameter it was at leastten miles and there were five small hills grouped near its center, atthe apex of each a magnificent structure. The general layout of streetswas much the same as he had found in Sephar, but there were more peopleon them.

  * * * * *

  For nearly an hour Tharn sat high among the concealing foliage of histree and watched the scene below and before him. Hunting parties wellladen with trophies of the hunt entered the clearing from the trailbeneath him and the great gates of wood, guarded by Ammadian warriors,swung open to let them through the massive wall. It was a wall muchhigher and stronger than Sephar had boasted and getting past it wasgoing to take some doing.

  Tharn shrugged and turned back to pick up those who were holding Dylaraand Trakor. Perhaps, he thought as he moved swiftly along the aerialhighway, it would not be necessary for him to pass those walls. Even ifthose fifty Ammadians did not make camp for tonight, he might still finda way to rob them of their captives. Let them lower their guard for evena moment, let them become only a little careless--and their hands wouldbe empty before their minds had caught up with their eyes!

  He arrived at the prairie's edge only a few moments before Ekbar and hismen reached the game trail's mouth. Tharn, narrow-eyed and alert,watched them halt and gather gumwood torches, saw these latter ignitedand the march resumed. It was as he had feared: they intended to presson until Ammad's walls hemmed them safely in.

  Even Tharn's iron-willed reserve broke a little at this last blow.Through the velvety darkness of a semi-tropical night he movedstealthily above them, his fangs bared slightly, his hand hovering oftennear his blackwood bow and the quiver of arrows.

  Several times he saw Trakor's upturned face as the youth sought topierce the wavering shadows cast by the flaming shadows. He knew wellwhat was passing through Trakor's mind and, despite his owndisappointment, he smiled a little. Let the headstrong cave youth worrya little; it would be small payment indeed for the trouble he hadcaused!

  But most often Tharn's eyes went to Dylara. He saw her stagger now andthen from sheer physical exhaustion and his heart went out to her. Howhe would have loved to wrest her from that spear-bristling line ofwarriors! There was no way to do that, however. A barrage of arrowscould have cleared away those men directly around her, but a rope abouther wrist had its other end bound about the arm of the man beside her;and even had Tharn leaped down on the heels of his arrows to slash awaythat rope spears might fell either or both of them.

  No, for all his giant strength and agility he was as helpless to aid thegirl of his choice as though miles lay between them.

  Finally the time came when Tharn realized Ammad was only a shortdistance ahead. He must resign himself to the unescapable fact thatDylara and Trakor were going to be taken beyond those walls whether heliked the idea or not. This meant his energies and cunning must bediverted to a different channel; and with this in mind the cave lordhalted on a broad leafy branch above the column, waiting while the twinlines moved ahead at a snail's pace.

  A pair of tall husky Ammadian warriors were last in line. One of themcarried a blazing torch, the other had a heavy pack about his shoulders.They plodded along, weariness evident in the lines of bent shoulders anddragging feet. The one with the pack seemed especially tired and everyfifty or sixty feet he would pause momentarily to shift his burden to anew position. Each time this happened the distance between him and hiscompanion became a matter of ten or fifteen feet until, pack adjusted,the man hurried forward to join his unheeding partner.

  A wry smile touched Tharn's firm lips. With uncanny ease he slipped tothe ground and moved silently along behind the wall of undergrowthflanking the trail, his course parallel with the column's rear guard.

  * * * * *

  A bend in the path was coming up. Already most of the column had madethe turn and was out of sight. Quickly Tharn raced ahead until he was ata point no more than ten feet from the turn. Crouching here, concealedby a maze of creepers and brush, he picked up a short length of deadbranch and waited.

  As the last two Ammadians reached a position directly opposite to thecrouching cave lord, Tharn thrust out the branch two or three inchesabove the path's surface and squarely between the legs of the packbearer.

  The man's swinging foot struck against the unyielding wood and, weightedby the heavy pack and weary from the long hours without rest, hestumbled and fell headlong.
<
br />   His companion, aroused by the thump of a falling body and a string ofcurses rising on the night air, turned back and bent to help him up.

  "What happened, Posak?"

  "What does it look like? Do you think I decided to lie down and restawhile?"

  Still muttering under his breath Posak got shakily to his feet andturned his back on his companion to pick up the heavy pack. When heturned back again, his amazed eyes beheld his friend face down andmotionless in the trail and the mightily muscled figure of an almostnaked cave man standing over him and holding the torch.

  Posak opened his mouth to yell a warning to the others of the column.The cry was never voiced. An iron fist swept from nowhere to crash fullagainst the point of his chin. There was a sharp brittle sound like abranch breaking and Posak sank lifelessly to the ground, his necksnapped cleanly in two.

  Quickly Tharn propped the torch of gumwood against a tree bole anddragged the two corpses into the brush. With rapid care he strippedtunic and sandals from one body and donned them. The tunic he found tobe tight across his chest but still adequate; the sandals fitted himperfectly.

  So quickly had the cave lord acted that by the time he caught up thetorch and rounded the bend in the trail, the end of Ekbar's column wasno more than a dozen yards away. No one seemed to be looking back of hisshoulder in search of the missing pair, a fact probably explained by thesight of open ground directly ahead.

  Blazing torch held high, thus leaving his face shadowed, Tharn movedeasily along at the rear of the column of Ammadians, across the ribbonof open ground about Ammad's walls, and on through the city gates.

  * * * * *

  Vokal awakened under the touch of gentle but insistent fingers againsthis shoulder. He opened his eyes to find one of his personal slaves, alighted candle in one hand, bending over him.

  "What do you want, Adgal?" he demanded, scowling.

  "Ekbar has returned, Most-High," the slave replied, cringing. "I toldhim you were sleeping but he demanded that I arouse you at once."

  The nobleman bounded from the bed and caught up his tunic. "Where ishe?"

  "In the outer chamber, Most-High."

  "Good. Tell him I'll be out immediately."

  When Vokal entered the wide living room he found the captain of hisguards standing at rigid attention just inside the door. The nobleman,his tunic fresh and unwrinkled, his thick grey hair as smoothly brushedas though this were midday instead of the dead of night, strolled to anearby table, poured out a single glass of wine and sank into a chair.His thin shapely fingers lifted the goblet slowly to his lips, he sippedthe liquid as slowly, savoring its bouquet. Finally he put down thegoblet and swung his dreamy-eyed gaze to the uncomfortable andself-conscious captain of the guards.

  "Well, Ekbar?" he said softly.

  "He is dead, Most-High."

  "Indeed? You took care of the matter yourself?"

  "No, Most-High. He was killed many suns before my men and I came uponhis men. Sadu, the lion, slew him."

  Vokal stiffened slightly. "How do you know this?"

  Ekbar retold, in detail, the story given him by Tykol. For severalminutes after he finished Vokal sat there and thought it over while hesipped from his goblet of wine. "... You are sure he was not lying?"

  "Yes, Most-High. There were but thirty-seven of them, where once therewas fifty, and many wore strips of cloth over wounds left by Sadu'sclaws. Scouts who knew Jotan by sight reported he was not with thecolumn." He hesitated. "One part of their report I did not understand,however, although it probably is not important."

  "Tell it to me."

  Ekbar shrugged. "There was a woman with them--a young and very beautifulgirl. The scouts say she was very lovely--dark-haired, a pleasing figureand clearly the daughter of some nobleman."

  "Why did you not ask this Tykol who she was?"

  "I learned about her the following day. By that time Tykol was dead."

  Vokal nodded. "The balance of Jotan's men were not aware of beingwatched?"

  "No, Most-High. I took pains to keep that from them. Since Jotan'searlier death was something we had not foreseen, I acted as I thoughtyou would order. Since Jotan is not with them it would be better thatthey reached Ammad and told of his death under the fangs and claws ofSadu."

  "You have acted wisely, Ekbar, and I shall not forget it."

  The captain flushed with pleasure. He said, "We did not returnempty-handed, noble Vokal. Two cave people fell into our hands--one ofthem a beautiful young woman who told us some wild story about beingJotan's intended mate."

  At Vokal's look of languid interest, Ekbar repeated the story Dylara hadtold him.

  "And you say," Vokal said when the captain finished, "that this cavegirl is very beautiful?"

  "There is none in all Ammad who is more lovely," Ekbar said, hisdeep-set eyes glittering.

  "How interesting!" Vokal leaned back in his chair, his long, well-keptfingers toying with the stem of his wine goblet. "Where is she now?"

  "Both she and the cave man we captured a little later are under guard inthe outer corridor, Most-High. I thought you might wish to look themover before they were placed with the other slaves."

  "Bring them in, my good Ekbar," murmured Vokal.

  * * * * *

  The captain saluted stiffly and withdrew. A moment later he was backagain followed by the two captives and a second guard.

  For several moments the nobleman let his eyes move slowly over the twocave people. The man, he saw, was, despite his youth, a remarkablephysical specimen, extraordinarily handsome and evidently intelligentand keen-witted as so many of the cave dwellers were. With the properattitude toward his new master it would not be long before he rose tothe status of a warrior and an end to his position as slave. Judgingfrom the flashing eyes and his air of insolent contempt, it would take afew days of iron-fisted discipline, however, to make him amenable. Well,Ekbar was a past master of that art.

  The girl, though, was another matter entirely. Ekbar had not exaggeratedin naming her more beautiful than any of Ammad's women--including thoseof noble birth. Despite her travel-worn tunic and the weariness evidentin every line of face and figure, her beauty shone through like Dyta'sbrilliant rays. A man could lose his heart in that red-gold wealth ofsoftly curling hair falling to her shoulders; he could drown in thedepths of those sparkling brown eyes. He smiled a little at thesethoughts. What would Rhoa, dark-haired, olive-skinned, beautiful andpassionate, think if she knew he was having such thoughts about a wildgirl of the caves?

  Well, Rhoa need not know. Most noblemen had beautiful slave girls andmost noblemen's wives ignored the fact....

  Dylara bore his steady gaze with calm indifference. The enforcedassociation with the men of Ammad during the past several moons hadtaught her a great deal about them; that, plus a native shrewdness, toldher she could expect little sympathy and no help from thissilver-haired, languid-eyed man whose property she now appeared to be.

  "Your name, cave girl?"

  The soft, almost caressing voice repelled her. There was something uglyand evil behind it--a reflection of the man's true personality.

  She met his gaze unflinching. "I am Dylara."

  "What is this wild story you told the captain of my guards--the storythat you were the noble Jotan's mate?"

  "I was never his mate. I am no man's mate."

  "But he wanted you. Why, then, did he not take you?"

  "Because, in spite of his being an Ammadian, Jotan was a true nobleman.He sought to win me with kindness and consideration instead of taking meby force."

  Deliberately Vokal let his eyes wander over the beautiful lines of herfigure. "From your tone I judge that you do not believe all Ammadianswould be so considerate. From looking at you I would say he was morestupid than anything else...."

  "However, that is no longer important. Jotan is dead--and you now belongto me--to do with as I see fit. You may be sure I will not confuseconsideration with stupidity!"r />
  There was no mistaking his meaning. Dylara felt her cheeks burn, butbefore she could voice the angry retort trembling on her lips, Vokalturned his eyes to the silent and expressionless Ekbar.

  "Confine the girl in one of the private rooms in the slave quarters," hesaid. "As for her companion, put him in with those slaves who work onthe palace grounds. Keep me informed as to his general attitude. If hegives you any trouble, have him beaten until he becomes tractable."

  * * * * *

  Once past Ammad's walls. Tharn permitted the rest of Ekbar's column todraw gradually away from him until, to the eye of the casual passerby,he was not a part of that body but only a solitary warrior abroad onsome affair of his own.

  He would have liked nothing better than to continue on with the columnuntil it passed through the walls of whatever estate they were headedfor. But already his luck had held up far beyond what he had originallyexpected; to remain longer with Ekbar's warriors would have meantrisking almost certain discovery that he was not one of its originalmembers.

  He must keep the column in sight, however, until it reached its goal.Once he knew which of these stone walled estates was to swallow upDylara and Trakor he would be free to enter in his own way and undertaketheir rescue.

  At this late hour Ammad's streets were nearly deserted. An occasionalsolitary figure strode along with purposeful steps, and twice smallgroups of men, staggering and loud-mouthed from too much wine, blunderedand weaved along the paved thoroughfares. On these latter occasionsTharn was careful to cross the street to avoid contact, for drunken menwere notoriously unpredictable.

  At last Ekbar's column ground to a halt outside a wide gate in a highwall of stone midway along one of the streets. Twin lanterns burned froma niche above those gates, their rays glinting on the spear points offour armed guards stationed there.

  From the shadows of a wall across the street, Tharn watched as Ekbarheld a brief conversation with those four sentries; then the gates swungwide and the column, Dylara and Trakor among its members, disappearedfrom view.

  Tharn voiced a low grunt of approval and satisfaction. Somewhere withinthe huge sprawling building of four floors looming massively against thenight sky was the girl he loved and the young man he had befriended.Within another hour the dwellers of that cliff-like dwelling would havefinished welcoming the returning warriors and be back in their beds.Then would Tharn enter in search of their captives.

  * * * * *

  In the interim a general reconnaissance seemed in order. The palace satsquarely atop one of Ammad's low hills amid wide grounds. Here and therebehind the encircling wall a tree lifted its crested top, the night'sgentle wind stirring its leaves and branches.

  Making certain his bow, quiver of arrows, grass rope and flint knifewere in their accustomed places, Tharn set out for a leisurely stroll.For several hundred yards the street he followed lay unbroken by anyintersecting avenue and in all that length the only life in sight wasthe group of four guards lounging outside that wide gateway which hadswallowed up Dylara and Trakor.

  When he reached a position directly opposite those four Tharn was awarethat all of them were watching him from across the strip of paving thatmade up the street itself. At any moment he might be challenged andordered to a halt.

  But the challenge did not come and he passed casually on along the walk.They were behind him now and, unless he turned his head to look back,out of range of his eyes. His ears, however, were busy and soon theycaught the sound of voices.

  An intersection appeared ahead and unhesitatingly the cave lord cutdiagonally across it and moved out of sight of the four sentries. If heexpected to find this section of the wall unguarded, however, he wasdoomed to disappointment. Half way down the block a single lantern sentout feeble rays from a small niche directly above a single gate--a gateguarded by a patrolling sentry.

  Because of the comparative narrowness of this street and the high wallson either side, heavy shadows left it in almost total darkness. Tharn,across the street and still a good hundred and fifty yards away, had notyet been observed by that lone sentry.

  He might, Tharn realized, be able to pass the man once without arousingundue interest or suspicion. But should he attempt to retrace his stepslater on the guard would be almost certain to take some sort of action.It was not that Tharn would be unable to handle the matter if thatshould happen, but there was always the possibility that others might bearoused by a warning cry.

  Stooping, Tharn removed his sandals and, hugging the wall where shadowslay deepest, began a slow, careful advance.

  Thirty paces the guard took in each direction before executing a briskabout face and retracing his steps. The leather soles of his sandalsmade crisp clear rhythmical sounds against the stone underfoot. Eachtime his measured pacing brought him toward Tharn, the cave lordremained frozen, hugging the wall; when he wheeled and started backTharn raced lightly ahead, even while he counted off each step thesentry took. On the twenty-ninth pace Tharn would freeze again, thenrepeat the maneuver.

  Finally the man of the caves reached the point where he dared go nofurther. He was still fifty or sixty feet down the street and anotherfifteen feet to one side. Hardly daring to breathe, he stood asmotionless as the wall at his back until the man finished the routine ofthirty paces toward him; then, as he wheeled and started back, Tharnunslipped his bow with unthinkable swiftness, fitted an arrow to itsstring. Mighty muscles rippled smoothly across that bronzed back as asteady hand bent the stubborn wood, a single musical "twang" soundedagainst the still air and flint-tipped death flickered for animmeasurable instant between the two men.

  True to its target flew Tharn's arrow, the sharp point striking squarelyat the juncture of neck and the skull's base. Wide flew the sentry'sarms and he fell soundlessly in a crumpled heap, the spear still tightlyclutched in one dead hand.

  Even while the body was still falling Tharn was bounding toward the nowunguarded gate. Unbarring it, he drew the lifeless warrior out of sightbeyond, then closed the gate with his back.

  * * * * *

  Here at the wall's base was darkness, but a few steps beyond was amoonfilled clearing dotted with carefully spaced bushes and anoccasional tree. A curving path of crushed rock led across cropped grassand ended at a wide door of the palace itself.

  Although the hour Tharn had alloted himself before entering the palacewas not up, there were no signs of life anywhere about the grounds, nordid man-made light gleam through any of the windows on this side of thebuilding. Yet uppermost in Tharn's mind was that sense of caution whencaution was possible, and he decided to wait for a while before enteringthe palace itself.

  With a quick soundless rush he crossed the stretch of greensward betweenhim and the nearest tree. A single agile leap took him among itsbranches and, finding a comfortable fork, he settled himself to wait.

  Unexpectedly, it proved a wise move. Hardly was he at rest when a groupof six guards, their spear-points and white tunics sharp and clear inthe light of Uda, the moon, rounded a far corner of the building.

  At first Tharn thought some one had sighted him entering the grounds andgiven an alarm. He abandoned the idea immediately, however, for theactions and general attitude of the six indicated this was no more thana routine patrol. Evidently Ammad's nobleman had many enemies....

  In a way Tharn's choice of a point to break into this palace was anunfortunate one. He would have preferred to enter on the side whereUda's rays did not reach. But four guards instead of one were stationedat that gate and an attempt to pass them would have been foolhardy atbest.

  Now, indeed, he must wait--wait until he could learn how much time wouldelapse between appearances of those six guards. He settled himselffirmly into the branch's fork, using this period of enforced idleness byattempting to locate some means of ingress in that section of palacewall visible to him.

  All windows of the first two floors appeared to be guarded by slendercolumn
s of stone. He had seen such forms of protection on some ofSephar's structures and he knew that even his own great strength wouldbe unable to force them.

  The windows of the top two floors were shielded only by drapes of softmaterial, with here and there a balcony dotting the white stone surface.Could he but reach one of the former, entry would be simple. But nowhereon the smooth sheer surface could he make out hand- and foot-holds forthat purpose.

  Half an hour dragged by. Nobody passed by, no light showed at any of thewindows, no sound broke the tomb-like silence. He wondered at thefailure of the six-man patrol to appear a second time.

  Well, he could not remain in this leafy retreat forever. With a slightshrug of his giant shoulders, Tharn descended to the lower branches,took a long and cautious look around, his ears and nose alert for somesign of life. Nothing.

  Dropping to the ground, the cave lord ran lightly toward that corner ofthe palace around which those six guards had disappeared more than halfan hour before. He was within feet of his goal when a sudden chorus ofshrill cries from behind him broke the silence.

  A single glance over his shoulder told him the story. The ground patrolhad chosen this particular moment to reappear!

  * * * * *

  Once Dylara had been thrust not ungently within a room off a fourthfloor corridor and its door barred from the outside, Trakor was turnedover to a single guard to be taken to one of the slave dormitories. Fromthe cave youth's appearance of utter hopelessness, the dispirited droopof his shoulders, it was clear all fight had gone out of him sinceAmmad's gates had closed at his back. He shuffled wearily along the hallahead of his yawning guard, down a flight of stairs to the third leveland along a lengthy corridor, lined with doors and completely desertedat this hour.

  At the corridor's far end loomed two massive doors, heavily barred.While Trakor stood passively by, head hanging listlessly, the Ammadianput down his spear and reached with both hands to lift free the broadbar. In so doing he momentarily turned his back to the cave youth--andthat momentary lapse spelled his doom.

  Steel fingers closed about his throat, a naked leg tripped him up and hewas flat on his back before his lips opened to a cry that was neveruttered. Blindly the guard sought to reach the knife at his belt; butTrakor, anticipating this, ground a knee into that wrist.

  The man's heels hammered spasmodically against the stone in mute agonyand fear and his by no means weak body thrashed and bucked. But thosefingers only tightened their hold.

  Trakor, his face only inches from that of the enemy, saw thosefear-filled eyes start from their sockets, saw lips and cheeks turn darkwith constricted blood, felt the broad chest beneath his rise and fallwildly as the lungs fought for air.

  For several minutes after the Ammadian warrior lay limp and stillbeneath him Trakor kept his fingers buried in that lifeless throat.Finally he rose shakily to his feet and looked down upon the body ofhis first kill. Exultation filled him, and pride--and a strange sense ofsadness....

  He shook his head briefly as if to clear away such thoughts. Guided bythe dim light from candles in wall brackets set at wide intervals alongthe corridor, he bent and stripped the corpse of its tunic and drew itover his own shoulders. His late foe had been a tall man and the tuniccame a bit higher on Trakor's legs than Ammadian fashion dictated, agrievous matter which he ignored. A keen-edged knife of stone went underthe tunic's belt; the heavy spear he left where the warrior originallyhad placed it.

  * * * * *

  Trakor went back along that corridor with long swinging strides, hisnaked feet soundless against the stone, his head erect, his ears andeyes alert for the slightest sound or movement.

  Ascending the same flight of stairs he had descended a few minutesearlier, he paused at the top and looked carefully at the twin lines ofclosed doors. The seventh on his left; he had counted them off carefullywhile on his way to the floor below.

  For a full minute he stood motionless outside that barred portal,listening for some indication that others were up and about the palace.Then he turned back, lifted the bar and pushed open the door with slowcare.

  A flicker of motion from within the darkened room caused him to leapsharply back, just in time to keep a heavy wooden chair from caving inhis head. Unchecked, the chair struck the floor with a resounding crash,the impact tearing it loose from Dylara's hands.

  By the time she had bent to pick it up for a second try, Trakor wasinside and the door closed. He threw out a hand to ward off Dylara'simpromptu club, whispering, "No, Dylara! It is I--Trakor!"

  A muffled sob of relief and thanksgiving was torn from her throat, thenshe was in his arms.

  At the feel of her body against his, the heady scent of her hair in hisnostrils, Trakor felt his heart leap within him and his arms tightenedsuddenly about the girl's smooth, softly rounded shoulders.

  Then the moment was gone and they drew apart.

  "I can't believe it, Trakor!" Dylara whispered. "How did you manage toget away?"

  "There's no time for that now," he said. "We've got to get out of thisplace and back to the jungle where we belong. Tharn is out theresomewhere and we must find him before he enters Ammad in search of us."

  "But how...."

  "I don't know--yet. If we can reach the streets without being seen...."He went to the door, pressed an ear against its planks for a moment,then very gently drew open the heavy section of wood and put his headcautiously out. The corridor, in either direction, was deserted.

  "Come," he whispered, and hand in hand they stole silently toward thehead of those stairs Trakor had recently climbed.

  From somewhere below them a door slammed heavily and sandaled feet,several pairs of them judging from the sound, approached the base ofthat same flight of steps.

  Without speaking Trakor and Dylara turned and, on tiptoe, raced in theopposite direction. As he ran, Trakor drew his knife in preparation forany enemy who might suddenly loom in their path.

  A turn in the corridor brought them to a second flight of steps, downwhich they raced at full speed. Past landings at the third and secondfloors they fled, stopping at last in front of a closed door marking themain level of the palace.

  "Wait!" Trakor breathed, placing a restraining hand on the girl's arm.

  * * * * *

  Silence seemed to press down upon them, a silence so complete they couldhear the breath rustling in their nostrils.

  With almost exaggerated care Trakor drew back the door. Moonlightstreaming in at several stone-barred windows revealed a large hall, itswalls hung with rich tapestries and a long wide table, lined withchairs, running almost its entire length.

  Dylara, familiar with such scenes from her days in Sephar, said, "Thepalace dining hall." She pointed to an open doorway in the oppositewall. "That should lead to the kitchens. No one will be there at thistime of night."

  "Good!"

  They crossed quickly to the designated opening, along a short narrowhall, through a second doorway and on into a low-ceilinged room whosefurnishings bore mute testimony that Dylara's guess had been right.

  "Look!" whispered Dylara, pointing.

  Thin lines of moonlight formed a rectangle on the far wall, marking adoorway leading to open air. Quickly Trakor was across the kitchen andstraining to lift the heavy bar from its catches.

  And in that moment a sudden chorus of deep-throated shouts of alarm frombeyond that door reached their ears.