Part 4 (1/2)
Dylara, blinking in the strong sunlight, sat up In front of her, squatted on his haunches before a srass-fed fire, was a slender, wirily built e, his narrok-like face creased in a thin-lipped smile as he squinted at her
”I don't What--” Dylara began in a dazed voice
The man fished a bit of scorched meat from the flames and bit off a mouthful ”The next time,” he said thickly, ”be careful whose face you scratch Trokar doesn't irls, but you turned on hi away He'll carry the marks for a while!”
Memories flooded in on her She saw the sun-dappled trail; saw Tharn rise froo down under the cruel impact of a heavy club; saw the horde of oddly dressedfrom concealrinning warrior had intercepted her And when she had raked her nails across his cheek, his good-humored expression had darkened--she remembered no more
”But--but Tharn?” she cried ”Where is he? Did you--Is he--”
The ed ”If you mean the man ith youwell, we intended only to stun hi slaves
But the club that brought him doas thrown too hard”
”Then he is--dead?”
The hawk-faced one nodded
Dylara was too shocked to attes She knew only that an unbearable weight had coo Sudden tears stung her eyes
Thehireatly this in with, he was smaller, both in build and in stature His skin, under its heavy tan, was somewhat darker; his hair very black He wore a tunic of sorayish white material; rude sandals of deerskin covered his feet A quiver of arrows and a bow--both co fro thin knife of flint was thrust under a belt of skin at his waist
His speech, too, had shown he was of another race While it had been intelligible, his enunciation was puzzling at times; occasionally hardly understandable The sier than basic; still, there was considerable difference in subtle shadings of pronunciation and sentence structure
He turned to her, finally ”Are you hungry?”
”No,” she said dully
”Good We have delayed too long, as it is Sephar is more than two suns away, and we are anxious to return”
He raised his voice in a half-shouted, ”Ho!” In response a half-score of rasses nearby
”Trokar,” called the hawk-faced one
”Yes, Vulcar” A slender young irl who improved your looks! It will be your duty to look after her on the way back to Sephar”
Trokar fingered three angry red welts along one cheek, and grinned without speaking
In single file they set out toward the south For several hours they pushed steadily ahead across gently rolling prairie land The girl's spirits sagged lower and lower as she trudged on, going she knew not where She thought of her father and the grief he ht of Tharn once or twice; if he were alive, theseBut he was dead, and the realization brought so strong a pang that she forced her thoughts away froreat forest All during the dark hours a heavy fire was kept going, while thethe night Dylara akened by hunting cries of roving meat-eaters but apparently none ca day the party of twelve skirted the edge of the forest, round underfoot had becoan to appear frequently The nearby jungle was thinning out, as well, and the air was noticeably cooler Just at sunset they finished scaling a particularly steep incline and paused at the crest to caht