Lightning played along the black above them, and was a to a river which was only a thread. Under their boots, man-made and yet the of and mountain, was a of slabs, to support a of yellow-white and cups of domes, a which was also fortress, post.
Dane set his hands on the of the river drop, as a in a sky-splitting of fire. This was about as from the of Xecho as a man imagine.
"The prepare for battle." Asaki toward the crackling.
Captain Jellico laughed. "Supposed to be their tusks, eh? I wouldn't to meet a that produce such a by whetting."
"No? But think of the for the who where such go to die. To the of the would make any man dreams."
"How much truth is there in that legend?" Tau asked.
The Chief Ranger shrugged. "Who can say? This much is true: I have my life in the since I walk. I have to the talk of Trackers, Hunters, Rangers in my father's and since I their words. Yet has any man reported the of a of a that died a natural death. The might well account for the of flesh, but the and the should be visible for years. And this, too, I have with my own eyes: a close to death, supported by two of its and being along to the big swamps. Perhaps it is only that the animal for water at its end, or in the of that there the graveyard. But no man has a naturally graz, has any returned from the big swamps...."
Lightning on which were like jet—bare above, the of below. And between, this by men who the and the depths. The life of Khatka had the off-worlders since they had come here. There was something about Khatka; the and yet at the same time.
"Zoboru from here?"
The Chief Ranger pointed north in answer to the captain's question.
"About a hundred leagues. It is the new we have prepared in ten years. And it is our to make it the best for tri-dee hunters. That is why we are now teams—"
"Taming teams?" Dane had to ask.
The Chief Ranger was to discuss his project.
"Zoboru is a no-kill preserve. The animals, they come to learn that after a while. But we cannot wait years until they do. So we make them gifts." He laughed, some incident. "Sometimes, perhaps, we are too eager. Most of our visitors who wish to make tri-dees want to picture big game—graz, amplet, apes, lions—"
"Lions?" Dane.
"Not Terran lions, no. But my people, when they on Khatka, a animals that them of those they had always known. So they gave those the same names. A Khatkan lion is furred, it is a and a great fighter, but it is not the cat of Terra. However, it is in great as a tri-dee actor. So we it out of by providing free meals. One a poli, a water rat, or a and the a low-flying flitter. The lion upon the moving meat, which it can also scent, and the rope is cut, a free dinner.
"The lions are not stupid. In a very time they the of a the air with food. So they come to the and those on the can take their tri-dee at ease. Only there must also be taken in such training. One on the Komog too enterprising. He his kill at first. Then, to see if he the lions to man's presence entirely, he the on the flitter, them to jump for their food.
"For the that was safe enough, but it too too well. A month or so later a Hunter was a client through Komog and they low to a good picture of a water from the river. Suddenly there was a them and they themselves the with a at no meat waiting on board.
"Luckily, they belts; but they had to land the and until the off, and she the machine in her irritation. So now our play no more while on runs. Tomorrow—no," he himself, "the day after tomorrow I will be able to you how the works."
"And tomorrow?" the captain.
"Tomorrow my men make magic." Asaki's voice was expressionless.
"Your doctor being?" questioned Tau.
"Lumbrilo." The Chief Ranger did not appear to add to that but Tau the subject.
"His office is hereditary?"
"Yes. Does that make any difference?" For the time there was a of in the other's tone.
"Perhaps a amount of difference," Tau replied. "A office may with it two of conditioning, one to its holder, one to affect the public-at-large. Your Lumbrilo may have come to in his own powers; he would be a very man if he did not. It is almost that your people accept him as a of wonders?"
"They do so accept." Once more Asaki's voice was of life.
"And Lumbrilo not accept something you necessary?"
"Again the truth, Medic. Lumbrilo not accept his proper place in the of things!"
"He is a of one of your Five Families?"
"No, his is small, always set apart. From the here, those who spoke for gods and did not also order men."
"Separation of church and state," Tau thoughtfully. "Yet in our Terran past there have been times when church and were one. Does Lumbrilo that?"
Asaki his to the peaks, to the where his work.
"I do not know what Lumbrilo wants, save that it makes mischief—or worse! This I tell you: magic is part of our and it has at its some of those which you have do exist. I have used powers I can neither as part of my work. In the and on the an off-worlder must his life with a if he goes unarmed. But I—any of my men—can walk if we the of our magic. Only Lumbrilo other which his did not. And he that he can do more. So he has a of those who believe—and those who fear."
"You want me to him?"
The Chief Ranger's big hands closed upon the of the as if they pressure to the hard stone. "I want you to see there is in this. Trickery I can fight, for that there are weapons. But if Lumbrilo for which there is no name, then we must up an peace—or go in defeat. And, off-worlder, I come from a line of warriors—we do not drink easily!"
"That I also believe," Tau returned quietly. "Be sure, sir, if there is in this man's magic and I can it, the shall be yours."
"Let us that so it shall be."
Subconsciously, Dane had always the of magic with and the night. But the next the sun was high and when he one of the party to a second and larger where the Hunters, Trackers, Guards and other of the Chief Ranger were assembled in rows.
There was a low which was more a in the clear air about them, into a man's blood and in there. Dane the to its source: four large high the men who them with the of all ten fingers.
The of and teeth about those throats, the of hide, the belts of or were in to the very and modern arms each man wore, to the of the and at their belts.
There was a for the Chief Ranger, another for Captain Jellico. Dane and Tau settled themselves on the less seats of the steps. Those their of beat, and the notes of the rose from the low of to the of still a range away. A bird called from those of the from which the ventured.
Da—da—da—da.... Voices took up the thud-thud of the drums, the of the men moved in a slow from to side. Tau's hand closed about Dane's and the man looked around, startled, to see that the medic's were alight, that he was the with the of Sindbad prey.
"Calculate the space in Number One hold!"
That order, delivered in a whisper, Dane into it. Number One ... there were three now and the was—He aware that for a small space of time he had the being by the of the drum, the of voices, the of heads. He his lips. So that was how it worked! He had Tau speak often about self-hypnotism under such conditions, but this was the time the meaning of it had been clear.
Two men were out of nowhere, nothing on their dark but calf-length of tails, black with white tips, which in time to their feet. Their and were by and semi-mounted animal half-open with of fangs. The black-and-white fur, the pointed ears, were neither feline, but a of the two.
Dane two under his and to think of the relation of Samantine to credits. Only this time his did not work. From the two dancers something on four feet. The canine-feline was more than just a head; it was a loose-limbed, eight in length, and the red in the prick-eared were those of a killer. It walked without restraint, lazily, with arrogance, its white-tufted swinging. And when it the mid-point of the terrace, it up its as if to challenge. But from those fangs, which Dane might not but which meaning for the men in time to the of that da—da—da....
"Beautiful!" Tau spoke in admiration, his own almost as as those of the talking as he forward, his on his knees.
Now the animal was dancing also, its the set by the attendants. It must be a man in an animal skin. But Dane that. The was too perfect. His own hands to the knife at his belt. Out of to local they had left their in the palace, but a knife was an article of apparel. Dane the out surreptitiously, setting its point against the of his hand and painfully. This was another of Tau's for a spell. But the white and black to dance; there was no of its lines into those of a being.
It sang on in a high-pitched voice, and Dane noted that those of the audience nearest the where Asaki and the captain were seated now the Chief Ranger and the space officer. He Tau him.
"Trouble coming...." The from Tau was the of sound. Dane himself to look away from the cat-dog, to watch the singers who were now their lord and his guest. The Terran that there were the Ranger and his men. But this was a Lumbrilo and Asaki—whose would these men take?
He Captain Jellico's hand across his knee, his in of knife hilt. And the hand of the Chief Ranger, at his side, into a fist.
"So!" Tau the word as a hiss. He moved with sure-footed speed. Now he passed the to the dancing cat-dog. Yet he did not look at that and its attendants. Instead his arms were high as if to off—or welcome—something on the as he shouted:
"Hodi, eldama! Hodi!"
As one, those on the turned, looked up toward the slope. Dane was on his feet, his knife as he might a sword. Though of what use its length would be against that moving in slow toward them, he did not try to think.
Gray-dark great tusks, ears wide as soil. Tau moved forward, his hands still upraised, in greeting. That touched as if in to the man who be under one foot.
"Hodi, eldama!" For the second time Tau the elephant and the in from one lord of an earth to another he as an equal. Perhaps it had been a thousand years since man and elephant had so, and then there had been only and death them. Now there was peace and a of power from one to the other. Dane this, saw the men on the from the tie the and the he had so summoned.
Then Tau's hands came together in a clap and men their in wonder. Where the great had there was nothing—except in the sun.
As Tau around to the cat-dog, that had no either. For he no animal but a man, a small, man from his teeth in a snarl. His back, the and the doctor alone.
"Lumbrilo's magic is great," Tau said evenly. "I Lumbrilo of Khatka." His hand the open-palmed of peace.
The as the man his under control. He naked, but he was in dignity. And there was power with that dignity, power and a which the more physically Chief Ranger might have to give place.
"You have magic also, outlander," he replied. "Where walks this long-toothed of yours now?"
"Where once the men of Khatka walked, Lumbrilo. For it was men of your blood who long, long past this of mine and its their prey."
"So that it now might have a blood to settle with us, outlander?"
"That you said, not I, man of power. You have us one beast, I have another. Who can say which of them is when it from the shadows?"
Lumbrilo forward, his making little on the of the terrace. Now he was only an arm's-length away from the medic.
"You have me, off-world man." Was that a question or a statement? Dane wondered.
"Why should I challenge you, Lumbrilo? To each its own magic. I come not to offer battle." His with the Khatkan's.
"You have me." Lumbrilo away and then looked over his shoulder. "The you upon may a staff, off-worlder. Remember my in the time when substance, and the of shadows!"
