uge the speed of his passage by the way the
patches of green light slipped by. Now he turned and began to swim
slowly, feeling as if his arms were leaden weights, his ribs a cage to
bind his aching lungs.

Another patch of light ... larger ... spreading across the roof over
head. Then, he was out! Out of the tunnel into a cavern so vast that its
arching roof was like a skydome far above his head. But here the patches
of light were brighter, and they were arranged in odd groups which had a
familiar look to them.

Only, better than freedom overhead, there was a shore not too distant.
Shann swam for that haven, summoning up the last rags of his strength,
knowing that if he could not reach it very soon he was finished. Somehow
he made it and lay gasping, his cheek resting on sand finer than any of
the outer world, his fingers digging into it for purchase to drag his
body on. But when he collapsed, his legs were still awash in water.

No footfall could be heard on that sand. But he knew that he was no
longer alone. He braced his hands and with painful effort levered up his
body. Somehow he made it to his knees, but he could not stand. Instead
he half tumbled back, so that he faced them from a sitting position.

_Them_--there were three of them--the dragon-headed ones with their
slender, jewel-set bodies glittering even in this subdued light, their
yellow eyes fastened on him with a remoteness which did not approach any
human emotion, save perhaps that of a cold and limited wonder. But
behind them came a fourth, one he knew by the patterns on her body.

Shann clasped his hands about his knees to still the trembling of his
body, and eyed them back with all the defiance he could muster. Nor did
he doubt that he had been brought here, his body as captive to their
will, as had been that of their spy or messenger in his crude snare on
the island.

"Well, you have me," he said hoarsely. "Now what?"

His words boomed weirdly out over the water, were echoed from the dim
outer reaches of the cavern. There was no answer. They merely stood
watching him. Shann stiffened, determined to hold to his defiance and
to that identity which he now knew was his weapon against the powers
they used.

The one who had somehow drawn him there moved at last, circling around
the other three with a suggestion of diffidence in her manner. Shann
jerked back his head as her hand stretched to touch his face. And then,
guessing that she sought her pec