, finned or clawed
grotesque creatures, which they killed and ate, wolfing down the few
fragments of odd-tasting flesh. Then, in a small crevice, which could
hardly be dignified by the designation of "cave," Thorvald chanced upon
a quite exciting discovery--a clutch of four greenish eggs, each as
large as his doubled fist.

Their outer covering was more like tough membrane than true shell, and
the Terrans worried it open with difficulty. Shann shut his eyes, trying
not to think of what he mouthed as he sucked his share dry. At least
that semi-liquid stayed put in his middle, though he expected disastrous
results from the experiment.

More than a little heartened by this piece of luck, they kept on, though
the ledge changed from a reasonably level surface to a series of rising,
unequal steps, drawing them away from the water. At long last they came
to the end of that path. Shann leaned back against a convenient spur of
rock.

"Company!" he alerted Thorvald.

The Survey officer joined him to share an outcrop of rock from which
they were provided with an excellent view of the scene below, and it
was a scene to hold their full attention.

That soft sweep of sand which had floored the cavern of the fog lay here
also, a gray-blue carpet sloping gently out of the sea. For Shann had no
doubt that the wide stretch of water before them was the western ocean.
Walling the beach on either side, and extending well out into the water
so that the farthest piles were awash except for their crowns, were
pillars of stone, shaped with the same finish as that slab which had
provided them a ladder of escape. And because of the regularity of their
spacing, Shann did not believe them works of nature.

Grouped between them now were the players of the drama. One of the
Warlockian witches, her gem body patterns glittering in the sunlight,
was walking backward out of the sea, her hands held palms together,
breast high, in a Terran attitude of prayer. And following her something
swam in the water, clearly not another of her own species. But her
actions suggested that by some invisible means she was drawing that
water dweller after her. Waiting on shore were two others of her kind,
viewing her actions with close attention, the attention of scholars for
an instructor.

"Wyverns!"

Shann looked inquiringly at his companion. Thorvald added a whisper of
explanation. "A legend of Terra--they were supposed to have a snake's
tail instead of hind