fication-cum-village. Those
natives were, Ross gathered, a hereditary corps of servants and
warriors, born to that status and not recruited from the native
population at large. As such, they were armored by the "magic" of their
masters.

"If the Foanna are so powerful," Ross had demanded, "why do you go with
us against them?" To depend so heavily on the native made him uneasy.

The Hawaikan looked to Karara. One of his hands raised; his fingers
sketched a sign toward the girl.

"With the Sea Maid and her magic I do not fear." He paused before
adding, "Always has it been said of me--and to me--that I am a useless
one, fit only to do women's tasks. No word weaver shall ever chant my
battle deeds in the great hall of Zahur. I who am Zahur's true son can
not carry my sword in any lord's train. But now you offer me one of the
great to-be-remembered quests. If I go, so may I prove that I am a man,
even if I go limpingly. There is nothing the Foanna can do to me which
is worse than what the Shadow has already done. Choosing to follow you I
may stand up to face Zahur in his own hall, show him that the blood of
his House has not been drained from my veins because I walk crookedly!"

There was such bitter fire, not only in the sputtering rush of Loketh's
words, but in his eyes, his face, the wry twist of his lips, that Ross
believed him. The Terran no longer had any doubts that the castle
outcast was willing to brave the unknown terrors of the Foanna keep, not
just to aid Ross whom he considered himself bound to serve by the
customs of his people, but because he saw in this venture a chance to
gain what he had never had, a place in his warrior culture.

Shut off from the normal life of his people, he had early turned to the
sea. His twisted leg had not proved a handicap in the water, and he
stated with confidence that he was the best swimmer in the castle. Not
that the men of his father's following had taken greatly to the sea,
which they looked upon merely as a way of preying upon the true sea
rovers.

The reef on which the ships had been wrecked was a snare of sorts--first
by the whim of nature when wind and current piled up the trading ships
there. Then, Ross was startled when Loketh elaborated on a later
development of that trap.

"So Zahur returned from this meeting and set up a great magic among the
rock, according to the spells he was taught. Now ships are drawn there
so the wrecks have been many and Zahur becomes