o might have to be impressed with the resources of the
master of Kira Barra. He knew of more than one instance wherein a Master
Protector had been overcome by some predatory lackland wanderer, who had
then managed by one means or another to secure his own accession to the
estates of his victim. He smiled grimly.

Carelessness could be costly. He had proved that to his brother.

Kio Barra still remembered the first time he had quarreled violently
with Boemar. He still remembered the gentle, sympathetic smile and the
sudden, twisting agony that had shot through him as his power crystal
overloaded. The flare of energy had left him incapable of so much as
receiving a strongly driven thought for many days.

He laughed. But, poor, soft fool that he had been, Boemar had carefully
nursed his brother's mind back to strength again.

Yes, Boemar had been a powerful man, but a very unwise one. And he had
forgotten the one great strength of his weaker brother--a strength that
had grown as Leuwan aged. And so, it was Leuwan who was Kio Barra.

[Illustration]

But such a thing would never again happen at Kira Barra. With his
controls and amplifiers, he was more than a match for the most powerful
of the great psionics--so long as they didn't meet him with affectionate
sympathy.

He stood silently as the servitor put the cap on his head and placed the
cloak about his shoulders. Then, tucking his heavy duty distorter under
his arm, he turned toward the outer door. The control jewels on his cap
burned with inner fire as he raised himself a few inches from the floor
and floated out toward the dock.

* * * * *

Not far from the forest shaded village of Tibara, logs had been lashed
together to form a pier which jutted from the shore and provided a
mooring for the hollowed logs used by men of the village in harvesting
the fish of the lake. Several boats nested here, their bows pointing
toward the fender logs of the pier. More were drawn up on the gravel of
the shore, where they lay, bottoms upward, that they might dry and be
cleaned.

A few villagers squatted by their boats and near the pier. Others were
by the nets which had been spread over the gravel to dry.

One large section of the pier was vacant. Always, this area was reserved
for the use of the Lord of the Mountain Lake.

As Barra's boat sped through the water, he concentrated his attention on
the logs of the pier, urging his boat to increa