more. Rhes
was silent and Jason couldn't tell if his story had been believed. Only
when the Pyrran bent and slashed the nearest rope did he know he had
won.

The word passed from man to man and the ropes were cut silently. Behind
them the ship they had labored so hard over, sank back into the water.
None of them watched. Each was locked in his own world of thought as
they formed up to leave. As soon as the doryms were saddled and packed
they started out, Hananas leading the way. Within minutes they were all
moving, a single file that vanished into the darkness.

Jason's litter had to be left behind, it would have been smashed to
pieces in the night march. Rhes pulled him up into the saddle before
him, locking his body into place with a steel-hard arm. The trek
continued.

When they left the swamp they changed directions sharply. A little later
Jason knew why, when the southern sky exploded. Flames lit the scene
brightly, ashes sifted down and hot lumps of rock crashed into the
trees. They steamed when they hit, and if it hadn't been for the earlier
rain they would have been faced with a forest fire as well.

Something large loomed up next to the line of march, and when they
crossed an open space Jason looked at it in the reflected light from the
sky.

"Rhes--" he choked, pointing. Rhes looked at the great beast moving next
to them, shaggy body and twisted horns as high as their shoulders, then
looked away. He wasn't frightened or apparently interested. Jason looked
around then and began to understand.

All of the fleeing animals made no sound, that's why he hadn't noticed
them before. But on both sides dark forms ran between the trees. Some he
recognized, most of them he didn't. For a few minutes a pack of wild
dogs ran near them, even mingling with the domesticated dogs. No notice
was taken. Flying things flapped overhead. Under the greater threat of
the volcanoes all other battles were forgotten. Life respected life. A
herd of fat, piglike beasts with curling tusks, blundered through the
line. The doryms slowed, picking their steps carefully so they wouldn't
step on them. Smaller animals sometimes clung to the backs of the bigger
ones, riding untouched a while, before they leaped off.

Pounded mercilessly by the saddle, Jason fell wearily into a light
sleep. It was shot through with dreams of the rushing animals, hurrying
on forever in silence. With his eyes open or shut he saw the same
endless stream of bea