" Trakor asked.

"Then we find a very big tree that is not too old and stand under it
until it passes."

"But sometimes storms last for many suns!"

"Not at this season. The rain may fall for suns on end but then the wind
is not too strong and there is no danger in moving about."

This was the sixth day since he and Trakor had set out in sustained
pursuit of those Ammadians who were holding Dylara. They traveled mostly
during the morning and afternoon hours, laying up during the heat of
day. To Trakor every hour brought new confidence, increasing dexterity
in tree-top travel and his store of jungle lore, under the expert
tutelage of Tharn, increased by leaps and bounds. He could stalk Neela,
the zebra, or Bana, the deer, across wide stretches of grasslands and,
more often than not, get close enough to this wariest of all prey to
bring one down with a single spear cast. Tharn had spent all of one sun
making him a bow, and with it and a handful of arrows from Tharn's own
quiver the boy had learned to handle the weapon with some degree of
success. No member of the cat family had faced him and his new-found
abilities thus far, but the time must eventually come and he looked
forward to it with ill-concealed impatience.

But it was in the trees where Trakor excelled. Already he could keep
pace with Tharn for short periods, although he was far from being able
to match his friend's over-all agility and stamina. Only when it came to
racing swiftly through the trees in the blackness of night was he
hopelessly outclassed; for here success depended on an uncanny kind of
sixth sense that Tharn had managed to develop only by constant practice
and use since almost the day he was able to walk.

Nor was Trakor capable of such quick thinking as that displayed by his
hero. A sudden development would freeze Trakor momentarily, while Tharn,
because of both environment and heredity possessed reflexes that would
have put Rora, the lightning, to shame, would already have the situation
in hand.

And as the days passed the bond between the two of them increased in
strength and permanence. To Trakor, Tharn was even more a god than on
that day he had dropped from the skies to save the youth from the fangs
of Sadu. He sought to emulate everything about him--his expression, his
walk, his way of speaking--even his way of thinking. Almost every word
the mighty Cro-Magnard uttered was stored deep within the mind of his
worshiping companion, to