The head Granous was squatting on the ground in front of its prisoner, arranging something in the dust.
‘Very well then, creature,’ it cackled after a moment, shuffling back. ‘Are you ready for your next question?’
The Capricon moaned and struggled vainly. Lief saw that the Granous had arranged some sticks in the dust, to make a crude fish shape.
‘Here is a fish from our stream,’ said the Granous, flexing its thin, wiry fingers. ‘There are precious few of them, but this is one.’
The other Granous tittered.
‘Now,’ their leader said. ‘This fish is swimming to the left. If it goes on doing that, it will escape our nets, and we do not want that. Do we, friends?’
‘Oh, no!’ chorused the other Granous, grinning hideously.
‘So, creature,’ said the head Granous. ‘By moving three sticks, no more, no less, you must make our fish turn around so it is swimming to the right.’
The Capricon moaned, shaking his head helplessly.
The Granous laughed and snapped their jaws.
His mind racing, Lief eased himself back behind the tree and began sawing at the vines. They were very tough, and there were three lengths, knotted separately so that if one broke, the others would still hold.
He was sure that the Capricon would feel what he was doing, and prayed that he would make no sign. But the prisoner was too panic stricken, it seemed, to notice anything. The low moaning did not change or falter.
‘Don’t give up so easily!’ Lief heard the head Granous jeer.
‘Please!’ mumbled the Capricon. ‘Please …’
One vine was almost cut through. Leaving a few strands in place so that the bond would not fall and alert the enemy, Lief began on the next.
‘You have till we count to twenty to solve the puzzle,’ said the Granous. ‘As before, if you do not solve it, the penalty is one finger. Ready? Go!’
The other Granous began to chant. ‘Twenty. Nineteen. Eighteen …’
Lief risked another glimpse around the tree.
The Capricon was gaping wildly at the diagram. Clearly he did not have the faintest idea how to solve the puzzle.
The Granous shouted and stamped. ‘Fourteen. Thirteen …’
Grinning, their leader turned and began triumphantly conducting them. Their eyes were fixed on him.
None of them are watching, Lief thought. Now is our chance. But I will never cut these vines in time!
He stared at the diagram, forcing himself to think.
‘Ten. Nine. Eight …’
Then, suddenly, Lief saw the answer. Recklessly he leaned forward and whispered in the Capricon’s ear. The Capricon jumped and cried out in shock.
Luckily the Granous were too busy stamping and counting to notice.
‘Do as I say!’ Lief whispered urgently. ‘Make haste!’
But the Capricon, whimpering and trembling, seemed unable to move.
‘Six. Five …’
Abandoning all caution, Lief ducked out of cover, reached forward, and re-arranged the sticks himself.
‘THREE! TWO! …’
Lief jerked back behind the bush with a split second to spare. The lead Granous turned around, sharp, yellow teeth grinning and snapping.
‘ONE! … Oh!’
The pack howled in disappointment as they saw that the stick fish was now facing to the right. Shallow grooves in the dust showed where the three moved sticks had been.
The head Granous lumbered forward. Gnawing at one of its grimy yellow nails, it stared down at the diagram. Then it looked suspiciously at the prisoner, who was cringing against the tree trunk.
‘You cheated!’ it accused. ‘The penalty for cheating is five fingers!’
‘No!’ the Capricon wailed, cradling his injured hand. ‘No, please! It wasn’t my fault! It was …’ He half-turned to look behind him.
Lief stiffened.
‘Get on with the game!’ shouted one of the pack.
‘The game! The game!’ chanted all the others.
Furiously, the head Granous kicked the sticks aside, showering the Capricon with dust.
‘The next puzzle will not be so easy, creature,’ it growled. Then it turned and slouched out of Lief’s sight.
Lief began cutting the second vine, every now and then peeping out at the clearing.
The other Granous waited, muttering to one another in low voices. Then there was a sound from the trees at other end of the clearing. They all swung around to look, and two went to investigate, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth.
Lief left a few strands of the second vine, to hold it in place, and began on the third. This time the Capricon felt it and whimpered.
‘Be quiet!’ whispered Lief, sawing desperately. ‘I am releasing you!’
He heard a chorus of rasping calls and again peered through the bush. The Granous had all moved to the other end of the clearing and were calling their invisible companions. When no answer came, two more lumbered into the trees.
Jasmine and Barda are doing well, Lief thought.
But there were still seven Granous in the clearing—eight, counting the leader
Too many. Far too many to fight.
He returned to his work with new energy. When the third vine was almost cut through he moved to look through the bush once more.
The head Granous was returning with something clutched in its hand.
‘I have cut the vines almost through,’ Lief breathed to the Capricon. ‘Stay absolutely still or you will break them and alert the Granous. But when I give the signal, leap up and run!’
‘I cannot run!’ whimpered the prisoner. ‘They bit off my finger! I am in agony!’
‘There will be far worse pain for you if you stay here,’ Lief whispered furiously. ‘And keep your voice down!’
The head Granous reached the tree and stood grinning at his cowering prisoner.
‘One of our visitors left this trinket with us,’ he said with an evil grin, holding out a small wooden box, richly carved and painted in a complicated pattern of scarlet and gold. ‘All you have to do is open it. We humble Granous have never found the trick. But I am sure a fine, clever creature like you can do it with ease.’
He leaned forward and tossed the box into the Capricon’s lap.
‘No!’ screamed the Capricon, throwing himself violently to one side. The weakened vines snapped and fell in a tangled heap into the dust.
The Granous roared in surprise and anger. The Capricon clawed at the bush that was Lief’s shelter, bending and breaking the flimsy branches.
‘Save me!’ he screamed. ‘Save me!’
Lief tried to scramble back, but the Capricon caught his cloak and held it fast, sobbing and crying.
‘Enemy!’ howled the Granous. It hurled itself forward, snapping and snarling.
In dismay, Lief felt wiry fingers fasten on his ankle. He was jerked backwards with such tremendous force that he could do nothing to save himself.
The next moment he was lying, dazed, in the clearing, with the hot, foul breath of the Granous in his face and the great weight of its body on his chest, pinning down his arms.
The rest of the pack had come running and now stood in a tight circle around their leader and his captive.
Two of them had seized the Capricon, who sagged motionless between them. His head hung down, so that Lief could see the small horns beneath his curly hair. His eyes were closed.
The head Granous bent lower, its wet, black nose snuffling in Lief’s face, its tiny eyes burning with fury.
‘I have seen you before,’ it snarled. ‘You are the one who calls himself king. The one who made fools of us before! Well, you will never make fools of us again, king!’
It bared its sharp, yellow teeth.
It is going to kill me here and now, Lief thought.
His numbed fingers tightened on the Belt at his waist. He focused his mind on it, and with all his strength, called on the power of the gems.
Help me!
The Granous jerked back as if it had been stung. It glared at Lief for a moment, then its eyes narrowed.