Save for one other sign―the clawmarks of the giant reptile, clearly scored in the flinty soil.
Lukor surveyed the ground thoughtfully, his keen, quick eyes missing nothing, a frown of concentration upon his lofty brow, crowned with its gleaming wealth of silver hair.
“No sign of a battle here, that I can see, at least,” he mused. “Both boy and girl were armed, were they not? And would presumably attempt to fight off the sky dragon…”
“Unless they had been captured by the fugitive Mind Wizard, as we believe was the case, in which event surely the Kuurian would have disarmed them,” said Koja.
The old knight nodded reluctantly. Then his features brightened.
“In which event, the Kuurian himself would have fought the monster,” he chirruped brightly. “There should be more scuffmarks, certainly, and blood. Fresh blood.”
But there was no blood on the scene, and the soil seemed remarkably undisturbed. The only conclusion that could be reached under these circumstances was that the victims of the flying predator had, for some reason, not fought against the reptile.
“Perhaps the ghastozar took them completely off guard and by surprise,” murmured Jarak of Tharkol, the young warrior Koja had sent back to Kuur with his message.
“Perhaps,” mused Lukor, tugging his silvery spike of beard as if hoping by this action to stimulate thought.
Then he shrugged, admitting himself baffled by these apparently inexplicable events.
“If you watched the ghastozar rise from afar, friend Koja, doubtless you also marked the direction of its flight?”
The giant arthropod flexed his brow-antennae in the Yathoon equivalent of a nod.
“Due west,” he announced solemnly.
“Very well, then,” said Lukor of Ganatol crisply. “There are mountains in that direction, if I remember the map compiled by our friend, Abziz, correctly. Doubtless the creature’s lair is in those peaks.”
“It is your intention then to continue the search?” Koja inquired.
“Certainly! We have come all this way; we can attempt to follow the trail of our young friends a bit further, before giving up the search. One of the young people, at least, might still be alive.”
Lukor boarded the gig and flew back to the Jalathadar. The vessel lowered itself as close to the surface of the planet as the buoyant vapors trapped within its double hull would permit. Rope ladders were tossed over the deck-rails, and by these the warriors of Koja’s squad ascended to the deck of the aerial galleon, as did the Yathoon himself.
The great ornithopter then rose to the height of about a quarter of a mile and began to cruise slowly in a direction due west. From observation balconies and belvederes, keen-eyed lookouts kept the terrain under close surveillance, searching for any sign of the ghastozar’s descent.
None was visible, neither did they observe any further signs that indicated Tomar, Ylana or their captor had continued on foot beyond the point where they had been observed to have been carried off by the flying monster.
Flying with a skeleton crew, the stately galleon of the skies floated slowly into the golden west like some great cloud borne before the winds.
By nightfall the warriors of the West had found nothing. It was risky to attempt to fly by night in mountainous country, due to the sudden and unpredictable updrafts and the ever-present danger of collision with a rocky spire. They were approaching that region of the Far Side of Callisto known to be the haunts of the dreaded Zarkoon, the flying sub-men whose grisly and cannibalistic habits made them doubly feared. As it was known that the flying men preferred to hunt by night, as the full light of day was painful to their eyes, and as previous experience had demonstrated that the Zarkoon did not scruple even to attack one of the mighty ornithopters, Lukor commanded the vessel rise to the height of one mile above the surface of Callisto and pause there until daybreak.
Such a height was itself dangerous, but was believed to be beyond the limits to which the winged cannibals could ascend, and was also above and beyond the reach of the strong prevailing winds that blow powerfully in these latitudes. Hence the galleon of the clouds could float more or less stationary during the hours of darkness.
A full guard was mounted to keep watch for ghastozars or for the faint chance that marauding Zarkoon might come this way. The remainder of the ship’s company took to their bunks and hammocks for a few hours of well-earned rest.
With dawn they rose, broke their fast, descended into the strength of the prevailing winds, and continued on their way. Before long the great chain of mountains that encircled the plateau hove upon the horizon.
The Jalathadar pointed her prow in that direction, and began to search the peaks for the nesting-places of the giant winged reptiles.
Several such nests were in fact discovered, some empty and long abandoned, some containing eggs or the squalling young of the ghastozars, but none bore any sign or token that the missing young people had been there.
It took all of that day to circle the great plateau. The search proved fruitless. Several times, nesting ghastozar females attempted to attack the flying gigs that disturbed their nests. Each time archers mounted in the observation balconies and belvederes succeeded in driving away the enraged dragonesses before the fragile gigs could be damaged or their occupants injured.
By evening the plateau had been completely explored. Over dinner, the warriors of the West discussed what further could be done to search for their missing friends. An atmosphere of gloomy pessimism pervaded the discussion; few of the searchers retained the hope that Tomar or Ylana could possibly be alive after all this time.
Many, however, argued that in the mountains of the Zarkoon, a bit further to the west, ghastozars might also nest, and that this region should also be scrutinized before the search was abandoned and the Jalathadar pointed her prow east for the return voyage to the Valley of Kuur, where the remainder of Lukor’s troop held the subterranean citadel of the Mind Wizards under strong guard.
Lukor himself inclined toward continuing ‘ the search upon the following day.
With dawn the Jalathadar left her mooring to cruise across the breadth of the jungled plateau, in the direction of the westerly mountains of the Zarkoon.
An alert lookout sounded the alarm shortly thereafter, which brought the spry old Ganatolian to the bridge with haste. The warrior directed Lukor’s attention to the terrain below.
Koja ascended to the bridge, having also heard the lookout’s signal.
“What has happened, Lukor?” inquired Koja.
The Ganatolian beckoned him to the rail and pointed below their floating keel.
“We seem to have stumbled upon something,” the sword-master said excitedly.
“What is it?”
“It looks like a battle,” said Lukor. “Helmsman, take us down( Archers, to your postsl” Then, turning to Koja, the old knight said:
“I believe we have come at a most fortuitous moment, and that our descent should prove a timely interruption!”
Chapter 12
GRINNING JAWS
WITHIN half an hour after entering the jungle, young Tomar confessed to be completely lost.
The jungle aisles were pitch-black, drowned in a degree of gloom the youth found impenetrable. This was due to the fact that, although two or three of the larger moons of Gordrimator were aloft in the night skies, the interlaced boughs of the jungle trees, heavy with foliage and thick with tangled vines and lianas, met so completely overhead as to form an almost solid roof of verdure blocking the lunar radiance.