The Jewels of Aptor Read online

  CHAPTER VIII

  The pale woman with the tiny eyes rose from over him. Her hair droppedlike white silk threads over her shoulders. "You are awake?" she asked."Do you understand me?"

  "Am I at--at Hama's temple?" he asked, the remnants of the dream stillblowing in at the edges of his mind, like shredding cloth. "My friends,where are they?"

  The woman laughed. "Your friends are all right. You came out the worst."Another laugh. "You ask if this is Hama's temple? But you can see, canyou not? You have eyes. Don't you recognize the color of the WhiteGoddess Argo?"

  Geo looked around the room. It was white marble, and there was no directsource of light. The walls simply glowed.

  "My friends...." Geo said again.

  "They are fine. We were able to completely restore their flesh tohealth. They must have exposed their hands to the direct beam of theradiation for only a few seconds. But the whole first half of your armhad apparently lain in the deadly rays for some minutes. You were not aslucky as they."

  Another thought rushed Geo's mind now. "The jewels ..." he started tosay, but instead of sounding the words, he reached to his throat withboth hands. One fell on his naked chest. And there was something verywrong with the other. He sat up in the bed quickly, and looked down. "Myarm," he said.

  Swathed in white bandages, the limb ended some foot and a half short ofwhere it should have.

  "My arm...?" he asked again, with a child's bewilderment. "What happenedto my arm?"

  "I tried to tell you," the woman said, softly. "We had to amputate halfof your arm. If we had not, you would have died."

  "My arm," Geo said again, and lay back in the bed.

  "It is difficult," the woman said. "It is only a little consolation, Iknow, but we are blind here. What burned your arm away, took our sightfrom us when it was much stronger, generations ago. We learned how tobattle many of its effects, and had we not rescued you from the river,all of you would have died. You are men who know the religion of Argo,and adhere to it. This another of your party has told us. Be thankfulthen that you have come under the wing of the Mother Goddess again, forthis is a hostile country." She paused. "Do you wish to talk?"

  Geo shook his head.

  "I hear the sheets rustle," the woman said, smiling, "which means youeither shook or nodded your head. I know from my study of the oldcustoms that one means 'yes' and the other 'no.' But you must havepatience with us who cannot see. We are not used to your people. Do youwish to talk?" she repeated.

  "Oh," said Geo. "No. No, I don't."

  "Very well," the woman said. She rose, still smiling. "I will returnlater." She walked to a wall in which a door slipped open, and then itclosed again, behind her.

  He lay still on the bed for a long time. Then he turned over on hisstomach. Once he brought the stump under his chest and held the cleanbandages in his other hand. Very quickly he let go, and stretched thelimb sideways, as far as possible away from him. That didn't workeither, so he moved it back down to his side, and let it lay by himunder the white sheet.

  After a long while, he got up, sat on the edge of the bed, and lookedaround the room. It was completely bare, with neither windows norvisible doors. He went to the spot through which she had exited, butcould find not seam or crack. His tunic, he saw, had been washed,pressed, and laid on the foot of the bed. He slipped it over his head,fumbling with only one arm. Getting the belt together started out to bea problem, but he hooked the buckle around one finger and maneuvered thestrap through with the other. He adjusted his leather purse, now empty,on his side. Then he saw that the sword was gone.

  An unreal feeling, white like the walls of the room, was beginning tofill him up like a pale mixture of milk and water. He walked around theedge of the room once more, looking for some break.

  There was a sound behind him and the tiny-eyed woman in her white robestood in a triangular doorway. "You're dressed," she smiled. "Good. Areyou too tired to come with me? You will eat and see your friends if youfeel well enough. Or, I can have the food brought."

  "I'll come," Geo said.

  She turned, and he followed her into a hall of the same luminoussubstance. Her heels touched the back of her white robe with each step,but she was silent. His own bare feet on the cool stones seemed louderthan those of the blind woman before him. Suddenly he was in a largerroom, with benches. It was a chapel, obviously of Argo because of thealtar at the far end, but its detail was strange. Everything wasarranged with the white simplicity that one would expect of a people towhom visual adornment meant nothing. He sat down on a bench as the womansaid, "Wait here." She disappeared down another hall.

  Suddenly the woman returned from the other hallway, followed by Snake.Geo and the four-armed boy looked at each other, silently, as the womandisappeared again. A wish, like a living thing, suddenly writhed into aknot in Geo's stomach, that the boy would say something. He himselfcould not.

  Again she returned, this time with Urson. The big man stepped into thechapel, saw Geo, and exclaimed, "Friend, what happened?" He came to himquickly and placed his warm hands on Geo's shoulders. "What ..." hebegan, and shook his head.

  Geo grinned suddenly, and patted his stump with his good hand. "I guessjelly-belly got something from me after all."

  Urson held his own forearm next to Geo's and compared them. There waspaleness in both. "I guess none of us got out completely all right. Iwoke up once while they were taking the scabs off. It was pretty bad,and I went to sleep again fast."

  Iimmi came in now. "Well, I was wondering ..." He stopped, and let outa low whistle. "I guess it really got you, brother." His own arms lookedas though they had been dipped in bleach up to the mid forearms.

  "How did this happen?" Urson asked.

  "When we were back doing our tightrope act on those damn girders,"explained Iimmi, "our bodies were in the shadow of the girders and therays only got to our arms. I've got something you'll be interested intoo, Geo."

  "Just tell me where the hell we are," Urson said.

  "We're in a monastery sacred to Argo," Iimmi told him. "It's across theriver from the City of New Hope, which is where we were."

  "That name sounds familiar; in the ..." began Urson. Snake gave him aquick glance, and he stopped, and then frowned.

  "We knew of your presence in the City of New Hope," explained the blindPriestess, "and we found you by the riverside after you swam across. Youmanaged to cling to life long enough for us to get you back to themonastery and apply what art we could to sooth the burns from the deadlyfire."

  Geo suddenly saw that there was no jewel around Iimmi's neck either. Hecould almost feel the hands ripping it from his neck in the water. Iimmimust have made the same discovery, because his pale hand raised to hisown chest.

  The Priestess beckoned and started down another hall, and again theyfollowed. They arrived at an even larger room, this one set with whitemarble benches and long white tables. "This is the main dining room ofthe monastery," their guide explained. "One table has been set up foryou. You will not eat with the other priestesses, of course."

  "Why not?" asked Iimmi.

  Surprise flowed across the blind face. "You are men," she told them,matter of factly. Then she led them to a table where wine, meat, andbowls piled with strange fruit were placed. As they sat down, shedisappeared once more.

  Geo reached for a knife. For a moment there was silence at the table asthe nub of the arm jutted over food. "I guess I just have to learn," hesaid after the pause.

  Halfway through the meal, Urson said, "What about the jewels? Did thePriestess take them from you?"

  "They came off in the water," said Iimmi.

  Geo nodded corroboration.

  "Well, now we really have a problem," said Urson. "Here we are, at atemple of Argo's where we could return the jewels and maybe even getback to the Priestess on the ship, and out of the silly mess, and thejewels are gone."

  "I guess that also means our river friends are working for Hama," saidGeo.

  "Well," Iimmi said, "Ha
ma's got his jewel then, and we're out of theway. Perhaps he delivered us into Argo's hands as a reward for bringingthem this far?"

  "Since we would have died anyway," said Geo, "I guess he was doing us afavor."

  "And you know what that means," Iimmi said, looking at Snake now.

  "Huh?" asked Urson. Then he said, "Oh, let the boy speak for himself.All right, Four Arms, are you or are you not a spy for Hama?"

  A pained expression came over Snake's face, and he shook his head not indenial but bewilderment. Suddenly he got up from the table, and ran fromthe room. Urson looked at the others. "Now don't tell me I hurt hisfeelings by asking."

  "You didn't," said Iimmi, "but I may have. I keep on forgetting that hecan read minds."

  "What do you mean?" Urson asked.

  "Just when you asked him that, a lot of things came together in my mindthat would be pretty vicious for him if any of it were true."

  "Huh?" asked Urson.

  "I think I know what you mean," said Geo.

  "I still--"

  "It means that he is a spy," explained Iimmi, "and among other things,he was probably lying about the radio back at the city. And that costGeo his arm."

  "Why the--" began Urson, and then looked down the hall where Snake haddisappeared.

  They didn't eat much more. When they got up, Urson felt sleepy and wasshown back to his room.

  "May I show my friend what you showed me?" Iimmi asked the Priestesswhen she returned. "He is also a student of rituals."

  "Of course you may," smiled the Priestess.

  A door opened and they entered another room similar to the one in whichGeo had awakened. As she was about to leave, Iimmi asked, "Wait. Can youtell us how to leave the room ourselves?"

  "Why would you want to leave?" she asked.

  "For exercise," offered Geo, "and to observe the working of themonastery. Believe us, we are true students of Argo's religion."

  "Simply press the wall with your hand, level at your waist, and the doorwill open. But you must not wander about the monastery. Rites which arenot for your eyes are being carried out. Not for your eyes," sherepeated. "Strange, this is a phrase that has never left our language.Suddenly, confronted by people who can see, it makes me feelsomehow ..." she paused. "Well, that is how to leave the room."

  She stepped out, and the door closed behind her.

  "Here," said Iimmi, "this is what I wanted to show you." On his bed werea pile of books, old, but legible. Geo flipped through a few pages.Suddenly he looked up at Iimmi.

  "Hey, what are they doing with _printed_ books?"

  "Question number one," said Iimmi. "Now, for question number two. Lookhere." He reached over Geo's shoulder and hastened him to one page.

  "Why it's the ..." began Geo.

  "You're darn right it is," said Iimmi.

  HYMN TO THE GODDESS ARGO

  _Forked in the eye of the bright ash there the heart of Argo broke and the hand of the goddess would dash through the head of flame, and the smoke._

  _Burn the grain speck in the hand and batter the stars with singing. Hail the height of a man, and also the height of a woman._

  _The eyes have imprisoned a vision, the ash-tree dribbles with blood. Thrust from the gates of the prison, smear the yew-tree with mud._

  "That must be the full version of the poem I found the missing stanza toback in the library at Leptar."

  "As I was saying," said Iimmi, "Question number two: what is therelation between the rituals of Hama and the old rituals of Argo.Apparently this particular branch of the religion of the Goddessunderwent no purge. And no one at Olcse Olwnh was supposed to know aboutthem."

  "I wonder why?" Geo asked.

  "That is question number three."

  "How did you get a hold of them?"

  "Well," said Iimmi, "I sort of suspected they might be here. So I justasked for them. And I think I've got some answers to those questions."

  "Fine. Go ahead."

  "We'll start from three, go back to one, and then on to two. Nice andorderly," said Iimmi. "Why wasn't anybody supposed to know about therituals? Simply because they were so similar to the rituals of Hama. Youremember some of the others we found in the abandoned temple? If youdon't, you can refresh your memory right here. The two sets of ritualsrun almost parallel, except for a name changed here, a color switchedfrom black to white, a switch in the vegetative symbolism. I guess whathappened was that when Hama's forces invaded Leptar five hundred yearsago, it didn't take Leptar long to find out the similarity. From thelooks of the City of New Hope, I think it's safe to assume that at onetime or another, say five hundred years ago, Aptor's civilization wasfar higher than Leptar's, and probably wouldn't have had too hard a timebeating her in an invasion. So when Leptar captured the first jewel,and somehow did manage to repel Aptor, the priests of Leptar assumedthat the safest way to avoid infiltration by Hama and Aptor again wouldbe to make the rituals of the two as different as possible from the onesof their enemy, Hama.

  "The ghouls, the bats, they parallel the stories I've heard othersailors tell too closely to be accidents. How many people do you thinkhave been shipwrecked on Aptor and gotten far enough into the place tosee what we've seen, and then gotten off again to tell about it?"

  "I can think of two," said Geo.

  "Huh?" said Iimmi.

  "Snake and Jordde," answered Geo. "Remember that Argo said there hadbeen spies from Aptor before. And Jordde is definitely one, and I guessso is Snake."

  "True enough," said Iimmi. "I guess that fits into Rule Number One." Hegot up from the bed. "Come on. Let's take a walk. I want to see somesunlight." They went to the wall. Geo pressed it and a triangular panelslipped back.

  When they had rounded four or five turns of hallway, Geo said, "I hopeyou can remember where we've been."

  "I've got a more or less perfect memory for directions," Iimmi said.

  Suddenly the passage opened onto steps, and they were looking out upon ahuge, unrelieved white chamber. Down a set of thirty marble stepspriestesses filed below them in rows, their heads fixed blindly forward.

  At the far end was a raised dais with a mammoth statue of a kneelingwoman, sculptured of the same effulgent, agate material. "Where do thesewomen come from?" whispered Geo. "And where do they keep the men?"

  Iimmi shrugged.

  Suddenly, the figure of the blind Priestess was beside them.

  "Excuse me, ma'am," Iimmi said, sensing her disapproval of theirpresence, "we didn't mean to be disrespectful, but we are creatures whoare used to natural day and night. We are used to fresh air, greenthings. This underground whiteness is oppressive to us and makes usrestless. Is there any way that you could show us a way into the open?"

  "There is not," returned the blind Priestess quietly and motioned themto follow her from the chamber. "Besides, night is coming on and you arenot creatures who relish darkness."

  "The night air and the quiet of evening is refreshing to us," counteredIimmi.

  "What do you know of the night," answered the priestess with faintcynicism in her low voice. Now they reached the chapel where the friendshad first met after their rescue.

  "What can you tell us about the Dark God Hama?" Geo asked.

  The blind Priestess shrugged, and sat down on one of the benches. "Thereis little to say. Today he is a fiction, he does not exist. There isonly Argo, the One White Goddess."

  "But we've heard--" Geo began.

  "You were at his abandoned temple," said the Priestess. "You sawyourselves. That is all that is left of Hama. Ghouls prey on the dust ofhis dead saints. Perhaps, somewhere behind the burning mountain a few ofhis disciples are left. But Hama is dead in Aptor. You have seen theremains of his city, the City of New Hope. You have also been the firstones to go in and return in nearly five hundred years."

  "Is that how long the city has been in ruin?" asked Geo.

  "It is."

  "What can you tell us about the city?" Iimmi said.

/>   The Priestess sighed again. "There was a time," she began, "generationsago, when Hama was a high God in Aptor. He had many temples,monasteries, and convents devoted to him. We had few. Except for thesereligious sanctuaries, the land was barbaric, wild, uninhabitable forthe most part. There had once been cities in Aptor, but these had beendestroyed even earlier by the Great Fire. All that we had was afantastic record of an unbelievable time before the rain of flame oftremendous power, vast science, and a towering, though degenerate,civilization. These records were extensive, and entirely housed withinthe monasteries. Outside the monasteries, there was only chaos, wherehalf the children were born dead, and the other half deformed. And withthe monstrous races that sprang up over the island now as a reminder tous, we declared that the magic contained in these chronicles was evil,and must never be released to the world again. But the priests of Hama,decided to use the information in these chronicles, spread it to thepeople, and declared they would not commit the same mistakes that hadbrought the Great Fire. They opened the books, and the City of New Hopegrew on the far shore of the river. They made giant machines that flewthrough the air. They constructed immense boats which could sink intothe sea and emerge hundreds of miles away in another harbor in anotherland. They even harnessed for beneficial use the fire metal, uranium,which had brought such terror to the world before and had brought downthe flames."

  "But they made the same mistake as the people before the Great Firemade?" suggested Iimmi.

  "Not exactly," said the Priestess. "That is, they were not so stupid asto misuse the fire metal which ravaged the world so harshly before.History is cyclic, not repetitive. A new power was discovered thatdwarfed the significance of the fire metal. It could do all that thefire metal could do, and more efficiently: destroy cities, or warmchilly huts in winter; but, it could also work on men's minds. They say,that before the Great Fire, men wandered the streets of the citiesterrified that flames would descend on them any moment and destroy them.They panicked, bought flimsy useless contraptions to guard themselvesfrom the fire. Geo, Iimmi, have you any idea how terrifying it would beto know that while walking the streets, at any moment, your mind mightbe snatched from you, raped, violated, and left broken in your ownskull?

  "Only three of these instruments were constructed. But the moment theirexistence was made known by a few fantastic demonstrations, the City ofNew Hope began the swerve down the arc of its own self-destruction. Itlasted for a year, and ended with the broken wreck you escaped from lastnight. During that year invasions were launched on the backward nationsacross the sea with whom months before there had been friendly trade.Civil wars broke out and internal struggles caused the invasions to fallback to the homeland. The instruments were hopelessly lost, but notbefore the bird machines had even dropped bombs on the City of New Hopeitself. The house of the fire metal was broken open to release its deathonce more. For a hundred years after the end, say our records, the cityflamed with light from the destroyed power house. During the firsthundred years more and more of our number were born blind because of thesinking fire in the city. At last we moved underground, but it was toolate." She rose from her seat. "And so you see, Hama destroyed himself.Today, loyal to Argo, are all the beasts of the air, of the land ... andof the water."

  "What about the--the three instruments?" Geo asked. "What happened tothem?"

  The blind Priestess turned to him. "Your guess," she said, smiling, "isas good as mine." She turned again and glided softly from the room.

  When she left, Iimmi said, "Something is fishy."

  "But what is it?" said Geo.

  "Well, for one thing," said Iimmi, "we know there is a Hama. From thedream I would say that it's just about the size and organization of thisplace."

  "Just how big is this place anyway?" Geo asked.

  "Want to do some more exploring?"

  "Sure," he answered. "Do you think she does know about Hama but was justpretending?"

  "Could be," said Iimmi. They started off down another corridor. "Thatbit about going into men's minds with the jewels," Iimmi went on. "Itgives me the creeps."

  "It's a creepy thing to watch," said Geo. "Argo used it on Snake thefirst time we saw her. It just turns you into an automaton."

  "Then it really is our jewels she was talking about."

  Stairs cut a white tunnel into the wall before them, and they mountedupward, coming finally to another corridor. They turned down it and forthe first time saw recognizable doors in the wall. "Hey," said Iimmi,"maybe one of these goes outside."

  "Fine," said Geo. "This place is beginning to get me." He pushed open adoor and stepped in. Except for the flowing white walls, it duplicatedin miniature the basement of the New Edison building. Twin dynamoswhirred and the walls were laced with pipes.

  "Nothing in here," said Iimmi.

  They tried a door across the hall now. In this one sat a white porcelaintable and floor to ceiling cases of glittering instruments. "I bet thisis the room your arm came off in," Iimmi said.

  "Probably," replied Geo.

  They came out and continued even farther. In the next room the glow wasdimmer, and there was dust on the walls. Iimmi ran his finger over itand looked at the gray crescent left on the bleached flesh.

  Two huge screens leaned out from the face of a metal machine. A fewdials and a glass meter hung beneath each two yard rounded-rectangle ofopaque glass. In front of each was a stand which held something like aset of binoculars and what looked like a pair of ear muffs.

  "I bet this place hasn't been used since before these girls went blind,"said Geo.

  "It looks it," Iimmi said. He stepped up to one of the screens, the onewith the fewer dials on it, and turned a switch.

  "What did you do that for?" Geo asked.

  "Why not?" said Iimmi. Suddenly a flickering of colored lights ran overthe screen, swellings of blue, green, shiny scarlets. They blinked."That's the first color I've seen since I've been here," Iimmi said. Thecolors grayed, dimmed, congealed into forms, and in a moment they werelooking at a bare white room in which stood two barefoot young men. Onewas a dark Negro with pale hands. The other had an unruly shock of blackhair and only one arm.

  "Hey," gestured Iimmi, and the figure on the screen gestured too."That's us." He walked forward and the corresponding figure advanced onthe screen. He flicked a dial and the figures exploded into colors andthen focused again. "What's that?" asked Iimmi.

  In a room stood three of the blind women. On one wall was a smallerscreen similar to the one in their own room. The women, of course, wereoblivious to the picture on it, but it was the picture on the screenthat had stopped Geo. It was a face. A man's face.

  One of the women had on an ear muff apparatus and was talking into asmall metal rod which she carried with her as she paced.

  "But the picture! Don't you recognize him?" demanded Geo.

  "It's Jordde!" exclaimed Iimmi. "They must have gotten in contact withour ship and are arranging to send us back."

  "I wish I could hear what they're saying," said Geo.

  Iimmi looked around and then picked up the metal ear muffs from thestand in front of the screen. "That's what she seems to be listeningthrough," said Iimmi, referring to the Priestess in the picture. "Trythem. Go on." He helped Geo fit them over his ears. "Hear anything?"

  Geo listened.

  "Yes, of course," the Priestess was saying.

  "She is set upon staying in the harbor for three more days, to wait outthe week," reported Jordde. "I am sure she will not remain any longer.She is still bewildered by me, and the men have become uneasy and maywell mutiny if she stays longer."

  "We will dispose of the prisoners this evening. There is no chance oftheir returning," stated the Priestess.

  "Detain them for three days, and I do not care what you do with them,"said Jordde. "She does not have the jewels, she does not know my--ourpower; she will be sure to leave at the end of the week."

  "It's a pity we have no jewels for all our trouble," said the Priestess."But at leas
t all three are back in Aptor, and potentially within ourgrasp."

  Jordde laughed. "And Hama never seems to be able to keep hold of themfor more then ten minutes before they slip from him again."

  "Yours is not to judge either Hama or Argo," stated the Priestess. "Youare kept on by us only to do your job. Do it, report, and do not troubleeither us or yourself with opinions. They are not appreciated."

  "Yes, mistress," returned Jordde.

  "Then farewell until next report." She flipped a switch and the pictureon the little screen went gray.

  Geo turned from the big screen now, and was just about to remove thehearing apparatus when he heard the Priestess say, "Go, prepare theprisoners for the sacrifice of the rising moon. They have seen enough."The woman left the room, Geo finished removing the phones, and Iimmilooked at him.

  "What's the matter?"

  Geo turned the switch that darkened the screen.

  "When are they coming to get us?" Iimmi asked excitedly.

  "Right now, probably," Geo said. Then, as best he could, he repeated theconversation he had overheard to Iimmi, whose expression grew more andmore bewildered as Geo went on.

  At the end the bewilderment suddenly flared into frayed indignation."Why?" demanded Iimmi. "Why should we be sacrificed? What is it we'veseen too much of, what is it we know? This is the second time it's comeclose to getting me killed, and I wish to hell I knew what I wassupposed to know?"

  "We've got to find Urson and get out of here," said Geo. "Hey, what'swrong?"

  The indignation had turned into something else. Now Iimmi stood with hiseyes shut tight and his face screwed up. Suddenly he relaxed. "I justthought out a message as loud as I could for Snake to get up here and tobring Urson if he's anywhere around."

  "But Snake's a spy for ..."

  "... for Hama," said Iimmi. "And you know something? I don't care." Heclosed his eyes again. After a few moments, he opened them. "Well, ifhe's coming, he's coming. Let's get going."

  "But why...?" began Geo, following Iimmi out the door.

  "Because I have a poet's feeling that some fancy mind reading may comein handy."

  They hurried down the hall, found the stairs, ducked down, and ran alongthe lower hall. Rounding a second corner, they emerged into the littlechapel simultaneously with Urson and Snake.

  "I guess I got through," said Iimmi. "Which way do we go?"

  "Gentlemen, gentlemen," came a voice from behind them.

  Snake took off down one of the passages, and they followed, Ursonlooking particularly bewildered.

  The Priestess glided behind them, calling softly, "Please, my friends,come back. Return with me."

  "Find out from her how the hell to get out of this place!" Iimmi bawledup to Snake. The four-armed boy suddenly darted up a flight of stairs,turned a corner, and darted up another. They came out on a hall andfollowed Snake to the end.

  All four of the boy's hands flew at the door handle, turning itcarefully, this way, and back.

  Two, three seconds.

  Geo glanced back and saw the Priestess mount the top of the stairs andbegin to come toward them. She seemed to float, her white robes flaringout from her, brushing at the walls.

  The door came open, they broke through leaves, and were momentarilystanding in a huge field of grass, surrounded by woods. The night wasfully lit by the moon.

  As they ran through the silver-washed grass, Geo turned to look behindhim. The blind Priestess had slowed, her white face turned to the moon.Her hands went to her throat, she unclasped her robe, and the firstlayer fell away behind her. As she came on, the second layer began tounfold, wet, deathly white, spreading, growing to her arms, articulatingitself along the white spines; then, with a horribly familiar shriek,she leapt from the ground and soared upward, her white wings hammeringthe air.

  They fled.

  And other dark forms were shadowing the moon. The priestesses acrossthe field joined her aloft in the moon-bleached sky. She overtook therunning figures, turned above them, and swooped. The moon lanced whitealong bared fangs. The night breeze touched pale furry breasts, filledthe bellying wings. Only the tiny, darting, blind eyes were red, rubiedin a whirl of white.

  They crashed into the protective bushes where the winged things couldnot follow. Branches raked his face as he ran behind the sound theothers made. Once he thought he had lost them, but a second later hebumped against Iimmi, who had stopped behind Snake and Urson, in thedarkness. Above the trees was a sound like beaten cloth, diminishing,growing, but constant as once more they began to trod through thetangled darkness.

  "What the hell ..." Iimmi finally breathed softly, after a minute ofwalking.

  "You know it's beginning to make sense," Geo said, his hand on Iimmi'sshoulder. "Remember that man-wolf we met, and that blob in the city? Theonly thing we've met on this place that can't change shape is theghouls. I think most animals on this island undergo some sort ofmetamorphosis."

  "What about those first flying things we met?" whispered Urson. "Theydidn't change into anything."

  "We have probably just been guests of the female of the species," saidGeo.

  "You mean those others could have changed into men too if they wanted?"Urson asked.

  "If they wanted," answered Geo.

  In front of them now appeared faint shiftings of silver light. Fiveminutes later, they were crouching at the edge of the forest, lookingdown over the rocks at the white shimmerings over the river.

  "Into the water?" Geo asked.

  Snake shook his head. _Wait_ ... came the familiar sound in their heads.

  Suddenly a hand raised from the water. Wet and green, it stood a foot orso from the shore in the silver ripples. The chain and the leather thongdangled down the wrist, and swaying there were two bright beads oflight.

  Iimmi and Geo froze. Urson said, "The jewels...."

  Suddenly, crouched low like an animal, the big man sprang onto the rocksand ran toward the river's edge.

  Three shadows, one white, two dark, converged above him, cutting themoonlight away from him. If he saw them, he did not stop.

  Iimmi and Geo stood up from their crouched positions.

  Urson reached the shore, threw himself along the rock, and swiped at thehand. Instantly he was covered by flailing wings. The membranous sailssplashed in the water. Two seconds later, Urson rolled from beneath thelayers of membrane that still struggled half on land and half in thewater. He started forward up the rocks. He slipped, regained hisfooting, and then came on, nearly falling into Geo's and Iimmi's waitingarms.

  "The jewels," Urson breathed.

  The struggle continued a minute longer on the water. Something washolding them down, twisting at them. Then suddenly, the creaturesstilled, and like great leaves, the three forms drifted apart, caughtquietly in the current, and floated away from the rocks.

  Then two more forms bobbed to the surface, faces down, rocking gently,backs slicked wet and green, shiny under the moonlight.

  "But those were the ones who--" Geo began. "Are they dead?" His facesuddenly hurt a little, with something like the pain of verging tears.

  Snake nodded.

  "Are you sure?" asked Iimmi. His voice came slowly.

  _Their ... thoughts ... have ... stopped_, Snake said.

  Crouched down in front of them, Urson opened his great hands. Theglobes blazed even in the dim light through the leaves, and the chainand the wet thong hung over his palm to the ground. "I have them," hesaid, "... the jewels!"