The off-worlder turned to his own men with a sharp
order. "On your feet! We may have to move on the double. Up-mountain?"
he demanded of the Chief Ranger.
The other was still listening, not only with his ears but with the whole
of his tense body. Three of the deer-like creatures they had hunted for
food broke out of the green wall, fled past the men as if the latter was
invisible. And behind them, the hunted now and not the hunter, came a
lion, its strikingly marked black-and-white hide dramatic in the light
of the morning. It showed fangs in a snarl and then was gone in one huge
bound. More deer things, scurrying of other small creatures, moving too
fast for clear identification, and behind them the fury of destruction
which marked the headlong advance of Khatka's largest mammals slamming
through the jungle.
They had started up-slope when Nymani cried out. A white bulk, hard to
distinguish in that light against the gray of the earth, headed after
them. Dane had a fleeting glimpse of curled tusks, of an open mouth,
raw-red and wide enough to engulf his whole head, of shaggy legs driving
at an unbelievable pace.
Pages:
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89