CHAPTER III
SADU ATTACKS
Sadu, the lion, pacing slowly and majestically through the velvetblackness of a jungle night, came to a sudden halt as Siha, the wind,brought to his sensitive nostrils the acrid scent of burning wood.
For several long minutes the great cat stood as though turned to stone,his broad nostrils twitching nervously under the biting fumes. Sadu wasunpleasantly familiar with the red teeth that ate everything in theirpath, for it had been scarcely a moon ago that he barely escaped thefangs of a forest fire.
Had it been smoke alone which Sadu smelled, he would have turned awayand sought his night's food elsewhere. But commingled with the scent offire was another smell, and it was the latter that finally sent himslinking ahead.
After the lion progressed another several hundred yards in this manner,the winding game trail debouched abruptly into a large natural clearingbordering the reed-covered banks of a wide shallow river.
Standing amid the impenetrable shadows cast by a great tree at theclearing's edge, Sadu surveyed with slitted eyes the bustle of activityabout the open ground. There were at least fifty men there, some of themtending a blazing windrow of branches arranged in a large circle toencompass a considerable section of open ground where were heapedseveral mounds of supplies. Others were preparing the evening meal,bringing water from the river and performing the other duties which gowith establishing camp for the night.
It was the scent of these men that had brought Sadu here. Ordinarily hewould have passed up the two-legged creatures for the more satisfactoryflesh of zebra or deer, but there had been an absence of such meatlately because grass-replenishing rain had not fallen in many moons andthe grass-eaters had strayed away from the vicinity in search of freshpastures. Too, Sadu had found man easy prey when he was alone--innumbers he was dangerous, particularly when backed by burning brands andsharp-pointed sticks.
The circle of fire with which these men had surrounded themselves gaveSadu pause. Only the pangs of hunger kept him from turning about andseeking less complicated prey. Slowly the heavy lips rolled back, baringthe great fangs, and from the depths of the cavernous chest came aseries of grunting coughs.
As the dull, rumbling challenge reached the ears of those within thecamp, men straightened from their tasks and looked fearfully into theheavy darkness beyond the light from the fires. A few unslung their bowsand tested the strings, while others made sure their heavy war spearswere within reach.
In the center of the camp itself, a group of five people--two girls andthree men--broke off their conversation as the first notes of Sadu'svoice reached them, and looked nervously at one another.
"Sadu is hungry too," one of the girls observed lightly as she turnedher attention back to the freshly grilled meat on the clay dish beforeher.
"Will he attack us?" the other girl asked unsteadily, her dark eyesround with fear. Her slender, softly rounded body was covered with aknee-length tunic of some coarse, woven material and a cloud of blackcurls framed the delicate features of her olive-skinned face.
"I do not think so, Alurna," the first girl said, without taking hereyes from her food. "Sadu fears fire; he would have to be close tostarving to brave the flames."
One of the three men, a slight, small-boned man whose round,full-fleshed face habitually wore an expression of slow-wittedamiability, moved a little closer to the fire. "How do we know," he saidanxiously, "whether this lion is not that hungry?"
The first girl shook back her wealth of reddish brown hair and looked atthe speaker, her brown eyes sparkling with laughter. She said, "We_can't_ know, Javan--not until he either springs through the fire orturns around and goes away."
If the words brought any comfort to Javan, his actions failed to showit. Once more he shifted his position until he was close to sitting inthe burning branches and the fingers of his right hand were tremblinguncontrollably as he groped for his flint-tipped spear.
"Dylara jests, Javan," the tall, broad-shouldered man next to him said."There are too many of us for even several lions to attack."
"You say that, Jotan," Dylara said, "because you do not know Sadu as Iknow him. Often he will charge a hundred warriors through fires farlarger than ours, yet at times several lions have run away from one manwalking alone in the jungle. More than any other beast, Sadu is acreature of moods, and no one can say for sure what he will do."
* * * * *
The third man in the group rose now to scrape the remaining food on hisplate into the fire. He said, "We are certainly in no position todispute with Dylara the habits of animals." There was a subtle note ofcondescension in his voice that only Jotan and the princess Alurnanoticed. "You must remember that Dylara is different from us. Most ofher life has been spent among the people of the caves, and there can beno doubt but that the barbarians know the jungle and its life far betterthan we can ever hope to."
Jotan's pale blue eyes frosted over and the hard, firm angle of his jawtightened. For nearly two moons now he had endured Tamar's gibes at hislove for a girl who had been a barbarian slave of Sephar's court. Manytimes during those sixty suns had Tamar said that no member of Ammad'sruling class, as was Jotan, had a right to take as mate some half-savagecave girl. There was such a thing, argued Tamar, as _noblesse oblige_,and Jotan was not only alienating his friends by this mad passion butbreaking the laws of his class and his country.
Not that Tamar had anything personal against Dylara. On the contrary, hethought her beautiful and as gracious and regal as Alurna herself. Butthere was the matter of birth and blood--barriers too great foracceptance as the noble Jotan's mate.
All this was in Jotan's thoughts as he answered Tamar's last remark."Perhaps it would be better for us," he observed lightly, "if we had alittle of Dylara's knowledge of the jungle creatures and their ways.Perhaps then we would be spared such terror at the sound of Sadu'sroar."
He made the statement while looking full into Tamar's eyes, and wasrewarded by seeing a tinge of red creep into his friend's freshlyscraped cheeks. And because no man likes to be called a coward, nomatter how indirectly, Tamar sought to hit back ... in the one way thatwould cut Jotan the deepest.
"It is unfortunate," he said mildly, "that we could not have broughtalong with us the wild man who came to Sephar seeking Dylara. I'll wagerhe would not turn a hair were Sadu to charge among us at this moment."
As though in direct challenge to the statement, Sadu, in the darknessbeyond the camp, again lifted his voice in the hunting roar of the kingof beasts.
This time the hot blood of anger welled into Jotan's face and a bitingretort formed on his lips. But a glimpse of Dylara's suddenly strickenexpression checked them there, unuttered.
In the brief silence that followed Tamar's words, Dylara was aware thatthe others were watching her as though to learn if Tamar's edged commentwould goad her into a response.
And so she made answer; and while the words were directed to Tamar, itwas Jotan whom they hurt.
"You are right, Tamar," she said proudly. "Tharn, more than any man Ihave ever known, is free of fear. How could he know fear when there isno man or animal that could match his strength, agility or quick mind."
"Had you seen him, as I did, crush the skull of a full-grown lion with asingle blow of his fist, had you seen him close in battle with Tarlok,the leopard, with only a stone knife to use against Tarlok's teeth andclaws, had he carried any of you through the highest branches of theforest top--then you would know why I am sure he came through thebattles in Sephar's arena! That is why I know that even now he is on hisway to take me from you."
"And when he does come, neither you nor all the warriors with you cankeep him from his purpose. You are children--all of you!--when comparedto Tharn!"
* * * * *
The nails of Jotan's fingers were biting into his palms. "And would yougo with him, Dylara?" he asked between stiff lips.
The girl's lovely brown eyes softened as she saw the pain
under hiscarefully expressionless face.
"Yes, I would go with him," she said gently. "All of us know that I amno more than a prisoner among you. All of you have been kind andthoughtful and friendly toward me. Yet there is never a moment that I amnot under the eyes of a guard. That is why I say that, given the chance,I would escape and return to the caves of Majok, my father."
Alurna shuddered. "You would not get very far, Dylara. The jungle beastswould get you the first night."
"I think not," Dylara said matter-of-factly. "You keep forgetting that Iam not a Sepharian. The jungle and plains are not to me the horribleplaces they seem to you who have spent your lives behind the stone wallsof your cities."
"How can you think of returning to such a life, Dylara?" Jotan said,almost pleadingly. "It is no way for a girl to live--in constant dangerday after day, living in cold, damp holes in a cliff, wearing only ananimal skin."
"Wait until you have seen the city of Ammad! As wonderful as Sephar musthave seemed to you, it is crude and barbaric when compared to thesplendor of the cities of my country. And in all the world there is nopalace so lavish as that of Jaltor, king of all Ammad. Why, a few daysamong the glories and comforts of life among my people and the thoughtof returning to your caves would be hateful indeed!"
But Dylara was shaking her head. "No, Jotan. Tamar is right when hesays I would not fit into such a life. I was taken to Sephar as a slaveto the Sepharians; and, as considerate as you have been, I am beingtaken to Ammad while still a slave."
"Not as a slave!" Jotan protested. "You are to become my mate. You willbe shown the same honor, the same respect that I am given. I am a nobleof Ammad, Dylara. Jaltor, ruler of Ammad, is my father's closest friend.He--all Ammad--will be at your feet the day we go before the high-priestof the God-Whose-Name-May-Not-Be-Spoken-Aloud and he makes you my mate."
The conversation clearly had gotten out of hand. Both Jotan and Dylara,so hard did each strive to make the other see his side of the argument,were putting into words things they ordinarily would never have said infront of those with them.
And all during the exchange, Alurna, princess of Sephar, sat there andwatched them, her head bowed slightly and a hand shielding her face thatnone might see the hatred and jealousy mirrored there.
For Jotan was hers! Whether he was aware of that as yet was immaterial.Men had been blinded by beauty before and still brought to their sensesbefore it was too late. As lovely as the cave girl was, Alurna knew thather own beauty suffered little by comparison--something that Jotan wouldhave seen long ago were his eyes not blinded by a mad infatuation.
There was little else to do for the time being, Alurna realized, exceptwait. Tonight or tomorrow or a moon from now the opportunity for riddingherself of her brown-haired rival would come along. She had almostarranged the girl's death in Sephar, but Dylara had slain the hiredassassin. Next time the result would be different. Fortunately it wasnot something that had to be done in a hurry. Dylara gave no indicationof willingly becoming Jotan's mate, and being a person of highprinciples, Jotan would have her no other way. The only danger, really,was that his unfailing courtesy, thoughtfulness and complete adorationmight succeed in winning the cave girl's love.
* * * * *
Sadu, the lion, standing beyond the circle of light cast by the fire,raised his voice in a challenging roar that cut into silence theencampment of humans. His hunger was growing with the passage of timeand the sight of the many two-legged creatures behind the leapingflames.
Again, Sadu's majestic voice rolled out, filling the clearing withspine-tingling sound, and from the depths of night-shrouded junglebehind him came an answering roar. A moment later the foliage parted anda second lion slunk through the shadows just beyond the periphery oflight. The newcomer was a great, tawny-maned beast even larger than thefirst. He eyed the blazing piles of branches and the men beyond themwith slitted eyes for a long moment, then uttered a series of low,coughing grunts. In response to the signal, three more lions--a femaleand two full-grown males--emerged from the undergrowth to join theirleader.
The first lion eyed the strange family and bared his great fangs,warning them with a low rumble that he would permit no interference inhis hunting. They stared at him silently with a kind of dignifiedreserve, then turned their attention toward the humans beyond the wallof fire.
Two full hours dragged past. Within the camp the larger part of thecaravan was sleeping soundly, huddled against the chill night air insleeping furs. The normal guard of ten warriors had been doubled againstthe possibility of attack by the great cats.
Suddenly one of the lions rose to its feet and with regal deliberatenessstalked into the open ground bordering the line of fires. Slowly thejungle king strode along the unsteady line of burning wood, his lithesinews rolling beneath the shimmering hide, the sinuous tail moving ingraceful undulations. Soundless were his padded paws on the turf and themighty voice was silent.
Several minutes passed before one of the guards caught sight of thesingle lion. The man lifted a loud shout of alarm and several more ofthe sentries hastened to join their companion. When he pointed out Saduless than a spear's cast outside the fires, the others readied theirweapons for the attack they expected at any moment; while Sadu, seeingthe flurry of motion among the hated manthings, lifted his mighty headand gave voice to a thunderous roar. "... Dylara! Dylara!"
The cave girl awakened instantly at sound of the frightened voice. Shesat up and threw back the folds of her sleeping furs. In the flickeringreddish glow of the night fires she saw the slender form of the princessAlurna bending over her.
"What is the matter?" Majok's daughter demanded.
"The lions!" Alurna moaned through chattering teeth. "Listen!"
Fully aroused by the other's panic, Dylara rose from the ground andtried to pierce the velvet wall beyond the light. Most of the camp'ssentries were grouped at a point near the line of fire, fingering theirspear and bows nervously and staring at something between them and thejungle.
... Sadu ceased his uneasy pacing, his tail lashing now in brief, jerkymovements. Too long had he put off feeding. The fearsome fires weredimmer now; let them die down just a little more and he would leapacross them and take his food.
Elsewhere among the sheltering trees the other lions watched him withunblinking attention. By now there were fully a score of the mammothbrutes lying among the tall grasses and reeds. In two's and threes--evenone family of six--they had assembled, drawn to the scene by the voicesof the first arrivals.
Again Sadu threw back his head and poured out his rumbling roar, seekingto build up his confidence sufficiently to brave the fires protectinghis prey. Cautiously he began to inch his way toward the flames, hishindquarters held low, his majestic head extended and flattened untilhis nose was close to the ground.
While behind him other lions, made bold by his move, also began to creeptoward the circle of fire.
* * * * *
Dylara stiffened as Sadu's august voice echoed through the clearing. Herbrown eyes, keener than most, began to pick out points of glowing yellowamong the black shadows of the trees--bits of light that she recognizedinstantly as the eyes of lions. Even as she was conscious that therewere many of them, she became aware of their growing size.
The cave girl waited no longer. Pushing past the fear-ridden princess,she went quickly to where Jotan slept nearby beneath a mound of furs andbegan shaking him urgently by the shoulder.
The Ammadian opened his eyes. "What--what is it? Dylara? What is wrong?"
"The lions!" Dylara said hurriedly. "Many of them. They are preparing tocharge us!"
Flinging aside his furs, Jotan leaped to his feet and raced among thesleeping warriors, arousing them with a prodding foot and a few urgentwords of explanation. Meanwhile, Dylara hurried to where the sentrieswere keeping watchful eyes on the first lion.
"Quick!" she exclaimed. "Throw some of the burning branches among thetrees. There is still time to
drive Sadu away!"
... Sadu, at sight of the rapidly awakening camp, halted his slowadvance. For a moment he hesitated, his highly strung nerves twitchingwith indecision. And when several of the men dragged burning branchesfrom the fires and threw them, like blazing spears, in his direction, hesnarled uneasily and drew back. Already a few of the other lions hadturned tail to flee back into the jungle. In another moment the retreatwould become a rout and Sadu must seek elsewhere for food.
And then there occurred one of those unpredictable turns of fate whichnone can foresee. One of the blazing brands, propelled by a strong arm,struck full against the flank of a retreating lion. There followed apuff of smoke as hair burned away a wide patch and seared the skinbeneath.
Sadu's uncertain temper blazed with the flame. With a startled roar thatpaled to nothing the surrounding chorus of growls, screams and curses,he wheeled about and bore down upon the camp, roaring as he came. A fewfeet short of the flaming stockade, Sadu rose in a mighty leap, clearedthe flames easily, and landed squarely among the startled Sepharians.
Instantly pandemonium raged. The men scattered wildly from Sadu'sflailing claws and glistening fangs, only to encounter other lions who,emboldened by the success of the first, had turned back to leap thebarrier. Already a dozen of the tawny, sinuous bodies were sowing deathamong the ranks of Jotan's followers.
The princess Alurna huddled among a heap of furs and sought to close hereyes against the horrors of the growing massacre. But not seeing at allwas infinitely worse than reality, and so her eyes remained open andstaring.
Suddenly a huge, yellow-maned monster bounded toward her. A lithe springbrought it atop a mound of supplies scarcely ten feet from where she layparalyzed with fear. Slowly the lordly head swung in a menacing circleand the savage eyes fixed upon her shrinking form. The small earstwitched back until they lay tight against the sleek skull, the mammothmaw parted to disclose awesome fangs and a low growl rumbled low in thedeep chest.
Jotan, shouting orders in an effort to rally his scattered men to somesemblance of order, caught sight of the doomed princess as Sadu rose inhis spring toward her. Careless of his own safety, he drew back hisstrong right arm and launched his heavy war spear. The keen bladeflashed across the intervening space and caught Sadu squarely in thechest, knocking him to one side and killing him instantly.
* * * * *
While all this was taking place, Dylara, daughter of Majok, had remainedcrouched close to one of the heaps of burning branches where she knewSadu would be reluctant to approach. She saw man after man go downbeneath the ravaging cats, and twice she saw lions leap back into thedarkness, carrying the limp corpse of some unfortunate Ammadian. Shewitnessed, too, Jaton's rescue of the princess Alurna, and despite theawful carnage about her, she smiled grimly as Urim's daughter ranforward and threw her arms about the tall Ammadian noble.
At the moment it abruptly dawned on Dylara that this was her opportunityto escape from those who held her an unwilling captive. She turned herhead and stared out into the open ground between camp and forest edge,seeing the long shadows cast by the flickering flames. If she could butcross that ribbon of grassland safely and gain the safety of the trees!
Even as she silently voiced the wish, her mind was made up for her. Frombehind one of the piles of supplies emerged a tawny shape. Two blazingeyes caught sight of the cave girl, and heedless of the nearby fire, thegiant cat began to slink toward her.
Dylara, wise to the ways of the jungle, acted. Without a second'shesitation she whirled about and raced through a narrow break in thecircle of fire, heading for the darkness beyond. Even as she acted, sheknew this might be merely exchanging one peril for another: there couldeasily be ten lions between her and the safety of the trees.
With an earth-shaking roar, Sadu gave chase.
Her heart pounding wildly, Dylara shot across the open ground like anarrow from a bow. Behind her, gaining ground as though his frail quarrywere standing still, came the lion, its jaws widely distended, lowgrowls welling from its throat.
The low-spreading branches of a forest tree loomed ahead of the fleeinggirl. Sadu was only a few feet behind her ... already he was launchingthe last leap that would crush the girl to earth just short of her goal.
* * * * *
In the camp itself, Jotan's bellowed commands were beginning to takeeffect on the disorganized warriors. Those still alive and unwoundedmanaged to form a spear-bristling phalanx, standing shoulder toshoulder, while the blood-hungry cats moved slowly around them. Twice, alion charged that square of flint spear-tips, only to fall back withroars of rage and bleeding from wounds. For a few minutes longer thebeasts continued to circle warily about the men, now and then feintingcharges in an effort to draw them into breaking ranks.
But the warriors, heartened by the confident bearing of their leader,held fast in spite of the fearful nearness of distended jaws andgleaming fangs.
At last, as though by some strange understanding, the lions began towithdraw, dragging with them some of the torn bodies of warriors who haddied during the battle. Only the sharp commands of Jotan himselfprevented the others from an attempt to save their fallen comrades fromso horrible a fate--Jotan who was realist enough to know that any suchfoolhardy action--no matter how noble the purpose--could only result infurther casualties.
When at last the lions were gone, Jotan set about restoring the brokendefenses of the camp. Fires were increased in number and size, scatteredsupplies and weapons were reassembled and the wounded cared for.
Not until all this was done did Jotan learn of Dylara's disappearance.At first he was nearly frantic with worry, picturing her as beingdragged away by one of the marauders. It was not until he questioned thewounded that the true story came out.
"No, Sadu did not get her. Not in the camp anyway." The warrior, wincingfrom the pain of a long gash in one arm, pulled himself into a sittingposition as he replied to Jotan's questions. "She was crouched down nearthe fires until one of the lions began to creep up on her. She wasted notime in doing something about that!"
"What _did_ she do?" Jotan demanded impatiently.
"The only thing she could have done: slipped through the fires and ranfor the trees."
The young Ammadian noble glanced toward the Stygian gloom of the distantjungle and a faint shudder coursed through him. "What a mad thing todo!" he said, half to himself. "I would rather face Sadu here in thelight than plunge into those shadows." To the wounded man he said, "Didyou see her reach the trees?"
The other man shook his head. "My eyes are not that good. The lionchased her into the darkness and I lost sight of them both. She had agood start and she ran very swiftly."
"Which way did she go?"
The warrior waved an arm toward the south. Jotan picked four men who,carrying spears and torches, accompanied their leader in that direction.
They reached the fringe of trees and jungle to the south of the camp,and walked among the tree boles, calling out the cave girl's name. Butonly the voices of disturbed bird life and the distant scream of apanther answered their cries.
"Sadu must have gotten her after all," said one of the four.
"I don't believe it!" Jotan snapped. "She knows the jungle beasts toowell for that to happen."
"Then why," asked another of the men, "does she not answer our calls?"
Jotan ignored the question. "Return to the camp," he said through astrange lump in his throat. "When morning comes, we will take up thesearch for her."
Alurna, still weak and shaken from her recent experience with Sadu,watched the five men enter the camp. She saw Jotan dismiss the othersand come over to where she was seated between Tamar and Javan. Whenthere was no sight of Dylara, and when she noticed Jotan's grimexpression, her heart bounded with a wild and horrible hope.
"Well, Jotan?" Tamar said quietly.
* * * * *
His friend spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "
There is no trace ofher," he admitted, and in his voice was a note of such intense sufferingthat Tamar's heart went out to him.
Javan, blinked stolidly at the stricken man, put into words the unvoicedquestion of the others. "The lions...."
Jotan shook his head. "I don't believe they got her. There were no signsof a struggle. No ... bones." His voice faltered on that last word, andhe threw his hands wide in sick bewilderment. "I don't know what tothink!"
The princess Alurna spoke up suddenly in silken tones. "Have youforgotten so soon, O noble Jotan, the cave girl's own words?"
Jotan stared deep into the faintly mocking gray-green eyes of Urim'sdaughter. "What do you mean?" he said stiffly.
"Did she not say: 'I would escape and return to the caves of Majok, myfather'? Did those words mean so little to you?"
Harsh lines deepened at the corners of Jotan's lips. "Yes, she saidthat. But she would not try to get away at night. Especially tonight,when there are the God knows how many lions roaming about the camp. Thehardiest warrior would not dare that, let alone a frail girl."
"How long," Tamar broke in, "will you go on thinking of Dylara as a'frail' girl? Can't you understand that she is not our kind of woman?She does not fear the jungle: all that she needed was a chance to getinto it without our seeing her, and tonight she was given that chance.You have Sadu to thank for that."
For several long minutes Jotan sat there without speaking, his gazefixed unseeingly on the leaping flames of the campfire. What strangecurrents and cross-currents, he mused, had been set into motion by hislove for the girl of the caves. There was the steadily widening riftwith Tamar--Tamar whose only flaw was his stiff-necked pride in lineageand noble blood--Tamar, who was his closest friend, his almost constantcompanion since boyhood. Together they had learned the arts of huntingand fighting, together they had served as fellow officers in Jaltor'sarmies, together they had crossed those interminable stretches ofjungle, plain and mountain between Ammad and far-off Sephar. Could heafford to risk an almost certain break with Tamar by pursuing furtherhis mad infatuation for the missing cave girl?
There was another complication, too--one leaving him open forrepercussions even more unpleasant than the loss of a friend. There wasno doubt in his mind but that the Princess Alurna was in love with him.He knew that in the eyes of his family and friends she would make anyman a mate to be proud of. From the standpoint of beauty alone she wasalmost as lovely as Dylara. More than that, however, Alurna was theniece of Jaltor, monarch of all Ammad and a personal friend of Jotan'sown father. Jotan shuddered slightly. He could well imagine Jaltor'sreaction upon learning that the daughter of his dead brother had beenspurned in favor of a half-wild woman of the caves!
And then the lithe, softly curved body of Dylara came unbidden beforehis mind's eye ... and all else was forgotten. He rose stiffly fromwhere he sat among his friends, conscious from their expressions thatthey knew he had arrived at a decision affecting them all.
"When the dawn comes," he said in a strangely toneless voice, "we breakcamp and continue on toward Ammad. Not all of us will go on, however. Afew warriors shall accompany me in search of Dylara ... and I shall notreturn without her!"
Hers was the beauty famous across half a world]
The Return of Tharn Page 3
