warn you, do not
enter the Grove. There is death there, death that even I am powerless to
prevent. The Guardians will not harm her, but any stranger ... will not
live many minutes in the Grove."

"I will not enter, Dheb Rhal."

"Tyn-Dall, The Time is very soon, possibly this very hour. Will you not
wait?"

"I prefer not to wait, Dheb Rhal."

The Rhal gestured to a young Arrillian. "Bheel, show Tyn-Dall to the
Grove of the priestess Lhyreesa."

The younger man protested, "But, Dheb Rhal, so near The Time, what
if ..."

"Do as I command," snapped the Rhal.

Bheel turned silently, motioning for Tyndall to follow. The young
Arrillian led Tyndall the length of the corridor, back to the patio he
had stepped onto by mistake earlier in the day. Bheel stepped
respectfully aside. Tyndall looked out into the garden: the sun was
beginning to set, the long shadows stretched across the dim recesses of
tropic greenery. The huge insect-like thing was still there, stretched
out in a narrow strip of sunlight, catching the last failing waves of
warmth from the sinking sun.

Tyndall turned to the Arrillian. "Where might I find the priestess
Lhyreesa?" he asked.

"There, Dheb Tyn-Dall."

"I see no one. Where do you say?"

Bheel pointed. "There, Dheb Tyn-Dall, where I point, you see the
priestess Lhyreesa taking the late afternoon sun ... unless your
eyesight is exceedingly bad, Dheb Tyn-Dall, you cannot fail to see...."

Tyndall's eyesight was exceedingly good. He followed that pointing
finger, past the pillar that supported the roof of the patio, past the
first row of alien green plants, past the second and third rows, to the
clearing, to the little patch of sunlight, to the thing lying there.
That monstrous, misshapen Bug.... The Bug.... The Priestess Lhyreesa!

Tyndall felt a pounding, skull-shattering madness closing in on him.
This was a joke, of course. No, no joke. A dream then? No, not that
either. In only a few split seconds it happened. Tyndall had leapt the
rail around the patio, and was streaking through the Grove, heading for
its outer boundary. The city--if he could get out of the Grove, there
would be places to hide in the city. Narrow streets, empty cellars, dim,
dim alleys. They'd never find him there! Run now, run before he was
overtaken!

But he was not being pursued. Bheel still stood on the patio, transfixed
with horror. He heard the Arrillian's terrified cry "Dheb Tyn-Dall...!"
And then a rope shot