position here, her back against the tree's bole, he tore free a
length of stout vine and bound her wrists securely behind her back.

Satisfied his prize would be helpless to escape, Mog let himself down on
a branch directly under her and sought a comfortable position in which
to sleep out the night.

Alurna, hemmed in by a wall of blackness which her untrained eyes were
unable to penetrate, could hear the Hairy One as he settled himself. She
knew there would be no sleep for her this night; she was far too
frightened to think of closing her eyes for an instant.

Seconds later she was sound asleep; and though the balance of the night
was made hideous with the savage voices of jungle denizens, the
exhausted princess did not stir.

* * * * *

A rough hand shook her awake. She shrank away with a whimper of fear at
sight of Mog's forbidding face a few inches from her own. The
Neanderthal freed her wrists by breaking their bonds with his powerful
fingers, then swung her once more to his back and slid to the ground.

Noon found them at the outskirts of the forest. Mog had pushed ahead far
more quickly than he had thought possible. Alone, without allies, he
feared an attack at any moment from some forest dweller. There would be
no safety for him until he was safe in the caves of his tribe.

With the forest behind him, Mog trotted across the narrow ribbon of
grasses to the lip of the almost vertical cliff overlooking the
tree-filled valley below. A portion of the boar killed two days before
was cached in one of those trees; once he and his captive were safely
down the cliff they could eat without wasting time in a search for food.

But Mog began to realize it would prove no small matter to transport the
girl down the abrupt incline. Indeed, it would require all his own
strength and limited agility to get himself down without the added
burden of a helpless she.

Then came the thought that she might be able to do so without his aid.
Not ungently he lowered her to her feet and signed that she should start
down. When Alurna, correctly interpreting his gesture, glanced at the
hard earth so far below, she gasped aloud and drew back, trembling.

Mog, sullen and short-tempered at best, did not intend wasting time in
coaxing her. Raising a bulky fist, he shook it threateningly under her
nose, then once more pointed to the edge of the precipice.

Alurna could not help but feel she preferred death b