as so very tired. "But--Dylara ... I must go after
her. I should have found her before this. I must not lie here while
she--"

Then, as an unsupportable weariness flooded his body, he closed his
eyes. In another moment he was sleeping soundly.

* * * * *

Another half moon had passed. Today had dawned bright and fair. Dyta,
the sun, had pulled his blazing head above the eastern earth-line an
hour before, tearing the jungle fog into rapidly dissolving streamers of
mist.

A group of three--two men and a woman--walked through twin gates in
Sephar's rock walls and moved slowly toward the somber shadows of the
jungle south of the city. A few yards short of the green wall they came
to a halt on a slight, grass-covered elevation.

"I must leave you here," said young Tharn. "Within a few suns--a moon,
at most--I will return. Dylara will be with me."

The older man nodded. "Your mother and I leave for home before long. We
shall wait there for you and your mate."

"You will not need to wait long," said the young man confidently.

He placed an arm about the man's wide shoulders, pressed the hand of his
mother in silent farewell, then turned and strode toward the wall of
verdure and towering forest giants to the south.

Together, Tharn, the elder, and Nada, his mate stood on the little green
mound, watching the lithe figure of their only son until it disappeared
into the forbidding jungle. Beyond that first rampart of lofty trees, of
tangled vines and creepers, lay a mysterious land, never before trod by
any known member of their world. What hidden dangers lurked there? What
savage tribes? What unknown and terrible beasts?

A shudder passed through the woman's slender body. The man at her side
slipped a strong arm about the trembling shoulders in unspoken
understanding.

"He will come back?" she asked, her voice unsteady. It was half
question, half statement; and in those words ran an undercurrent of
mingled hope and fear.

"Yes," said the man, his own voice strong and very certain. "He will
come back."

End of Project Gutenberg's Warrior of the Dawn, by Howard Carleton Browne

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