rn mountains. For a while
he was hard-pressed by this ugly, poison-toothed creature. But in time
he figured out a solution. He stopped trying to jab the Saunus's
leathery hide and concentrated on severing its broad fan of
tailfeathers. When he had succeeded, the Saunus's flying balance was
thrown badly off. The reptile crashed into the high wall that separated
the combatants from the spectators, and it was relatively easy to
administer the final stroke through the Saunus's single huge eye. The
vast and enthusiastic crowd in the stadium gave Barrent a lengthy round
of applause.

He moved back to the reserve pen and watched other men struggle against
the trichomotreds, incredibly fast little creatures the size of rats,
with the dispositions of rabid wolverines. It took five teams of
prisoners. After a brief interlude of hand-to-hand duelling, the Arena
was cleared again.

Now the hard-shelled criatin amphibians lumbered in. Although sluggish
in disposition, the criatins were completely protected beneath several
inches of shell. Their narrow whiplash tails, which also served them as
antennae, were invariably fatal to any man who approached them. Barrent
had to fight one of these after it had dispatched four of his fellow
prisoners.

He had watched the earlier combats carefully, and had detected the one
place where the criatin antennae could not reach. Barrent waited for his
chance and jumped for the center of the criatin's broad back.

When the shell split into a gigantic mouth--for this was the criatin
method of feeding--Barrent jammed his sword into the opening. The
criatin expired with gratifying promptness, and the crowd signified its
approval by showering the Arena with cushions.

The victory left Barrent standing alone on the blood-stained sand. The
rest of the prisoners were either dead or too badly maimed to fight.
Barrent waited, wondering what beast the Games Committee had chosen
next.

A single tendril shot up through the sand, and then another. Within
seconds, a short, thick tree was growing in the Arena, sending out more
roots and tendrils, and pulling all flesh, living or dead, into five
small feeding-mouths which circled the base of the trunk. This was the
carrion tree, indigenous to the northeastern swamps and imported with
great difficulty. It was said to be highly vulnerable to fire; but
Barrent had no fire available.

Using his sword two-handed, Barrent lopped off vines; others grew in
their pl