y muzzle into the water.

Trakor felt a cool breeze against his face and knew why Tarlok failed to
sense the presence of Tharn and him. What, he wondered, would happen if
Siha, the wind, should suddenly reverse its course and bring their scent
to Tarlok's sensitive nostril's? Would that terrible engine of
destruction spring instantly upon them, rending and tearing before they
could give effective battle? It was an interesting problem to weigh,
although Trakor felt he could do it far more justice from a seat on some
lofty branch.

Tarlok finished slaking his thirst and without an instant's hesitation
turned and vanished among the reeds. Trakor listened to the almost
inaudible sounds of the cat's passage and felt a little glow of pride. A
moon ago he would have mistaken those rustlings as the passage of
Siha--if he had heard them at all.

Tharn stirred. "I am hungry!"

"And I!" agreed Trakor, abruptly aware that he had not eaten since
mid-morning.

"Let us find a comfortable branch for the night, then I will hunt food
while you wait there."

"Why can't I go with you?" Trakor demanded. "I am a good hunter. Did I
not, a sun ago, track down and slay Neela, the zebra, with my own
knife?"

"That was while Dyta was high in the sky," Tharn reminded him. "Hunting
Neela or Bana at night requires long practice and many disappointments.
Tonight I am too hungry to wait."

A towering forest giant offered a secure and comfortable haven for the
night; and while Trakor sat there fuming at being left out of things,
Tharn swung off into the darkness in search of their dinner.

Less than an hour later he was back, a haunch of venison across one
shoulder. Together they squatted on a broad branch and cut strips of the
still dripping flesh from Bana's flank. They ate quickly and in silence,
Trakor already having adopted the almost taciturn air common among
jungle dwellers; and when they were finished, a handful of leaves served
each as a napkin.

Not long thereafter both were sleeping soundly on their swaying couch,
as indifferent to the cacophony of roars, shrieks and screams making
hideous the jungle night as though such sounds did not exist.

* * * * *

They dined on the remainder of Bana's haunch shortly after sunrise the
following morning. After descending to drink from the stream in the
clearing, Tharn set out to explore the former site of Jotan's camp in an
effort to pick up Dylara's trail.