ght, which changed as they
touched his mind, reading there only all the friendliness he and his
held for the sea people.

"He is not of _them_." The admission was grudging. As if they did not
want to believe that. "Why comes one from the south to this
place--now?"

There was an inflection to that "now" which was disturbing.

"After the manner of his people he seeks new things so that he may
return and report to his Elders. Then he will receive the spear of
manhood and be ready for the choosing of mates," Sssuri translated the
reason for Dalgard's quest into the terms of his own people. "He has
been my knife brother since we were cubs together, and so I journey
with him. But here in the north we have found evil--"

His flow of thought was submerged by a band of hate so red that its
impact upon the mind was almost a blow. Dalgard shook his head. He had
known that the merpeople, aroused, were deadly fighters, fearless and
crafty, and with a staying power beyond that of any human. But their
rage was something he had not met before.

"_They_ come once again--_they_ burn with the fire--_They_ are among
our islands--"

A cub whimpered and a merwoman stooped to pat it to silence.

"Here they have killed with the fire--"

They did not elaborate upon that statement, and Dalgard had no wish
for them to do so. He was still very glad that it had been dark when
he had climbed to the top of that cliff, that he had not been able to
see what his imagination told him lay there.

"Do _they_ stay?" That was Sssuri.

"Not so. In their sky traveler they go to the land where lies the dark
city. There they make much evil against the day when this shall be
their land once more."

"But these lie if they think that." Another strong thought broke
across the current of communication. "_We_ are not now penned for
their pleasure. We may flee into the sea once more, and there live as
did our fathers' fathers, and they dare not follow us there--"

"Who knows?" It was Sssuri who raised that objection. "With their
ancient knowledge once more theirs, even the depths of the sea may not
be ours much longer. Do they not know how to ride upon the air?"

The knot of mer-warriors stirred. Several spears thudded butt down
into the sand. And Sssuri accepted that as an invitation to descend,
summoning Dalgard after him with a beckoning finger.

Later they sat in a circle in the cushioning gray powder, the two from
the south eating dried fish and