th, these leaves that were fine
for burrowing. Gral came erect and stared into the visage of Obe the
Great Bear; just six feet away he saw the great head that swayed with
deceptive gentleness, the amber eyes burning, the twinned mountainous
muscle of shoulders ... and in that quick moment Gral saw something
else. Obe stood directly astride the pointed shaft which Gral had left
too far distant.

Gral did not breathe. He did not move. Only his hand crept slowly, but
already he knew his throw-stones were gone. Once more Obe snarled, and
Gral saw those great shoulder muscles slide. His hand encountered the
wall, groped desperately; then his fingers found something--a stick, a
root, some gnarled thing that protruded....

In one rearing flow of motion, Obe launched out in a mighty reach. Gral
caught part of that sweeping blow; stunned, he managed to gain footing,
and now both his hands were on the protruding object. He wrenched and
the thing came free, seeming strange and heavy in his hands. Obe was
upon him again, the great paws ready to crush ... pure terror sent Gral
stumbling back, but it was a different instinct that brought his arms
once up and then down in a great arc....

Once only. He felt a wondrous impact that jarred him to the
shoulders--and then it was a miracle. Obe was no longer upon him. Obe
lay half sprawled, roaring with rage, and from Obe's massive head came
the crimson life-stuff!

Gral did not question. Avoiding the destructive paws, he leaped in and
away, and then in, all the while employing the thing in his hand until
Obe's life-stuff had run its course in crimson ruin.

* * *

Acceptance came slowly, as Gral sagged in weariness against the wall. He
could not believe this thing! Timorously, he approached the great
carcass and prodded with his foot. Then he accepted.

Now things were happening inside him--a great turmoil, a throbbing
within his chest. Gral straightened; he brought his arms quickly up and
around, and the thing-that-slew felt wondrous in the arc. Even better
than the throw-stones! It was like--he struggled for the meaning--like
an extension of one's self! One threw the stone and yet retained it!

But alas, it was not a stone at all, Gral discovered. He placed the
gnarled thing in sunlight and crouched to survey it. This
thing-that-slew was but a length of rotting root, frozen at the end with
clay and encrusted ice. And already the ice was shattered.

The sun d