The _zanth_ roared its agony. Twisting and jerking, it struggled to unseat the Earthman. One clawed foot reached his leg; laid it open. But still Shane clung to his place, slashing and stabbing. Blindly, the monster crashed against the pit's wall. It reared, then surged forward, clawing its way up the sheer face. The great spiked head rocked and swayed; beat against the stonework in a spasm of pain, less than three feet below the rim. A fierce light flamed in Shane's eyes. Clutching the base of the spike, he suddenly let go the _zanth's_ neck with his legs. His toes dug into the overlap between the scales, and all at once he was running upward--up the snake-neck, onto the diamond head itself. And then, before the _Malyas_ realized what was happening, he leaped from the head to the rim of the pit. The fighting knife flashed in a savage arc. A warrior's shout choked off in a rush of blood. The others about him scrambled back from the slashing blade. Behind Shane, back in the pit, the _zanth_ screamed and hurled itself upward. Its head came over the rim. With a mighty, surging leap, its forefeet followed. A terrible roar burst from its throat as it caught the scent of the _Malya_ warrior's blood, and it clawed its way onward, upward, out of the pit and into the rising tiers of seats. * * * * * It was a nightmare, a world gone mad. Wildly, the screaming _Malyas_ fled. But the _zanth's_ great tail lashed out and a score of them fell, crushed or smashed into the pit. The knife-claws tore; the great jaws ran ruby-red with blood. Forgotten, Shane followed the panicked mob. Only then, somehow, a voice slashed through to him through the tumult: "Shane--_Shane!_" He whirled. Talu was running towards him, across the seats. "This way!" For an instant he hesitated, then changed his course to meet hers. She caught his hand. "This way!" Together, they raced back towards the chief's box at the rim of the pit, and now Shane saw that a trap door in the floor had been lifted. "Hurry!" cried the _Malyalara_. "In a moment the warriors will bring in a proton cannon to kill the _zanth_, and someone will think of you, too. You must be gone before then!" Shane shot one look at the pitch-black shaft. "Where does it go?" "To a passage below the arena that leads to the chief's castle and the ramps. We can steal a flyer there. But hurry!" Shane shot one quick look back. The _zanth_ still raged and ravened through the crowd, but already the warriors had rallied to hem it in. Tightly, he said to Talu: "You first, then." "First?" "Do you think I'd let you get behind me?" he clipped bitterly. "Fool that I am, I'll go with you, because I have no choice. But my knife will be in your back every step of the way, ready for your next betrayal." "'Betrayal'?" she repeated, and now the heat of anger was in her voice, her eyes. "Did you say betrayal, Earthman?"