He leaned forward, lance poised and focused on the coleoptera that shoved and buffeted her along. But the time was not yet. Savagely, he fought down the rage that seethed within him, waiting while the beetles and their captive moved on past the spur that hid him and the _hwalon_. Then, swiftly, before the rear guard could appear, he drove his great blue dragon forward--out of the crevice, out from behind the screening boulders, out of the spur canyon itself. * * * * * Like a thunderbolt, then, he charged, straight at the rear of the knot of huge scarlet beetles. His shout rose, a battle-cry of fury. The _hwalon's_ rush drummed a death-roll. A glad cry burst from Kyla's lips. She tried to dart to Haral. But fatigue slowed her. A coleopteron sprang upon her from behind, and she crashed to the ground. Great mandibles reached out to crush her. Haral blazed with his light-lance. The beetle died. The girl lurched to her knees. But she could not rise. Another coleopteron rushed in to seize her. Haral's _hwalon_ lunged to her. Catching her up in one mighty claw, it dragged her close and stood above her, defying the beetles with all the menace of its fangs and talons and horrid, hook-beaked head. Haral whipped round his light-lance just as the pursuing insect flicked on its Q-ray. The savage jolt of the beam striking home rocked him in the saddle. But the heavy copronium armor's breastplate held. He triggered the lance. The beetle spun crazily, legs kicking, as the life seared out of it. The _hwalon_ lifted Kyla. Swinging forward, heedless of the other Q-rays that now appeared close about him, the blue man caught her and dragged her up beside him. Already, the _hwalon_ was backing and pivoting with the amazing agility of its kind. Again and again, Haral triggered the light-lance, clearing a path for them. They raced back up the valley in the same direction from which they'd come. The two coleoptera of the rear guard, close in now, made one futile effort to cut them down. But the furious rush of the blue man and his dragon was too much for them. They broke, scrambling desperately for safety. Then Haral, girl and _hwalon_ were out of the narrow part of the valley. The broad expanse where travel was easier and faster lay before them. But instead of taking it, the blue man turned the dragon back into the bleak, craggy hills. Grimly, he urged his mount on deeper and deeper into the wild mountains, all ups and downs and steep rock ledges. He still had not spoken to the slim young _Shamon_ priestess. He wondered if it were because he was afraid to put into words the thoughts that gnawed within him. But now she turned to him. "Where do we go, Haral?" * * * * * He shrugged and gave her a twisted smile. "Where is there to go, Priestess Kyla? To the city, the spaceport. It's our only hope." "The spaceport--?"