There was silence, then, for a vibrant moment, broken only by the scraping of the _hwalon's_ claws as they moved over rock and slides of gravel. At last Kyla said, "What can I say, Haral?" And now pain was in her voice, too. Wordless, tight-drawn, Haral nodded and turned away. But then the girl spoke again: "I have long been Xaymar's priestess, blue one, and a priestess learns many things. Namboina himself it was who taught me to read men's hearts from the words they speak and the things they do, no matter how confused and torn they themselves might be." Haral shrugged, not turning. Dimly, the priestess' words drifted to him through the haze of his own dark thoughts and feelings: "Your life has been bitter, warrior--as empty as the void itself. But the thing you've sought, the thing you seek, is not an empire, no matter what you think. Even if fate should give you the power of which you dream, its savor would turn to ashes in your mouth." * * * * * A welling anger touched the blue man, and he twisted in its clutches. He'd saved this slim _Shamon_ girl from the coleoptera; thrown away his own chance at destiny for her. Why could she not now let him be? Yet still she spoke, almost as if she'd read his thoughts: "You care nothing for destiny; not really. For if you did, you'd not be here with me now. What you truly seek is an excuse for living, a warmth to fill the void inside you. There lies the root of your recklessness, your mad ambition." The anger grew in Haral, and sweat drenched him inside his armor. The very rocks through which they rode seemed out of shape, distorted. "Do you think me a fool or a child, then, not even able to see my own self straight? Or perhaps you believe me mad. Is that it?" He spat. "Why did you bother to come with me? Why didn't you stay with your thrice-cursed beetles?" But Kyla's voice stayed calm ... so calm it sent new fury through him. She said: "I have no quarrel with you, warrior; and the thing you did for me is worth more credit than your words would ever give it. That is why I say that power will never fill the hunger in you. What you need is a cause to fight for and to live for, not greed and blood and booty." "So you'd like to see me play the fool for Ulna! You want me, single-handed, to take on Sark and Xaymar and the coleoptera!" As Haral lashed out, the _hwalon_ topped another ridge. In the distance loomed the squat buildings of the shabby spaceport town that was their destination. Haral forgot his fury. Frowning, he headed the dragon down a steep ravine. A gnawing doubt was growing in him. This was all so smooth, so easy.... Grimly, he debated the chance of ambush before they reached the town. Kyla said: "Truly, Ulna needs a champion--" Haral bared his teeth and cursed aloud. And as he cried out, the world exploded. He didn't even see the blaster that knocked him down. CHAPTER VIII