"We'll have to get out," she whispered. "You take the right and I'll take the left, and we'll close in on him. Get behind cover as soon as possible." "No! You can't risk that. It would be impossible to find cover before he illuminated you in a rifle flame. Let me try one more thing." He sent another shot higher than the previous one. It burst upon the floor far behind Tabor. Nathan got a glimpse of a distant boulder directly behind the spot where Tabor was hidden. Before he could shoot again another blast exploded within the niche. In its light, Nathan saw that Firebird was gone. A wave of terror, an anxiety such as he had never known before, swept through him at the thought of her out there in plain view of Tabor. He aimed carefully with his small flame lance and tried to visualize the small boulder behind Tabor. The flame hit and crashed away. Tabor's voice grunted, "A reflective shot? Good work, Nathan. Unfortunately I wasn't in the plane of incidence and reflection. And, Firebird, I hear you coming." A sudden flame shot off towards the depths of the cavern at Nathan's left. There was a single agonizing scream in Firebird's voice. Then nothing. Tabor broke the silence. "Sorry, Nathan. I guess you'd gone pretty soft on her." "You murderer!" "Keep cool. Remember what I always taught you. Never let an enemy make you commit suicide by making you lose your head." The niche was like a coffin in the darkness. Tabor's evil taunting and Firebird's scream seemed to combine in an echoing song of torment that swelled and beat upon his senses. * * * * * And then, in the purple darkness, the six Jewels that lay on the floor seized his attention. Where their color had seemed merely phosphorescent before, it now seemed to blaze up as if hidden fires had come to life. Nathan watched to make sure his eyes were not merely becoming more accustomed to the darkness. But it was more than that. The light pulsed and rose in the niche. It climbed the walls and filled the air with twitching streamers that seemed like living things. And it was making him an easy target for a reflective shot from Tabor. But what did it matter what happened to him now that Firebird was gone? He fired a half dozen shots in rapid succession. "Wild, all wild," taunted Tabor. "You must do it with precision. Like this!" A flame shot through the niche, but it ricocheted from the edge of the opening and missed Nathan's head by only a foot. The blast seared his face and blinded his eyes. "See what I mean?" said Tabor. He had the range now, Nathan knew. That's what the rifle shots had been for--to enable him to determine a good spot to make a reflective shot into the depths of the niche. But in his own wild shots Nathan had glimpsed something that gave him new hope. He had to move quickly. Another shot from Tabor grazed close to him, but it reflected from the opposite side of the opening where Tabor had miscalculated that Nathan would move.