Nathan wondered if he could have saved his father's life by following him to the starways years ago. Born aboard a spaceship, Thymar had never claimed any planet for his own. He had tried to raise Nathan to be a starman like himself, but Nathan had seen the advancing wave of civilization beating upon the shores of alien planets and knew the only sure foundation would be built by the engineers, not by the wandering starmen. So he had chosen to fight the battles of engineering on primitive worlds. He was following the starways in a sense, but it broke Thymar's heart when Nathan became "civilized." Then seven years ago Thymar had dedicated the remainder of his life to the recovery of the fabled, mysterious Jewels of Chamar. The story of the cursed Jewels was obscure. No one knew their origin. There was little more than the age old myth that to hold all seven would make a man master of the universe, but to hold less than seven would bring eventual death. The latter at least was no myth, Nathan thought grimly. The trail became steep as the trees thinned and the horse broke out upon the hillside. There was a moment of sunlight blinding in its beauty. Then dark clouds closed over again. Nathan rode out along a ridge trail where he was silhouetted against the sky. He stood for a moment, making himself as conspicuous as possible to the unseen followers he knew were behind him. Ahead, the tall spire of Lava Mountain loomed against the gray blanket of the sky. It seemed near in its majestic might, but it was nearly midday when Nathan reached the foot of it. The sight of the mountain at close range brought back a thousand memories to Nathan. He had spent much of his boyhood here and this was where Thymar had taught him in the rugged ways of living of the spacemen. Here he had learned from Thymar and Tabor to master the flame lance until there was hardly a spaceman that could match his skill. The mouth of the great cavern was in sight now, high up on the face of the mountain. He hoped the narrow trail he and Thymar had so laboriously cut out was still there. It appeared to be. He guided the horse up the beginning of the steep cut. He drew out one of the flame lances now and kept a sharp watch on the trail below. He knew that he was in no danger from anyone with a sense of calculation. That type of renegade would wait until Nathan had recovered the Jewels before attacking. But some brainless fool might try to pick him off now and search the cave on his own. From far down the trail came the sudden clatter of rocks as a slide was started by a careless step, but no one was visible behind the ridges. Nathan had a clear view of his last hour's ride. So far, he was in the clear. He looked cautiously at the cliff above him. Attack from that angle was not entirely impossible--especially if Firebird was in the vicinity. He knew she would not be with the followers behind him.