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  3

  SNAKE-DEVIL'S TRAIL

  Dalgard drew the waterproof covering back over his brow, making acheerful job of it, preparatory to their pushing out to sea once more.But he was as intent upon what Sssuri had to tell as he was on hisoccupation of the moment.

  "But that is not even a hopper rumor," he was protesting, breakinginto his companion's flow of thought.

  "No. But, remember, to the runners yesterday is very far away. Onenight is like another; they do not reckon time as we do, nor lay upmemories for future guidance. They left their native hunting groundsand are drifting south. And only a very great peril would lead therunners into such a break. It is against all their instincts!"

  "So, long ago--which may be months, weeks, or just days--there camedeath out of the sea, and those who lived past its coming fled--"Dalgard repeated the scanty information Sssuri had won for them thenight before by patient hour-long coaxing. "What kind of death?"

  Sssuri's great eyes, somber and a little tired, met his. "To us thereis only one kind of death to be greatly feared."

  "But there are the snake-devils--" protested the colony scout.

  "To be hunted down by snake-devils is death, yes. But it is a quickdeath, a death which can come to any living thing that is not swift orwary enough. For to the snake-devils all things that live and move aremerely meat to fill the aching pit in their swollen bellies. But therewere in the old days other deaths, far worse than what one meets undera snake-devil's claws and fangs. And those are the deaths we fear." Hewas running the smooth haft of his spear back and forth through hisfingers as if testing the balance of the weapon because the time wasnot far away when he must rely upon it.

  "Those Others!" Dalgard shaped the words with his lips as well as inhis mind.

  "Just so." Sssuri did not nod, but his thought was in completeagreement.

  "Yet they have not come before--not since the ship of my fatherslanded here," Dalgard protested, not against Sssuri's judgment butagainst the whole idea.

  The merman got to his feet, sweeping his arm to indicate not only thecove where they now sheltered but the continent behind it.

  "Once they held all this. Then they warred and killed, until but ahandful lay in cover to lick their wounds and wait. It has been manythrees of seasons since they left that cover. But now they comeagain--to loot their place of secrets--Perhaps in the time past theyhave forgotten much so that now they must renew their knowledge."

  Dalgard stowed the bow in the bottom of the outrigger. "I think we hadbetter go and see," he commented, "so that we may report true tidingsto our Elders--something more than rumors learned from night runners."

  "That is so."

  They paddled out to sea and turned the prow of the light craft north.The character of the land did not change. Cliffs still walled thecoast, in some places rising sheer from the water, in others broken bya footing of coarse beach. Only flying things were to be sighted overtheir rocky crowns.

  But by midday there was an abrupt alteration in the scene. A wideriver cut through the heights and gave birth to a fan-shaped deltathickly covered with vegetation. Half hidden by the riot of growingthings was a building of the dome shape Dalgard knew so well. Itswindowless, doorless surface reflected the sunlight with a glassysheen, and to casual inspection it was as untouched as it had been onthe day its masters had either died within it or left it for the lasttime, perhaps centuries before.

  "This is one way into the forbidden city," Sssuri announced. "Oncethey stationed guards here."

  Dalgard had been about to suggest a closer inspection of the dome butthat remark made him hesitate. If it had been one of thefortifications rimming in a forbidden ground, there was more than aneven chance that unwary invaders, even this long after, might stumbleinto some trap still working automatically.

  "Do we go upriver?" He left it to Sssuri, who had the traditions ofhis people to guide him, to make the decision.

  The merman looked at the dome; it was evident from his attitude thathe had no wish to examine it more closely. "They had machines whichfought for them, and sometimes those machines still fight. This riveris the natural entrance for an enemy. Therefore it would have beenwell defended."

  Under the sun the green reach of the delta had a most peacefulappearance. There was a family of duck-dogs fishing from the beach,scooping their broad bills into the mud to locate water worms. Andmoth birds danced in the air currents overhead. Yet Dalgard was readyto agree with his companion--beware the easy way. They dipped theirpaddles deep and cut across the river current toward the cliffs to thenorth.

  Two days of steady coastwise traveling brought them to a great bay.And Dalgard gasped as the full sight of the port confronting themburst into view.

  Tiers of ledges had been cut and blasted in the native rock, extendingfrom the sea back into the land in a series of giant steps. Each ofthem was covered with buildings, and here the ancient war had left itsmark. The rock itself had been brought to a bubbling boil and sent innow-frozen rivers down that stairway in a half-dozen places,overwhelming all structures in its path, and leaving crystallizedstreams to reflect the sun blindingly.

  "So this is your secret city!"

  But Sssuri shook his round head. "This is but the sea entrance to thecountry," he corrected. "Here struck the day of fire, and we need notfear the machines which doubtless lie in wait elsewhere."

  They beached the outrigger and hid it in the shell of one of theruined buildings on the lowest level. Dalgard sent out a questingthought, hoping to contact a hopper or even a duck-dog. But seeminglythe ruins were bare of animal life, as was true in most of the othertowns and cities he had explored in the past. The fauna of Astra wasshy of any holding built by Those Others, no matter how long it mayhave been left to the wind, and cleansing rain.

  With difficulty and detours to avoid the rivers of once-molten rock,they made their way slowly from ledge to ledge up that giant'sstaircase, not stopping to explore any of the buildings as theypassed. There was a taint of alien age about the city which repelledDalgard, and he was eager to get out of it into the clean countrysideonce more. Sssuri sped on silent feet, his shoulders hunched, hisdistaste for the structures to be read in every line of his supplebody.

  When they reached the top, Dalgard turned to gaze down to the restlesssea. What a prospect! Perhaps Those Others had built thus for reasonsof defense, but surely they, too, must have paused now and then to beproud of such a feat. It was the most impressive site he had yet seen,and his report of it would be a worthy addition to the Homeportrecords.

  A road ran straight from the top of the stair, stabbing inland withouttaking any notice of the difficulties of the terrain, after the usualarrogant manner of the alien engineers. But Sssuri did not follow it.Instead he struck off to the left, avoiding that easy path, choosingto cross through tangles which had once been gardens or through openfields.

  They were well out of the sight of the city before they flushed theirfirst hopper, a full-grown adult with oddly pale fur. Instead ofdisplaying the usual fearless interest in strangers, the animal tookone swift look at them and fled as if a snake-devil had snorted at itsthumping heels. And Dalgard received a sharp impression of terror, asif the hopper saw in him some frightening menace.

  "What--?" Honestly astounded, he looked to Sssuri for enlightenment.

  The hoppers could be pests. They stole any small bright object whicharoused their interest. But they could also be persuaded to trade, andthey usually had no fear of either colonist or merman.

  Sssuri's furred face might not convey much emotion, but by all thesigns Dalgard _could_ read he knew that the merman was as startled ashe by the strange behavior of the grass dweller.

  "He is afraid of those who walk erect as we do," he made answer.

  _Those who walk erect_--Dalgard was quick to interpret that.

  He knew that Those Others were biped, quasi-human in form, closer inphysical appearance to the colonists than to the mermen. And sincenone of Dalgard's people had penetrated
this far to the north, nor hadthe mermen invaded this taboo territory until Sssuri had agreed tocome, that left only the aliens. Those strange people whom thecolonists feared without knowing why they feared them, whom the mermenhated with a hatred which had not lessened with the years of freedom.The faint rumor carried by the migrating runners must be true, forhere was a hopper afraid of bipeds. And it must have been recentlyprovided with a reason for such fear, since hoppers' memories werevery short and such terror would have faded from its mind in a matterof weeks.

  Sssuri halted in a patch of grass which reached to his waist belt. "Itis best to wait until the hours of dark."

  But Dalgard could not agree. "Better for you with your night sight,"he objected, "but I do not have your eyes in my head."

  Sssuri had to admit the justice of that. He could travel under themoonless sky as sure-footed as under broad sunlight. But to guide ablundering Dalgard through unknown country was not practical. However,they could take to cover and that they did as speedily as possible,using a zigzag tactic which delayed their advance but took them fromone bit of protecting brush or grove of trees to the next, keeping tothe fields well away from the road.

  They camped that night without fire in a pocket near a spring. Andwhile Dalgard was alert to all about them, he knew that Sssuri wasmind questing in a far wider circle, trying to contact a hopper, arunner, any animal that could answer in part the inquiries they had.When Dalgard could no longer hold open weary eyes, his last wakingmemory was that of his companion sitting statue-still, his spearacross his knees, his head leaning a trifle forward as if what helistened to was as vocal as the hum of night insects.

  When the colony scout roused in the morning, his companion wasstretched full length on the other side of the spring, but his headcame up as Dalgard moved.

  "We may go forward without fear," he shaped the assurance. "What hastroubled this land has gone."

  "A long time ago?"

  Dalgard was not surprised at Sssuri's negative answer. "Within days_they_ have been here. But they have gone once more. It will be wisefor us to learn what they wanted here."

  "Have they come to establish a base here once more?" Dalgard broughtinto the open the one threat which had hung over his own clan sincethey first learned that a few of Those Others still lived--even ifoverseas.

  "If that is their plan, they have not yet done it." Sssuri rolled overon his back and stretched. He had lost that tenseness of a hound inleash which had marked him the night before. "This was one of theirsecret places, holding much of their knowledge. They may return hereon quest for that learning."

  All at once Dalgard was conscious of a sense of urgency. Suppose thatwhat Sssuri suggested was the truth, that Those Others were attemptingto recover the skills which had brought on the devastating war thathad turned this whole eastern continent into a wilderness? Equippedwith even the crumbs of such discoveries, they would be enemiesagainst which the Terran colonists could not hope to stand. The fewweapons their outlaw ancestors had brought with them on theirdesperate flight to the stars were long since useless, and they hadhad no way of duplicating them. Since childhood Dalgard had seen noarms except the bows and the sword-knives carried by all venturingaway from Homeport. And what use would a bow or a foot or two ofsharpened metal be against things which could kill from a distance orturn rock itself into a flowing, molten river?

  He was impatient to move on, to reach this city of forgotten knowledgewhich Sssuri was sure lay before them. Perhaps the colonists coulddraw upon what was stored there as well as Those Others could.

  Then he remembered--not only remembered but was corrected by Sssuri."Think not of taking _their_ weapons into your hands." Sssuri did notlook up as he gave that warning. "Long ago your fathers' fathers knewthat the knowledge of Those Others was not for their taking."

  A dimly remembered story, a warning impressed upon him during hisfirst guided trips into the ruins near Homeport flashed into Dalgard'smind. Yes, he knew that some things had been forbidden to his kind.For one, it was best not to examine too closely the bands of colorpatterns which served Those Others as a means of written record. Tapesof the aliens' records had been found and stored at Homeport. But notone of the colonists had ventured to try to break the color code andlearn what lay locked in those bands. Once long ago such an experimenthad led to the brink of disaster, and such delvings were nowconsidered too dangerous to be allowed.

  But there was no harm in visiting this city, and certainly he mustmake some report to the Council about what might be taking place here,especially if Those Others were in residence or visited the site.

  Sssuri still kept to the fields, avoiding the highway, untilmid-morning, and then he made an abrupt turn and brought them out onthe soil-drifted surface of the road. The land here was seeminglydeserted. No moth birds performed their air ballets overhead, and theydid not see a single hopper. That is, they did not until the roaddipped before them and they started down into a cupped hollow filledwith buildings. The river, whose delta they had earlier seen, made ahalf loop about the city, lacing it in. And here were no signs of thewarfare which had ruined the port.

  But in the middle of the road lay a bloody bunch of fur and splinteredbone, insects busy about it. Sssuri used the point of his spear tostraighten out the small corpse, displaying its headlessness. Andbefore they reached the outer buildings of the city they found fourmore hoppers all mangled.

  "Not a snake-devil," Dalgard deduced. As far as he knew only the hugereptiles or their smaller flying-dragon cousins preyed upon animals.But a snake-devil would have left no remains of anything as small as ahopper, one mouthful which could not satisfy its gnawing hunger. And aflying dragon would have picked the bones clean.

  "_Them_!" Sssuri's reply was clipped. "They hunt for sport."

  Dalgard felt a little sick. To his mind, hoppers were to be treatedwith friendship. Only against the snake-devils and the flying dragonswere the colonists ever at war. No wonder that hopper had run fromthem back on the plain during yesterday's journey!

  The buildings before them were not the rounded domes of the isolatedfarms, but a series of upward-pointing shafts. They walked through atall gap which must have supported a now-disappeared barrier gate, andtheir passing was signaled by a whispering sound as they shuffledthrough the loose sand and soil drifted there in a miniature dune.

  This city was in a better state of preservation than any Dalgard hadpreviously visited. But he had no desire to enter any of the gapingdoorways. It was as if the city rejected him and his kind, as if tothe past that brooded here he was no more than a curious hopper or afluttering, short-lived moth bird.

  "Old--old and with wisdom hidden in it--" he caught the trail ofthought from Sssuri. And he was certain that the merman was no more atease here than he himself was.

  As the street they followed brought them into an open space surroundedby more imposing buildings, they made another discovery which blottedout all thoughts of forbidden knowledge and awakened them to a morenormal and everyday danger.

  A fountain, which no longer played but gave birth to a crooked streamof water, was in the center. And in the muddy verge of the stream,pressed deep, was the fresh track of a snake-devil. Almost full grown,Dalgard estimated, measuring the print with his fingers. Sssuripivoted slowly, studying the circle of buildings about them.

  "An hour--maybe two--" Dalgard gave a hunter's verdict on the age ofthe print. He, too, eyed those buildings. To meet a snake-devil in theopen was one thing, to play hide-and-seek with the cunning monster ina warren such as this was something else again. He hoped that thereptile had been heading for the open, but he doubted it. This mass ofbuildings would provide just the type of shelter which would appeal toit for a lair. And snake-devils did not den alone!

  "Try by the river," Sssuri gave advice. Like Dalgard, he accepted thenecessity of the chase. No intelligent creature ever lost the chanceto kill a snake-devil when fortune offered it. And he and the scouthad hunted together on such trails before. Now they slipped in
tofamiliar roles from long practice.

  They took a route which should lead them to the river, and within amatter of yards, came across evidence proving that the merman hadguessed correctly; a second claw print was pressed deep in a patch ofdrifted soil.

  Here the buildings were of a new type, windowless, perhapsstorehouses. But what pleased Dalgard most was the fact that most ofthem showed tightly closed doors. There was no chance for their preyto lurk in wait.

  "We should smell it." Sssuri picked that worry out of the scout's mindand had a ready answer for it.

  Sure--they should smell the lair; nothing could cloak the horribleodor of a snake-devil's home. Dalgard sniffed vigorously as he paddedalong. Though odd smells clung to the strange buildings none of themwere actively obnoxious--yet.

  "River--"

  There was the river at the end of the way they had been following, away which ended in a wharf built out over the oily flow of water.Blank walls were on either side. If the snake-devil had come this way,he had found no hiding place.

  "Across the river--"

  Dalgard gave a resigned grunt. For some reason he disliked the thoughtof swimming that stream, of having his skin laved by the turgid waterwith its brown sheen.

  "There is no need to swim."

  Dalgard's gaze followed Sssuri's pointing finger. But what he sawbobbing up and down, pulled a little downstream by the current, didnot particularly reassure him. It was manifestly a boat, but the formwas as alien as the city around them.