A hornbill swooped at Tony. The Thief stood paralyzed with shock. The bird flew right by him. "What the hell?" he said to nobody in particular. Acacia pulled him to the ground, none too gently.

"Listen." Her voice was a terse hiss. "You're a Thief, so they're going to have a hard time seeing you. But your skills won't help the rest of us much right now, so just stay out of it, okay?" She jumped to her feet and joined the fray.

Tony stayed on his stomach and watched her go, his expression ugly.

Eames, the massive warrior, stood with his back to one of the huts, and three wall-eyed black children cowered behind him. One of the hornbills swooped in from the air while another approached on the ground, waddling forward and thrusting its three-foot beak at him with a noisy honking sound. Eames thrust at the airborne bird first, and as he did, the one on the ground bit at his wrist. The green glow around his hand immediately went pink. Eames said, "Damn!," and hastily switched his sword to his left hand. As if sensing his increased desperation, the birds began to worry him more boldly, taking turns to draw his attack, then pecking at him.

The grounded bird prepared to lunge for his neck as a bolt of

red flame struck it in the side. Immediately it caught fire and flopped away trailing smoke and the smell of singed feathers. Eames took advantage of the moment's diversion to skewer the other bird when it flapped back in for a bite. It cawed in pain and expired.

Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Eames looked around for his benefactor. Alan Leigh ran over. "Are you all right?"

Eames nodded. "Just caught me one on the wrist. I'll get one of the Clerics to fix it up as soon as the fight's over."

"Good," Leigh said sincerely. "I don't want you out of the Game too soon." He spun around and ran toward Gwen and Oliver, who were protecting the unconscious Gun-Person.

Bowan the Black had taken a stand at the far end of the roast­ing pit. As a hornbill swooped, honking, its brown wings beating the air like those of a condor, he called fire from the pit, engulfing the unfortunate fowl.

Chester and Gina stood back to back casting glowing spears of light. Several of Gina's missed, but those that scored shore off wings and heads. Chester's beams were deadly accurate.

Most of the Clerics and S.J., the Engineer, hid beneath one of the huts. This wasn't their work. When an inquisitive bird thrust its beak beneath the building and poked around for them, S.J. used a makeshift spear to keep it away. The bird, angered, squawked to its companions and several of the monstrous horn-bills joined it. They butted and slammed into the hut. The walls shook.

"It's collapsing!" S.J. screamed. "Everybody out!"

As the last body squirmed out from underneath, the building's supports gave way; an entire side collapsed, and the rest of the building followed it down.

Garners ran in all directions.

Across the courtyard, Maibang fled from an attacking hombill. He was too slow. As its claws gripped his shoulders he screamed in pain and terror. "Please! Help me!" The bird flexed mighty wings and pulled Kasan into the air.

Bowan gaped. "Chester! We're losing the guide!"

"The hell we are. Gina! Bowan! Join hands with me!"

Maibang's thrashing feet brushed the roof of a hut.

Hastily the three linked up, and Chester intoned solemnly, "We

three meld strengths, we three meld minds. Demon of the air we find blocked before and bound behind."

The hornbill reacted as if it had run into an invisible wall. Brown feathers flew as it beat its wings helplessly, trying to escape the grip of three mighty wizards.

Chester smiled with grim satisfaction. "Return unharmed that which is ours, and you may flee with your life, thing of evil."

Whooping with frustration, the bird at last opened its claws, and Kasan fell butt-first through the straw roof of a hut. Straw flew as if a bale of hay had exploded, but when the dust had set­tled the guide limped into sight with a huge grin on his face. He waved his hand and Chester waved back, screaming at him to lie low.

Most of the remaining birds were wounded and dying. Acacia had finished one off by the roasting pit. She gave it a shove with her foot. Her foot went right through it; but a split second later the corpse rolled over and landed with a satisfying thump and a spray of embers and ashes.

The remaining hornbills were dispatched with a minimum of problem, and soon all was quiet on the Melanesian front.

Natives emerged from their hiding places to see what the pow­erful strangers had wrought. Only a few of the Daribi warriors had stayed to fight, and several of these were dead.

Chester raised his hand. "Any fatalities? How many injuries? Auras, please." Everybody promptly glowed green, except for Eames, whose wrist glowed scarlet, and Larry Garret, who had a scarlet glow all down his right leg. "What happened?"

Eames explained his own wound. Garret had been hit by a support (foam plastic) when the hut collapsed. Chester sighed, but seemed not totally dissatisfied. "Okay, we've got two minor casualties. Gwen, you weren't in that action, so your energy should still be up. Let's have a reading on Gwen's healing aura and see if she can handle both wounds." Gwen's green aura slowly shifted to a warm gold, twinkling like a field of stardust. "Good. You heal them now, and you'll have a full recharge by morning."

"Right, Ches." She raised one hand. "Hear me, 0 Gods-" The golden glow concentrated around her right hand, then lashed out to bathe both wounds. The red glows died. "How about that. The gods can be right cooperative sometimes."

"Thanks, Gwen. Okay, people, we've only got a few minutes until close-down for the night. Good day, everyone. Lots of

points. We'll get some treasure points tomorrow, I'm pretty sure, so you Thieves and Engineers don't worry. Everybody gets their share." Chester looked around until he spied Kasan. "Get over here, Maibang." The little guide skipped over with a prankster's grin plastered across his face. "I'm not going to ask you how you managed the business with the bird. I just want to know if Gun-Person's mind is snapped for good, or what?"

Kasan managed to look serious. "Grave damage, yes, very bad. He has been helped to his resting place. Perhaps in the morning he will be able to help you, but I'm afraid that he is dying, and the men's council will not speak to you unless he recovers, or dies, in which case they may choose a new spokesperson, who will decide whether or not to cooperate with you. I'm afraid you are on your own, now."

"Not quite, my friend. You're coming with us." Chester thought for a second, then asked, "What about the women's council? Will they speak to us?"

Kasan seemed to ponder that. "Yes, yes they might. But in the morning." Maibang noticed Oliver with his arm around Gwen. He spoke sternly. "It is not proper for those of the opposite sex to sleep together before such an undertaking."

Oliver was incredulous. "Jee-zuss. We're engaged!"

"It would not matter if you were married. Please. If you do not follow the rules of our people, the women's council may not aid you. Further, they may forbid me to accompany you on your voyage."

Chester waved deprecatingly at Oliver. "Go along with it. All bets are off after eight anyway."

Gwen hugged her man to her, and whispered something in his ear. He reddened noticeably, and pecked her goodby, and moved to join Chester and the other men.

Acacia took Tony's hand. It was cool and unresponsive. She looked into his face with playful concern. "I'll meet you by the banana tree, hombre."

His lip curled with ill humor. "I thought I was supposed to stay out of troubler I'm only a Thief, after all."

She stepped back from him, holding both of his hands, and searched his eyes. "Hey, Tony, I was only trying to help you. I was talking about the Game, Fortunato!"