They must have been less than a mile from the river when Blade heard sounds behind him. He whirled and stared back into the darkness, then at Nugun. The Senar had also heard something and was staring back, eyes wide. Finally he turned back to Blade with a grunt and said, «Men-Senar-come behind us.»

Blade knew that the Senar's night vision was considerably keener than his own. «Following us?» he whispered.

«On same path. Not walk fast.»

Perhaps they were not a search party, then. With luck and speed perhaps the three could outdistance those behind. Blade motioned Wyala to close in behind him. Then he broke into a run.

The three dashed through the woods even faster than before. Good luck and Nugun's eyes kept them from stumbling or going astray this time. But nothing could have kept them from making an uproar of footfalls, cracking branches, and heavy breathing. Before too long, Blade could look behind him and see the unmistakable lights of torches bobbing on the path, as the party behind them also increased its pace to a run.

Blade had no more doubt that the people behind them were after them. But there was nothing to do about it except keep running and hope to cross the river before the pursuers caught up with them. That would be easy for him and Nugun, but the pace was beginning to tell on Wyala. Sweat was streaming off her face now, and her mouth was wide open as she gasped for breath. Occasionally she lurched and reeled as she ran, but she never quite stumbled, never quite lost her footing.

Then the forest began to thin out around them, and in the darkness ahead Blade caught the faint glimmer of water. Within a few minutes, they were approaching the south bank of the river. At the same moment, Blade saw their pursuers burst out of the forest behind them. There were at least a dozen torches, and as they moved out into the open they spread out in a wide line, slowing down to a walk as they did so.

Blade turned back to the river, peering out into the darkness to pick out the far bank. He guessed it was a hundred yards away-a good healthy dip, to say the least.

Without a word Wyala bent and began removing her sandals, while Blade unstrung his bow and thrust the string inside his tunic. Hopefully that would keep it dry. Then he undid his own sandals and looked over his shoulder at the torches. They were still a good two hundred yards away, approaching cautiously. Did the people back there think that they had their prey trapped against the riverbank? They were going to get a surprise if they did. Blade turned and walked into the river.

The bottom dropped off swiftly, and in seconds he was swimming. The current was strong but not overpowering, and he was easily able to keep his head above water and push toward the opposite bank. The water itself felt refreshingly cool on his sweating body.

Behind Blade the others slipped into the river. Wyala gave a gasp as she entered the water and struggled for a moment. Then she gave a gasp of another sort as Nugun's massive right arm reached out to support her. She stared hard at him, eyes wide, then let him help her. Nugun ploughed through the water like a walrus, snorting and splashing so loudly that Blade had to tell him sharply to be more quiet. After that the Senar swam with steady, silent strokes that barely broke the surface.

They were halfway across the river before the line of torches reached the bank behind them. Looking back, Blade could see more than twenty men lined up along the bank, besides the dozen torch holders. One or two of the torch holders were waving their torches about like madmen. Now-if all those people would just stay where they were. Blade turned back and concentrated on his swimming.

Soon they were three-quarters of the way across. There was still no sign that the people behind them had figured out what had happened. Or perhaps they had, but none of them could swim, and they were going to have to waste time looking for a boat. The thought almost made Blade laugh out loud.

And now they were approaching the far bank. It was less than twenty yards away, heavily overgrown with bushes right down to the water's edge. Ten yards, and Blade felt weeds and thick mud underfoot. He let his feet drop down onto the bottom, but kept low and motioned the others to do the same. Still half-crouching, he covered the rest of the distance to the bank, then swiftly reached for a branch and hauled himself out of the water.

Splashes behind him told him that the other two were doing the same. Nugun was practically lifting Wyala out of the water. Then from within the bushes came the sound of running feet and crashing branches. Blade whirled so fast that he nearly slipped on the muddy bank, drawing his sword and shouting a warning in the same moment. Then the attackers burst out of the bushes with savage cries.

There were at least a dozen of them. For a moment Blade could only stare at the two men in the lead. Both were short, bearded, and stocky, but neither of them had much more hair than Blade himself, and their foreheads rose high above glaring black eyes. Both carried long, straight swords and large, round shields. They charged at Blade. Behind them came ten Senar, waving seven-foot spears. They plunged down the bank toward Nugun and Wyala.

As Blade met the rush of the two Blenar, he heard one of the Senar shout, «No kill woman! We want!» and the wsssh of thrown spears. Blade heard two of them splash into the water behind him.

He ducked under a whistling slash from the man on his right-fast but clumsy-and thrust under the edge of the shield at the man's knee. The sword point grated on bone, and the man screamed and staggered.

As he did, Blade grabbed him by his beard and pulled him around. He held the man in front of him as the other Blenar rushed in. The second man's sword slashed down as Blade thrust his prisoner forward. The prisoner let out another howl of agony as the descending sword sheared off his right arm. Blade released the man, then snatched the shield off the man's left arm and snapped it up in front of him. Now he had a shield as well as a sword and perhaps a chance, even against the other Blenar's longer sword.

But in that moment another scream tore into the air — a scream that could only have come from Wyala's throat. Blade spun around.

Wyala was kneeling on the bank, both hands clutching the shaft of a spear driven through her body just below the left breast. Blood was already trickling from the corner of her mouth and dripping down onto the muddy bank. Then she choked on the blood welling up in her throat and sagged forward. As she did, the butt of the spear caught in a root and the point broke through her back and stuck out behind her, red and dripping.

For one more moment the Senar stood paralyzed, staring at the dead woman. Then a tremendous uproar broke out, with curses, growls, and screams of rage and pain as they fought among themselves. Blade saw one Senar thrust with his spear into the groin of another-the one who had killed Wyala? Blade hoped so. The wounded Senar fell to the ground and rolled around, clutching at his wounds and howling in agony. Blade turned, looking for Nugun. If the Senar could attack that mob before it got itself sorted out-!

But Nugun was nowhere to be seen. No, there was a trace of him, and Blade felt a chill as he saw it. Out on the river, a few feet from the bank, was a spreading pool of blood. Even as Blade watched, the current caught it and it began to break up.

Blade cursed and turned back to the Blenar, with one grim determination in him-kill as many of the enemy as he could before they got him. He accepted the fact that his luck had run out, but he still had some things to do before he would lie down and die.

He charged the Blenar and drove him back into the bushes until he could not retreat any farther. But the man was a good swordsman. With his shorter weapon, Blade could not close. He backed off, holding up his shield, backing to where the first Blenar lay, hoping for a moment to snatch up the fallen man's sword. His opponent followed him, but did not crowd close. The man had too much respect for Blade's strength and reflexes.