There were shouts in the distance and he called out the warning again. Then ran, suddenly heedless of all danger, following the receding footsteps. Crashed after them, panting, wanting to kill some more. Came out of the trees and saw the two figures on the dockside ahead hurling themselves from it into the water.

Kerrick stood on the scarred wood and fired at the two heads moving away from him in the sea, over and over until the depleted hèsotsan writhed feebly in his grip. His darts had missed; the two swimmers were well out of range. Moving toward the black object far out in the harbor.

The fin of an uruketo, waiting there for them.

Only then did Kerrick realize how he was shaking. He lowered the weapon and watched the heads grow smaller until they were lost in the waves. Vaintè here, and he could have killed her. There was the sound of hurrying feet behind him and two hunters ran up.

“We saw them, two murgu, dead, they killed Keridamas and Simmacho; what is happening?”

Kerrick pointed, still trembling. “There, the murgu, they are still alive. They have one of their boat-beasts out there. They came to see the city; they know that we are here now.”

“Will they be back?”

“Of course they will be back!” Kerrick screamed, his lips drawn back from his teeth. “She is with them, the leader, the one who keeps alive the battle against us, who wants to kill us all. As long as she is out there — they’ll be back.”

The hunters stepped away from Kerrick and eyed him uneasily. “This is a thing that Sanone must be told about,” Meskawino said. “We must run and tell him.”

They started away and Kerrick had to call after them. “One can carry the news. You, Meskawino, stay here.”

Meskawino hesitated, then obeyed since Kerrick ordered things in the city. Sanone was their mandukto whom the Sasku still looked to for leadership, but he had instructed them to obey Kerrick at all times. Meskawino gripped his mattock and looked around apprehensively. Kerrick saw this and struggled to get himself under control. The time for blind anger was past. He must think coldly now, like a Yilanè, think for all of them. He reached out and touched the hunter’s trembling arm.

“They are gone, so your fear must go as well. I saw the one who leads; she and another swam to safety. They are gone, all gone. Now you must remain here and keep watch in case they return.”

This was a positive command, something to do. Meskawino raised his mattock like a weapon. “I will watch,” he said, turning and looking out to sea. When he did this he saw the slumped body of the guard for the first time and began to wail.

“He too — my brother!” The mattock slipped to the ground as he stumbled over to the body and dropped to his knees beside it.

More killing and more death, Kerrick thought, looking out at the now empty harbor. Vaintè, the creature of death. Yet it could not be her alone. She would receive no aid from the cities were it not for the cold winters that brought fear to the Yilanè of Entoban* where one city stretched out to brush against another city. When winter came to the northern cities they could stay and die. Or cross the ocean — and make war. That was what Vaintè told them; he had heard her, knew that she would go on doing that until she was killed.

Someday. Not now; she was beyond his reach. What he must do now was to get inside her head and discover what she was planning. He knew her as well as anyone did, far better than the other Yilanè. So what would she do next?

One thing was certain, she was not alone. An entire fleet of uruketo could be lying just over the horizon, filled with armed fargi, ready to invade. It was a frightening thought. A wail of agony cut through his thoughts and he turned to see that the Sasku had arrived. Sanone came first, the women following behind tearing at their hair when they saw the dead hunter. Sanone looked from the corpse to Kerrick, then out to sea.

“They have returned as you said they would. Now we must defend ourselves. What must we do?”

“Post guards night and day. The beaches and all of the ways into the city must be watched. They will come back.”

“By sea?”

Kerrick hesitated. “I don’t know. They have always attacked from the ocean before, when they could, that is their way. But that was when they had this city and small boats. And they did attack us by land. No, it won’t be from the water next time, I am sure of that. We must keep watch here — and on all sides.”

“Is that all that we do? Just stand and watch and wait like animals to be slaughtered?” Kerrick caught the bitterness in his voice.

“We will do more than that, Sanone. We know about them now. You will have your best trackers go north and south along the coast to find their base. When we have found them — then we will kill them. And for that we will need help. The sammadar who lives for the death of the murgu. We need those Tanu hunters, their knowledge of the forests and their strength. You must find your two strongest runners, who can go day after day and still keep on. Send them north to find the Tanu, to get the message to Herilak that he must join us with all the hunters he can bring. If he is told there are murgu for the killing — then he’ll come.”

“Winter is here and the snows are deep in the north. They would never reach the sammads. Even if they did the hunters might not leave in the depths of winter. You ask too much, Kerrick, ask Sasku to die without reason.”

“Death may be here already. We need their aid. We must get it.”

Sanone shook his head unhappily. “If we are to die then we will die. Where Kadair leads we can only follow. He brought us here for his reasons. Here we must stay for we came in the mastodon’s footsteps. But I cannot ask Sasku to die in winter snow just for an idea. In the spring it will be different. We will decide then what must be done. All we can do now is try to divine Kadair’s will.”

Kerrick started to speak in anger — then controlled himself. He was not quite sure just what Kadair did will, except he always seemed to will it when the old man needed his arguments reinforced. Yet there was truth in what he said. Sasku might not get through where Tanu could, they were not used to the winter. And even if they did — there was no way to be sure that Herilak would answer his call for help. They would have to wait until spring.

If they had that much time.

South of the city, south of the river, the swamps began. Here the tangled jungle and marsh came down almost to the ocean’s edge, made walking impossible except along the beach. Just above the surf line, long-legged sea birds were tearing at a dead hardalt that had been washed ashore. They suddenly took alarm and hurled themselves into the air, flying and screeching in circles as the two Sasku came warily along the beach. Their white headbands were each daubed with a spot of ochre to show that they were on a very serious mission. They did not seem happy about it. They looked at the jungle wall with obvious fear, pointing their death-sticks at invisible threats. As they passed the corpse of the hardalt Meskawino looked at it with disgust.

“It was better in the valley,” he said. “We should have stayed there.”

“The murgu came to the valley to destroy us — have you forgotten that already?” Nenne said. “It was Kadair’s will that we come to this place to destroy them, and that we have done.”

“They return.”

“We will kill these too. You whimper like a baby, Meskawino.”

Meskawino was too filled with fear to even notice the insult. Life here by the ocean was not at all to his liking, too different from the ordered existence he had enjoyed in their protected valley. How he longed for those solid stone walls.

“There, ahead, what is it?” Nenne said.