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.But then the bolt bit the sled, put you out of action and we crashed into the leaves.I was too busy with the questions of our survival to think of them.Incidentally, Zarqa, have you fully recovered from the effects of the bolt by now? Can your wings fly?”Yes, responded the solemn-eyed Kalood.It was a passing paralysis of the wing-muscles—a temporary numbness caused by the electric shock of the weapon employed by our pursuers.Rest, and the partaking of my nutrient mead, has restored me to my full powers again.“I assume, then,” said Nimbalim “that we are agreed to begin the search for our missing companions in that direction in which they were last headed in flight?”Janchan nodded grimly.Without further ado, they reentered their vehicle and took to the skies, weaving between the boles of the enormous, sky-tall trees.“Of course, they might have landed anywhere,” Janchan said, despairingly.“On that branch, or the next; on the one above it, or the one below.We have little chance of finding them in all this wilderness…”True, replied the Winged Man.However, there is nothing else we can do but to search; however hopeless may seem our chances of success…“A pity you cannot reestablish contact with the mind of Ralidux, save in his presence,” murmured the philosopher, after some time.I agree.It is difficult enough to control the mind of another, even when he is near; distance renders it impossible… however… now that you mention it—“What? Have you thought of something?” asked Janchan.The Kalood shrugged.No, not really; it is just that, having once mastered the mind of another, I am sensitive to the unique patterns of his thoughts.The emanations of each mind, friend Janchan, are distinctly individual.“May I ask, what are the limits which distance puts on your abilities to distinguish one thought-wave from another?” queried Nimbalim of Yoth.That is very difficult for me to say; especially in the case of you wingless ones, whose mental radiations are dimmer and less precise than are the emanations of my own kind.However, if you will take over the controls of our craft, Prince, I will bend my efforts to the detection of the thoughts of Ralidux…With a feeling of excitement, Janchan came forward to take his place before the controls, so that Zarqa could concentrate.They flew on for most of that day and into the night.From time to time, Zarqa would indicate a slight adjustment in their direction; he fancied his sensory equipment caught the far, faint impulse of the mind for which he quested.Dawn broke below them glimmered a vast inland sea, such as they had never seen or envisioned before.They stared down in amazement at the great stretch of waters, which was broken only by a scattered archipelago of jungle islands.Suddenly, Zarqa stiffened in his trance.He clutched Janchan’s arm his claw-like bony fingers sinking into the flesh.Down! he commanded sharply.Janchan touched the lever and the skysled sank down towards the islands of the unknown sea.Chapter 18.THE SHIP FROM THE SKYI burst from the edge of the jungle as Shann’s cries receded into the distances above me and were lost in the winds of the heavens.Never before had I cursed my blinded eyes as at that hour.The girl whom I loved had been stolen from me and I could not even see what it was that had kidnapped her into the clouds.For hours I paced the lonely emptiness of sand that stretched beside the sea, bemoaning my fate and railing against the grim, ironic jest the fates had played upon me.At length, however, I recovered my reason although the ache in my heart had not lessened.Returning to the hut I filled my hungry belly with food which, in my distraction of mind, I did not even taste.Then, having nothing else to do, I came back to the beach where Shann had been taken from me, and began wandering about aimlessly, trying to think of something to do next.Odd, how had my luck had been, with those people whom I had come to love! Niamh the Fair was gone from me, and as for Zarqa and Prince Janchan, our paths had been sundered long ago.Even homely, grinning, faithful little Klygon, who had become my ally and my only friend in the House of Gurjan Tor, even he had been taken from me in the end.And now Shann, the girl I had come to love, however guiltily; she, too, was gone.Was loneliness to be my lot forever? Musing, upon that question I paced the empty beach.And then I heard the flying thing above, the whirr of her engines, the rushing wind of her passage!I froze, and stared up into the sky, heedless of my inability to see; striving by some unknown sense to discern what it was that sank towards me from the heavens.Was it the vessel that had carried off Shann of Kamadhong? It seemed incredible that the mystery craft should have returned thus, to the scene of the crime, but it must be so.I waited, motionless and unresisting, as the craft settled into the sand near me.Its shadow fell across me, cutting off the sun, I heard the squeal of sand as its weight crunched slowly into the wet beach.A door opened, men jumped out and came across the sand towards me.“You would seem to be in distress, young man,” a man said to me in a voice I did not recognize—an old man, from the tone and timbre of his voice.“Can we do aught to alleviate your distress?”I opened my mouth to ask my interlocutor if it had been his ship which had carried off a young girl from this very beach only hours before, when suddenly I heard a voice calling me by my name.“Karn! Karn, me lad! Saints and Avatars—is it you?”It was a voice I recognized; and my heart leaped up within me when I heard that hoarse, croaking sound.“Klygon!” I gasped.And then I choked, too full of emotion for words, and could say no more.But words were not needed; for in the next instant the little man was upon me, hugging the breath out of me and clapping my bare shoulder with his horny, calloused palm.My rescuer, to whom I had been introduced as Parimus, Prince-Wizard of Tharkoon, was solicitous as to the condition of my blinded eyes.Not many minutes after his sky yacht had lifted up from the beach of the jungle isle whose name I now learned was Narjix, he was bathing my poor eyes with ungents and healing salves, tsk-tsking under his breath as he changed the dressings.“Deplorable! Simply deplorable, my boy! But fortunately, the sea-water in which you were so long immersed has cleansed the burns and its natural astringent has precluded any infection from setting in.It is a great mercy that yon rogue, Klygon, applied wet black river-mud to your burns so soon after they were inflicted upon you; for ‘tis that good stroke of luck alone has saved your sight—”“D’you mean I have a chance to see again?” I demanded.From the way his hand on my brow moved, I know that he shrugged.” ‘Tis very likely, but too soon to tell.Sea-water, however, makes an excellent antiseptic, in lieu of any other.These salves will help heal the raw places, while an application of these rays may do much to rebuild the nerve-cells.” He switched on a healing lamp whose rays were directed into my eyes.I could not see the glow of the lamp, but the skin of my face itched and tingled from the action of the rays.“Ten minutes, now; not a moment more!” he cautioned.“I will remember, Lord,” said the young bowman, whose name was Zorak.The science wizard shuffled back to the bridge of his vessel; Klygon came to my side.“Lad, lad,” he breathed, ” ‘tis marvelous—good to see you again! Why, we all fancied you dead—drowned, food for the fishes, at very least—after that great wicked wave swept you off the Xothun’s deck! Fancy a boy, blind as you were, findin’ your way to shore and livin’ like a castaway the while! Wonders will never cease, they say…”“You have not yet told me what has become of our Komarian friends,” I reminded him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]