Chapter X: Lost at Sea

As Grandon rushed forward to do battle with the monster, there came a swift lull in the storm. The light filtering through the thin layer of clouds showed him that he was on the bank of a mighty stream, into which the huge amphibian reptile plunged. It swam directly for the opposite shore, its body completely immersed. Above the raging black torrent projected the serpentine neck and head, and drooping from those horrible jaws was the limp body of its victim.

Without a moment's hesitation, Grandon gripped his sword between his teeth and plunged into the water. He was a strong swimmer, but he quickly saw that he was losing ground. Swiftly and silently the huge amphibian glided forward, steadily lengthening the distance between them.

When it neared the opposite shore it suddenly sank from view and the Earth-man, arriving at the spot a moment later, saw only a string of bubbles leading toward the overhanging bank. Filling his lungs with air, he dived straight for the point from which the last black bubble had apparently emerged. A moment later his hands came in contact with a slanting, muddy bottom and working his way carefully forward he came up in a dimly lighted subterranean cave.

The air reeked with the odor of putrid flesh, fragments of which were mingled with the gnawed bones scattered about on the slimy mud floor. The big reptile crouched with its back toward him and its body half out of the water.

On the floor lay its victim, apparently stone dead, but the creature seemed in no hurry to devour him. Instead, it was swaying its head back and forth with neck arched, and from time to time nosing its prey as if waiting for him to show signs of life, much as a cat worries a mouse.

Presently, much to Grandon's surprise, the victim did sit up, rubbing his eyes as if he half expected to awaken and find that the thing before him was only a horrible nightmare. The reptile continued moving its head to and fro, no doubt waiting for an attempt to run away on the part of its prey.

The Earth-man raised the muzzle of his tork above the water, pointing it at the swaying head, and touched the button. At the sound and impact of the bullet, the creature turned and spied him. Six bullets struck that ugly head with apparently no more effect than as many fly-bites.

Then, to his amazed horror, Grandon was dealt a crushing blow from behind that hurled him into a far corner of the cave.

He rose, and leaped just in time to elude the snap of those fearful jaws. As he dodged about in the cave he learned what it was that had floored him, for the monster struck at him again with its huge, scaly tail whenever he stood near its back or sides.

Grandon used his sword at every opportunity and, in one instance, succeeded in cutting off a portion of the horny snout. Another time he thought to sever the head from the body by a dexterous blow, but his weapon glanced off those tough scales as from armor plate.

At length he was driven into a corner from which there was no escape. The jaws opened to seize him and he lunged out wildly with his sword. The weapon was jerked from his hand, but the cruel teeth he expected to feel crushing the life out of him did not materialize. Then he saw the reason. He had driven his blade through the reptile's left eye and deep into its brain. After a few convulsive shudders, it keeled over on its side and lay still.

Bracing his foot against the massive head, he wrenched his sword free, and turned to face the youth who was timidly approaching him from a far corner. The latter was evidently bent on thanking him for saving his life, but Grandon was not in a mood for ceremony.

"Come," he said, "we must get out of here quickly. More of these monsters may appear any minute, and it was only by a lucky thrust that I succeeded in dispatching this one."

* * * * *

They moved toward the point from which the dim light emanated, and found it to be a small hole in the top of the bank. By widening this with his sword he made it large enough to admit the body of a man, then boosted his companion through, the latter, in turn, extending a helping hand to him. Grandon experienced a strange thrill as that hand touched his. Never had he thrilled at the touch of a human being before, and it puzzled him greatly.

He looked curiously at his companion, who, he noticed for the first time, was clad from head to foot in shining scarlet leather. The head and face were covered by a pointed hood of the same material, so he could not see the features distinctly.

Acting more from impulse than reason, he reached forward and pulled back the concealing headpiece, then gasped in rapturous wonder at the glorious vision he beheld. A radiantly beautiful girl stood before him, a girl with eyes that were limpid pools of blue, a wealth of shimmering golden hair and lips whose scarlet vied with that of her brilliant raiment. Moreover, she was blushing like a bashful schoolgirl under his ardent gaze, and the blush was most becoming.

For a moment they stood thus--then suddenly she regained her poise, and glanced up at him with a look of regal hauteur that was most disconcerting.

"Why did you do that?" she asked icily.

It was Grandon's turn to blush.

"Frankly, I do not know," he replied. "If I have offended I crave your pardon."

For answer she adjusted the hood once more and, whirling about, strode off into the forest.

Grandon was at a loss whether to follow, or leave her to go her way alone as she evidently preferred to do. From his previous experience in these forests, he was convinced that dangers lay ahead of which she did not dream. Thus, torn between pride and duty, he stood irresolute until he heard a faint scream from the direction she had taken.

Galvanized into action by that cry of terror, he rushed madly forward, cursing his indecision at every step. The thought of that beautiful, frail creature in the clutches of any of the horrible inhabitants of the fern forests was awful to contemplate.

To his incalculable relief he saw a moment later that she was alive, though in grave danger. She was running toward him pursued by a gigantic brute, new and strange to the Earth-man. In form it somewhat resembled a grizzly bear, but compared to it in size, a grizzly shrank into insignificance. It was hairless, and its scaly hide was a brilliant chlorophyll green above, fading to a greenish yellow below. Huge saber tusks projected from the upper jaw, adding to the formidable appearance of the ferocious carnivore.

Grandon aimed his tork carefully and poured forth a stream of projectiles, fervently praying that they might penetrate that thick hide. Instead of stopping the brute, they appeared only to accelerate his speed and increase his ferocity. The panting jaws were scarcely two feet behind the girl when the beast gave a sudden lurch, turned a complete somersault and lay motionless on its back, almost at Grandon's feet. He plunged his sword into the huge carcass again and again in a mad fury, until the girl laid a hand on his arm.

"Come," she said, "the ramph is dead. He cannot harm us now."

* * * * *

He turned without a word and, together, they walked back among the lengthening shadows toward the river's edge. Owing to the recent cloud-burst the current was abnormally swift, carrying the floating storm débris past them at express train speed. There were great, uprooted trees by the hundreds, detached branches and leaves of various sizes and kinds, and a number of huge toadstools, some of which had been uprooted, but a majority of which had broken off where stem and cap joined.

As they stood there on the brink the cap of a great orange-colored toadstool was caught in an eddy and whirled against the shore. The stem had been broken off completely, and it formed a water-tight basin about twelve feet in diameter. Grandon leaped forward and hauled it in.

"What are you going to do with that?" asked the girl.

"If I can cut a suitable paddle," replied Grandon, "I believe I can make it serve as a boat to convey us across the river, where I have reason to suspect your friends, as well as mine, are located."

He looked about until he found a strong branch that suited his purpose, then made a most serviceable paddle by using the limb for the handle and the base of the broad leaf for the blade.

"Come," said Grandon. "We must start quickly if we would gain the other shore before dark."

The girl shuddered.

"Would you prefer to stay here?" he asked. "Perhaps I was too hasty in assuming that you wished to return to your friends."

"No. It is not that. I wish to return, but for the moment I dreaded crossing that river full of monsters in such a frail craft. Why, there are enormous reptiles in that stream that would destroy it in an instant."

"In that case," replied Grandon, "we will stay here."

"What? Do you also fear them?" There was a note of surprise in her voice, and it seemed to be slightly tinged with disdain.

"Not for my own sake, but for yours," he answered. "If you wish to go I will take you. If not, we will remain. You shall decide."

"Then let us at least make the endeavor," she said. "After all, there may be greater dangers behind us than those which lie ahead. When I think of the ferocious night-roaming beasts that will soon fill the forest at our back, I believe that the flood and the reptiles are to be preferred."

She stepped aboard, and Grandon pushed off, wading out to where the water was breast-deep before climbing up beside her in order to clear the eddy which might again carry the craft shoreward.

The Earth-man had taken many canoe trips, and anticipated trouble in crossing the stream, but he had not considered the difference in shape between a canoe and the inverted cap of a Zarovian toadstool. Instead of making the headway he anticipated, he found himself merely going around in a circle.

It was some time before he found a way simultaneously to guide and propel his awkward craft, which he accomplished by standing on the side toward which he wished to go and scooping the water toward him. They laboriously reached midstream after about an hour's hard paddling, but in the interim the swift current had carried them many miles from their starting point. Then, to Grandon's consternation, the paddle broke.

"I guess we're in for it now," he said dejectedly. "Fool that I was to risk your life in this overgrown bowl."

"What of your own life?" she replied. "You are running no less risk than I."

* * * * *

As she spoke darkness descended, the black, moonless darkness of Venus; nor could they see aught around them, save a faint shimmer here and there on the surface of the water, when the light of some distant star, for a moment visible through a break in the ever-present cloud envelope, was faintly reflected on its raging bosom.

Grandon sat in moody silence, straining his eyes in his effort to penetrate the surrounding gloom, his ears on the alert for any sound which might indicate the presence of some dangerous reptilian.

Presently a soft hand sought his, and clung there. Again he felt that delicious, mysterious thrill that sent the blood coursing madly through his veins.

"What is it?" he asked, hoarsely, endeavoring to still the quiver of emotion that suddenly took possession of his vocal cords.

"I am tired--or, so tired. And--yes, frightened. To think that _I_ should be frightened!"

"Here," he said, stripping off his cloak and rolling it into a pillow. "I have been inexcusably thoughtless. Now lie with your head on this pillow, so, and try to get some sleep. I will keep watch."

He withdrew a little way and once more sat quietly with senses alert for the slightest sound or sign of hostile attack. The girl seemed unable to sleep. He heard her moving restlessly from time to time, but some twenty minutes passed before she spoke.

"When I was a little girl," she said, "I was afraid of one thing only--the dark. My memory of that period is divided, not by months and years, but by the times when my father was campaigning in distant countries, and those when he was not, for when he was home he used always to sit at my bedside and hold my hand until I slept. Somehow, I feel to-night as I did when a little girl. If you will sit here beside me and take my hand in yours I shall not feel afraid."

"How like a little child she is," thought Grandon as he moved closer and took her hand. Aloud he said: "Now, go to sleep. You must rest, for we know not what is before us, and the opportunity may not come again very soon."

It was some time before her regular breathing, scarcely audible above the sound of the rushing waters, told him that she slept.

The long, dark night was one of mixed emotions for Grandon. There was pleasure for him in the nearness of the girl and the feel of her small hand, but with this there was the awful suspense of waiting--listening for the expected attack by one or more of the fearful creatures he could hear disporting themselves in the water around their fragile craft.

Toward morning the noises made by these amphibians ceased, and Grandon grew drowsy. His head nodded forward on his breast. Suddenly their craft gave a terrific lurch that rolled the girl into his lap. It was only his clutching the gills of the toadstool with both hands that kept them from being pitched into the water.

"What was that?" asked the girl, breathlessly, awake in an instant.

Another lurch followed.

"Hold on and I will try to find out," he said.

Drawing his sword, he crept near the edge while the lurching continued. He clung to the rim with one hand and prodded the water about him with his sword, completely circling the craft without encountering anything other than the rushing waters. It was not until a dash of spray struck him in the face and he tasted salt that he realized the truth. They were on a body of salt water, possibly a large lake or an ocean. He made his way back to where the girl clung, and related his discovery.

"The river on which we were floating," she explained, "empties into the great Azpok Ocean, the ocean of mysteries, of man-eating monsters and of terrible storms that destroy the mightiest of ships as easily as the smallest boats. To navigate the ocean is to court death in many sudden and appalling forms."

* * * * *

An hour passed before morning dawned. In the meantime the roughness of the sea had abated a little, making it less difficult to keep their places. They were riding long, rolling swells that elevated and lowered their craft with very little lurching. There was no land in sight, only the blue-green waves and the drifting gray clouds through which the sunlight filtered, extending to the horizon in all directions. Several large white birds with red-tipped wings and sharply hooked bills soared lazily about them, dipping now and again to the surface of the ocean from which they usually arose with fish in their talons.

All through that long, sultry day and the following night they drifted, without sighting aught save the birds and a few leaping fish. Grandon had not slept a wink, and the girl could only compose herself for slumber for very short intervals. Both suffered intensely from the pangs of hunger and thirst.

Just before dawn they were rudely startled by a violent tilting of their craft, followed by a roaring and swirling of the water about them. Grandon barely had time to seize the girl ere they were engulfed by a huge wave which capsized the craft and precipitated them into a seething maelstrom of black water.

Down--down, they went into the dark depths. It seemed to Grandon, as he struggled to reach the surface, dragging the girl with him, that his lungs would burst. At last a breath of air; then another enormous wave that left them gasping and choking, followed by another and another in rapid succession. The Earth-man fought gamely, but as the minutes passed the violence of the waves increased and he felt his strength waning. He realized that, barring the intervention of some unforeseen aid, the battle against death would soon end in defeat.

With body numbed and hope gone, he suddenly felt the sandy beach below his feet. He staggered forward, was knocked flat by a mighty breaker, rose, gained a few steps, and was floored by another. Crawling painfully onward, driving his flagging muscles by a supreme effort of will, he finally collapsed unconscious on the dry sand, just beyond reach of the waves.