CHAPTER XXXVII
A COMBAT OF TITANS
In a few minutes the amphitheater was entirely clear, save for the deadand maimed little figures lying scattered about; but it was nearly anhour more before the fugitives were ready to resume their journey.
The attack had come so suddenly, and had demanded such immediate andcontinuous action that none of the men, with the exception of the VeryYoung Man, had had time to realize how desperate was the situation inwhich they had fallen. With the almost equally abrupt cessation of thestruggle there came the inevitable reaction; the men bleeding from ascore of wounds, weak from loss of blood, and sick from the memory ofthe things they had been compelled to do, threw themselves upon theground utterly exhausted.
"We must get out of here," said the Doctor, after they had been lyingquiet for a time, with the strident shrieks of hundreds of the dyinglittle creatures sounding in their ears. "That was pretty near the end."
"It isn't far," the Chemist answered, "when we get started."
"We must get water," the Doctor went on. "These cuts----" They had usednearly all their drinking-water washing out their wounds, which Aura andLylda had bound up with strips of cloth torn from their garments.
The Chemist got upon his feet. "There's no water nearer than the ForestRiver," he said. "That tunnel over there comes out very near it."
"What makes you think we won't have another scrap getting out?" the VeryYoung Man wanted to know. He had entirely recovered from the effects ofthe stone that had struck him on the temple, and was in better conditionthan any of the other men.
"I'm sure," the Chemist said confidently, "they were through; they willnot attack us again; for some time at least. The tunnels will bedeserted."
The Big Business Man stood up also.
"We'd better get going while we have the chance," he said. "This gettingsmaller--I don't like it."
They started soon after, and, true to the Chemist's prediction, met nofurther obstacle to their safe passage through the tunnels. When theyhad reached the forest above, none of the little people were in sight.
The Big Business Man heaved a long sigh of relief. "Thank goodness we'rehere at last," he said. "I didn't realize how good these woods wouldlook."
In a few minutes more they were at the edge of the river, bathing theirwounds in its cooling water, and replenishing their drinking-bottles.
"How do we get across?" the Very Young Man asked.
"We won't have to cross it," the Chemist answered with a smile. "Thetunnel took us under."
"Let's eat here," the Very Young Man suggested, "and take a sleep; we'reabout all in."
"We ought to get larger first," protested the Big Business Man. Theywere at this time about four times Oroid size; the forest trees, so hugewhen last they had seen them, now seemed only rather large saplings.
"Some one of us must stay awake," the Doctor said. "But there do notseem to be any Oroids up here."
"What do they come up here for, anyway?" asked the Very Young Man.
"There's some hunting," the Chemist answered. "But principally it's themines beyond, in the deserts."
They agreed finally to stop beside the river and eat another meal, andthen, with one of them on guard, to sleep for a time before continuingtheir journey.
The meal, at the Doctor's insistence, was frugal to the extreme, and wassoon over. They selected Oteo to stand guard first. The youth, when heunderstood what was intended, pleaded so with his master that theChemist agreed. Utterly worn out, the travelers lay down on a mossy bankat the river's edge, and in a few moments were all fast asleep.
Oteo sat nearby with his back against a tree-trunk. Occasionally he gotup and walked to and fro to fight off the drowsiness that came over him.
* * * * *
How long the Very Young Man slept he never knew. He slept dreamlesslyfor a considerable time. When he struggled back to consciousness it waswith a curious feeling of detachment, as though his mind no longer wasconnected with his body. He thought first of Aura, with a calm peacefulsense of happiness. For a long time he lay, drifting along with histhoughts and wondering whether he were asleep or awake. Then all at oncehe knew he was not asleep. His eyes were open; before him stood theforest trees at the river's edge. And at the foot of one of the trees hecould see the figure of Oteo, sitting hunched up with his head upon hishands, fast asleep.
Remembrance came to the Very Young Man, and he sat up with a start.Beside him his friends lay motionless. He looked around, still a littleconfused. And then his heart leaped into his throat, for at the edge ofthe woods he saw a small, lean, gray figure--the little figure of a manwho stood against a tree-trunk. The man's face was turned towards him;he met the glistening eyes looking down and saw the lips parted in aleering smile.
A thrill of fear ran over the Very Young Man as he recognized the faceof Targo. And then his heart seemed to stop beating. For as he stared,fascinated, into the man's mocking eyes, he saw that slowly, steadily hewas growing larger. Mechanically the Very Young Man's hand went to hisarmpit, his fingers fumbling at the pouch strapped underneath. The vialof chemicals was not there!
For an instant more the Very Young Man continued staring. Then, with aneffort, he turned his eyes away from the gaze that seemed to hypnotizehim. Beside him the Chemist lay sleeping. He looked back at Targo, andsaw him larger--almost as large now as he was himself.
Like a cloak discarded, the Very Young Man's bewilderment dropped fromhim. He recognized the danger, realized that in another moment thisenemy would be irresistibly powerful--invincible. His mind was clearnow, his nerves steady, his muscles tense. He knew the only thing hecould do; he calculated the chances in a flash of thought.
Still staring at the triumphant face of Targo, the Very Young Man jumpedto his feet and swiftly bent over the sleeping form of the Chemist.Reaching through the neck of his robe he took out the vial of chemicals,and before his friend was fairly awake had swallowed one of the pills.
As the Very Young Man sprang into action Targo turned and ran swiftlyaway, perhaps a hundred feet; then again he stopped and stood watchinghis intended victim with his sardonic smile.
The Very Young Man met the Chemist's startled eyes.
"Targo!" said the Very Young Man swiftly. "He's here; he stole the drugjust now, while I was sleeping."
The Chemist opened his mouth to reply, but the Very Young Man boundedaway. He could feel the drug beginning to work; the ground under hisfeet swayed unsteadily.
Swiftly he ran straight towards the figure of Targo, where he stoodleaning against a tree. His enemy did not move to run away, but stoodquietly awaiting him. The Very Young Man saw he was now nearly the samesize that Targo was; if anything, the larger.
A fallen tree separated them; the Very Young Man cleared it with abound. Still Targo stood motionless, awaiting his onslaught. Thenabruptly he stooped to the ground, and a rock whistled through the air,narrowly missing the Very Young Man's head. Before Targo could recoverfrom the throw the Very Young Man was upon him, and they went downtogether.
Back and forth over the soft ground they rolled, first one on top, thenthe other. The Very Young Man's hand found a stone on the ground besidethem. His fingers clutched it; he raised it above him. But a blow uponhis forearm knocked it away before he could strike; and a sudden twistof his antagonist's body rolled him over and pinned him upon his back.
The Very Young Man thought of his encounter with Targo before, and againwith sinking heart he realized he was the weaker of the two. He jerkedone of his wrists free and, striking upwards with all his force, landedfull on his enemy's jaw. The man's head snapped back, but he laughed--agrim, sardonic laugh that ended in a half growl, like a wild beastenraged. The Very Young Man's blood ran cold. A sudden frenzy seizedhim; he put all his strength into one desperate lunge and, wrenchinghimself free, sprang to his feet.
Targo was up almost as quickly as he, and for an instant the two stoodeyeing each other, breathing hard. At the Very Young Man
's feet a littlestream was flowing past. Vaguely he found himself thinking how peacefulit looked; how cool and soothing the water would be to his bruised andaching body. Beside the stream his eye caught a number of tiny humanfigures, standing close together, looking up at him--little forms that asingle sweep of his foot would have scattered and killed. A shiver offear ran across him as in a flash he realized this other danger. With acry, he leaped sidewise, away from the water. Beside him stood a littletree whose bushy top hardly reached his waist. He clutched its trunkwith both hands and jerking it from the ground swung it at his enemy'shead, meeting him just as he sprang forward. The tree struck Targo aglancing blow upon the shoulder. With another laugh he grasped its rootsand twisted it from the Very Young Man's hand. A second more and theycame together again, and the Very Young Man felt his antagonist'spowerful arms around his body, bending him backwards.
* * * * *
The Big Business Man stood beside the others at the river's edge,watching the gigantic struggle, the outcome of which meant life or deathto them all. The grappling figures were ten times his own height beforehe fairly realized the situation. At first he thought he should takesome of the drug also, and grow larger with them. Then he knew that hecould not overtake their growth in time to aid his friend. The Chemistand the Doctor must evidently have reached the same conclusion, forthey, too, did nothing, only stood motionless, speechless, staring up atthe battling giants.
Loto, with his head buried upon his mother's shoulder, and her armsholding him close, whimpered a little in terror. Only Aura, of all theparty, did not get upon her feet. She lay full length upon the ground, ahand under her chin, staring steadily upwards. Her face wasexpressionless, her eyes unblinking. But her lips moved a little, asthough she were breathing a silent prayer, and the fingers of her handagainst her face dug their nails into the flesh of her cheek.
Taller far than the tree-tops, the two giants stood facing each other.Then the Very Young Man seized one of the trees, and with a mighty pulltore it up by the roots and swung it through the air. Aura drew a quickbreath as in another instant they grappled and came crashing to theground, falling head and shoulders in the river with a splash thatdrenched her with its spray. The Very Young Man was underneath, and sheseemed to meet the glance of his great eyes when he fell. The treesgrowing on the river-bank snapped like rushes beneath the huge bodies ofthe giants, as, still growing larger, they struggled back and forth. Theriver, stirred into turmoil by the sweep of their great arms, rolled itswaves up over the mossy banks, driving the watchers back into the edgeof the woods, and even there covering them with its spray.
A moment more and the giants were on their feet again, standing ankledeep, far out in the river. Up against the unbroken blackness of thestarless sky their huge forms towered. For a second they stoodmotionless; then they came together again and Aura could see the VeryYoung Man sink on his knees, his hand trailing in the water. Then in aninstant more he struggled up to his feet; and as his hand left the waterAura saw that it clutched an enormous dripping rock. She held herbreath, watching the tremendous figures as they swayed, locked in eachother's arms. A single step sidewise and they were back nearly at theriver's bank; the water seethed white under their tread.
The Very Young Man's right arm hung limp behind him; the boulder in hishand dangled a hundred feet or more in the air above the water. Slowlythe greater strength of his antagonist bent him backwards. Aura's heartstood still as she saw Targo's fingers at the Very Young Man's throat.Then, in a great arc, the Very Young Man swept the hand holding the rockover his head, and brought it down full upon his enemy's skull. Theboulder fell into the river with a thundering splash. For a briefinstant the giant figures hung swaying; then the titanic hulk of Targo'sbody came crashing down. It fell full across the river, quiveredconvulsively and lay still.
And the river, backing up before it a moment, turned aside in itscourse, and flung the muddy torrent of its water roaring down throughthe forest.