Leeta! Eagerness and wild joy flamed in him, then. There was still a chance. It was not hopeless after all—not too late....
His senses rushed toward the other end of the path, and now he detected a muted piping, like the shrill whispers of excited children. He sent himself toward it.
The familiar shifting again. He stood at the edge of the broad shallow depression he had seen before, with the pool of inexplicable force at its center. The flowers that crowded here were as incredibly luxuriant and gorgeous as he remembered them, filling the air with their thick perfume. And once more he felt the aura of vital power that radiated from the pool, boundless, awesome, god-like.
And kneeling beside the pool as before was the slender figure he was seeking—Leeta. Only dimly was he aware of the other shapes around her, the giant bird, the mosquito-men. She was holding the mystically shining crystal globe, even now she was bending to lower it to the surface of the pool.
Into his mind flashed the chilling picture of Mulvaney, horribly sprawled, motionless-empty. He knew he had to prevent what was about to take place.
Urgency leaping in him, he sent himself toward the pool. Leeta had to see him this time! He threw all his will into the thought in a mighty burst of effort. She had to see him!
And she saw him.
With the globe extended in her hands, she stiffened. Her tilted liquid eyes flared wide. A stark unbelieving amazement seemed to grip her slim body. And in a fashion that was somehow a normal function of his senses here, he realized that she saw him as he had seen her back at the park, mistily unsubstantial, weirdly glowing.
"You!" she said at last. The silvery chime of her thought held the quality of a gasp.
Her stunned incredulity was echoed by the other presences before the pool.