But what good would it do to run, when this monstrous menace could overtake and pass him in a single stride?
Heart in his throat, he pulled Ylana close against him and waited in rigid, aching tension for his doom.
Another clanking step ... another; and the robot towered above them, mountain-high.
Jarl's straining muscles cramped with pain. In awful fascination, he felt the robot's shadow fall across them; watched as a gigantic foot came down. The very ground shook. Dust spurted in a smothering cloud.
It was as if death, personified, looked down upon them.
And then, incredibly, the ponderous leg swung out again—swept over them, past them, and crashed to earth again beyond.
Another step. The shadow lifted.
Jarl raised his head; stared, still not believing.
But the robot was still moving on—on, through the bleak crags and the wastelands.