"This thing's a snap. It won't keep us in here."
Garth came over. "There are guards. It's no use."
One of the Zarno approached and peered in through the grill.
"Kharn has said you will not be hungry long. Tomorrow you will all die. You eat, like the creatures of the forest, do you not?"
"What's he saying?" Sampson muttered.
"Nothing important." Garth switched to the Ancient Tongue. "It will be dangerous to kill us. We are messengers of the gods."
"We will believe that," the Zarno said, "when one of the gods tells us so." He nodded impassively and retreated.
Paula touched Garth's arm. "Isn't there any way—"
"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe not."
"There's light here. There's none in the other cities of the Ancients. That means the power-source still works here. If we can find it—"