Taking Katon by the arm, he started across the room toward Vulcar.
"What are you—" Katon began, then subsided as the cave-man frowned and shook his head in warning.
When within a few paces of the former captain, Tharn stopped and turned his back, and Katon's, to the unheeding Vulcar.
"I tell you, it seems hard to believe," Tharn began, his voice raised somewhat above its usual pitch, "that none of Urim's friends has courage enough to avenge his death. Why, had I served under him, I—"
"Who says none hopes to avenge Urim?" The quiet words came from behind them.
Turning, they found Vulcar, head lifted and shoulders squared, regarding them fixedly.
The Cro-Magnard simulated surprise to hide his sudden elation. "If I am wrong—" He stopped there, waiting.
"What chance have we to avenge him?" Vulcar demanded, his hawk-like face drawn into lines of helpless fury. "Here we are—thrown into a hole, sentenced to die for the satisfaction of a false God—and to save Pryak from sleepless nights!"
Tharn appeared sympathetic. "Given a chance, however slight, would you take it?"