Then, with quick resolve, the tree-man took to the trees in pursuit of the demon. His hyper-sharp sense of smell soon enabled him to pick up the trail of his quarry. Presently the forest began to thin out, giving way to open plain. Nearing the edge of the trees, the eagle eyes detected movement, then the grotesquely alien figure of the demon-thing came into view. Krai was in the open now. With a spurt of speed, accelerated by white-hot hate, the pursuer reached the edge of the forest—too late.
The Martian was nearly to his ship. Another moment and he would be safe. The brute-man hated the ground and feared the incredible powers of the demon-thing too much to risk physical combat. There was only one chance.
Whipping a huge, jagged-edged stone from his girdle, the tree-dweller hurled it with all the energy of his tremendous thews. With deadly accuracy the stone shot through the air. Krai never knew what hit him; his brain-case was shattered like an egg-shell. He dropped in his tracks.
His desire for revenge satisfied, the tree-dweller began to comprehend the magnitude of his feat. Single-handed, he had killed the demon-thing that destroyed his people! For a moment he was a little dizzy with the enormity of it.
Then, attracted by the golden glow of the big cylinder, the brute-man forgot all else to investigate this new miracle. He was confident in his ability to deal with anything that arose now and the shimmering beauty of the golden emanation intrigued him.
He reached out tentatively. As the hirsute hand passed through the nimbus a look of startled surprise appeared on the face of the tree-dweller.
Then he collapsed. As the limp hand broke contact with the brilliance surrounding the space ship there was an almost perceptible crackle of energy. And for a moment the acrid pungence of ozone hung in the air.