"But the other Big Snakes can't get here till dawn!" Rok protested.
"We'll camp on that butte." Roya gestured the big slick-skin to kneel.
From atop that butte, the whole valley radiated away in starlit beauty. Sitting on the dewy grass, Roya ripped open a leaf-wrapped pack. The others joined in. The big slick-skin stood guard.
In the black court, the twelve pairs of silvery eyes stared on into the coldly shining Sphere Of All Time....
Armed with great clubs of broken limestone, the hordes of Ophid were straddling aboard the multitude of dragons that had stretched out full length. Ophid leaped astride the neck of the largest. Flapping its many sets of great wings, the dragon rose its sinuous lengths up through the haze and shot for the tunnel. The other dragons and their wildly eager riders swarmed after. Into the gloom of the tunnel tore Ophid's lead dragon and burst into the weird outer area. Without pause Ophid swung his swarm over the river and tore up-stream. Into the gloom of that vast cavern the wild Dragon Men and their mad monsters poured....
In the dimness Toka watched the boudoir door ease slowly open. Framed by soft and loose titian hair, a white oval of features peered slowly around the door.
The low insinuation was Kolano's. "Toka is not sleeping, either?"
He was on his feet. "No."