But as soon as he'd made it, he gasped, horror-stricken.... The vague shadow of the ledge pinched inward till it became the gulfing black of a sheer cliff. He was trapped!
His only hope now was the coming of the town people and he listened for noises of their approach. But all he heard was the scuffle of two beings cresting the ledge.
Was it possible that he alone knew of the landing? The town people should have come by now.
As it was, a lot of lives depended on him. His father and mother, the other kids, and all the people, too. He couldn't let them down!
The beam of light, moving along the ledge ahead of the two beings, now touched the crag and spilled over to where he stood. Then, almost as if Fate had taken charge again, his eyes were drawn to the gleam of a sharp-edged rock....
He was gripping it, poised to strike, when the first of the beings came around the bend.
Two things made him hesitate. First, size. The being was tiny—fully a third shorter than himself.
Next, the way the being acted. It had stopped and raised its hand, palm out, as if trying to make friends.
It must be a trick, he told himself. Never had he heard the beings spoken of as friends—only as vicious destroyers. He took a tighter grip on the rock.