Elvenborn

herself, and Keman, and Kyrtian out of the claws of the monster. Fear seemed to sharpen all of her senses, and made her thoughts faster. Once this was over—if she lived through it—she'd collapse. Now she was all calculation.

:What is that thing, anyway?: Maybe the way to figuring out how to get rid of it lay in what it was supposed to do. The An­cestors made the wretched things as slaves—to do all their work for them. Which was why when they found this world full of humans they hadn't needed the things that had gone dead on them and presumably hadn't bothered to retrieve them.

But the monster was silent again, and it was her turn to dis­tract it. She had her piece of trash ready, a nice light piece of something metallic that should make a lot of clatter. 'Hey!' she yelped, and tossed it backwards over her head as she sped

off in the opposite direction, scooting under the platform of something that vaguely resembled a hut with a porch.

The Ancestors made them as slaves—What could they possi­bly have wanted with that thing? Two-legged, piercing through the gloom of the cave with lights, huge pincers—

She cringed back into her shelter as those twin beams of light swept a little too close. The thing was getting faster, and more nimble. That was not good.

And this time it hadn't gone for the place where the trash had landed, but for somewhere nearer the place where she'd been standing when she shouted. That was worse.

'Ho!' shouted Keman, and the thing whirled and lurched off.

What could that monster possibly be good for? She ducked out of her shelter and took a quick look around, just in time to see it pick up another horse-sized construct and toss it aside, for all the world like one of her farmers, tossing aside a stone or a brick that was in the way of the plow.

Her eyes widened involuntarily as she imagined the thing picking up—say—the load on a wagon, and moving it to a barn.

Of course . .. that's what it's for.

:Keman—that monster—it's meant to move things.:

:Well, it's doing a good job of it!: Keman responded acidly. :It almost dropped that last bit it threw away right on top of me!:

:No, no, I'm telling you what it's meant to do! That's the job it's meant for, to move things. That's what the Ancestors made itfor!:

The thing stopped, and started hunting for Keman, sweeping its lights over the increasingly-chaotic and increasingly-tangled ranks of constructs. :So—what does a thing like that need—to do its job?: came Keman's reply.

'Ha!' shouted Kyrtian, and the monster was off again. Shana noticed that Kyrtian hadn't bothered to toss any junk this time. He must have seen that the monster wasn't fooled by it anymore.

:A strong back, strong legs, strong arms. It's got to learn, I suppose,: she ventured.

:Well, this one's learning! It's figuring out it shouldn't chase after the decoys we've been tossing. Don't bother throwing

things. Just yell, and run,: he replied. :What else, do you think?:

:Kyrtian's already figured out we aren't fooling it anymore. Um. It would need good balance. Not easy to tip over, no mat­ter how heavy the thing is it has to pick up—: she suggested.

:So much for my idea of tripping it: The monster was defi­nitely getting more nimble as it moved. There was less blunder­ing into things now, more picking them up and tossing them aside. Why was it chasing them if it was supposed to be a cargo-mover? Could the enemies of the Ancestors have some­thing to do with that, or had the thing just gone—well—crazy in all the centuries of inactivity?

:You likely wouldn't want it to cut things up, so those pincers must be blunt.: She was trying to think of anything useful.

:Yes. It didn't have to cut that Elvenlord in half, only crush him,: came the sardonic reply. .-Whoever he was and whatever his business was.:

:Following Kyrtian, at a guess. Maybe the Great Lords didn 't trust him as much as he thought they did.: She shook herself to get rid of the distracting speculations. It was her turn. She got out of her shelter, picked up a flat piece of 'glass' and chose an­other hiding place. Maybe if she threw it in a different way than just tossing it anyhow, it might still distract the monster.

'Hey!' she screamed, sent the thing spinning off like the saucers that the children played with, and dashed for cover.

She reached it just in time, and was alarmed to see that this time the construct aimed for the center of the arc, not the place where the glass landed. Too close!

:Keman! Can that thing reach behind itself, do you think?:

She sensed Keman's head popping up cautiously, and got a brief glimpse of what he saw before he dove back down into hiding. .7 don't think it can!: he replied with excitement. .7 don't think it can see behind it, either!:

So. That was one weakness. No, two!

:Ifyou took dragon-form—: she hardly dared suggest it, and Keman would need time to take the form—but in dragon-form Keman was just as big as the monster was. Could he be a match for it?

.7 could leap onto its back and keep it occupied,: Keman

replied firmly. -.Then you get to Kyrtian, and both of you get into the tunnel. I'll follow once you're gone. I'll be right on your heels.:

.But—: she protested—she hadn't intended that at all!

:You might as well, since I'm going to do what I want to any­ way.: And he closed his mind off to her.

Damn him! she thought with a flare of anger—and shook that off, too. No time, there was no time for anything now but action.

She sensed where Kyrtian was, and waited.

'Ha!' the Elvenlord shouted hoarsely, and made his move. She did the same as soon as the monster was out of sight, plan­ning her run to end near his.

The monster came to a halt almost directly between them, and she froze, holding her breath. Light swept over her hiding-place. Once. Twice.

Did it guess? Were dim senses waking up, becoming keener as its movements grew surer? Instinct shrieked at her to shrink back, further into hiding; sense told her to keep absolutely still.

'Ho!' Keman shouted, and the thing lurched off. Before Kyrtian had a chance to move, Shana did, diving under the wheeled vehicle that concealed him.

She found herself nose-to-nose with the Elvenlord, whose white face held an expression of utter shock at seeing her. 'We need to get it to turn as soon as it's on top of Keman,' she whis­pered without preamble. 'He's going to take dragon-form and jump on it from behind.'

'And do what?' Kyrtian asked, aghast.

'How should I know?' she snapped. 'He's decided that's what he's going to do so we can get out the way your two men did. He says he's going to follow—'

'Well I think I can drain that thing if he can get it immobi­lized—' Kyrtian began, and the crashing footsteps