Star Born by Andre Norton Page B

grille, one hand on its stone divisions.
    His surprise equaled Dalgard’s. It was not in his experience= either that the untamed snake-devils, regarded by merman, and human alike as so dangerous as to be killed on sight, could‘ be banded-as if they were personal pets!
    For a moment or two a wild idea crossed Dalgard’s mind.
    How long was the natural life span of a snake-devil? Until. the coming of the colonists they had been the undisputed., rulers of the deserted continent, stupid as they were, simply because of their strength and ferocity. A twelve-foot, scale armored monster, that could tear apart a duocorn with ease;; might not be successfully vanquished by any of the fauna of_ Astra. And since the monsters did not venture into the sea, contact between them and the mermen had been limited to casual encounters at rare intervals. So, how long did a snakedevil live? Were these creatures sprawled here in sleep;, ones that had known the domination of Those Others-‘ though the fall of the master race of Astra must have occurred generations, hundreds of years in the past?
    “No,” Sssuri’s denial cut through that. “The smaller one is not yet full-grown. It lacks the second neck ring. Yet it is: banded.”
    The merman was right. That unpleasant wattle of armored, flesh which necklaced the serpent throat of the devil Dalgard’ had picked as his target was thin, not the thick roll of fat such as distinguished its two companions. It was not fully adult, yet the band was plain to see on the foreleg now stretched to its full length as the sun bored down to supply_ the heavy heat the snake-devils relished next to food.
    “Then-“ Dalgard did not like to think of what might be. the answer to that “then.”
    Sssuri shrugged. “It is plain that these are not wild roamers. They are here for a purpose. And that purpose-“ Suddenly his arm shot out so that his fingers protruded through the slits in the stone grille. “See?”
    Dalgard had already seen, in seeing he knew hot and terrible anger. Out of the filthy mess in which the snake-devils wallowed, something had rolled, perhaps thrown about in play by the unspeakable offspring. A skull, dried scraps of fur and flesh still clinging to .it, stared hollow-eyed up at them. At least one merman had fallen prey to the nightmares who ruled the arena.
    Sssuri hissed and the red rage in his mind was plain to Dalgard. “Once more they deal death here-“ His eyes went from the skull to the monsters. “Kill!” The command was imperative and sharp.
    Dalgard had qualified as a master bowman before he had first gone roving. And the killing of snake-devils was a task which had been set every colonist since their first brush with the creatures.
    He snapped the cap off the glass splinter point, designed to pin and then break off in the hide so that any clawing foot which tore out an arrow could not rid the victim of the poisonous head. The archer’s mark was under the throat where the scales were soft and there was a chance of piercing the skin with the first shot.
    The growls of the two feeding youngsters covered the snap of the bow cord as Dalgard shot.. And he did not miss. The brilliant scarlet feather of the arrow quivered in the baggy roll of flesh.
    With a scream which tore at the human’s eardrums, the snake-devil reared to its hind feet. It made a tearing motion with the banded forearm which scraped across the back of one of its companions. And then it fell back to the blood-stained sand, limp, a greenish foam drooling from its fangs.
    As the monster that the dead devil had raked roused, Dalgard had his chance for another good mark. And the second scarlet shaft sped straight to the target.
    But the third creature which had been sleeping belly down on the sand presented only its armored back, a hopeless surface for an arrow to pierce. It had opened its eyes and was watching the now motionless bodies of its fellows. But it showed no disposition to move. It was almost as if