reached towards me, but I was drifting past him while he shouted my name. I knew I was lostfrom his protection, possibly from all protection. Then I was running on solid ground in the dark, then slipping. All the
others had disappeared, and I could see no opening to the cave.
As I turned while falling, the only light before me now was in the green, reflecting eye of a very large cat!
Then this light, too, blinked out.
CHAPTER THREE
I WASN’T SCARED at that point, because I was confident someone would come and rescue me. I didn’t think anyone had planned to trap me in
the cave system. Monsieur Zodiac had, I was sure, protected me as best he could from von Minct and Klosterheim. So it was
hours before I gave up and began to feel my way downwards to where I was sure I saw a faint light. It could, of course, just
be the glaring eyes of the big cat I had seen in the dark, but I had no choice.
I moved carefully, trembling with cold. All I wore was a T-shirt and shorts. I was going steadily downwards, hoping to find
cavers there who could get me back to the surface. Then behind me I heard a loud crack, and the ground shook faintly. Bits
of stone rattled down, but nothing hit me. I had a sick feeling in my stomach, but I was trying to keep control of myself.
If Klosterheim could scare me so readily, then I ought to have all my wits about me. I climbed over a ridge of rock and suddenly
was looking down into a deep underground valley and the strangest city I had ever seen. It was like something out of a silent
black-and-white sci-fifilm. I knew it, of course. I had seen it in those old, terrifying dreams.
Crystal spires, which could almost have been natural formations, rose a thousand feet or more below me. A silvery river ran through the city center, and strange, elongated beings, scarcely different in appearance from the crystalline
spikes, came and went on the slopes. As in those dreams, I felt no fear of them or their city. In fact, I knew a sense of
relief and wasn’t really surprised by my own lack of surprise. After all, I had known the city and its strange beings all
my life.
Then I realized some inhabitants had seen me and were coming towards me.
Just as in those dreams, I started to run away from them, even thought they offered me no harm. Then I saw the outlines of
a gigantic fox ahead, standing on his hind legs. My thought was, I can’t let him be killed by that Puritan. So I turned and
ran back towards the denizens of the city. I was prepared to do almost anything to make sure the bad part of the dream didn’t
come true.
Two of the weird-looking creatures in pointed hoods were approaching me now. I knew they were harmless. I just
had
to change the dream, make sure the fox wasn’t shot. I let them come towards me. They must have been nine or ten feet tall,
with hands so elongated they reminded me of bones. The tall, pointed hoods, which could have been some kind of carapace, made
them look like priests in an auto-da-fé or members of the Ku Klux Klan. Beneath these long, pointed skulls were faces at once
alien and amiable, with stone-colored folds of skin, their features seemingly formed from flowing volcanic rock and suddenly
frozen, utterly unhuman and beautiful. Within their strange masklike faces were eyes like ice, which clearly held nothing
but goodwill towards me. When they spoke, it reminded me of the soft music of wind chimes, and though I could not understand
their Ianguage,I accepted the first being’s cold, long-fingered hand when he offered it. He knew I had no business being where I was. I felt
confident he would soon get me home. Taking his hand, I noticed an ordinary black cat with a thin body and long ears, which
had situated itself at the feet of the two alien beings. It regarded me with its almond-shaped eyes. As my hosts led me back
towards their city, the cat followed. Soon several similar cats, tails high, joined us. We made a strange
others had disappeared, and I could see no opening to the cave.
As I turned while falling, the only light before me now was in the green, reflecting eye of a very large cat!
Then this light, too, blinked out.
CHAPTER THREE
I WASN’T SCARED at that point, because I was confident someone would come and rescue me. I didn’t think anyone had planned to trap me in
the cave system. Monsieur Zodiac had, I was sure, protected me as best he could from von Minct and Klosterheim. So it was
hours before I gave up and began to feel my way downwards to where I was sure I saw a faint light. It could, of course, just
be the glaring eyes of the big cat I had seen in the dark, but I had no choice.
I moved carefully, trembling with cold. All I wore was a T-shirt and shorts. I was going steadily downwards, hoping to find
cavers there who could get me back to the surface. Then behind me I heard a loud crack, and the ground shook faintly. Bits
of stone rattled down, but nothing hit me. I had a sick feeling in my stomach, but I was trying to keep control of myself.
If Klosterheim could scare me so readily, then I ought to have all my wits about me. I climbed over a ridge of rock and suddenly
was looking down into a deep underground valley and the strangest city I had ever seen. It was like something out of a silent
black-and-white sci-fifilm. I knew it, of course. I had seen it in those old, terrifying dreams.
Crystal spires, which could almost have been natural formations, rose a thousand feet or more below me. A silvery river ran through the city center, and strange, elongated beings, scarcely different in appearance from the crystalline
spikes, came and went on the slopes. As in those dreams, I felt no fear of them or their city. In fact, I knew a sense of
relief and wasn’t really surprised by my own lack of surprise. After all, I had known the city and its strange beings all
my life.
Then I realized some inhabitants had seen me and were coming towards me.
Just as in those dreams, I started to run away from them, even thought they offered me no harm. Then I saw the outlines of
a gigantic fox ahead, standing on his hind legs. My thought was, I can’t let him be killed by that Puritan. So I turned and
ran back towards the denizens of the city. I was prepared to do almost anything to make sure the bad part of the dream didn’t
come true.
Two of the weird-looking creatures in pointed hoods were approaching me now. I knew they were harmless. I just
had
to change the dream, make sure the fox wasn’t shot. I let them come towards me. They must have been nine or ten feet tall,
with hands so elongated they reminded me of bones. The tall, pointed hoods, which could have been some kind of carapace, made
them look like priests in an auto-da-fé or members of the Ku Klux Klan. Beneath these long, pointed skulls were faces at once
alien and amiable, with stone-colored folds of skin, their features seemingly formed from flowing volcanic rock and suddenly
frozen, utterly unhuman and beautiful. Within their strange masklike faces were eyes like ice, which clearly held nothing
but goodwill towards me. When they spoke, it reminded me of the soft music of wind chimes, and though I could not understand
their Ianguage,I accepted the first being’s cold, long-fingered hand when he offered it. He knew I had no business being where I was. I felt
confident he would soon get me home. Taking his hand, I noticed an ordinary black cat with a thin body and long ears, which
had situated itself at the feet of the two alien beings. It regarded me with its almond-shaped eyes. As my hosts led me back
towards their city, the cat followed. Soon several similar cats, tails high, joined us. We made a strange
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