The man chuckled. He held down a hand, I could locate it by the gleam of the finger-nails. “Up you come. You sound comely enough. I’ll see what Atlan maid is like—and be the first of us to ride with one into our new H.Q.! It’ll make up quite a bit for entering this Atlan on a dark, rainy night—for all we can see of her we might still be the other side of the ocean. I’ll explain all on the way.”

I rode pillion, my arms gripped round his back, as we hastened on.

“Well, tell me it all.”

“What’s your name?”

I wished he would cut the courting and get on with the story. “That shall be the price of your tale.” He growled’ good-humouredly that we of Atlan set a high value on ourselves. “Don’t think just because you’ve been sealed away from us we’ll think you rare. There’ll be more than enough of you even for our needs for a while, till the rest of our army-is shipped over and yours taught how to work with it. Or perhaps it’ll take even longer—our Blue-Scales’n all may decide to keep the airlessness as they call it intact, and we’ll all come over through that there tunnel. I’d give a lot to see our sergeant-major thinking a shark was coming at him!”

“But how did this start? The Dragon to be emperor—What did he do to Juzd?”

“Ah, you’ve been hearing narky tales about him, even away here? You’re bemused. He wouldn’t hurt a fly. Have no fear, he’s not to lay Atlan to the sword. This is to be our land, and we’ll treat it well. No, it’s the Southerners, and the Northerners too, the Northerners that sent us on what they thought would be a wild-goose chase and the death of us all and our gallant Blue-loins, too, it’s all them that think it safe to be our enemies we’re going to show—”

“But how—”