This was a side of Shizala I had not seen before—the regal side. I must have offended her deeply for her to adopt this manner and tone, for I knew it was not natural.

"I—I am very sorry."

"I accept your apology. You will not interfere again. Now, please leave."

In confusion, I turned and left the room.

Bewildered, I walked straight from the great hall, down the steps of the palace to where a servant was just leading away the dahara I had been riding earlier.

With a muttered word to the servant I mounted the beast and shook its reins, making it gallop away down the main street towards one of the gates of the city.

I had to go right away from Varnal for the time being, had to go somewhere where I could be alone to collect my thoughts and pull myself together.

Shizala betrothed! A girl whom, I knew now, I had loved from the moment I saw her. It was too much to bear!

My heart beating much more rapidly than normal and my thoughts racing, my whole being seething with anguish, I rode blindly from the city, past the Green Lake and out into the Calling Hills.

Oh, Shizala, Shizala, I thought, I could have made you so happy.

I believe that I was close to crying then. I, Michael Kane, who had always prided himself on his self-control.

It was some time before I slowed my pace and began to make myself think levelly.

I did not know how far I had ridden. Many, many miles I suspected. My surroundings were unfamiliar. There was no landmarks I could recognize.

It was then that I saw a movement to the north. At first I thought I was looking at a distant herd of beasts galloping towards me but, shading my eyes from the sun, I soon realized that these were riders mounted on some sort of beast similar to my dahara. Many riders.

A horde!

Knowing so little of Martian geography or, for that matter, politics, I did not know whether these riders threatened danger or not.

I sat my beast, watching them advance at a tremendous pace. Even so far away from them I could feel the ground faintly trembling, reverberating to the sound of the thundering animals.

Something seemed a little strange as they approached closer. I guessed they still could not see me—one solitary figure—but I could see them.

The scale was wrong. That was it.

Judging the average height of man and mount against the average height of trees and shrubs, I knew that these riders and their steeds were gigantic! Not one of their daharas was less than twice the height of mine; not one rider was under eight feet tall.

My memory worked swiftly and came up with only one answer.

These were invaders!

More—I thought I knew them.