I was astonished.

The man collecting food from the baskets was not an Argzoon. He was a man similar in build to myself, but with a pale complexion—perhaps caused by living in the sunless vaults of the Blue Giants.

His face had a strange, dead appearance. His eyes were dull, his features frozen as he mechanically transferred meat and vegetables from the baskets to a smaller basket he held in his left hand.

He was unarmed. His shoulders were bowed, his hair lank and uncared for.

There was no questioning his situation and function in the cavern-world of the Argzoon.

The man was a slave and seemed to have been one for a long time.

Being a slave he would, of course, have no love for his masters. On the other hand, how much had he been cowed by them? Could I reveal myself in the hope of receiving help from him, or would he be frightened and shout for help?

I had taken many risks to get this far. I must take a further risk now.

As silently as I could I climbed from cover and crept across the tops of the baskets towards him. He was half turned away from me and only seemed to notice me when I was almost on top of him.

When he saw me, his eyes widened and his mouth dropped, but he made no sound.

"I am a friend," I whispered.

"F-friend . . . ?" He repeated the word dully as if it meant nothing to him.

"An enemy of the Argzoon—a slayer of many of the Blue Giants."

"Aah!" He backed away in fear, dropping his basket.

I leapt to the ground and dashed towards the door, closing it. He turned to face me, his mouth trembling now, his eyes still wide in ghastly fear. It was evidently not me he feared so much as something that I represented to him.

"Y-you must go to the Queen—y-you must surrender yourself. D-do that and y-you may escape the N'aal Beast!"

"The Queen? The N'all Beast? I've heard the name—what is it?"

"O-oh, d-do not ask me!"

"Who are you? How long have you been here?" I tried a different line of questioning.

"I—I think my name was Ornak Dia . . . Y-yes, that was it, that was my name ... I d-do not know h-how long . . . s-since w-we f-followed the Argzoon h-here and w-were led into ambush. Ththey had only sent half their strength against the lands of the south—we did n-not r-realize . . ." With these memories he seemed to remember something of the man he must have been previously, for his shoulders straightened a little and he held his mouth better.

"You were part of the force led by the Bradhi of the Karnala—is that right?" I asked him. I wondered what kind of hardships could have turned a warrior into this servile thing in such a comparatively short space of time.

"Th-that is right."