Witness of Gor

Some folks were strolling now on the terrace. I closed my eyes, against the heat, the sun.

“Look!” I hear. It was a man’s voice. It came from somewhere in the vicinity of the balustrade.

I opened my eyes and stood up, by the ring. I looked in the direction in which he was pointing, out, over the balustrade. Several others, too, were looking. Some of these were near the balustrade. Others had turned about, from where they were on the terrace.

“Look!” he cried again.

I could now see, in the distance, that to which he must have reference. It was another flight of tarns. They seemed tiny, so far away. It was difficult to judge their number.

“Tarns!” said another fellow, now, too, pointing. Two more men ran to the balustrade.

The tarns seemed larger now. They must be coming very rapidly, I thought. It seemed clear that there were more tarns in this group than in the first group, perhaps considerably more, but by how much the numbers of this group might exceed those of the first group it would be very difficult to say, that for two reasons, their formation and orientation. They were in single-file, like the first group, but they were not moving to the right, as had the first group, an orientation that had made possible a fairly exact estimate of their numbers. Rather, this time, in file, they seemed to be moving directly toward us. If one had not been looking at an exact point in the sky one might not even have noticed them. Too, they seemed at a fairly low altitude, approaching parallel to the ground. They might not be more than a few yards height above the walls. At times they were difficult to detect for the mountains behind them.

“They’re coming this way!” said a fellow.

“Go,” said a man to a free woman. “Leave! Get indoors! Get off the terrace!”

I saw a child, with a ball, ru

“Run!” said a man.

“There is no danger!” said a fellow. “The bars are not sounding!”

“They have to be our lads!” said another. “It is a second pursuit!”

“Disperse! Disperse!” said a guardsman, near the balustrade. “Move! Move!”

The flight did indeed seem to be approaching with great rapidity.

“Go!” said the guardsman. He actually pushed a fellow. That is seldom done with free persons.

If the approaching riders had ba

“Go!” said the guardsman.

“The bars aren’t sounding!” protested a man.

“Go!” cried the guardsman.

I saw a woman turn about and began to hurry from the terrace.

“There!” said a man. “See! The ba

There was a cheer from those on the terrace.

Still the flight proceeded toward us.

“Run!” screamed the guardsman. “Run!”

“No!” cried a man.

“Look!” cried another.

“See the ba

“Run!” screamed the guardsman. “Run!”

Suddenly, overhead, only yards above us, there was a terrible sound of screaming tarns, and a blasting storm of wings. I hear a terrible scream of a tarn and saw one of its wings cut from its body by the almost invisible, swaying tarnwire. I saw another great bird tangled in it, tearing at it, bloodily. Another had thrust its talons about the wire and was wrenching it about. Two birds thrust though the wire, darting within its interstices. The terrace was filled with screaming, ru

I saw the ball which had been the child’s rolling in the wind across the terrace. The guardsman who had cried out at the balustrade lay in blood only a few yards from me. Beside him lay two of the intruders. I became vaguely aware, now, that the bars were again sounding. The defenses of this part of the city, I gathered, had been drawn away, to defend the pens. But surely the alarm was now once again out. Surely it could be only a matter of minutes before a defense could be mustered. I smelled smoke. But what if the tarnsmen of Treve, those in the vicinity, were in pursuit of the first flight? What if it had drawn them away? Could they hear the alarm bars behind them, in the city? Could they be recalled? Could a messenger catch up with them? How much time would it take to do so, and then return? And would the officers of the pursuit return to the city? Their priorities might be otherwise. The pursuit of intruders, I knew, was tenacious, relentless. It would be important to the pursuit that the secret of the city be kept. Any who knew it might later be a guide to thousands. However many had slipped into the city might, in accord with some sober military calculus, be left for later. In a sense, were they not now isolated, trapped? There must be tarnsmen left in the city, though. Surely there must be! I was sure, too, there would be numerous guardsmen, spearmen, bowmen. Did they know where the intruders were? It was perhaps two Ahn until darkness. There were now several of the intruders, some mounted, others not, on the terrace. I would have guessed their number at some one hundred and fifty men. One fellow seemed to be in command. He seemed to be issuing orders, fiercely, impatiently, but I could not hear them. I saw several men, in squads, rush away. Some of these squads went into buildings, adjoining the terrace. One went toward the stairway, across the terrace. Another turned about, toward me. I lay down at the foot of the wall, my knees drawn up, terrified, looking down at the stones. They sped past me. When I looked up, I realized the one party had gone to seal off the stairway, and the other, that which had run past me, perhaps without even really seeing me, had gone to the bridge. These were the two principal access points to the terrace. To be sure, it could doubtless be reached in some other fashions, though narrow passageways, over the balustrade from below, descending from adjacent roofs, perhaps through certain buildings.