The man swung down into the road. I heard his footsteps ring on the
rock; heard them diminish, die in distance. Then--
A clamoring, bestial cry ripped the air; a cry that seemed to ring and
echo up out of hell, a cry no human throat could compass--but I knew
who had screamed. That settled the fat man. Narayan jerked around, his
blond face whiter. "_Raif!_" The word was a prayer.
We half-scrambled, half-leaped into the road. Side by side, we ran down
the road together.
The screaming of a bird warned me. I looked up--dodged quickly--over
my head a huge scarlet falcon, wide-winged, wheeled and darted in at
me. Narayan's yell cut the air and I ducked, flinging a fold of cloak
over my head. I ripped a knife from my belt; slashed upward, ducking my
head, keeping one arm before my eyes. The bird wavered away, hung in
the air, watching me with live green eyes that shifted with my every
movement. The falcon's trappings were green, bright against the scarlet
wings.