Blade decided that it might not be such a good idea to bathe in one of the pools after all.

Instead, Blade climbed halfway down the bluff, then slipped into the water. He'd underestimated the force of the current, and was promptly swept off his feet and down toward the pool. Rocks bruised him and scraped skin off his arms and legs, and for a moment he was afraid he was going all the way down into the pool and what waited there. Then he caught a projecting root and with a desperate wrenching of all his muscles heaved himself out of the water.

At least he could drink safely from the rapids, and he drank until he could almost feel the water sloshing around inside him. Then he ate two of the fruits, scrambled up a tree and made himself as comfortable a bed in its branches as he could manage. Blade didn't know how far the reptiles were willing to come out of the water, and didn't want to find out the hard way. At least he could be fairly sure they didn't climb trees.

His tree-bed wasn't really comfortable, but after his day's exertions Blade didn't care. He was asleep within minutes, drifting off as the night chorus of the jungle rose around him. The last sound he heard was an uproar of splashing from the direction of the stream.

Chapter 3

More and louder splashing woke Blade, along with whistlings, hootings, and gruesome noises like the horns of gigantic trucks. The birds and insects were lost in the uproar. With a safe fifty feet between him and the ground, Blade watched the reptiles heading for home.

He counted at least twenty of them lumbering through the trees and splashing into the lower pool.