When Kettridge bent over to pick up the scurrying red lizard, the thing that had been waiting in shadows struck.

The thing rose nine feet on its powerfully muscled legs. It had an iridescent, glistening fur, and if resembled a gorilla and a Brahma bull and a Kodiak bear and a number of other Terran animals. But it was none of these creatures.

The comparison was as inaccurate and as brief as Kettridge’s last moment of horrified awareness. He saw one of the thing’s huge paws crashing down toward him. Then the brief moment ended, and Kettridge lay unconscious.

Thought: This is the prelude to the Time of Fast. In bulk this strangely formed one will equal many cat litters. It is warm and does not lose the Essence. When the Essence-Stealer screams from the heavens, the strangely formed one will be many feastings for me. Safety and assured Essence are mine.

O boon at last granted! To the Lord of the Heaven I turn all thought! Lad-nar’s Essence is yours at Ending!

The huge creature bent sharply from the waist and scooped up the man in the form-fitting metallic suit. It brushed in annoyance at the belt of tools around the human’s waist and looked over one massive shoulder at the sky.

Even as Lad-nar watched, the rolling dark clouds split, and a forked brilliance stabbed down at the jungle. Lad-nar squinted his eyes, unconsciously lowering the thin secondary lids, and filtering out the worst of the light.

He shivered as the roar screamed across the sky.

Off to his left another blast of lightning slanted down, striking a towering blue plant with a shower of sparks and a dazzling flash. A peal of thunder followed it. The jungle smoked.

Thought: Many risings and settings of the Great Warmer it has taken this Time of Fast to build. Now it will last for many more. The Great Warmer -will be hidden, and the cold will settle across the land. Lad-nar must find his way to the Place of Fasting. This strangely formed one will be many feastings.