the hulks of the dead monsters.

There was a shrill squeal as the remaining infant reptile fled from
the pouch where it had hidden. Sssuri hurled his knife, and the blade
caught the small devil above the shoulder line, half cutting, half
snapping its tender neck, so that it bounded aimlessly on to crash
against the wall and fall back squirming feebly.

They collected the darts which had killed the others. Dalgard took the
opportunity to study those bands on the forearms of the adults. To his
touch they had the slick smoothness of metal, yet he was unfamiliar
with the material. It possessed the ruddy fire of copper, but through
it ran small black veins. He would have liked to have taken one with
him for investigation, but it was out of the question to pry it off
that scaled limb.

Sssuri straightened up from his last gruesome bit of stage-setting
with a sigh of relief. "Go ahead." He pointed to one of the other
archways. "I will confuse the trail."

Dalgard obeyed, treading as lightly as he could, avoiding all
stretches in which he could leave a clear print. Sssuri ran lightly
back and forth mixing the few impressions to the best of his ability.

They backtracked to the river, retrieved the boat and recrossed, to
leave the city behind and strike into the open country beyond its
sinister walls. Night was falling, and Dalgard was very glad that he
was not to spend the time of darkness within those haunted buildings.
But he knew that it was more than a dislike for being shut up in the
alien dwellings which had brought Sssuri out into the fields. The