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eyes and hung on. If he lost his grip, he would be catapulted out onto the sand, and the lizard would be upon him. Then the crack of splintering wood nearly caused him to let go in panic. The tree trunk was yeilding to the reptile's onslaught.
    Suddenly there was quiet. The swaying stopped. When Karl forced himself to look down, he saw the lizard drinking from the pool. Then it slowly ambled back into the brush, as if deciding the catch wasn't worth the effort.
    Karl clung to his perch until he was sure that the lizard was gone. Then he crept down from the palm. As silently as he could, he went to the spring, filled his water sack, and returned to his camp in the rock cleft. He knew he had to leave this place immediately or be eaten by a dread lizard. He shouldered his water bag, his hunting sack, and his wing and started up the rocky slope of the nearest ridge.
    Once on the crest of the ridge, Karl scanned the desert. Again it was flat and ran without a bump to the horizon. As he set up his wing, Karl allowed himself little optimism. There was no end in sight, but he would continue traveling for as long as he could. Bron would have demanded his best effort. Back in his wing, Karl took several running steps down the rocky slope and became airborne. When he was high enough, he banked, and the wind carried him slowly up over the crest of the ridge. Then he banked again and glided out over the desert. He tensed, waiting for the bumps that signified lift.
    A hard series of jolts alerted him. Karl banked quickly and felt his way back into the thermal. More bumps came, and he knew he was in it. Around and around he circled, staying within the column of lift and rising slowly. After a few turns, he began to feel the thermal strengthening and he knew he was on his way.
    Karl flew west over a barren expanse of sand with only the curving shapes of the dunes and the bumps of the thermals to relieve the monotony. He scanned the horizon constantly and was beginning to believe that the desert really was endless. If only he could find another range of ridges similar to those he had left, but without the dread lizards, he would be content to end his journey.
    As the sun began sinking low in the sky, Karl was circling in what he knew would be his last thermal of the day. Because it was the last, he teased every inch of altitude from it that he could. Finally, he turned west for his last run.
    Squinting hard against the sun, Karl thought he saw a jagged line that could be a range of mountains, but then he lost sight of it as he descended toward the desert sand. Maybe Bron was right. Perhaps he had just seen the other side of the desert!

5. Eaten Alive
    Elated, Karl landed and quickly folded his wing. He ate some of the lizard meat and drank deeply from his water sack. Then he set off on foot. For the first time since his banishment, he thought he might really be able to cross the desert. If the jagged line on the horizon was a range of mountains, his journey would be over in a few days. As he walked he imagined the kinds of game he would find in this new land and hoped that it might even be inhabited by friendly tribesmen.
    For the next five nights Karl hiked steadily, sleeping during the days in the shade of the kitewing. The mountains appeared closer each morning. By dawn of the fifth day the foothills were so close that Karl decided to push on. His lizard meat had run out, and he had not even seen a carrion crab. His skin was gray with desert dust, and he felt weak, but his trek was nearly over. The thought that he would soon be hunting antelope spurred him on.
    Karl reached the first line of hills and climbed to the top of the slope. He set up his wing and looked back across the desert. From this side it looked as endless and foreboding as it had from Karanga. Toward the west the mountains became larger and even more rugged. They seemed to have been laid down in rows, each row standing a little higher than the one before, until finally the