Free The Golden Enemy by Alexander Key Page A

idiots!”
    â€œOh, I think they just want to be heroes. By killing something big …”
    â€œMaybe. If they don’t get killed trying—but they probably won’t be able to find it.” He peered quickly around, then said, “Get down behind that hill, then turn east and head for the river. Fly low and don’t let them see where we’re going.”
    L’Mara dipped low, skirted the woods fringing East Com, and flew a winding course between the hills until they reached the river. It was the same stream he had crossed yesterday on his return from the Barrens, but here, after circling the upper part of the Five Communities, it became a broad shallow stretch of rapids that curved southward through a field of boulders. The hundreds of clear pools made it a favorite fishing area for bears.
    They paused and hovered just under the canopy of a clump of great trees shading the bank. The spot gave them a good view of the river and the ground nearby, yet they were hidden from anyone flying overhead. Usually a dozen or more bears could be seen fishing along this part of the stream. Today there were none. Somewhere an unseen crow cawed derisively. In a land where birds had stopped singing, the sound was almost evil.
    L’Mara shivered. She whispered, “Do you think the beast will come this way?”
    He nodded. “He’s got to eat, hasn’t he?”
    â€œI don’t know. If he’s a mutant, maybe …”
    â€œHe’d still be a bear, and bears eat fish. This is the best fishing area for miles. But even if he didn’t touch fish, he’d have to come near here to drive the goats to either East Com or Central.”
    â€œI thought you told Emmon that the goats wouldn’t let themselves be driven any farther tonight.”
    He shrugged. “They’ll need grass and water, so they’ll almost have to come this far before they stop. I’m just guessing. Somehow, though, I keep feeling the Golden One will come through here, goats or no goats. He must be going to try something different …”
    â€œWhat would it be?”
    He shrugged again. “I’m trying to figure it out. Just pray one of those archers doesn’t sight him first.”
    They became silent and for a long while sat listening and watching. Several times Boy Jaim sent his thoughts out, hesitantly searching, careful for fear the bear would sense him first. It would never do to forget the Golden One’s intelligence, or the power that could sway all creatures near him.
    Over the hills beyond the river the sky was graying and turning ugly with coming rain. Out of the corner of his eye Boy Jaim watched it apprehensively. The shadows around them were deepening. Dark would come quickly when the weather overtook them. The last thing he wanted was to be caught here in the blackness, with wind and rain whipping about them.
    His uneasiness grew as the rain came nearer, and the lowering sun crept closer to the ridge on his right. The sun finally touched the ridge. At the same moment he became aware that a shadow had moved on the ground below. A great shadow.
    A numbness seized him, and something in his mind seemed to say: Closer … Come lower, closer …
    Doubtful’s sudden, frantic barking brought him out of his trance. Instantly, before his mind had quite formed the order to move the sled to safety, L’Mara’s hand had carried it out. They shot away from the trees and rose well above them.
    Below, through a break in the foliage, he saw the monstrous golden shape outlined as if in shimmering fire by the sun’s last rays, and he heard L’Mara gasp as she caught her first sight of it.
    He clutched the frame of the open cabin, speechless for a moment as he stared at the great flat head with the cold obsidian eyes. Suddenly he blurted, “We—we’ve never done anything to you! So why are you treating us this way? Why are you trying to hurt