Queex might be lost in a happy dream, the result of its own
fiddling. Nor did the rhythm of that scraping vary.
The nightmare thing made the last foot in a rush of speed which reduced
it to a blur, coming to a halt before the Hoobat. Its front legs whipped
out to strike at its enemy. But Queex was no longer dreaming. This was
the moment the Hoobat had been awaiting. One of the sawing claws opened
and closed, separating the head of the lurker from its body. And before
either of the men could interfere Queex had dismembered the prey with
dispatch.
"Look there!" Dane pointed.
The Hoobat held close the body of the stranger and where the ashy corpse
came into contact with Queex's blue feathered skin it was slowly changing
hue--as if some of the color of its hunter had rubbed off it.
"Chameleon!" Ali went down on one knee the better to view the grisly
feast now in progress. "Watch out!" he added sharply as Dane came to join
him.
One of the thin upper limbs lay where Queex had discarded it. And from
the needle tip was oozing some colorless drops of fluid. Poison?
Dane looked around for something which he could use to pick up the still
jerking appendage.
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