Kiteman of Karanga Read Online Free PDF

wing and continued.
    Karl hiked on through the night. The next morning, feeling too weak to kill another crab, he collapsed under his kitewing, only to awaken again at midday. The sun was at its hottest. Karl's head was pounding at the temples, and his eyes hurt as if they had swollen in their sockets. When he glanced up at the sky, he gasped and felt cold all over. Against the blue he saw several black specks. He stared at them intently, swallowing hard, dry swallows. They circled, growing larger and more distinct. The terrys had seen him and had taken him for carrion.
    Karl reached for his spear, though it wouldn't be of much use without snares set around to catch the terry's feet and someone to carry a padded stick for him. All at once an overwhelming idea occurred to him. He didn't have to die! The descending terrys might not mean his death—they might mean his salvation.
    For a moment Karl hesitated, afraid that he had succumbed to delusions. But the soundness of his idea asserted itself. To work, it had to be accomplished quickly. He took the rope from his hunting bag and made a huge noose at one end. Then he spread the noose out on the sand several yards away where he guessed one of the terrys might land or have to step if coming to eat him. Lashing his hunting bag and spear to his wing, he slipped into his harness and waited.
    The terrys were landing, four of them in all. Karl could hear the hiss of their wings and their hideous squawking. They towered over him. Though terrified, he forced himself to remain still. He watched, hardly breathing, as one of the terrys stopped its landing run with one foot planted nearly in the center of his noose. Whipping the rope back, Karl pulled it tight around the terry's ankle.
    As the terry shrieked, Karl nearly panicked again at the closeness of the awesome creature. But for his plan to work, he had to jump up and frighten the terry away. Unless trapped, the huge scavengers usually ran from hunters.
    Rising to his feet while wearing his wing, Karl gave a loud shout and took several steps forward. The terry spread its wings and began to run around him to take off. The other terrys squawked and shrieked, but did not come any closer.
    Karl wrapped the rope around his forearm and started to run behind his terry. The giant beast could probably tow him aloft, but only if he gave it all the assistance he could. Down on the hot desert surface the terry would have to struggle just to get itself airborne, and Karl would have to do his utmost not to drag it down at the moment of liftoff.
    He ran furiously, trying to keep the rope slack between himself and the terry. The great reptile rocked from side to side as it ran, its wingtips dragging in the sand. It began to pump its huge wings, and on the third downstroke it heaved itself into the air. Karl ran faster than ever so as not to pull the terry down at this moment. Then the giant wings lifted for a fourth downbeat, and Karl leapt into the air, extending his arms and allowing the rope to grow taut.
    Whump! Whump! Whump! Feeling the pull on its leg, the terry pumped its wings frantically, steadily pulling Karl upward. As the desert fell away beneath him, Karl wondered if the terry would turn on him now that they were flying.
    Karl forced himself to remain tethered to this free ride for as long as possible. The terry banked to stay within a column of rising air, and together man and terry climbed higher and higher. At last Karl was sure he had enough altitude to find another thermal, but he couldn't just let go and allow his valuable rope to fly away with the terry. With sweaty hands, he pulled himself along his rope toward the terry until he was only a few inches behind its feet. He cut the rope free with his knife and banked away immediately. When he looked behind, the terrys had regrouped and were heading east toward Karanga.
    As Karl flew on that afternoon, the surface of the desert changed beneath him. Huge outcrops of rock thrust up