Whether he himself could operate as efficiently was
another matter.
In the end they half climbed, half swam upward, detouring swiftly once
to avoid the darting attack of a rock hornet, harmless as soon as they
moved out of the reach of its questing stinger, for it was anchored
for its short life to the rough hollow in which it had been hatched.
Dalgard's head broke water as he rolled through the surf onto a scrap
of beach in the lee of a row of tooth-pointed outcrops. It was late
evening by the light, and he clawed the mask off his face to draw
thankful lungfuls of the good outer air. Sssuri, his fur sleeked tight
to his body, waded ashore, shook himself free of excess water, and
turned immediately to study the wall of the cliff which guarded the
interior of the island.
This was one of a chain of such isles, Dalgard noted, now that he had
had time to look about him. And with their many-creviced walls they
were just the type of habitations which appealed most strongly to the
merpeople. Here could be found the dry inner caves with underwater
entrances, which they favored for their group homes.
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