At the Earth's Core Page #2

According to my watch, we've

been traveling for 2 days.

No, here there can be no night.

Just perpetual daylight.

We are in a cave, you understand,

a gigantic cave.

And the sky is the underside

of the earth's crust...

the magma, probably something

like 20 miles above us.

Oh.

Conserve your energy, dear boy.

We're both going to need it.

That was my father's watch.

Unpleasant character.

Oh, dear!

Dia?

Who are they?

Sagoths,

soldiers of the Mahars.

Oh, and... and pardon me,

what are Mahars?

Mahars rule Pellucidar,

and Sagoths take us

to be slaves in their city.

- What a charming prospect.

- Dia.

Aghh!

Agh!

Dia!

Your act of chivalry didn't

seem very popular, David.

Ahhh!

Pardon me.

Doc!

David!

That must be the city of the Mahars.

Oh! Do watch that thing!

Ohh!

Uhh!

Oh, they're so excitable,

like all foreigners.

Dia.

Dia!

I just wanted to ask

her how much farther.

They're giving

us the cold shoulder, David.

We certainly seem to have blotted

our copybook somehow.

Ohh!

Ugh!

David, I-I...

I'm sorry to

be a burden, but I...

I don't think

I can go on much longer.

Come on, doc.

It can't be much farther.

Oh!

Noisy lot, aren't they, David?

Ah.

Doc?

Mmm?

Dia...

Dia, she's gone.

Uh?

She's not here?

Ghak, what happened to Dia?

Hoojah the sly one.

He escaped with the girl you refused.

- I what?

- You insulted Dia.

Do you not know what you have done?

No.

When a man from Pellucidar fights

with another man for a woman,

she belongs to he who wins.

Well, you should've claimed

her or released her.

But you showed contempt

for her by doing nothing.

Now no man can

take her as mate

until he's overcome you in combat.

I didn't know.

I thought I was protecting her.

Forgive me, for you

could not have known.

Dia was in hiding from Jubal,

the ugly one.

He is a man with the

strength of many men.

And he has made it known

that he wants Dia for his mate.

There is no one who can

defend her against him,

and so Dia fled to the hills.

Only to be captured

by a Sagoth raiding party.

There is something

you should know, my friend.

Dia is a princess,

the daughter of kings.

She is proud and she

will never forgive you,

even if you did find her again,

which you will not.

We are all doomed

to slavery... and death.

They are no respecters of age, are they?

David!

What a phenomenal sight...

a fire curtain!

Ooh!

Ugh!

- David!

- What?

A Rhamphorhynchus of

the middle Jurassic period.

My goodness, how enormous.

Why, the largest

remains we ever discovered

have never indicated a size much greater

than that attained by an ordinary crow.

- Oh!

- Hey!

What are you doing?

Oh, oh!

Doc!

Perry!

Take care of yourself.

I will, and you.

You are beginning to annoy me.

Ghak, one at a time.

You've got a long day.

Ah, there you are, my friend.

Another one for the shelves.

Thank you.

Now, what have we got?

Fascinating.

"The Mahar...

"is limited...

"vocally...

"but has been...

"endowed...

"with...

"mesmeric powers...

"and a high degree of telepathy".

That's quite a

combination, for a bird.

I don't know what it is

they're giving us to eat.

Perhaps it's just as well.

- Doc?

- Mm-hmm?

How do we get out of here?

I really haven't been able

to find out anything definite

about the Mahar's secret yet,

except that, in some way,

it is connected with the lava,

with the heat.

Well, I'm certainly getting

to know about that.

Ahh, but that is the point, David.

Slaves are used to constantly

repair and divert the lava channels.

You see, although the

lava is of vital importance,

it is also eating away at the very

foundations of the Mahar city.

And so its flow has to be continually

checked and rechanneled.

In fact, the whole safety of the

city is dependent upon the slaves.

And, uh, we are

among their number now.

Oh, there's

cheerful Annie again.

Watch yourself, doc.

Doc!

Yeah.

David.

David.

- Ra.

- Ra?

Hu-rah, rah.

Oh, uh...

I don't come from Pellucidar.

I come from another world.

I escaped from the Mahar city.

No one can escape from the Mahar city.

The Mahars are all-seeing,

all lethal.

Ra, why haven't you risen up

and fought the Mahars?

You do not know the Mahar.

You have not really seen their power.

They're evil!

Ra,

if your tribe and the others

joined together, you could

defeat the Mahars.

It's good thought.

But come with me.

I'll show you.

Then you'll understand.

Ra?

Where are you taking me?

We are now within the outer

walls of the Mahar grotto.

We climb.

What are these

prisoners doing here?

Wait, and you shall see.

You may be thankful that you're not

on the same side of the wall as they.

The Mahars.

Are you looking for someone?

Yes.

Dia.

Thank God she's not here.

Vile cr...

They've got to be destroyed.

They've got to be.

Come.

We go.

David.

I'm going back.

After what you've just seen?

Especially after what I've seen.

They've got to be destroyed.

David, you're one man...

Strong, it's true.

How can you win?

I've got to find the

secret of the Mahars

and destroy them.

- I'll bring Ghak back.

- Ghak?

He will not trust me.

No tribe trusts each other.

I know.

You go back to your village, Ra,

till the Sagoths come again.

Do you think I'll let

you go back alone?

- You're a friend, Ra.

- Yes, but foolish friend.

The Mahars will

make a meal of us.

We've just doubled our strength.

It's...

Danion!

The ear.

Get it behind the ear.

The ear!

Oh, no!

You got him!

Bravo!

David, above you!

Freedom!

Freedom!

Freedom! Freedom!

Come on, doc.

Get a tight hold, doc.

I have a firm grip upon

your trousers, David.

- David!

- What?

I found it!

I found the Mahar secret!

- Come with me.

- Not now, doc!

But it's just through

this hidey-hole.

Come on, me boy,

I'll show you.

It's not far now, David.

Be careful of the edge.

It was the most amazing piece of luck.

I practically stumbled on it.

And after pondering over all

those heavy slabs in the library

and learning very little from them,

I got so dispirited.

I kept thinking, "whatever will I

tell David when he gets back?"

You knew I'd come

back for you, did you?

Of course I did.

What would I do without you?

There...

there it is.

The very origin of

every Mahar that's born.

Look, David.

Do you see that winch?

That is what controls the fire curtain.

This is where we're

going to finish them.

- It's a dead end, David.

- Doc, in here.

Down there? But I'm

not a rabbit, you know.

Come on, doc.

Fascinating rock structure, David.

Would you please, doc... come on!

Oh, I'll just sit for a moment.

Alright.

Catch your breath.

I can't find my marks.

David? Have you ever

thought of going to the moon?

Hmm?

Come on, doc.

Oh, uh, which way now?

I'm afraid we're lost, doc.

Be careful not to graze

yourself on these

formidable-looking rocks here.

Oh!

I say, there's that...

peculiar pellucid light ahead.

Shall we explore?

Whoops-a-daisy.

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