Could they communicate, perhaps? He chose the smaller of the two Mountains, thought at ft:
CAN YOU THINK? WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THE UNIVERSE? ARE YOU IN HARMONY? FOR ALL YOUR SIZE I FEAR YOU NOT. COME AND FIGHT, IF YOU WILL.
NO? YOU HAVE CROSSED THE GREEN PLAIN, I HAVE SEEN YOU DO IT. WAS IT FOR A PURPOSE? OR DO YOU ALWAYS WANDER AIMLESSLY? I AM T’ANG LANG, THE KILLER! STAY AND FIGHT, OR GO IN PEACE.
The Moving Mountain made no answer. Definitely, T’ang Lang was not impressed. In fact, he was by now a little bored. He still had hunting to do and these great, ludicrous beings obscured his vision. Did they mean to stand there forever?
The sun, now that was impressive. The Bodikid-dartha was impressive. But these? They were simply
big. Fagh!
The smaller Mountain of the two leaned forward, ponderously. Its bulk shut out the sun. A great misshapen limb extended itself toward T’ang’s platform.
So it was to be battle after all? Come, then! T’ang steadied himself. All the power of his mind was directed outward hi one great withering blast of mental
energy.
The limb paused, hesitated. The huge saucer-shaped eyes blinked. Slowly, the limb was retracted. The Mountain looked at Us companion for a moment. Then the two turned and lumbered off across the Green Plain, their size devouring the distance.
92
The Empire of T*ong Long
T’ang had won.
Giver of light and warmth, and sun had sunk lower in the sky. It was dragging the heat down with it. T’ang could sense the approaching chill. It crawled at his back armor.